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A Northern Thai Folk Tale

Years ago, when forests still thickly covered the north of Thailand, there was a distant village where an old woman lived who was exceptionally honoured by people for miles around. Having asked why she was so honoured, a traveller to that region received the following reply:

" I am a child of nature, and have much bun (merit), but it was not always so. As a young woman I was angered by a thoughtless act. My heart was hot, and as the days passed it became hotter, so my hatred of all around me caused me to leave my village, to strike out into the forest, feeling that the beasts I would find there would be more kin to me than my own folk.

All the first day I ran as fast as my feet would carry me, so that by the time darkness had closed about me, feeling the pains neither of weariness nor hunger, I lay myself to rest, satisfied I had passed beyond where anyone could find me. I slept without fear, deeply, but in the early hours felt the breath of a beast upon me. Waking, I saw by the light of the moon a tiger, sniffing me from head to foot. Unafraid, I waited for what would come next, and the tiger seated itself close to my head, watching over me till the morning. When I woke again it had left, and with a quieter heart - but still not forgetting my grievance - I journeyed on, unattacked by the beasts of the forest.

Day after day I wandered, eating the abundant fruits of the forest, sleeping beneath a tree at night, while the wild beasts watched and guarded me, keeping evil at bay and doing me no harm. The day came when my heart had grown cooler in my bosom. I no longer hated those who had offended me. I came to a prosperous village and decided to stay. At first alarmed at the sight of one who had passed through a tiger-infested wilderness, when they heard my story the people marvelled, brought rich gifts, inviting me to stay. And so I did, for a year and a day.

By then the time that passed had healed my injured heart, and I wished to see again the faces of my friends and family. The villagers loaded me with treasures, seated me on an elephant, and guided me back to my village, and here I have lived these one hundred years."