PART THREE
BUDDHIST TALES
IN THE LIFE OF A QUAIL
This story is about a time when Buddha was living the life of a quail, very safe in a nest under the protection of his quail parents. Being very young, he had not fully developed his wings and could not fly at that time. His parents brought him food from far away.
One day, the forest where they were living caught fire. Sadly, his parents flew away without saving him. If they had tried to save him, they all would have died as the fire spread rapidly.
So he was left alone, trembling with fear. Buddha thought about what he should do. At last, he uttered a true saying recognising that he was without fully grown wings and that’s why his parents could not help him.
As soon as he had spoken these words, the fire became less strong and finally went out before reaching the nest.
By reading this story, we learn that if anybody has difficulty, they can start to solve a problem by recognising the truth.
DURING A PAST LIFE OF BUDDHA
-
A LESSON
Once there was a deep forest where many wild animals lived. Among them were monkeys ruled by a monkey king.
One day a hunter came to the forest to catch some animals. On arrival, there was heavy rain and strong winds. He felt troubled.
At that moment, the king of the monkeys found him and rescued him. It helped the hunter and showed him how to go to his village. However, on the way, the ungrateful hunter tried to kill the monkey. The benevolent monkey still showed the hunter the way to the village.
As the hunter reached the village, he sank into some soft earth and was trapped.
We should not forget our benefactors who do so much to help. The hunter did not appreciate the kindness of the monkey king.
PART FOUR
TALES OF
BURMESE TRADITIONAL
WAYS
THE FARMER AND HIS SONS
There was once a farmer who was close to death. He had worked hard in his vineyard all his life. Before he died, he wanted to teach his three sons how to be good farmers and called them to his bedside and said, ‘My sons, I have an important secret to share with you. There is a buried treasure in the vineyard. Promise me that you will look for it when I am dead.’
The sons gave their promise and as soon as their father had passed away, they began looking for the treasure. They worked hard under the scorching sun imagining there was gold, diamonds and other treasure. Soon they had dug up every inch of the land but found nothing. They felt very upset.
A few months later, however, grapes started to appear on the vines and were of the highest quality in the neighbourhood. The sons sold them for a lot of money. It was only then that the sons understood what their father had meant by treasure; they lived happily ever after.
A SAD FATE
Long, long ago there was a very poor family in a village. The young son was called Pay Too. His friends were very rich and could afford a good education, unlike himself.
One day, he saw a crane find a fish and catch it in its mouth. He did the same as the bird using a spear and catching a fish in his mouth. He became very proficient at this and also at catching other objects.
The king heard about this and called the boy to his palace and asked, ‘Who taught you this?’
Pay Too replied that he had no teacher as such not wanting to reveal that his teacher was a bird.
The next time he tried to catch a fish in this way at the request of the king, he failed as he worried about his dishonesty. He suffered an accident with the spear.
The king thought he had been lying. Therefore, Pay Too suffered a sad fate for not telling the king the truth and showing respect to his teacher.
‘FRIENDS’
There was once a farmer who had four sons. These sons, sadly, fought each other daily. Their mother had passed away and they had become very naughty; their father had to work hard and had no time to discipline his sons.
For a long time there was no family unity and there was great unhappiness as a result. Furthermore, the sons did not want to work hard. Their father worried about their future when he would no longer be with them.
‘All of my sons, come here! Now I am old, I may die at any time. It is important that you carry out what I say to you. Pick up some firewood and break it up. I will do the same. Guess why I am asking you to do this.’
They carried out their father’s wish and found that the individual pieces of firewood broke easily.
Afterwards, their father bound five pieces of firewood together with bamboo strips. None of them could break up the firewood.
The father urged his sons saying, ‘I want you to be strong and stay friends like this.’
The sons understood what this symbolised and promised to live in unity. They all lived happily ever after.
A DISRESPECTFUL DAUGHTER
In Ywarlaeywar in Burma, the villagers are farmers and they are known to be honest, hardworking, and helpful to each other.
U Mya Aung’s family lived in the centre of the village. He had a beautiful daughter called Tin Mya. She was intelligent and mostly good-natured though she could sometimes be rude to her parents. She refused to help at home and was only interested in eating and her looks. In fact she was rather spoilt, having everything done for her. If something was not to her liking such as a meal, she would insult her mother.
When her father became ill, her mother asked her to take care of him. She spoke rudely to her mother and in anger, her mother slapped her face.
Tin Mya ran away outside the village to an unfamiliar place. Suddenly, she felt her feet sinking into the ground into some marshland. There was nobody to help and she waited for someone to pass by.
One should show respect where due, especially to elders.
PART FIVE
CURIOUS TALES
AN INTELLIGENT BOY
Long, long ago there was a young man who lived in a village working as a merchant.
One day, he went to town riding his horse. When reaching the town’s gate he came across a beggar. ‘I would like to follow you into town,’ said the beggar. Taking pity on him, the young man agreed.
When entering the town, the beggar refused to climb down from the horse. To the surprise of the young man, the beggar said, ‘This is my horse.’ They argued with each other.
Finally, they went to the town nobelman and asked him to decide whose horse it was. He could not decide, so the young man suggested asking the beggar a question, ‘Which eye of your horse is not healthy?’
The beggar replied, ‘The left eye is not good.’
However, it was a trick question as both eyes were healthy! The nobleman then knew who the liar was, taking him off to prison.
THE MIRROR
Once there was a married couple who lived in a village where they grew rice. The husband was called Nakar and his wife was known as Mayar.
One day, when Nakar was going to the rice field he found a mirror and picked it up. He saw his reflection in it and thought it could be his father, not knowing what a mirror was. When he arrived home, he kept the mirror in a box. Each time he looked at it, he cried. His wife was curious to know why.
She opened the box while he was away and saw her reflection. ‘Oh, this may be a picture of his next wife,’ she uttered.
When a monk visited their home, he asked them why they were arguing.
Mayar said, ‘He will have a new wife.’
Nakar replied, ‘No, it is my father’s picture.’
The monk looked in the mirror and on seeing his reflection said, ‘Oh! It is our abbot’s picture; he died last year. I want to take this to the monastery.’
Nakar and Mayar remained silent wondering about this curious experience.
THE BLIND BOY
Once there was a small village in which a young man who had been blind from birth lived. When he grew up, he wanted to do something beneficial for his parents as well as for the village. So he asked his father for advi
ce.
His father said, ‘You cannot work in the paddy fields. You can, however, get up at dawn to awaken the villagers. Go to the main road and call out, ‘Villagers, the dawn has come, wake up! It’s time to go to the fields.’
The boy asked, ‘Yes, father, but what is the dawn?’
The father explained, ‘Dawn is when the sky is red like the colour of a parrot’s beak.’
But the boy had never been able to see the red skies at dawn.
Early next morning, he went to the main road of the village to awaken the villagers, and shouted out, ‘Wake up all villagers, the dawn has come; let us go to the fields!’
The boy did well and was happy to be given this duty.
….AND FINALLY,
A UNIVERSAL FOLKTALE …
THE TORTOISE AND THE HARE
Once upon a time, there were many animals that lived in a forest. Amongst them were a hare and a tortoise who were good friends.
One day, the hare said to the tortoise, ‘I want to compete with you, let’s have a race. Do you agree?’
‘Yes, okay,’ replied the tortoise.
The following morning, they started the race and as expected, the hare was far ahead. ‘I can sleep now for a few minutes,’ thought the hare.
The tortoise kept on going, slow yet steady while the proud hare slept on. To everyone’s surprise, the tortoise reached the winning post and came first in the race winning a grand prize. There was a loud cheer for the diligent and humble tortoise.
ຈົບ
END
HOW THIS BOOK HELPS
The teachers and pupils who have contributed to this collection of stories are from Phaung Daw Oo Monastic Education High School in Mandalay. Founded in 1993 by Ven. U Nayaka and Ven. U Jotika, the school provides seventeen years of quality education free for pupils who would otherwise have to drop out of school due to their financial status.
Young pupils at Phaung Daw Oo
Pupils and their teachers at Phaung Daw Oo
55% of the net profit from the sale of this book will be donated to the Phaung Daw Oo Monastic Education High School in Mandalay, Myanmar.
English Classes at Phaung Daw Oo
Other Abela books
With folklore from
South East Asia
raising funds for the
Phaung Daw Oo Monastic Education High School
in
Mandalay, Myanmar
Jataka Tales
Captivate yourself with the charm of these 18 illustrated Jataka Tales for children. Let their quaint humour and gentle earnestness teach you the wholesome lessons of the Buddhist ideology, among them the duty of kindness to animals. Herein you will finds stories like The Tale Of The Merchant Of Seri, The Tale Of The Measures Of Rice, The Tale Of The Banyan Deer, The Tale Of The Sandy Road all of which contain deep truths, and are calculated to impress lessons of great moral beauty.
ISBN: 9781907256202
Paperback: https://goo.gl/pUE0yK
eBook: https://goo.gl/I4lbJA
Shan Folklore Stories
From The Hill And Water Country
of Burma/Myanmar
These 9 stories have been taken from the great mass of unwritten lore that is to the boys and girls of the Shan mountain country of Burma what “Rapunzel”, “Snow White” and “Cinderella” are to Western children.
Herein you will find the illustrated stories of How Boh Han Me Got His Title, Story Of The Princess Nang Kam Ung, How The Hare Deceived The Tiger, How The World Was Created, How The King Of Pagan Caught The Thief and others.
ISBN: 9781910882542
Paperback: https://goo.gl/CJXNCl
Laos Folklore
Folklore and Fairy Tales from Old Siam
The 48 Folk-Tales in this book hail from the South East Asian land-locked country of Laos. Herein are stories like The Enchanted Mountain, The Spirit-Guarded Cave, The Monkeys and the Crabs, The Origin of Lightning, The Faithful Husband, The Cheating Priest and many more children’s stories which cover Romance and Tragedy, Temples and Priests, Moderation and Greed, Parables and Proverbs and The Wonders of Wisdom. There is also a small collection of Stories which went Astray.
ISBN: 9781910882856
eBook: https://goo.gl/tSQFKK
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FOLKLORE AND FAIRY TALES FROM BURMA--21 Old Burmese Folk and Fairy tales Page 2
