'The last trick of the paljas'; a folk tale from Lao Folktales
You don't just drink a poison cup. But at that time the king had power over life and death, and his will was law. This is the last story in the book Lao Folktales.
'The King's Cat'; a folk tale from Lao Folktales
'The king who was no longer hungry'; a folk tale from Lao Folktales
The Pathet Lao has used folk tales in propaganda against the incumbent rulers. This story is an indictment. A king who can no longer eat because he has too much, and the people who suffer poverty and hunger, is fine propaganda.
'The Revenge of Xieng Mieng'; a folk tale from Lao Folktales
You expect a chicken leg in the curry but get meat from a vulture. That calls for revenge!
'What's in the bamboo tube?'; a folk tale from Lao Folktales
What you can do with a fart? Great writers knew it, from Carmiggelt to Wolkers. But also someone in Laos…
The novice Kham was bathing in the river just as a group of merchants were resting on the bank. They carried large baskets of mieng. Mieng is the leaf of a type of tea used to wrap a snack, which is very popular in Laos. Kham liked a snack mieng.
Lao Folktales is an English-language edition with about twenty folktales from Laos recorded by a student of Laotian. Their origins lie in the stories from India: the Pañchatantra (also called Pañcatantra) stories around the era, and the Jataka stories about the past lives of Buddha when he was still a bodhisattva.
'The Trial of Strength' a folktale by Lao Folktales
There is a rabbit hopping through the jungle. He feels like messing around and invents a test of strength. First candidate to fool: an elephant chewing sugar cane. "Uncle Elephant." "Who's calling?" asks the elephant. 'I. Down here, uncle elephant!'
A Laotian word for body odor is, in Thai script, ขี้เต่า, khi dtao, turtle shit. Legends say that the Lao man's forearm smells like turtle shit. This fable explains why…
'The majesty in the pond' a folktale by Lao Folktales
The folk rascal against power and money. A favorite subject in stories from earlier times.
'That delicious honey' a folktale by Lao Folktales
A merchant had a new house built. And for happiness and safety of family and home, he had asked monks from novice Kham's temple for a ceremony. After the ceremony, the monks were fed and returned to their temple.
The lion took a deep breath and forcefully expelled all the air from his chest; his roar moved the earth. All the animals trembled with fear and rushed deeper into the jungle, climbed high into the trees or fled into the river. "Ha, that was good," laughed the lion satisfied.
Kham was a lazy novice. When the other novices were busy with their work, he tried to squeeze his moustache. When the others meditated, Kham was sleeping. One fine day, when the abbot went out on his way to another temple, he saw Kham sleeping under a large ficus.
A long winding river found its way through a beautiful piece of forest with trees. Everywhere islets with lush vegetation. Two crocodiles lived there, a mother and her son. "I'm hungry, really hungry," Mother Crocodile said. "Have an appetite for heart, for monkey heart." 'Yes, monkey heart. I really want that now too.' 'A nice dinner with fresh monkey hearts. That would be nice! But I don't see any monkeys' Mother Crocodile said again.