New York Chicago Toronto
Fleming H. Revell Company
Publishers of Evangelical Literature

Copyright, 1899
by
FLEMING H. REVELL COMPANY

Introduction

These Folk-Tales from the Laos country, a part of the kingdom of Siam, in addition to their intrinsic merit have the charm of complete novelty. Until the translator of this volume collected these stories, they were even unwritten, with a single exception which was found in a Laos manuscript. They are orally preserved in the provinces which constitute the Laos country, just as they have been handed down from generations of ancestors, with slight variations in words or incidents. The elders among the people tell the stories at their merrymakings around the camp-fires and within their primitive houses, to amuse and instruct the youth and children.

Living among the Laos in the friendly and intimate relation of a missionary, the translator has had the advantage of long residence and unrivalled opportunity for understanding the history, customs, religious ideas and aspirations of this interesting people. Aptness in use of their colloquial speech gave her special facility for gathering the stories with exactness, as they [6 ] fell from the lips of the narrators in her hearing; and for the delicate additional task of translating them into English. The scholar, who is a student of the world’s Folk-Lore, may be assured that he has here, the Laos tales unobscured, just as they are told to-day.

Reflecting, as they do, thoughts, desires and hopes common to our humanity, these stories at the same time exhibit, in a pathetic way, the need in Laos of the uplifting and transforming power of the Christian religion.

Willis G. Craig.

McCormick Theological Seminary,
Chicago.

Contents

PAGE
I. [Tales of the Jungle][13]
1 [A Child of the Woods][15]
2 [The Enchanted Mountain][17]
3 [The Spirit-Guarded Cave][20]
4 [The Mountain Spirits and the Stone Mortars][23]
II. [Fables from the Forest][25]
1 [Right and Might][27]
2 [Why the Lip of the Elephant Droops][29]
3 [How a Dead Tiger Killed the Princess][32]
4 [The Monkeys and the Crabs][33]
III. [Nature’s Riddles and their Answers][35]
1 [The Man in the Moon][37]
2 [The Origin of Lightning][38]
3 [Why the Parrot and the Minor Bird but Echo the Words of Man][41]
4 [The Fatherless Birds][44]
IV. [Romance and Tragedy][47]
1 [The Lovers’ Leap][49]
2 [The Faithful Husband][51]
3 [The Faithful Wife][57]
4 [An Unexpected Issue][60]
V. [Temples and Priests][63]
1 [The Giants’ Mountain and the Temple][65]
2 [Cheating the Priest][67]
3 [The Disappointed Priest][69]
4 [The Greedy Priest][71]
5 [The Ambitious Priest][73]
[8 ]VI. [Moderation and Greed][75]
1 [The Wizard and the Beggar][77]
2 [A Covetous Neighbor][80]
3 [A Lazy Man’s Plot][83]
4 [The Ungrateful Fisherman][84]
5 [The Legend of the Rice][85]
VII. [Parables and Proverbs][87]
1 [“One Woman, in Deceit and Craft, is More than a Match for Eight Men”][89]
2 [“The Wisest Man of a Small Village is Not Equal in Wisdom to a Boy of the City Streets”][93]
3 [“To Aid Beast is Merit; to Aid Man is But Vanity”][95]
VIII. [The Gods Know and the Gods Reward][99]
1 [Love’s Secrets][101]
2 [Poison-Mouth][103]
3 [Strife and Peace][105]
4 [The Widow’s Punishment][107]
5 [Honesty Rewarded][109]
6 [The Justice of In Ta Pome][111]
IX. [Wonders of Wisdom][113]
1 [The Words of Untold Value][115]
2 [A Wise Philosopher][119]
3 [The Boys Who Were Not Appreciated][122]
4 [The Magic Well][126]
X. [Strange Fortunes of Strange People][129]
1 [The Fortunes of Ai Powlo][131]
2 [The Fortunes of a Lazy Beggar][135]
3 [The Misfortunes of Paw Yan][139]
4 [An Unfortunate Shot][141]
[9 ]XI. [Stories Gone Astray][143]
1 [The Blind Man][145]
2 [“Heads, I Win. Tails, You Lose”][148]
3 [The Great Boaster][149]
4 [A Clever Thief][151]
5 [Eyeless-Needle, Rotten-Egg, Rotten-Banana, Old-Fish and Broken-Pestle][152]