A drop of hunny : Thailand
A City Ruler, sitting with his Advisor, was eating honey on puffed rice. A drop of honey fell from the City Ruler’s hand onto the windowsill.
“Oh, your majesty!” said his Advisor, “A drop of honey has fallen onto the windowsill!”
“Never mind,” said the City Ruler. “It is not our problem.”
The drop of honey dripped from the windowsill all the way to the ground. A fly landed on the drop of honey and began to eat it. But a gecko jumped on the fly and began to eat it.
“Your Excellency, a fly was eating the honey that fell from your hand. And now a gecko is eating the fly that was eating the honey.”
“Never mind,” said the City Ruler. “It is not our problem.”
A cat pounced on the gecko and began to eat it. And a dog ran out from the palace and attacked the cat. The dog and the cat were fighting by the palace.
“Your Excellency, now a cat is eating the gecko and a dog has attacked the cat. They are fighting by the palace.” “Well,” said the City Ruler. “It is not our problem.”
The owner of the cat saw the dog attack her cat. So she ran out with a broom and began to beat the dog. But when the owner of the dog saw the woman beating his dog, he ran out and began to beat her.
“Your Excellency … that drop of honey that fell from your hand…well a fly tried to eat it and a gecko ate the fly and a cat ate the gecko and a dog attacked the cat and now the owner of the cat has attacked the dog and the owner of the dog has attacked the woman…and the two are now fighting by the palace. I should send someone to stop the fight.”
“Never mind,” sighed the City Ruler. “It is not our problem.”
Soon the friends of the woman saw what was going on. They hurried to defend her.
But the friends of the man also saw what was going on. They rushed to defend him.
Soon a large fist fight had broken out under the palace.
“Your Excellency,” pleaded the Advisor. “Now the woman’s friends have attacked the man and his friends have attacked her friends. There is a great fight going on right by the palace. We should do something to stop this.”
“Never mind,” insisted the City Ruler. “It is not our problem.”
The soldiers were passing through town just then. When they saw the fight they rushed to break it up.
But when they heard the situation, some sided with the man and some sided with the woman. The soldiers began to fight among themselves. A civil war broke out!
In the fighting the palace was burned to the ground. The City Ruler and his Advisor stood in the ashes.
“You know…” said the City Ruler. “I think the drop of honey was our problem.”
Heaven's Uncle Toad : Vietnam
Once upon a time, there was a long devastating drought on Earth. Plants yellowed and withered away. Animals suffered and died.
In a dry pond lived an ugly toad. He could foresee the danger of the drought. So he decided to make a long journey to meet the King of Heaven. On the way he met the crab, bear, tiger, bees and fox. All of them asked to follow the toad to the heaven.
Arriving at the heavenly gates, the toad only saw a large drum. Then he told his friends, “Crab, get inside this water jar! Bees, stay behind the gates! Fox, Bear and Tiger hide at the two sides!”
After arranging everything, the toad stepped forward and took the drumstick to beat the three loud rolls. The King of Heaven was very angry to see the tiny and ugly toad who dared to make the heaven noisy.
He ordered the rooster to kill the toad. When the rooster approached the toad, the toad called the fox to kill the rooster.
Then the king ordered the dog to punish the fox. However, when reaching to the gates, the bear appeared and killed the dog right away.
The King was so angry that he asked the Thunder God to kill the bear. Immediately, the Thunder God was stung by the bees hiding behind the gates. Crying in pain, the Thunder God jumped into the water jar.
Inside the water jar, the crab immediately pinched the Thunder God with his big and strong claws. The Thunder God jumped out of the jar but the tiger appeared to fight with him.
“Stop! Stop!” begged the King. “Uncle Toad, tell your friends and the tiger to please spare the Thunder God.” The tiger did not harm the Thunder God.
Knowing that the toad and his friends could not be defeated, the King finally agreed to let the toad in heaven.
“Your Majesty! There has been no rain on earth for so long,” said the toad. “If the drought continues, all living things on earth will die! Rain is needed at once to save them all.”
The King was afraid that living things on earth would rebel if he does not grant them rain. So, he said gently to the toad, “Uncle Toad, go back home. There will be rain on earth right away.”
Before the toad and his friends left, the King said, “Uncle Toad, next time, when you need rain, you do not have to come here to heaven. Just croak and I know I need to send rain to earth.”
When the toad arrived on earth, there was rain everywhere. Since then, when the toad croaks, rain will soon follow.
Nakhoda Manis : Brunei
Once upon a time there was a widow, Dang Ambon, who lived with her only son in Kampong Ayer. They lived a comfortable life but were certainly not rich. She loved her son Manis so very much. As a boy she used to sing this lullaby to him:
Manis, Manis,
My sweet natured boy!
Manis, Manis,
Devoted and kind,
Manis, Manis,
Truly a mother’s pride!
When he was older Manis wanted to travel. He wanted to become rich. As a loving mother Dang Ambon knew she would miss him terribly. But because her love was so strong she allowed him to go. She wanted him to be the happiest he could possibly be.
For a long time there was no news from Manis. To console herself in her loneliness Dang Ambon sang her song everyday:
Manis, Manis,
My sweet natured boy!
Manis, Manis,
Devoted and kind,
Manis, Manis,
Truly a mother’s pride!
Many years passed and there was still no news from Manis. Dang Ambon kept herself busy by helping the poor. She gave whatever she could until the day she herself became poor. Despite her now sad situation she still sang everyday:
Manis, Manis,
My sweet natured boy!
Manis, Manis,
Devoted and kind,
Manis, Manis,
Truly a mother’s pride!
One day a large trading ship docked at Kampong Ayer. There was a rumour that the owner of the ship was Manis! He was already called Nakhoda Manis for being the rich captain of the ship. Excitedly Dang Ambon paddled her small boat in the direction of the big ship. She was to be reunited with her beloved Manis! In anticipation she sang:
Manis, Manis,
My sweet natured boy!
Manis, Manis,
Devoted and kind,
Manis, Manis,
Truly a mother’s pride!
Nakhoda Manis was proud and he was indeed rich. When he saw his mother he was ashamed of her and turned away claiming not to know this poor old woman. Dang Ambon was heartbroken. In her despair she cursed the ship full of riches – riches that had taken her son’s love away from her.
She would never sing her song again…
Suddenly, lighting flashed and there was a heavy storm. Rain, thunder and lightning!!!
When the storm cleared, her son’s ship was gone and in its place was a huge rock in the sea.
Today this rock is known as Jong Batu.
The lion city : Singapore
It is said that long, long ago, a prince in Palembang called Sang Nila Utama was bored. He decided to go hunting with his men. In the woods they saw a deer, but as he tried to shoot, it moved swiftly. The prince and his men followed, trying to catch it. The deer disappeared, but from the hill where it had led them, the prince had a good view of the surrounding islands.
Looking out into the distance, Sang Nila Utama saw an island that he had not seen before. It had sands that shimmered white on the beach. “What is that island?” he asked his men. “Temasek,” they answered. “Let us go there!” said the prince.
As they sailed towards Temasek however, a storm arose. The wind blew hard and the waves rose higher and higher. The boat was battered and in danger of capsizing. To lighten the load and help keep it afloat, Sang Nila Utama’s men began throwing overboard the cargo they carried. But still the storm grew fiercer. They tried throwing everything that they could possibly manage without. They knew their lives were more important. However, the boat continued to sink.
One of his trusted advisors said to Sang Nila Utama, “Throw your crown overboard! It is the heaviest thing left on board.” Perhaps the advisor had remembered an old story that said that Sang Nila Utama was one of the descendants of the Sea King’s daughter. When the prince threw his crown overboard, the storm abated and the seas were calm once again. So, they continued their journey.
When Sang Nila Utama and his men landed on the shores of Temasek, he caught sight of another animal, one that he had never seen before. It was magnificent with a black head, a white neck, and a red body. It looked deep into the prince’s eyes. Then it disappeared from view.
“What is that animal?” he asked his men. No one really knew, but one of the ministers said, “I have heard that there is an animal that looks magnificent and regal like that. They call it singa or lion.”
Sang Nila Utama liked what he saw of the island. It was time he had his own place to rule and he thought the sighting of the singa was an auspicious sign. “This is where I shall live,” he said. “We shall call this place ‘Singapura’ or ‘Lion City.’ And that, they say, is how Singapore got its name!
Monkey-ear Mushrooms : LAOS
Once, Queen Sida wanted to have a meal of tiger-ear mushrooms. But in the Northern Lao language this mushroom is called monkey-ear mushrooms. Queen Sida asked the Monkey King, Hanuman, to go search for the mushrooms for her from the mountain of Oudomxay.
“Could you please go and get the mushrooms from Oudomxay Mountain for me?” said Queen Sida.
“Yes, my Lady,” answered Hanuman.
So Hanuman flew to Oudomxay Mountain and ga