Wednesday, March 13, 2019

Reading Notes - Laos: To Aid a Beast, Extra Credit Reading B


·      A hunter is walking in the jungle when he encounters a man trapped in a pit
o   The man, the head chow’s goldsmith, asks the hunter to help him escape. If he does, then the goldsmith will always remember his kindness, and he offers his assistance for anything he might need in the future
·      The hunter then finds a tiger that was caught in a snare intended for an elephant
o   The tiger says, “if you ever need help, just call me and I will come”
·      The hunger then finds a snake trapped in a well
o   The snake also offers his assistance in the future whenever the hunter may need it
·      Unbeknownst to the hunter, the tiger killed the chow’s child after being freed by the hunter
·      The hunter wanted to see if the tiger would hold true to his word, so he called him in the forest
o   The tiger gave the hunter a long golden chain
·      The hunter went to sell the chain at the goldsmiths (the one he saved), and the goldsmith recognized the chain and proclaimed that the hunter is the one who killed the chow’s child
·      The goldsmith had his men apprehend the hunter, and he took him to the chow so that he could collect the reward
·      The chow told the hunter that he would die tomorrow, and the hunter begged for seven day’s respite, which was granted
·      The hunter then called on the snake
o   The snake brought the hunter a medicine to cure blindness, and then the snake put his venom in the eyes of the chow’s wife, which caused her to go blind
·      The chow searched for someone to cure his wife’s blindness
·      The chow heard of the hunter’s aptitude with herbs and medicine so he sent for the hunter
·      The hunter gave the wife the medicine that the snake gave him and cured her
·      The chow wanted to reward the hunter, and the hunter tells him how he got the chain, the medicine the serpent gave him for helping it, and of the goldsmith, who forgot the good deed the hunter did for him and accused the hunter so he could get a reward
o   Upon hearing the truth, the chow put the goldsmith to death and gave half of his province to the hunter 

Tiger. Source: Wikipedia.

Bibliography: This story can be found here. Story source: Laos Folk-Lore by Katherine Neville Fleeson, with photographs by W.A. Briggs (1899).


 

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