Fouta Saepharn
Once upon a time, a man married a second wife after his first wife died. The second wife disliked the first wife’s son and didn’t want to raise him. She wanted to get rid of him. In the olden time people were cruel. The second wife wanted her husband to abandon his son. The husband felt he had no choice, so he took a hoe and some rice and set off for the jungle to get rid of him.
He took his son into the deep jungle. After they had traveled a while, the father asked, “Son, have you been here before?“
The son replied, “Yes, I came here to gather firewood with Mother.”
They continued to go deeper into the jungle. After a while, the father asked again, “Son, have you been here before?”
The son replied, “Yes, I came here to gather banana trees and grasses.” They continued on further into the deep jungle, and the father asked his son, “Have you been here before?”
The son answered, “No, I’ve never been here before. I don’t know this place.”
They came to a river, and the father said they were going to stop there to build a hut to stay in for the night. The father told his son to go get some water. He cut a section of bamboo to hold the water, but he made a hole in the bottom.
While the son was getting the water, the father quickly finished building the hut and ran home.
Meanwhile, his son couldn’t fill up the bamboo tube. As he tried to fill the tube, a crow called to him, “You can’t fill up the tube because there’s a hole in the bottom. You need to get some leaves to stop up the hole. Your father has fled home already and left you here alone.”
The son looked at the bottom of the bamboo tube and found there really was a hole. Following the crow’s advice, he stopped up the hole, filled the tube with water, and quickly ran back to the hut. There was no one there. He found only a packet of rice and a hoe.
After the boy finished eating the rice, there was nothing else to eat. With the hoe he began to dig in the jungle for tubers for food. Year after year he suffered trying to survive by eating only tubers. As the years went by and he became older, he remained lonely and sad.
One night as he was returning from digging tubers, he watched the stars coming out. He saw a very bright star that appeared to be very close to the ground.
Feeling lonely and sad, he said, “I am so miserable. I wish that star would come down to keep me company.”
After he said that, he continued on home and went to sleep. The next day, he went off to dig tubers again. On his way home that night, he saw a beautiful girl standing in his path.
He was embarrassed to pass by the girl. But the girl said to him, “You said that I should come to keep you company.”
Suddenly, he remembered his wish of the night before and thought that maybe an angel had come down to stay with him. He decided to approach her. He took her with him to his hut where they spent the night together.
The next day, the girl led him up a hill to another part of the jungle. They climbed the mountain all the way to the top. As night was falling, the girl said, “It is getting dark, let’s spend the night here.”
He agreed to stay there for the night, so they built a little hut. After they had settled down, the girl told him, “Tonight when you hear thunder and lightning, don’t open your eyes.”
As they went to bed, the thunder began to roar and lightning began to strike. So the girl took a piece of cloth to help him cover his eyes. After the thunder had roared and lightning had flashed for a while, he became terrified so he peeked out.
When he peeked out the lightning almost struck his eyes. So he covered his eyes again and laid there listening to the thunder and rain. When morning came, the thunderstorm had stopped. And when he opened his eyes, he found himself inside a huge mansion with all kinds of gold and silver tables, cups, chairs, and other things. Horses, cows, pigs, and other domestic animals were in the barns.
In three days his chickens and geese began to respond to the calls of the chickens and geese on his father’s farm. And when his father’s horses called, his horses answered back.
After a few days, his father became curious. He wondered who had suddenly become so wealthy that they could revive him. He took his cane and went to find out.
When he arrived he saw a huge, shiny mansion. As he came to the door, the son and daughter-in-law greeted him, “Father, you’ve come! Please come in the house.”
When the father entered, the son asked, “Father, what kind of food do you want to eat? Would you like pig or chicken or something else?”
The father replied, “I’m not a very good father. Any kind of food is fine.”
The daughter-in-law went to get a big pig. They prepared a feast for him with wine and food. The father stayed there overnight and listened to the story of their hardships.
In the morning when the father was about to return home, they asked, “Father what kind of horse do you want to ride home on?”
The father replied, “I’m not such a good father. Any kind of horse is fine.” The daughter-in-law went to prepare a big strong horse for him to ride home.
When he arrived home, his wife asked, “Oh, you old man, what has happened to you? How did you become so rich? Who gave you the horse?”
The husband responded, “You! You’re a vicious woman. You tricked me into abandoning my good son! Now, you go and see if you can face him and his wife!”
Unashamed, she said, “Oh! I want to go see them, too.”
The next day, she went to visit her step-son’s family. When she arrived, the daughter-in-law greeted her, “Oh, Mother, come in.
When she entered the house the daughter-in-law asked, “Mother, what kind of food do you want to eat?”
The mother-in-law answered, “Oh! I want to eat a big, fat pig.”
The daughter-in-law killed a skinny little pig to feed her.
The next morning when she was about to go home, they asked, “Mother, what kind of horse do you want to ride home on?”
She said, “I want to ride a big, strong horse.” The daughter-in-law prepared a skinny, little horse for her to ride home. They also wrapped some rice for her to take.
They instructed her, “Mother, don’t eat the rice until you come to the rest area on the big road where many people stop. Don’t tie your horse to anything except your toe or else it might run away.”
When she finally came to the resting place on the big road, she decided to eat her lunch. She tied the horse to her toe and opened her packet of rice. When she opened it, instead of rice, bees flew out. The bees stung her and the horse. The horse started to run, dragging her along. She was bruised all over her body. When she finally arrived home, she was so ashamed she said nothing about it to her husband.