Lao Folktales : The Magic White Swan by Arianrhod Wolfchild

[Dept of PMM Artists & things]

Once there was a lonely farmer who decided to gofishing one day. He wore a shawl aroundhis head to save from being bitten by mosquitoes and other bugs and carried along fishing net. When he reached theriver, he cast his net but caught nothing. He did this again and again but still caught nothing. Not a single fish could be found inside thewebbing of his net. He repeated thisonce, twice, three times but still found when pulling in his net from thewater, not a single fish, neither big nor small. Finally, he decided to try just one lasttime. When pulling his net in, he wassurprised at the resistance: “Oh, this is so heavy,” he said out loud.

Though expecting a large and appetizing fish,the farmer found instead a white pebble in his net.  It was the most beautiful pebble he had everseen.  He then took the pebble home withhim and placed it atop the high altar above his head.  After finishing his meager dinner, the farmerwent to sleep.  The next day, he wassurprised to find that his white pebble had turned into a beautiful giant whiteswan.  Seeing the farmer, the swan walkedover to him.

 

“I can take you away to a beautifulplace far away to the Land of Flowers. Once there, you can have whatever you wish.”

 

The farmer happily complied with theinvitation and climbed on top of the swan. As soon as he did, the swan beat her broad and powerful wings and offthey went, soaring higher and higher into the crisp morning air. Once there, the farmer took in the beautifulscenery of the Land of Flowers and itsabundance of scents and array of colors. He could not remember another time when he was so happy.

He picked one flower and found itto be surprisingly heavy. He picked asecond flower and found it to be heavier. He picked a third and found it to be almost unbearably heavy.

 

“Oh, I don’t think you should pickany more flowers!” The swan said. “It will be much too heavy for me to carryboth you and all of those flowers!” Feelingsorry for the swan, the man stopped picking any more flowers and soon enough,the two were flying back to the farmer’s house. Once there, the farmer placed the new and beautiful flowers inside. The next day when the farmer awoke, he foundthat all his flowers had turned into gold! He was rich!

 

The news of his wealth traveledfast and so reached the ears of his friend who became very curious. He insisted that the farmer tell himeverything and so he did.

 

The very next day, his friend wentto fish in the river with his long net just like his friend the farmer beforehim. And just like his friend, he castout his net once, twice, three times and found his net to be empty. He cast out his net one last time andpulled. “Oh, it is so heavy,” he saidwhile pulling up his net. He found awhite pebble inside the net, just like his friend told him he would. He then took the white pebble home and placedit high above his head at the altar. Hewas so excited he could barely fall asleep that night. He was going to rich tomorrow!

When he awoke the next day, hefound the swan standing in front of him, patiently waiting. She walked over to him.

 

“I can take you away to a beautifulplace far away to the Land of Flowers. Once there, you can have whatever you wish.” The man smiled and soon enough to two wereoff.

 

“Oh, I don’t think you should pickany more flowers!” The swan said, afterthe man picked his third flower. “Itwill be much too heavy for me to carry both you and all of those flowers!”

 

“But it’s only three flowers!” Theman argued. “I’m sure you can carry morethan that!” And so the man went back tothe garden and helped himself to two armfuls of flowers. “Okay, take me home now.” the man said. “I will put these away and then we can comeback for more.” He jumped on top of theswan’s back who winced and the swan began beating her wings as hard as shecould. She barely managed to takeoff. The two flew, swaying side to sidewith the weight of all the man’s flowers. The swan managed to land with great difficulty. The swan rested her head on the lawn completelyexhausted. The man jumped off her backand turned to look at her.

 

“Now wait here,” the man said toher while carrying an armful of flowers. “Don’t go away! I still want togo back and pick more flowers.” The manthen walked inside his house. When hereturned, the swan had disappeared. Inhorror, the man ran inside his room and found that his flowers were justordinary flowers, no gold. And that’sthe story.

 

© Copyright O. Dohn Paditsone, 2009

found at: http://hubpages.com/hub/Lao-Folktales--The-Magic-White-Swan