 Dedication and introduction of Sean Folklore's stories from the Hill and Water Country. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Recording by Larry Wilson. Sean Folklore's stories from the Hill and Water Country by William Charles Griggs. Dedication. To my friend F.A. Cushing, D.D. F.R.A.S. Principal of the American Baptist College, Rangoon, and Senior Sean Missionary, the greatest authority upon Sean literature and the translator of the Bible into that language. This little book is dedicated by the author. Introduction. The following stories have been taken from the great mass of unwritten lore that is to the back-eyed brown-skinned boys and girls of the Sean Mountain Country of Burma what Jack the Giant Killer and Cinderella are to our own children. The old saw as to the songs and laws of a country may or may not be true. I feel confident, however, that stories such as these, being as they are purely native, with as little admixture of Western ideas as it was possible to give them, and dressing them in their garment of English words, will give a better insight into what the native Burma really is. These modes of thought and ways of looking at and measuring things. Then a treatise thrices long in representing infinitely more literary merit than will be found in these little tales, and at the same time I hope that they will be found to the average reader at least more interesting. It may perhaps be not out of place to say a little of the hapeas who appear so frequently in these stories. The hapea is the Burma Nat, and is a being superior to men and inferior to Brahmas, and having its dwelling in one of the six celestial regions, Dr. Cushing's Sean English Dictionary. They are universally worshipped by the inhabitants of Burma. If a man has fever, the best thing to do is ling hapea, that is to feed the spirits, and the sufferer therefore offers rice, betel nut, painted sticks, etc. Some kinds of hapeas live in the sacred banyan trees, and frequently have I seen men, after a long day's march in the jungle, sit shivering on the ground when within an arm's length lay good dry firewood. It had fallen, however, from a tree in which lived a hapea, and not a man would dare touch it. Big combs of honey may be in the nests of the wild bees, but it is safe from the hungry traveller if it is sheltered by such a tree. Some watch over wells, tanks, and lakes, and it is notorious throughout the southern Shan states that a promising young American missionary, who was drowned while shooting, met his death by being dragged to the bottom of the lake by the guardian spirit, who had become insistent at him for killing a waterfowl on his domains. In Shan folklore the hero does not marry and live happily ever after, but he becomes the king of a country. Chapter 1 of Shan folklore stories from the hill and water country This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Coming by, this name, Shan folklore stories from the hill and water country, by William Charles Griggs. Along Kipps. Once upon a time there was a woman, who lived in the state of Laihaka. She was a very pious woman, and always gave the best trice and puck to the priest, as they walked rice chatty in hand through the city early in the morning. Every year when the girls and boys went to the river, and filled their chatty's with water to throw over the pagodas and idols, to ensure a good rainy season and abundant crop, she always had the largest bucket of the clearest water, and threw it higher than anybody else. She carried the sweetest flowers to the Zayath every evening, and on worship days took rice in the prettiest of cups made of banana leaves, and offered to the Gothamas in the idol house. But she was not happy. When her neighbours went to the pagodas, they had their little ones tied upon their backs running around at the side, but she had no child whom she could take with her, no one to whom she could tell stories of the great Lord Saakya, who rules over the spirits of the high-pair country, and so she was sad. She was getting old too, and often envied the women who lived near, who had bright boys to run errands and girls to help in the house. But she at the feast of lights, when she sent a little candle floating down the river, she prayed for a child, but in vain. At last she made a pilgrimage to a pagoda where folks said was a para, who would give anything that was asked of him. Bright and early she set out, and on her head was an offering, an image of a tiger and one of a man, and when she arrived at the pagoda, she offered the images and prayed for a son. When she was at the pagoda, Lord Saakya heard her, took pity on her, and promised her a son. But alas, when he was born to his mother's great sorrow, instead of being the beautiful boy, she hoped he was nothing but a frog. Lord Saakya, in order to comfort her however, told her that her son was really a great hyper, and that after one year and seven months, he would change into the most handsome man in all the hill and water country, all the women scoffed and made fun of the poor mother, and all through the village she was called my kith, or frog's mother, but she bore their jeers in silence, and never reviled in return. Now the king of the country had seven daughters, all were married except one, and one day my kith went to ask him for this daughter in marriage for her son. The king was of course very angry that she should ask that his only remaining daughter should marry a frog, but he spoke deceitfully. Called his daughter and asked if she would be willing to accept a frog for her husband, like a dutiful daughter she told him, that she would follow his words and do as he wished, and she had no will apart from his. The king then called the woman and said, O woman, I will give my only remaining daughter to your son, but I make one stipulation. You must build a road, paved and properly built from the market place to my palace. The sides must be decorated with painted bamboos, and the work must be done within seven days, or you shall die. Now go and prepare for the work, and at the end of seven days I will make ready the marriage feast for my daughter, or order the executioner to take off your head. In great distress my kith returned to her home, and sat down on the floor of her house and wept. All day long she beweild her hopeless condition. In vain, her son asked her the cause of a sorrow, afraid of grieving him, she would not tell him. But at last, when six out of seven days had passed, and knowing the fate that awaited her on the morrow, she told him how she had gone to the king with her request, and the time being almost expired that she must make ready to die on the morrow. The executioner swore it has already been sharpened, my son, she said. And today, in bazaar, they were talking of it, and promising to meet one another at the palace tomorrow when the sun should be overhead. As a last resort, she made ready food and sweet meat. She took paddy, and placed it over the fire, till the heat broke the husk, and pure white grains appeared. She mixed with the whitest of sugar, and as she was too poor to own plates, she went into the jungle to where new bamboo was bursting through its green prison, and taking the broad coverings of the new leaves, she fashioned them into dishes, and offered them with many prayers for help to the Lord Sakyar. Our Lord, know it that my son can do nothing, she cried. He has not even hands to help. But what can our Lord's slave do to avoid the great trouble to which I have arrived? That night, in the lovely high pier country, the mighty Lord Sakyar reclined on his golden throne of state. By and by, the velvet mat became so hot that he could sit upon it no longer. And looking down, he saw, squatting before him on the floor, a frog. Oh, our Lord! said the frog. I come to remind our Lord that he is his slave's father. My mother, our Lord's slave, has arrived in great sorrow, and unless our Lord pities us, and takes compassion on our Lord's slave, she will arrive at destruction tomorrow. Graciously do this act of kindness, O chief of all the high piers. Lord Sakyar took pity on his son, and promised to help him. The four strongest spirits in the kingdom were the four high piers. They were twin, and the name of the first two was Nantare, and that of the second was Heter Serkion. These powerful spirits he ordered to complete the road during the night. The next morning, when the king arose, he looked forth from his palace, and a most wonderful sight met his gaze. He rubbed his eyes, for he believed they deceived him. He pinched himself to see whether he was really awake, or whether he was dreaming, for a wonderful thing had happened during the night. So wonderful, in fact, that one cannot be surprised that he thought it unreal, from the bazaar to the very gate of the palace, was a broad, smooth road, and on each side were brick walls covered with the whitest of cement, and decorated with the heads of lions, and two large griffins built of brick, and also covered with white cement guarded the entrance. There were more than 12 cubits high. Their mouths were wide open, and showed their terrible fangs. Their eyes looked upon the king with a stony glare. The road was paved with blocks of stone, cut as smooth, and laid as true as the cells of a honeycomb. There was one road for men, one for oxen, and yet another for horses. Ziots had been built here so that the travellers, a wary, could rest and be thankful. And all over was a wide canopy of cloth that extended entirely from end to end, and from side to side, to protect the king from the sun, when he should move a long road to observe its wonders more closely. In utter amazement, he beat the gong that hung ready to his side with such vigor that Amat's soldiers, attendants, and people from the city came rushing out of their houses to the palace gates, expecting that at least the neighbouring prince, with whom they had been long at war, had taken the city by surprise. But they, like the king, stood transfixed and speechless with wonder, when they saw the road with its carvings and ziots, and the canopy with the golden border spread above all. The king called my kit, she came, and hidden in her turban was her son. The king had thought to punish this presumptuous woman by giving her an impossible task to do with a penalty that put her beyond the power of offending again, and was, of course, angry and disappointed, that his scheme had been unsuccessful, but the occurrence had become the common talk of the marketplace, and so he was obliged to carry out his part of the bargain, although it had gone contrary to his expectation and desires. So much against his will, he called his daughter and gave an order that for seven days there was to be a feast in honour of the marriage of the princess, but when the rejoicings of the people were finished, Kith was not given permission to live in his father's palace, but was sent with his wife and mother to live in the old house where he had been born. Six days after the marriage, there was a feast at the pagoda, and the six daughters of the king went in state. They rode upon royal elephants. Dancers danced beneath them. The golden umbrella protected them from the sun, and everybody fell upon their knees and clasped their hands as the august personages went along. They retinued, filled the street, when they stopped at the little house where their little sister lived. Oh, sister! they called. Are you coming to the feast? But the poor girl in great shame told them that she could not come, and when they had gone she sat on the floor with her face in her hands and gave way to her grief. While she was sobbing, her husband approached her and told her not to be sorrowful. My father is the great Lord Sarkya, said he, and he will give me anything I ask. So do not say, I am ashamed to go, for I have only your frog as a husband. You shall yet see your proud father and unkind sisters bowing before you, and offering your presence as they offer to the gods. Seeing how distressed the poor girl really was, Lord Sarkya took pity on them and descended to the earth. He bought with him wonderful white clothes such as the high pears wear. They were brighter than the stars that shoot across the sky at night, or the lightning that flashes over the heavens during the hot season. He also gave them a magic stone, which is placed under their tongues, would enable them to fly wherever they wished. The next morning was the last day of the feast when the boat races would be rode, when the horses of the king and his chief amarts would race for prizes, when the best jugglers would show their most wonderful trick, and the best dancers would dance under the boat in the midst of the fun and excitement a great shout rented the air. The mighty Lord Sarkya was descending, and right in the middle of the feasting there was a flash of brilliant light, and two wonderful beings alighted. They were clothed in dazzling white, and flew swifter than when a kingfisher darts from a tree towards its prey in the water. Everyone came, crowding around as near as they dared, and upon their knees offered presence of food to the wonderful beings. First and foremost came the princesses, who bowed till the foreheads touched the dust, and lifted their clasped hands over their heads, and turned away the faces while they offered the sweetest and most savoury food to the visitors. But it was noticed, that although the spirits ate the food offered by the amarts to the under-common people, they would not eat the food given by the princesses, but wrapped it up and placed it on one side. The next day the princesses came to the sister's house and derided her. Her wife of an animal, they cried, you would not come to the feast, and so you lost the chance of seeing the mighty lord Tsakya descend from their hyper-country, and then they told of the wonderful sights, and again made fun of their unfortunate sister. Kid's wife smiled at them, and then she said, it is you who are unfortunate, not I. My husband is not the ugly animal you think him to be, but is a great and powerful hyper. It was not the Lord Tsakya who descended yesterday, but his son, my husband, and myself, and to prove my words, whose are these? And she produced the very bundles of food that her sisters had offered the day before to the supposed ruler of all spirits. The sisters were surprised to see that she had the food there, but they laughed her to scorn when she told them of her husband. In order that his son should become mighty and famous, the Lord Tsakya sent one of his attendants to the king, and caused him to give an order to his children that they should have a boat race. The one who reached the winning post first and carried away the flag on its rotten pole was to be the king in his room, and the one who came last was to be the slave to the fortunate one. There were great preparations among the servants of the six princesses, and many wagers were made as to who would be successful, but none wished a wager to who would come and last, as they all knew it would be the youngest sister. She has no boat, said they, and she has no servants to make one, nor money to buy one. Even if she had, what could she do? Her husband has no hands. How could he row against and defeat the swift boatmen who have been called by the princesses? The king gave seven days in which his daughters were to prepare for the race, and during that time the shouting of the various crews as they practised on the lake was heard from early morning till the sun dropped behind the mountains, but only six boats were seen. The race was to take place on the lake on the outskirts of the city, and on the morning of the seventh day, when the six princesses took their stations, they were surprised to see that there was a seventh boat there, but they did not know that it was a magic boat sent by Lord Saakya from the high pier country, and that the sixteen rowers were not men, but high piers. The course was over a thousand cubits to the post, and around it and return, and so fast the magic boat glided through the water that it had covered the entire distance, and the captain had laid the flag at the king's feet, before any of the other boats had reached the first pole that showed half the distance, but something even more wonderful than that had taken place. During the race the time spent apart during which the son of my kith was to have the farm of a frog had expired, and lo, he was now the most handsome man in all the hill and water country. He had a crown of gold upon his head, and magic white cloth, such as only the high piers were, were on his person. His wife was clothed in as beautiful a manner, and the king at last seeing his mistake he had made in treating him so badly, knelt on the shore, and asked which Lord is the son of his slave, by which he meant which of the Lords was the one to which whom he had given his daughter, but the Lord Kith, as now he was called, did not take a mean revenge on his unkind brothers and sisters, and when they came on their knees begging for their lives and asking for the privilege of being his slaves, he took compassion on them, and instead of ordering them to immediate execution, made them his amat. This is why the Shan, who live in the hill and water country, worships our maha Kith. End of chapter one. Recording by this name. Chapter two of Shan folklore stories from the hill and water country. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org. Recording by Carol Eads. Shan folklore stories from the hill and water country by William Charles Griggs. How Bohan Mi got his title. Bohan Mi was one of the greatest generals who ever lived in the hill and water country. Just what his original name was nobody knows now, but this story tells how he gained his title. One day he went into the jungle with his wife and his two children to gather now, which is a kind of puck made from the young bamboo shoots. They were very successful in getting it, and were just on the point of going home with their loads, when right before them appeared a large black bear. The bear opened wide his mouth and roared, showing his immense white teeth and great throat, and came ambling toward them growling all the while in the fiercest kind of way. Now as soon as the man saw the bear he just threw away all the now that he had in his hands and ran for his life, calling on his wife to do the same. The two children followed their father and left their mother to get out of her trouble as best she could. She, however, was as brave as her husband was cowardly, and instead of running away she took a handful of the longest of the shoots and thrust them down the open throat of the bear and killed him. She then took the short sword that they had brought from home to cut the shoots, and with it she skinned the bear, cut him up, and made the skin into a sack in which to carry the meat. Meanwhile her cowardly husband did not stop running till he reached the city in which he lived, and then he told all his neighbors how he had been in the jungle and a great bear had attacked them, how he had fought bravely for a long while, but at last it had killed his wife and eaten her. The neighbors were very sorry for him, but advised him to get home and fasten all the doors and windows before the spirit of his wife would have time to get in, for they said seeing that she was killed when he was with her her ghost would without doubt try and gain admittance to the house and haunt it, once in it would be very difficult to get her out. The man, more frightened than ever, ran home as fast as he could and called his children to bring all the rice that was already cooked into the house and then they fastened up the two doors and the one window with bamboos and ratang. There was to be a feast in the city that night and the two children wanted to go and see the fun but their father was in such a fright that he would not give them permission to go or even to look out through the holes in the sides of the house where the bamboo matting had come unfastened and bulged away from the posts. By this time the sun had set and it was just getting dark and the man tired with the hunt in the jungle and the excitement after was just going to sleep when he heard a voice that he recognized as his wife's calling to be let in. Husband, aye, it called, open the door and let me in. I am very tired and hungry and want rice and sleep. Get up quickly. Why have you fastened up the window and doors with bamboos and ratang? There are no bad men around, anyone would think you were afraid thieves were coming tonight. The man was frightened almost to death when he heard his wife's voice for he felt sure it was her ghost coming to haunt him so he called out Ghost of my wife, aye, I will not let you in. If I did I would never be able to get you out again. You want to haunt this house. I will not let you in. Go away, go away. In vain the woman told him that she was indeed his wife, that she was not a ghost at all, but had killed the bear and had his skin on her back with a meat in it, and begged to be let in. The man would not believe her and so she had to wait outside. All night long she called and begged her husband to let her in, but in vain. When the son had risen however he felt a little braver and so he put his head out through the thatch and saw that it really was his wife and not her ghost. With great joy he ran down, opened the door and let her in. But when his wife told him how she had killed the bear he again became frightened. We have arrived at great trouble, said he. When the people hear that you have killed the bear they will most surely kill you. What shall we do to escape and be freed from the impending punishment? But his wife was a clever woman and when the neighbours came in to ask how it was that she had not been killed she told a wonderful story how through the bravery of her husband she had been saved, that he had seen the bear and by his bravery that was so great it was good to marvel at. It had been driven off. The neighbours were very pleased that so brave a man lived in their quarter and he became famous. People calling him Gon Han Mi or the man who saw the bear. Gon Han Mi was very proud of his title as many other vain people have been proud of titles they never earned but it came near costing him his life and this was the way it led him into great danger. One day a large cobra fell into the well that was in the yard before the chief door of the king's palace and everybody was afraid to draw water because of it. When the amats told the king that a cobra was in the well he gave orders that it was to be taken out but nobody was brave enough to go down the well and kill the snake. The chief amat was in great distress. He feared the king would deprive him of his office if the snake were not killed immediately. He was not brave enough to descend himself and money promises and threats were of no avail to induce anyone else to go. Everybody declined to take the risk and said of what use is money or horses or buffaloes to a man bitten by a cobra. Will that free him from death? Nay go yourself. The poor amat was at his wit's end when at last one of the attendants told the king that in the quarter of the city where his sister lived was a man so brave that he was called gon han mi and said he if a man is brave enough to see a bear in the jungle and not be afraid surely he will there go down the well and kill the cobra. The king was much pleased with the attendant for showing a way out of the difficulty. He surely is the man we want said he go and call him immediately to come and destroy the snake. The attendant of the king came to gon han mi and said brother I the king has heard that you are a very brave man so brave in fact that your neighbours all talk of you and you have arrived at the rank of being called gon han mi now in the royal well there is a snake a cobra which as you know is called the worst snake that lives it is a very wicked snake and everybody has arrived at great trouble because of it nobody dares draw water there and the king has given orders that it is to be killed however no one at the palace is brave enough to descend the well and kill the snake but when his majesty heard of your great bravery he sent me to order you to come immediately descend the well and kill the cobra he will give you great rewards and besides will make you a bow officer in the royal army when gon han mi heard this he was in great distress and called his wife wife oy he said this unlucky name will certainly be the cause of my death it will truly kill me the king has called me to descend the royal well and kill a wicked snake that is frightening everybody in the palace I am not brave enough to go if I do not go the king will have me executed I shall be killed whichever I do if I go the snake will kill me if I do not go the king will kill me I shall arrive at destruction and all because of this miserable name the wife pondered a while and then advised her husband to get dressed in his best clothes and go to the palace look down the well to see what it was like then make some excuse to come back home and she would tell him what next to do the man was soon dressed in his best clothes and was already going down the steps of the house when his wife called out that he had left his hasan behind him now when the shans go into the jungle or on a journey they carry with them a rice bag or hasan this is a long narrow bag more like a footless hose than anything else and when filled with rice it is worn around the waist where it looks like a big snake coiled around now gon han mi was very proud of his rice bag for instead of being made of plain white cloth as is the custom it was embroidered all over with different coloured walls and was so long that it went around his waist several times he was so excited and terrified that when he reached the well he did not notice that one end had been unfastened and was dragging on the ground and as he went to the well to look over it caught around his legs overbalanced him and he went head first into the well with a tremendous splash the next instant the snake lifting its head darted at him and all that the men above who were waiting with breathless interest to discover how the battle would end could hear was an infinite amount of splashing yells and hissing gon han mi never knew how it was but in the fall his hasan became twisted around the neck of the snake and in a few minutes it was choked to death the man for a while could hardly believe that the snake was really dead it seemed too good to be true but he came to the conclusion that his come was good and he would yet be a great and famous man he therefore assumed a heroic air and at the top of his voice called to the men at the mouth of the well brethren I have killed the snake and thus freed you from the great danger from which you were suffering I will now throw up the end of this long rice bag do you catch it and pull me and the dead snake up to dry ground he thereupon threw up the end of the embroidered hasan the men caught it and the next minute he appeared with the dead snake in his hand the king was very pleased with gon han mi for his brave act he gave him great rewards as he had promised and also gave order that in future he should be known by the name of bo han mi or the officer who saw the bear sometime after this there was war between the king and the ruler of the next province there was a great council called and it was unanimously agreed that as bo han mi was the bravest man in the country he should be appointed as commander-in-chief when the message came to his house however it caused him great distress for as he told his wife he did not want to be killed in the least he did not wish to run the risk of being killed or even hurt besides he had never been on horseback in his life he had a buffalo that plowed his fields and it is true that occasionally tired with the day's work he had ridden home on its back when the sun sank into the west but he was sure that if he got on the back of a horse it would immediately divine that he was ignorant of the art of riding did not mal as he said and he would be thrown to the ground and hurt killed maybe who could tell again his clever wife came to the rescue you must go to the fight whether you want to or not said she the king has given orders and he must be obeyed to disobey the king is more dangerous than seeing a bear or even fighting a snake so go you must as to riding that is easily managed bring your pony here and I will show you how to ride without danger on the never to be forgotten day when the whole family went into the jungle to gather now they were very poor but since the fight with the snake in the well they had become rich and so now the bow had servants to do his bidding and he therefore called one of them to saddle his pony and bring it to the door of his house this was soon done he took his seat and then his wife took long pieces of raw hide and fastened his legs from ankle to knee on both sides to the stirrups and girths she knotted them securely so that there would be no chance of his falling off his steed he was very pleased that he had such a clever wife who could help him out of every trouble into which he might fall and rode away well pleased with himself and soon reached the place where the soldiers were assembled awaiting his appearance before beginning the march to have seen him nobody would have thought that he was frightened sick he sat up bravely and you would have thought that he was the best horseman in all the hill and water country but all the time he was turning over in his mind the advice given by his wife when they talked it over the night before this was what she said to him now when you get to the soldiers see them start off give all the orders in a very loud pompous tone talk high and they will think you maw very much are very clever then you can easily find some excuse to get to the rear and you must stay there till the fighting is all finished there was one party to this arrangement however that they had both failed to take into account when making their plans and that was the pony they neither remember they neither remembered that there was a possibility of the pony taking it into his head to carry his master where the latter did not want to go but that was just what happened for when the pony saw all the other horses and the men marching off he too commenced to move forward he was a fine big pony and was accustomed to head processions not to come at the tail end and so he started off of his own accord now we have said that his rider had never been on horseback before but had often ridden his buffalo from the paddy field when the day's work of plowing was over when a man on a buffalo wishes to stop he jerks the rope that is fastened to the animal's nose and obedient to the signal it stops so when the bow found his steed forging ahead a little faster than suited him he jerked the reins expecting the pony to stop but to his consternation he found it go all the faster he jerked harder the pony broke into a quick trot he jerked again the pony began to gallop he was now thoroughly frightened and called out at the top of his voice but this only frightened the pony more and it began to gallop just as fast as ever it could and worse than all it headed straight for the enemy's soldiers whom he could see in the distance getting ready to receive him he cursed his wife with all his heart if he could only fall off she had taken two good precautions against that he pulled and tugged but the raw hide was strong the knots were too tight and every minute brought him nearer to his enemies he could hear the shouts of his friends in the distance getting fainter and fainter as the distance increased calling him to come back how he wished he could he swayed from side to side first on one flank then on the other the pony now had its head down between its needs the bit between its teeth and was tearing along like the wind it would be hard to say which was the more frightened the horse or its rider each frightened the other but there was a lower depth yet to be reached in jumping over a hole the saddle slipped to the side the next instant away it went turned and saddle rider and all slipped clear around and bohan me found himself still securely lashed to the saddle squarely under his horse instead of on it meanwhile in the camp of the enemy a council of wars being held can anyone tell me ask the king who commands our foes our lord said one of the amats it is a man who has been picked out of the whole army and is the bravest man who ever drew a sword he is called bohan me because he conquered a great fierce bear in the jungle he also went down a well in the royal palace and killed the largest and fiercest snake ever seen in all the hill and water country the king was much disquieted when he heard of the prowess of this man and was pondering whether it would not be better to fight with silver than steel and offer a great reward to any man in the enemy's camp who would bring to him the head of this doughty soldier when he heard a great shout he sprang to the tent door and looked anxiously out all eyes were bent in one direction and a look of intense wonder not unmixed with fear sat on each face the king naturally expected to see the whole army of the enemy approaching in overwhelming numbers but he shared the wonder of his soldiers when he saw not an army but one single man dashing toward him the next instant the rider disappeared entirely but the horse came on faster than before next instant there was the rider again arms tossing in the air hair streaming behind only to disappear the following moment in the same mysterious way the face of the king blanched with terror as he asked in a whisper who is this man a hundred voices cried it is bo han mi the bravest man alive he has some charm that makes him invisible when he wishes and he cannot be hurt by sword or arrow nothing spread so quickly as a panic and almost before the king was aware of it he was carried away in the fierce rush to escape his men were blind with fear they threw away their arms men and officers fled for their lives they're only thought to flee from that horse and its terrible rider who disappeared and reappeared in such an awful fashion and in a few minutes the field was deserted and the whole army in full retreat the horse by this time was exhausted it stumbled but regained its feet only to fall again immediately it made another effort to struggle to its feet but this time unsuccessfully and then lay still on its side its flanks heaving and its breath coming and going in quick sobs very cautiously bo han mi drew a knife and slowly cut one knot the horse did not stir another followed and soon one leg was freed this made the task easier and soon both legs were cut from their bonds and he sprang to his feet bruised and sore it is true but no bones broken and only too glad to be on solid earth again and he vowed he would never from that day forth ever get on anything that moved faster than a buffalo what the king said when he reached the place where the foes had encamped may be imagined he declared that a man as brave as his general had never lived in any age or country for one man to charge a whole army and what was more drive it off too was a thing good to marvel at and bo han mi did the wisest thing he ever did in his life he just held his peace when they had gathered together the spoil they returned home with the hero by the side of the king the latter gave him a grand palace with gold, silver, oxen, buffaloes, elephants and slaves in abundance and also the rank of bo ho suk which is the highest rank of general in the army and means head of all the troops the happy man lived many many years but he kept his promise and whenever he wished to travel he rode upon an elephant and never again as long as he lived got upon the back of a horse End of Chapter 2 having been created but a short while two chinese boys left their native country and started out on their travels to discover things new and strange after wandering for many days they came to the hill and water country where the shans live here they found a monastery where lived very wise and learned priests who instructed them in many ways they lived here for some time and won the esteem of the head priest to such an extent that he showed them a magic sword and bow that had lain in the monastery many years waiting for somebody to carry away the law was that the man who could bend the bow or could draw the sword from its sheath should keep it the elder brother went to the sword and tried to draw it he pulled, he tugged, he strained till the sweat ran down his face but in vain he could not draw it out one inch seeing the ill success of his elder brother the younger thought it possible for him to draw the magic sword but at his brother's command he took the handle in his hand and pulled with all his might to everybody's surprise out came the magic sword and the chinamen walked away in triumph the elder brother now made up his mind that if he could not get the sword he would try for the bow and he might have more success with that so he exerted all his strength and slowly slowly bent it till the cord was taught and the bow all ready to shoot the people of the city were amazed that the two brothers should have such strength and good luck and many envious eyes followed them as they again set out on their journey carrying their trophies with them they traveled on and on till they gave up counting the distance it was so great to one day as they were resting on the bank of a large river in a far country they saw a great fish swimming in the water it was so great that nobody here to four had been able to catch it and it was in fact the king of all the fishes it broke all the nets and smashed all the traps it snapped all the lines that were set for it and nobody was strong enough to pull it ashore when it did take the hook the chinamen saw it and the elder brother instantly strung his bow put on a bolt and shot the great fish as it was swimming in the shallow water in a few minutes he had it on his shoulder and they commenced to cross the bridge to the other side of the river now the river was very wide the current was very swift and the bridge was not at all strong it was only made of bamboo and rattan and swung from side to side as the men crossed it when they got to the middle it began to creak and strain till the two travelers were in great fear it would break the one who had killed it turned to his brother and said oh brother the fish is so heavy i'm afraid the bridge will break please draw your magic sword and cut it in halves and then we will be able to get to the other side in safety the younger brother therefore drew his sword and cut the fish in halves but he did not yet know how sharp the sword was for he cut the fish in halves it is true but not only that but the whole bridge as well so that his brother fell into the water and was immediately swept from his sight on his part he could not of course cross now the bridge was down so he returned to the same side of the river and ran along the bank looking to see whether his brother would be swept ashore in some shallow place but although he ran till he was exhausted and then traveled for many days by the side of the river through the jungle he could discover no trace of his lost brother swiftly down the stream his brother was carried he tried to swim first to one bank and then to the other as the current swept him along but in vain at last he gave up trying nobody knows just how long he was in the water but for many days he floated and when he was on the point of dying from exhaustion cold and hunger his feet touched bottom and more dead than alive he crawled up the banks to dry land he found that he had landed near a garden and on climbing over the wall he discovered that it belonged to the king he was too tired to climb back again however he sank on the ground and the next instant fell asleep from sheer weariness now it happened that the king of that country had just died and his amats had taken out the royal chariot and were drawing it around the city looking for the proper person to become king as they went along they saw this young man sleeping in the royal garden with his magic bow beside him he had come from nobody knew where he was so strong that the river even could not kill him above all he had a wonderful magic bow which none of the amats or nobles could bend so they came to the conclusion that he indeed was the man who should be king of the country and he was crowned with great pomp and magnificence the other brother who had been left standing on the bridge when the elder fell into the water as we have said and for many days he followed the riverbank till he too arrived in a far country it was a very strange country there were no men there only monkeys but they were the very cleverest monkeys that ever lived and were ruled over by a nangme pra that is a queen just as men are ruled this queen of the monkeys fell in love with the chinamen and married him so that he became king of the monkey land they built a palace for him on the top of the highest tree in the jungle every seventh day they brought him food some brought plantains some mangoes some rice and some fish fresh caught in the river the elder brother had now been king of the country where he had landed for some years and one day he remembered his younger brother whom he had left standing on the broken bridge with the sword in his hand he therefore called his amats and told them he was going on a long journey and that they must rule well and justly till he returned he then called his favorite servants and set out to discover his brother they had a great store of provisions carried by coolies he had his royal elephants on which he could ride when traveling over the steep mountain roads and to carry his chief queens and ponies for riding over the plains one night however he became separated from his followers and lost his way he shouted and called but shouted and called in vain he could not find a trace of them servants horses elephants and goods were all gone and he was in great fear that he would die in the jungle when morning broke he was much surprised to see that he had arrived at a city but that the houses were all built on the top of the trees and on looking closer he discovered that instead of people living in these houses the inhabitants were all large monkeys not a man was to be seen and the monkeys were very fierce and screaming at him in anger from the top of every tree one especially he noticed as being more fierce than any of the others and he accordingly leveled his magic bow and shot it dead as it fell from the tree to the ground he heard all the friends of the dead monkey come rushing out of their houses on the tops of the trees calling to one another that a man had killed one of their brethren and asking that their friends would come to kill the man who had been guilty of the deed after a little time the king came to a tree that was taller than any other in the jungle and upon it was a palace stairs led from the door of the palace to the ground and as he looked more closely he saw a man up there in great joy he called out to him asking to be directed i am the king of a far country he said and i am on a journey to search for my brother whom i have not seen for many many years last night i lost my way will you take pity on me and show me the way and i will give you a great reward who was your brother asked the man in the tree he was a chinese student returned the king and he had a wonderful magic sword one day as we were traveling he cut a great fish in two but such was the virtue residing in the magic sword that he not only cut the fish in halves but the bridge as well so i left him standing on the end of the bridge you may imagine how pleased the king was when he discovered that the man standing at the top of the tree was the long lost brother from whom he was searching and he made ready to ascend to his house in the treetop at that moment a little monkey ran down the tree towards him and he kicked it aside saying out of my way little monkey the small monkey in great anger said i am not a monkey but your nephew my nephew exclaimed the king in great astonishment what do you mean by that his brother the monkey king then explained to him that he had married the queen of all the monkeys and that this was their child and that he ruled over all the monkeys who had built this palace for him and every seventh day brought him tribute of food i am sorry to say then said the elder brother that i have killed one of your subjects and at the same moment the wife and son of the dead monkey approached their king our lord said they the man yonder has been guilty of a great crime he entered the domain of our lord and although we did nothing to him yet he raised his bow and killed one of the servants of our lord therefore our lord's servants demand that he shall be killed too i am very sorry said the king of the monkeys that you have killed that special monkey he was very clever and brave he was also one of my chief amats and his friends will assuredly kill you the monkeys were now assembling by hundreds and calling to each other everywhere every treetop appeared alive with angry figures all calling for vengeance on the man who had killed their friend the king however who had taken sides with his brother was not afraid and said he could kill all the monkeys in the country and he drew his sword and cut in halves the monkeys nearest to him to his great surprise however the two halves of the monkeys he had killed each became a whole monkey and attacked him again so that he now had two to fight instead of one if he cut off the hand or leg of a monkey with his long sword it immediately turned into two and he soon saw that unless he devised some other way of fighting them they would soon kill them both he therefore rushed off to the jungle and got a great hollow bamboo he then went to a bee's nest and swept all the bees into it and caught a great many scorpions and centipedes snakes and spiders when the monkeys came towards him to renew the fight he opened one end of the bamboo and the insects and reptiles swarming out very angry at being kept prisoner in the hollow bamboo soon drove the monkeys off so that the two brothers were able to escape shortly afterward they found the escort of the king and together returned to the city where the good elder brother made the younger his chief amat now when the younger brother became amat he of course saw what a great king his brother was he saw his subjects kneel before him he saw the royal elephants oxen horses and buffaloes he saw the riches and money jewels and goods that belonged to him that his queens were the most beautiful women in the land and he became jealous then he coveted all these things the next step was easy he determined to kill his brother and become king in his stead then he began to ponder and plot how best he could destroy the brother who had been so good to him he did not remember how that same brother had left all these things to come and hunt for him how he had given him riches and honor and position so that now he was chief minister and next to him in power no he did not think of any of these things but like the ungrateful man that he was thought only that his brother had more than he he soon came to the conclusion that he could not kill his brother in the city for everybody loved the king and he feared that his crime would be discovered so he was obliged to wait until they should be alone in the jungle together the opportunity soon came one day the king was out hunting and had gotten separated from all his followers his brother the amat was a short distance ahead when he saw just in front of him a very deep hole so deep in fact that it was impossible to see the bottom in great excitement he turned and beckoned to the king as fast as he could calling out in a loud voice that he had something very wonderful to show him the king thought that at least he had discovered a mountain of rubies and came running up he knelt by the side of the hole but could see nothing there is nothing down there said he let our lord lean a little further over said the cunning amat he will then see the most wonderful thing in the world the king bent further over and his wicked brother gave him a push that sent him headlong to the bottom he had now succeeded in all his plans he had reached the height of his ambitions but although he became king he was not happy he had trouble all the time it is true that he had his brother's riches that he rolled the royal elephants wore the royal robes and lived in the royal palace but he had trouble with his amats with his soldiers and his people and therefore instead of being happy as he expected he would be he was unhappy and miserable if he had only known what was happening in the jungle he would have been more anxious still his brother was not dead as he thought the fall to the bottom of the hole did not kill him and he was only a prisoner his followers had all gone back to the city with his wicked brother he called but called in vain he heard nothing but the echo of his own cries and he was about to give up in despair when it happened that the mighty lord sequia coming through the jungle heard the cries and inquired the cause the king did not know that this was the lord sequia but told him all that had happened lord sequia was very angry with the king's heartless brother and created at the bottom of the hole a lily of the kind that had a very long stock the king sat upon the blossom of the lily which then began to grow very rapidly and as it grew carried the king up towards the mouth of the hole as he gradually rose towards daylight he saw that a tree was growing at the very edge of the pit and that some of the branches hung over he saw also that a monkey was busily engaged in feeding on the leaves and fruit the lily of course made no noise as it pursued its upward path the king also kept quiet so as not to frighten the monkey and when he was near enough suddenly put forth his hand and caught it by the tail the monkey screamed and kicked fought and scratched but in vain the king held on and at last the monkey climbed down the tree taking the king with him and the ladder was speedily standing once more on solid ground and able to offer up his thanks to the mighty lord sequia the king was not long in reaching the city and when he arrived to his great sorrow he saw as he expected his ungrateful brother reigning while the people all sorrowed for their old king he determined to wait a while before he declared himself feeling that the lord sequia who had already once helped him win in trouble and danger would aid him in regaining his lost kingdom so he went into the poorest part of the city put on the poorest and most ragged clothes that he could find and sat near the gate of the city begging from whence he often saw his brother riding by in state one day the heralds came riding by and stood in the open space fronting the market where the gambling booths are and gave notice that the king had commanded that if anybody could bend the magic bow belonging to the late king his brother he was to be made the chief amat of the kingdom and receive many and great presence besides as may be imagined the next day there was a great crowd gathered together at the great gate of the palace waiting for the king at last out he came with all his ministers and followed by attendants bearing golden umbrellas behind him came a soldier carrying over his shoulder the magic bow which was placed at the king's feet the king called upon his soldiers to come and bend the bow and the strongest of them came forward but although they pulled and tugged tugged and strained they could not bend it then the people of the city or the king's people as they love to call themselves in contra distinction to the people who lived in the jungle villages tried but met with no better success than the soldiers they could not bend the bow the king then ordered the amat long to call the men from the jungle the very strongest coolies those who carried heavy burdens over the mountains came and answered to the king's summons although some of them could carry 50 soy over the highest mountain they could not draw the court a hands breath the king much disappointed was about to return to the palace when a beggar man approached and bowing at his feet said he was able to draw the bow and fire an arrow from it the king was angry at what he thought was the presumption of this beggar the soldiers derided him saying that the bravest of them could not draw the bow and how was a beggar to do it the coolies also asked him whether he could carry 50 soy over loy mark pal that was called the cloud mountain because its head was often in the clouds but the beggar asked to be allowed to try and the king gave orders that he should be given the bow at the same saying that he assuredly should be made amat long if he was successful but if he could not bend the bow he should be put to death immediately the beggar assented to these terms and seized the bow he took hold of the string and without any show of strength pulled it a hands breath and then as the king and his courtiers looked on in amazement he pulled it to its full length placed the string on the ivory trigger put an arrow on it and asked the king where he should shoot straight up in the air said the king the beggar raised the bow twang with the string and the arrow whizzed out of sight everybody stood looking up into the sky when suddenly one of the courtiers gave a warning cry it came too late the arrow had gone straight up turned and fell almost on the same spot from whence it was shot almost but not quite for in its fall it struck the upturned face of the king and he fell dead a great cry was raised and the king fell and the guards rushed forward to seize the beggar and lead him to immediate execution but he waved them off with a gesture of his hand the next instant his rags fell from him and he stood before them in the royal robes of a king thus we see that the younger brother although indeed he had not murdered his brother the king yet did kill him in his thoughts and intentions and he suffered the punishment that is always meted out to the man who kills his fellow end of chapter three chapter four of shan folklore stories from the hill and water country this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org Recording by David Brent Shan folklore stories from the hill and water country by William Charles Griggs the story of the princess Anang Kam Un there was once a king who reigned over one of the largest states in the hill and water country for a long time there had been war between him and the Sao Pa of the neighboring state but at last his soldiers had been successful and his enemies had been driven out of his possessions which had thereupon been added to his own a great feast had been given when his soldiers returned to their homes and he was now sitting with his queens and his seven daughters in the palace watching a performance given in honor of the victory he praised the actors for their skill and then asked his daughters whether they had enjoyed the performance they won and all assured him they had enjoyed it much and turning to them he continued that is right my daughters enjoy yourselves today and tomorrow and all through your lives you are the daughters of a mighty king and it is your luck to be happy and enjoy yourselves all your lives therefore again i say enjoy yourselves and be happy the eldest of the daughters who was a perfect courtier said oh our lord our luck is fortunate because it depends on that of the lord our father and who is so fortunate as he the king was very pleased with the flattery of his daughter and promised to grant any request she could make of him the youngest daughter however was young and foolish and had not yet learned the truth that in a king's presence it is not well always to say what one thinks and therefore she said to her sister your luck may depend on the luck of the lord our father but mine is my own and depends upon myself alone when the king heard this he was very angry that one of his daughters and she the youngest too should have the presumption to say that she depended for anything at all on any other than he and he determined to punish her for a long time he pondered on the best way to do this and at last he devised a plan which if severe was at least novel he called these amats to go throughout the whole land and search for the poorest man in all his kingdom and when they had found him they were to bring him to the palace and he would marry his youngest daughter to him and then he said we will see about luck after that day after day the heralds searched the land but they could not find a man poor enough to suit the king all who were brought before him acknowledged that they had something valuable either a little money a precious stone or a distant relative who was rich and from whom they could borrow a little if necessary a man of this description would not suit the angry king he wanted one poorer than that at last the arm of long a chief minister brought a man before him and said that he was the poorest in all the land his name was I do kata he was a wood seller in the bizarre who every day went into the jungle and picked up the dead branches of the trees that had fallen to the ground and brought them to the market every fifth day to sell so poor was he that he did not even own the sword that is the most inseparable companion of the shan and is used among other things to cut down the small trees that are left to dry for firewood so he had to be content to pick up the small branches that he found under the trees and got a proportionately small price when he carried his load into the bizarre when he appeared before the king his trousers were all fringed at the bottom where they had been torn by the thorns in the jungle his turban months before had been white but now it was deep gray it was only half its original length and was full of holes jacket he had none and when the king asked how many blankets he had upon his bed at home to keep him warm at night when the cold wind brought rain up the valley he answered sorrowfully not one our lord he had no relative except an old mother whom he was obliged to support and who was known throughout the district in which she lived as the woman with the bitterest tongue in all the land and when too sick to move from her mat she would yet fill the air with poisoned words the king was very pleased with his arm at long for finding i lucata and gave him a very fine horse's reward then he called his daughter took away all her fine clothes and married her to this poorest man in his realm and drove her out of the palace amid the jeers and taunts of the very people who before her disgrace had waited upon her every word and had done her bidding while they had trembled before her the king also took away her old name and commanded that in future she was to be known as nankam un which means the woman whose luck depends upon herself the house or rather hut to which i ducata took his bride was in the jungle it was only four bamboo poles stuck into the ground and covered with dry grass and bushes not even a sleeping mat was on the ground there was no floor and the chatty in which he cooked his rice had a hole in it and had to be set upon three stone sideways over the fire with the hole uppermost to prevent the water leaking and putting out the fire fortunately the girl's mother had helped her to smuggle out her birth stone which was a large valuable ruby and so she took it off her finger and gave it to her husband telling him to go and sell it and buy clothes and food for both of them i looked at the stone and said who will give me food and clothes for a little red stone like that we have no fools or mad men living here who do such a foolish thing as that for you must remember he had lived in the jungle all his life and had never heard of precious stones much less seen one till now his friends were just as ignorant of its value as he was he went from house to house in the little village near but all laughed at him till he became disgusted threw the stone away in the jungle and came home in a very ill humor with his wife for leading him such a wild goose chase and making him appear foolish in the eyes of the few people he knew his wife was in great distress when she found that he had thrown the ruby away and told her husband that if he had gone to the city and taken it to the jewelers instead of to the ignorant people in the jungle they would have given him in return enough money to keep them in food and clothing all hot season and build a new house into the bargain i looked at her and said indeed that is a thing good to marvel at why i know where there are cooly basket loads of such red stones in the dry bed of a river near where i gather sticks for firewood in the jungle waiting for anybody to carry them away and i never thought them worth the labor of taking to the bizarre the princess was full of joy when she heard this and the next morning they borrowed two coolly baskets from a man in the village bright and early they went to the riverbed and there even as i had said were basket loads of fine rubies they gathered them up carefully and buried most of them covering over the hole with a flat stone so that no one would discover they hoard and then the princess picking out a double handful of the largest and clearest ones sent them to her father the king when he saw the jewels instead of being pleased fell into a great passion called the unfortunate armoured lung into his presence and after rating him soundly deprived him of all his goods houses and lands deposed him from office and drove him from his presence as poor i himself had been i ordered you to call a poor man rod the king to the trembling man before him i said he was to have no goods or property at all and here the very next day he sends me a double handful of the very best rubies i ever saw in my life in vain the culprit assured the king that the day before i was certainly the poorest man in the whole kingdom and complained that the jewels must have been the work of some appear who he had unwittingly offended and who had therefore determined on ruin in revenge the king would listen to no excuse and the unhappy armoured was glad to crawl from his presence before resentment had carried him to the length of ordering his execution the very next night a wonderful golden deer entered the royal garden where the king was accustomed to sit when it became too warm in the palace and after doing an immense amount of mischief eating favorite flowers and otherwise destroying and ruining the garden it leaped over the fence and disappeared in the early morning fog just as the guards were arousing themselves from sleep it was in truth not a golden deer as the guards had told the king but a appear that had assumed this form but the king not knowing this ordered his heralds to go through the city immediately and call upon all inhabitants to come early next morning to help their lord catch it i was summoned with the rest of the people he had no horse but going to the city gate that day he saw that a race between horses belonging to the king was about to be run i was a good horseman and asked the head horse feeder of the king to let him ride one of the animals he rode and rode so well that he won the race and that official was so pleased with him that he promised to grant him any request in his power i asked for the privilege of riding the same horse at the hunt the next day and the request was readily granted and thus it happened that next morning when he went to the place appointed he rode a horse that was faster than any other there except the one the king himself rode the people were divided into four parties one towards the north one towards the south one east and one west the king stationed himself with the party at south and the armuts were at the north and when the deer was at last driven out of the jungle by the beaters it headed towards the king and dashed by him at great speed they appear that had taken the form of the deer wished to have some fun at the king's expense and therefore kept ahead just where the king could see him all the while sometimes but a cubit or two away from him and then when the country was open darting far in advance so swiftly that they go that in a few minutes the men on foot were left behind and after a while all except those upon the very fastest horses were distanced till at last only the king and i were left the latter but a little behind the king all day long the chase continued till just as the sun was setting and the man and horses were both exhausted the deer made straight for a precipice that appeared to block the path on each hand as far as the eye could reach the king was congratulating himself that the deer could not possibly escape now when he saw right before him an opening in the rock and the next instant the deer disappeared in the cave and the king was obliged to give up the chase for even if his horse could have carried him further which it could not the cave was so dark that nothing could be seen inside it the king fell from his horse almost dead with fatigue and managed to crawl under a wide spreading banyan tree that grew near the only other person there was i and he coming to the king massage his limbs till the tired monarch fell asleep after a while he awoke and i asked him to eat some rice he had prepared but the king said he was too tired to eat anything but at last he managed to eat a little sweet glutinous rice that the princess had cooked in a hollow piece of bamboo and given to her husband before he set out that morning the king was very grateful and asked i his name but the latter was afraid to tell what his real name was so as his mother years before had been in the habit of selling beetle nut in the bizarre he told the king that his name was sauboo or beetle nut seller the king was very pleased with him and promised him great rewards when they got back to the palace but in a few minutes he had dropped asleep again and i sat alone keeping guard it was very fortunate that he too did not go to sleep for as everyone knows the banyan is a sacred tree and this one was inhabited by her peer who was noted for being one of the cruelest most dreaded spirits in all the land i aroused the king and told him there was a her peer in the tree and begged him not to sleep there for it would assuredly kill them both before morning the king said wake me not trouble me not from my head to my feet i am nothing but aches and pains were i to move i should die i may as well die at the hands of the her peer so saying he fell asleep again and i did not dare to disturb him but watched all night long during the night i heard the her peer grumbling to himself several times and promising himself the pleasure of killing them on the morrow so he pretended to be asleep so that he could hear what the her peer said and if possible swat him these mortals have presumed to sleep under my tree he heard him say but it shall be the last time they sleep anywhere let me see he continued how shall i kill them which will be the best way ah i know early tomorrow when they get ready to leave i will break the tree in two and a top shall fall on them if however they escape i will soar through the supports of the first bridge so that it will break when they are in the middle and they will fall to the bottom of the valley below then if that should fail i will loosen the stones of the arch of the city gate so that it will fall on them as they pass underneath and if that does not kill them when the king arrives at his palace and being thirsty with his long ride calls for water i will change the water in the goblet to sharp needles that will stick in his throat and kill him if he does not drink the water however he will assuredly be very tired and will go to sleep immediately i will send an immense rat into his room and that will kill him without doubt having finished making his plans the hapeer left the tree and started the work of preparing the different traps for the mortals who had enraged his appear ship by daring to sleep under the tree and thus profane his home the king was frightened after death when he awoke next morning and found he had been sleeping all night under the tree of that special hapeer but i or sauboo as the king called him told him not to be frightened for he could save his life if the king would only follow his advice and do as he told him the king promised to follow his words implicitly and also promised unheard of rewards if he only helped him get to his palace in safety the first danger was the tree and so i got their horses ready and under the pretense of allowing them to eat grass before setting out on their journey he gradually worked them nearer and still nearer the edge of the tree and then with one bound they both galloped out from under it at the same instance there was a great crash and the whole top of the tree fell to the ground so near that it fall on them that the king's turban was torn from his head by one of the upper branches but beyond this no harm was done next instead of riding over the bridge they went along the bank a little distance and soon found a place where the hook was narrow and leaped their horses to the other side while they were jumping i threw a heavy stone he had brought with him on the bridge and the hapeer who fortunately was near sighted thinking it was the tread of the horses broke it down so that fell into the water 50 feet below but the king and his follower were safe on the other side the next danger was the city gate they walked their pony slowly as though they were very tired till they came within a cubit of the gate and then galloped through at the top of their speed and crash went the gateway behind them they were covered with dust but not hurt the king was very thankful to have arrived at his palace and being very thirsty with the journey and excitement as the cunning hapeer had expected called for a drink of water but here he could place the cup to his lips his faithful follower turned it upside down and instead of water out fell a couple of sharp needles and again the king's life was saved worn out with his ride he told his servants to prepare his room as he would sleep i called the chief guard and told him to have a lamp burning all night to take his sharp sword with him and guard the king carefully in the middle of the night when the tired king was sleeping soundly into the room came creeping slowly slowly the biggest rat ever seen it had long sharp teeth and wicked glaring eyes and made towards the king but the guard warned by eye was on the watch and just as the rat was about to spring at the king's throat the soldier with a sweep of his long sharp sword cut off its head and thus the king through the cleverness of one man escaped the last danger and could now live without fear the next morning the king called his heralds and bade them go into the city and summons our boot come to the palace to be rewarded they searched and called but searched and called in vain no man ever heard of a man by that name and the king was fast getting angry when the almonds told him that they personally had gone to every house except one and that was the house of eye the king in surprise ordered them to call his son-in-law he may be able to tell us something about him he observed i accordingly obeyed his summons but the king was more surprised yet when sai told him that saobu and himself were one and the same and that it was he who had rescued the king from so many dangers at first his father-in-law became angry and refused to believe him but i gave an account of everything that had happened from the time when the deer broke cover till the rat was killed by the guard and thus convinced the king of his truthfulness the king then made a great feast called all his ministers and generals together and made a proclamation that i in future should be amat long and should be king when he himself died thus did the princess prove that her luck really depended upon herself and not on the king and to today we say may your luck be as good as the lack of none come on end of chapter four chapter five of shaan folklore stories from the hillan water country this is a libervox recording all libervox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit libervox.org shaan folklore stories from the hillan water country by william charles griggs chapter five at the beginning of the world a hare tiger ox buffalo and horse became friends and lived together one day the tiger was out hunting when it being in the middle of the hot season the jungle caught fire and a strong wind blowing it was not long before the whole country was in flames the tiger fled but the fire followed never mind how fast he ran the flames followed him till he was in great fear of being burned alive as he was rushing along he saw the ox feeding on the other side of the river and called out to him oh friend ox you see the fire is following me wherever i go where is a place of refuge that i can escape the fire now close to the tiger was a jungle full of dried grass such as the shans used for thatching their houses and the ox replied go to the grass jungle yonder my brother and you will be safe but dried grass is the most inflammable thing in the whole hillan water country and so here not only did the flames follow the tiger but they ran ahead of him and threatened to engulf him on every side in great anger he roared at the ox false deceiver if ever i escape from this danger i will return and kill you but the ox only laughed at him and continued eating in desperation the tiger leaped over the flames and found himself near the horse oh friend horse he cried where can i go i am in great danger of being burned to death now it happened that once the tiger had been very rude to the horse and called him many bad names so now he thought this was a good opportunity to be revenged so he said yonder is a big bamboo jungle run to that and you are safe but the tiger found that the horse was also a false friend for the fire followed him speedily ignited the tall bamboos which burned fiercely and falling from above almost completely covering the poor beast at the beginning of the world the tiger was a beautiful yellow color but the bamboos falling all over him burned him in stripes and since that time his descendants have had long black stripes all over their coats when i have escaped from this yelled the angry tiger i will come back and kill you very good snare the horse and i will arch my neck so that you can get a good bite but this was said to deceive the tiger as the horse intended to lash out with his hind feet when the tiger came to fight him nevertheless from that day the necks of all horses have been arched and they cannot fight an enemy in front but are obliged to arch their necks lower their heads and kick from behind the tiger by this time tired to death and suffering from the burns of the bamboos saw the buffalo in a cost at him as he had his other friends oh good friend buffalo he cried i am in great danger of being burned alive the horse and the ox have not only deceived me but in following their advice i have arrived at a worse condition than before what can i do to be freed from this great danger the buffalo looked up from the cool river where he was enjoying a bath and taking compassion on him said if you will catch hold of my throat i will duck you in the river and so you shall escape from the danger that is following you so the tiger seized the good buffalo by the throat and was held under water till the fire had burned itself out the tiger was very grateful to the buffalo and made an agreement with him that from that time no tiger should ever kill a buffalo and it is only the very worst tigers those that kill men that ever kill a buffalo and the tigers that are guilty of killing buffaloes are sure to be killed themselves sooner or later the tiger held so fast to the buffalo that when the ladder came out of the water his throat and neck were all white and buffalos all have that mark on their necks and throats till this very day the tiger was so cold after his bath that he shook and shivered as though he had fever and seeing a little house made of dried grass a short distance off he went to it and found that her hair was living there good friend said the tiger i am so cold i am afraid i shall die will you take compassion on me and allow me to rest in your house and get warm before i return home come in our lord said the hair if our lord deans to honor my poor house with his presence he will confer a favor that his slave will never forget the tiger was only too glad to go into the hair's house and the ladder immediately made room for him by sitting on the roof soon the tiger heard click click click and he called out oh friend hair what are you doing up there on the roof of your house now the hair was really at that moment striking fire with his flint and steel but she deceived the tiger and said it is very cold up here and our lord's slave was shivering but the next moment the spark struck the dried grass and the roof and the house were soon in flames the tiger dashed out just in time and turned in a rage on his little host but the hair was far away having jumped at the same moment that the spark set fire to the roof of the house the tiger gave chase but after a while he saw the hair sitting down and watching something intently so he asked what are you looking at this is a fine seat belonging to the ruler of the hairs returned she i would like to sit on it said the tiger well said the hair wait till i can go and ask our lord to give you permission all right i will watch till you come back and will not kill you as i intended doing if you get me permission to sit on it said the tiger now this was not a chair at all but some hard sharp stones that the hair had covered with mud and shaped with his paws to deceive the tiger the hair ran off at a long distance and pretended to talk with someone and then called out the lord of the chair says our lord the tiger may sit if he throws himself down upon it with all his might this is our custom the tiger flung himself upon what he thought was the chair with all his might but the soft mud gave way and he fell upon the stones underneath and hurt his paws badly he therefore sprang up and vowed vengeance on the hair that he could just see far off in the distance by and by as the hair was running along she saw a large wasps nest hanging from the branch of a tree so she sat down and watched it intently when the tiger came up he was so curious to know what the hair was looking at so intently that he did not kill her but instead asked her what she was looking at the hair showed the tiger the wasps nest on the tree and said this is the finest gong in all of the hill in water country i would like to beat it said the tiger just wait a minute return the hair and i will go to the lord of the gong and ask permission for you to beat it the hair ran till she was far away in the jungle and then at the top of her voice called out if you wish to beat the gong the lord of the gong says you must strike it as hard as you can with your head that is his custom the tiger butted at the nest with all his might and made a big jagged rent in its side and out flew the angry wasps in swarms completely covering the poor tiger who with a dreadful yell of pain tore away from his tormentors his face was all swollen and from that day till the present the face of tigers have all been wide and flat again he chased the hair and when the smart from the stings of the wasps had subsided a little he found to his great joy that he was gaining on his enemy fast the hair on her part saw that the tiger was soon catcher and looked around for some means of escape and spied just before her a snake half in and half out of its hole the hair stopped as before and sat gazing at the snake so intently that the tiger instead of killing her as he intended to do asked her what it was in the hole this return the hair is a wonderful flute that only kings and nobles are allowed to play would our lord like to play indeed i would set the tiger but where is the lord of this wonderful flute whom shall i ask for permission if our lord watches right here set the cunning hair his slave will go to the lord of the flute and ask permission and the tiger well content sat down to wait again the cunning hair deceived the tiger by pretending to ask permission and when a long distance off he called as before our lord has permission to play the flute let him put it in his mouth and blow with all his might this is the custom of the lord of the flute the foolish tiger immediately took the snake's head into his mouth but the sound that followed came from the tiger not from the flute and a terrible yell he gave as the snake bit his mouth but the hair was far away and would soon have been safe but for an looked for accident that nearly ended her life the people who lived in that part of the hill and water country were at war with the state that joined them on the north and thinking that the soldiers of the enemy would soon invade their country they had made a trap in the middle of the path over which the hair was running first they dug a hole so deep that should anybody fall in it would be impossible to climb out again the sides of the pit were dug on a slant so that the opening was smaller than the bottom over the top they had placed thin strips of bamboo that would break if any extra weight came upon them and they had covered the hole with grass and leaves so that no traveler would know that a trap was there into this hole fell the poor little hair presently the tiger came up to see where the hair had gone and when he saw the hole in the middle of the path he called out where are you friend hair and the hair from the bottom of the trap called out I have fallen into a trap then the tiger sat on the ground and just bent double with laughter to think that last he had the hair and his power but the little animal down in the hole although she did not say anything thought harder in a few minutes than the tiger had in all his life by and by as she looked up through the hole she had made in the roof she saw that the sky overhead was getting darker and darker as a storm was coming on so in great glee although she pretended to be very much frightened she called out as loudly as ever she could our lord tiger our lord tiger at first the tiger did not answer so the hair then called does not our lord see the great danger approaching let our lord look at the sky the tiger looked up and saw the dark clouds coming slowly slowly on covering the whole sky his laughter stopped and he soon began to get very frightened after a while when it had become still darker he called to the hair oh friend what is the matter with the sky what is going to happen then the hair replied our lord the sky has fallen where you see it is dark this is far away but in a few minutes it will fall here and everybody will be crushed to death the foolish tiger was now frightened half to death and called to the hair oh friend i have treated you badly and tried to kill you do not be angry and take revenge on me but take compassion on my terrible condition and graciously tell me how to escape this danger and i swear that i will never try to harm you more it was the hair's turn to laugh now but she only laughed quietly to herself for she was afraid the tiger would hear her then she said down here our lord's slave is quite safe if our lord descends he too will be safe and before the hair had hardly finished the cowardly tiger made a jump for the hole the hair had made and joined her at the bottom of the trap but the hair was not out yet and she began to plan how she could get out herself and yet keep the tiger in at last a happy thought struck her she sidled up to the tiger and began to tickle him in the ribs the tiger squirmed and twisted first one way and then the other first to one side and then to the other at last he could stand it no longer and catching the hair he threw her out of the trap and she landed on solid ground as soon as the hair found she was safe she began to call at the top of her voice oh men come come i the hair have deceived the tiger and he is at the bottom of the trap oh men come i the hair call you bring your spears and guns bring your swords and kill the tiger that i have tricked into entering the trap at first the men did not believe the hair for they did not think that an animal so small as the hair could deceive the tiger but then they also knew that the hair was very clever and had much wisdom so they brought their spears and their guns and their swords and their sticks and killed the tiger in the trap thus did the hair prove that though small she was full of wisdom and although the tiger was bigger stronger and fiercer than she yet she through her wisdom was able to kill him end of chapter five