Chau Chak Smok

Khmer Folktales

There was a man called CHAU CHAK SMOK whose name means the man who weaves boxes with palm leaves. One day he went to weave boxes at the top of the palm tree. He cut strips of the leaves and then he planned to make the boxes. While he wove the boxes, he thought " When I make a lot of boxes, I will sell them to the store, then I shall buy a hen. Later the hen will give chickens, then I will sell the chickens. So I will get five hundred riels. With, this, I will buy a pig.

When the pig has young ones, I will sell them, I will thus earn two hundred riels, then I will buy a colt. When I sell it, I will make a lot of money, about two or three hundred riels, then I will buy fields and cultivate them. When the field crops, I will sell them and I will have a good deal of money, then I will find a pretty girl to be my wife. Later I will became a rich man and I will buy slaves to toke care of my children. When my slaves cannot take care of my children I will hit them. "

While the man was daydreaming, he kicked at the palm leaves. The leaf was broken so the man fell, but he caught himself under the palm leaves. When the wind blew, he swung like a swing, but he could not climb up to the top of the tree. Meanwhile, there was a man who rode on an elephant coming near the palm tree, then Chau Chak Smok asked the man for help " Please save me. Please take me down. I will serve you all my life. "

When the elephant-driver brought the elephant to the palm tree, he stood up on the elephant's back, his toes seemed to let the elephant go, so the elephant-driver was hanging under the man, then the elephant-driver begged the man not to let go of the palm leaf and he said " Please do not let go of the leaf and I will be your servant all my life. "

The man's hands were very weary, then he told the elephant-driver to let go of his legs, but the elephant-driver did not let go, and then he said again " If you do not let go of my legs, I will fall from the leaf and drop my body on your and kill you. " The elephant-driver begged the man to hold the leaf very strongly, and he said " I fear to let go and drop my body down. Please hold on. If you save my life, I will be your servant. "

While they spoke to each other, there were four bald men who came by that way, and brought a large net. When the men who swung under the palm branch saw them come by, they called for help, but they told the two men " How can we help you down, because you are swinging below each other " then they begged them to help and said " If you save us, we will serve you all our life. Please spread your net and tie it around your necks, and we will drop in the net. "

The four bald men spread the net in a square, then they said " Please drop one after one. " But the men did not drop one after one, they dropped at the same time into the net, so the four bald men were dragged to hit each other's heads and crushed their skulls.

When the two men were saved, they saw four bald men die, then they discussed with each other about burning them, but one said " If we burn them at the same time, some one will think that we killed the men, and the government will put us in jail. So we had better bury them, and we will pardon them, because they died for us. "

resource: http://www.gocambodia.com/Cambodian_folktales/golden_fish.asp

The Golden Fish

khmer folktales

One there were an old man and an old woman. They were very poor. Their cottage was on the seashore. They were fishermen by profession. One day, the old man with his fishing-net on his shoulder went down to the sea. He threw his net into the sea but he caught no fish. Again he threw the net but there was no difference. On the third time, when he dragged out the net, he found in it a fish of golden color and because of this he called it " The golden-fish. " " Have pity on me, good old man. " said the golden fish, " put me into the sea. I'll offer you something valuable. " The old man was surprised at the fish's words. He did never see any fish that could speak like a man. Now he saw this strange fish which could speak the human language. So he lifted it up carefully and said " May god be with you, Oh golden fish, I want to have nothing from you. " On saying this, he threw the golden fish back into the water with the words, " Swim away with joy! " On that day, the old man had nothing for his wife. He went back to his cottage and told his wife of all that had happened.

" How foolish! " exclaimed the old woman, " Why didn't you beg something from it? Our two water pots are very old, why didn't you ask it to give us new ones? " The old man said nothing. He just went back to the sea and called out very loudly, " Oh golden fish! I come to meet you. " He called out and at last the golden fish came to him " What do you want from me, good old man? " asked the fish. " My wife is very angry with me, now she asks me to come here for a pair of new water pots from you. " said the old man. " Do not get worried, good old man. " said the golden fish, " God will give you a new pair of water posts, go back to your house, please. " Saying this, the fish was out of sight, and the old man returned to his cottage. He saw a new pair of water pots in his house, but the old woman was still unhappy. She was a bad-tempered woman. She therefore said to him angrily " What a stupid man you are! What's the use of these wooden pots? " And she went on, " Go to the fish again and ask for a house, because our house is too old to live in. "

The old man had nothing to reply. He went wearily back to the sea. This time the water of the sea became rather dirty. As before, he called out again and again until at last the fish came to him and said " What's the matter with you, good old man? " " My wife is still angry with me. " said the old man " and now she forces me to ask for a house. " " Don't trouble yourself! " said the golden fish " Return to your house, god will give you what you want. " The old man was very happy. He went back to his house. There he saw no cottage but a large building instead. In it, there were many rooms. It was a building made with bricks, surrounded by tall tree and a lawn and a park. The old woman was sitting near a window.

From that window, she looked at the old man who was wearily approaching the building " You, the dirty beast, " she said to the old man when he came near, " why did you ask for such a bad building? Go back to the fish again and ask it to change me into a charming young rich lady! "

Again the poor old man could not refuse. He moved back to the fish. This time the water turned dirtier. The fish came to him and asked " what is the matter with you, good old man? " " Pardon me please, " said the old man, " my wife wants to be a charming young rich lady. " " Never mind, good old man. " said the golden fish, " God will make her a charming and rich young lady, just go back to your house with joy! " As the old man arrived at his house, he saw that a palace arose at the site of the building. In the inner room, he could see his wife who was now young in fine and costly clothes sitting in the middle of servants. On her fingers she wore rings adorned with diamonds. Her shoes were shining. The old man approaching her said, " Good morning lady, are you now satisfies with these things? " But the young rich lady frowned and shouted at him, " Go to work in the stable, do not come here " and the old man went to the stable. Two weeks later, the young rich lady had a new desire, she again said to the old man " My dear " she began, " go to the golden fish again and ask it to change me into a powerful queen "

Being afraid, the old man said to her respectfully " Do not want to be so, please, you are from a humble family, why do you want to get such a high position? Are you not ashamed of villagers? Limit your desire, my lady! " But the cruel young lady became more angry. She thundered " Who are you? Don't you know that I am now a rich woman? " And she ordered him, " Go at once to the fish, otherwise I shall use my power! "

The poor old man fearing his wife returned to the sea. This time the water turned dark and the golden fish, " God will help her. " On that very moment, the young rough lady became a queen. A splendid palace with all kinds of pomp and amusement was in her possession.

" Are you now happy with your high position? " asked the old man. But the young cruel queen did not give him even a look. Ten minutes later, he was driven away by servants. Some of them said unkindly to him " You deserve this for your behavior, you have to know that you and our queen are not equal in position. "

The old man ran away. But after two weeks, the queen had another new desire. She asked one of her servant to look for the old man. Then the old man was brought in front of of the queen who said to him " My dear, go to the golden fish again and ask it to change me into the queen of the sea so that I can be a mistress of the golden fish itself. "

The old man did not deny her command. He went to the sea and called the fish. This time the sea was in great waves. The storm was going on. The water became very dark. After some time, the golden fish approached him. And the old man told it what his wife had asked him to say. On hearing that, the golden fish uttered no word. It turned away with its head down into the sea.

The old man waited for it. He waited and waited, but he saw no fish coming back to him. Finally he returned to his wife. But alas! There he saw no palace no queen and no servant, he saw his old cottage with a pair of broken water post under it. And he saw also his own poor old wife sitting near them.

resource: http://www.gocambodia.com/Cambodian_folktales/golden_fish.asp

Folk Tale 1: Why the oxen do not have upper front teeth and the tiger has black stripes

khmer folktales

Once upon a time, there was a tiger who left the forest to look for food. At the edge of the forest, he was surprised to see a farmer whipping his oxen while plowing the fields. This made the tiger curious, so he waited and watched. When the farmer released his oxen to gaze on grass during his lunch break, the tiger took the opportunity to approach them and asked: “Brother Oxen, I am curious why you let that man beat you while you work very hard for him. Why don’t you kick him and run away and be free like me?” “Oh no, Brother Tiger,” responded the oxen, “the human being has his intelligence, which he can use to make us do what he wants.” “What is this ‘intelligence’?” asked the tiger. “We cannot explain. You have to ask him yourself,” replied the oxen.

The tiger, considering himself the most powerful animal on earth, impatiently went to the man and arrogantly ordered: “Farmer, show me your intelligence; otherwise, I will bite your head off.” The farmer calmly responded, “Oh Brother Tiger, in coming to work in the field, I left my intelligence at home.” “Go and get it then,” demanded the tiger. “No I won’t, because you will eat my oxen,” said the famer. “No I will not,” the tiger assured him. But the farmer maintained, “I don’t believe you.” “What do you want me to do to make you trust me?” asked the tiger. The famer replied, “I have to tie you up.” The tiger agreed saying, “Okay, do it and go fast to get me your intelligence.”

The farmer tied the tiger as tightly as he could. Instead of going home, however, he collected dead leaves and branches, piled them up on the tiger and burned them. The tiger screamed in pain. The oxen laughed and laughed, pointing to the tiger with their front legs and exclaimed: “We warned you, he has his intelligence!” They laughed until they fell down and hit the ground with their mouths and broke all their upper front teeth, which have never grew back. The tiger screamed until the rope burned up and broke. He then escaped back into the forest. The burning parts gave him black stripes forever.

resource: http://www.khmerinstitute.org/culture/folktales.html