https://d1y502jg6fpugt.cloudfront.net/37070/archive/files/b19bead37ba9ed80cdf62128fb2cdd5d.pdf?Expires=1792627200&Signature=mjJDFVADyqMF4IRf6yCn4FpSVy26z5kbiABJTxP0Wa%7EPXB6DQiIkLw0j3eTMEDfsmawsPFmIykchxkZ5xOELaWuu9mEFOwXb8s7o%7EBL84feFWTz-Uw4oMRbDgROn%7EkGVRkTloCntA0tLzbd63eIrPYSkZyr-IurQGN4Obz8rCKa7N%7ELBC4ucQ4u0NEz8Oubh-ZC2pru6tEF8E-9ASSPABFPi-VsKPewOl94F4%7Ef6WmpWeGSsEexO1Y5-nt9DfHHyfmuznytqonEO-ovOa5UVbIQTWnpsS9TVPE0KOr9M2-8maqLHf6L6PcSKL4L8ctt0E%7Em1EfiXwAcmazpv1WIvAg__&Key-Pair-Id=K6UGZS9ZTDSZM 0b6e43a99b68ee6d86aea5e78558069a PDF Text Text Burmese Folktales Swine, Pig and Lion There are three animals. Fox is very witty, and very cunning. The pig, the swine and the lions are very friendly. They are best friends. They love each other. But one day, the fox just goes to the pig. He just goes and says the bad things about his friends. “Why do you love each other? This guy is trying to kill you. He told me. You don’t believe me, right?”. “No, he is to be my best friend all the time.” “Oh, whether you believe me or not, one day you will know.” And now he goes to the lion and tells about the bad things about the swine again. “The lion is going to kill you.” Finally, they misunderstand each other. These three best friends, they do not understand each other anymore because they believe too much about the words from outside. Finally, they fight each other. They fight each other. Before they die, the fox comes and eats them all. Moral of the story: Don’t listen to the lying outsiders The White Elephant Once upon a time there was a lonely man without family. Since he was so poor, he had nothing to eat. He had to work for the king as a servant. He had to work very hard as a servant. He had to do everything of what the king asked him to do. He never refused. He never had a chance to refuse. Whatever the king asked, he had to do. One day, the king heard that in the jungle, a white elephant appeared. The king told him, “You have to go and capture this one. I have given you all things you need. This time, you have to repay the gratitude by going and capturing the white elephant.” Oh yeah. “When you come back, you have to come back with the white elephant. If you come back not with the white elephant, you will be dead.” He was very upset, but he didn’t have a choice to refuse. He went into the jungle, he was so afraid, so he even could not look for the white elephant. The white elephant knows how that guy is feeling. The white elephant had the power. He was so surprised, and he just turn his . . . and then he looked at and he saw the white elephant. And then he cried a lot. He was crying and weeping, and he told the white elephant, “I’m so afraid of you, but I have no choice. The king ordered me to capture you, so I don’t know how to capture you. Can you help me?” He didn’t want to capture but he was so afraid of the king. If you do not go with me, I dare not go back to the king anymore. If I don’t go back to the king, how can I live? How can I survive in the jungle? And then the white elephant can speak. The white elephant said, “I came to you, don’t be afraid of me. I came here just to help you. Just follow me.” The white elephant took him into the deep jungle. The white elephant took him into the very, very big Bo Tree. Many kinds of animals are very heavily, they are playing, and they love each other, having fun there. So the lonely guy, he was so upset before, but when he see these elephants were very happily, so he forget everything about his feeling. When he remembers, he turns around and look, he didn’t see the white elephant anymore. And then he was leaning on the banyan tree because he was so tired. Then he falls asleep. He got a dream. He had a dream. In his dream, 1 �the white elephant told him, just go back to the king. Go tell your king, say, “You will get the white elephant, what you want.” Just go and tell the king, “The white elephant that you want, you will get it soon.” In his dream, the white elephant told him. “Before you get the white elephant, you have to do something. The thing that you have to do is that you have to give away all the belongings that you have. All the money, all the treasure you have. Just give it to the poor, the troubled people. You have to give it away to all the people, and then you will get the white elephant that you want.” And then finally he woke up. He was thinking if I go back without the white elephant, the king will kill me. He was afraid of the king. If I don’t go back, what I’m supposed to do here in the jungle alone. He was thinking all the time. Finally, he decided to go back. The king was so mad when he saw him without the white elephant, and he took all his knives out. And he apologized. At the time, the king was so angry and took all his swords. At the time, he said that he apologized, “Before you kill me, just listen one or two words from me. So let me tell, only after that you can kill me,” he said. He said, “I met with the white elephant.” So when the king heard he met with the white elephant, his anger cooled a little bit. And then he said as in his dream, “So whatever you have, just give away to the poor people. If you donate everything, every money you have, finally if you have nothing you will get the thing you want, the white elephant. I will go and get it for you,” he said. “Are you sure?” the king said. “Yes, sure,” because he really wanted to get the white elephant. That’s why he gave away all the things that he possessed. The king told him that, “I did everything what you told me, so this is your time, your turn.” And he said, “Okay. Yes.” And then he went to the jungle. When he went to the jungle, so the white elephant was ready waiting for him. And then he took the lonely guy on his shoulder or his back He saw the white elephant and the white elephant was with him readily. The white elephant already knew why he was coming back. The king announced all of his people to welcome the white elephant with a bang. Music or something like that. They played music very loudly when they saw the white elephant. The people from the other countries around that area, they heard the news that the white elephant lived in that area. Everyone wanted to come and see the white elephant. Because it is very rare. A white elephant is very rare, that’s why they wanted to see. When the white elephant came into the king palace, the music was playing very loudly. At the time, the white elephant told the audience, the people, “My name is not the White King. My name is the Prince of Peace.” Lots of people wanted to come and see the white elephant. That’s why everyday people come all the time and to see the white elephant. Whenever they come, they bring something like a tribute, like a present, offerings. Like gold and money, a lot of things they give. Every people, they come and give like this. The king become richer than before. After he gives, the Prince of Peace, the white elephant summoned and called the lonely guy and told him, “I have been living in the palace for many years, so I’m also getting old now. I have to go back to my place.” He also told the lonely guy, “In that country, everything’s ready. Everything’s developing. You have peace and everything, so I don’t need to stay here anymore. I have to go back.” And then the lonely guy went and told the king. Then the king celebrated a farewell party for the elephant. When the music is coming and the white elephant took the lonely 2 �guy on his back, and then he just flied and disappeared. The lonely guy didn’t have to worry about food anymore. Moral: If you are generous and can give away your treasure to others in need, you will have peace, wisdom and wealth. If you keep your promise Once upon a time there was a grandpa and grandson. And one day, the grandchild to his grandpa, “Hey Grandpa, you told me that you are going to tell me about the story.” “Yeah, I will tell you. I have only one grandson. Of course, I will tell,” he said. And then the grandpa told about his life story. He told him that, “I was very poor when I was young. I had only one sister. We really had a hard time to survive.” And then one day, he decided to go and work in another place. There were two roads to reach to that area. One was the shortcut and the other one was the normal road that people went. If he went the shortcut, it would take him only one day. If he went the other way, it would take him two or three nights. They had to sleep on the way two or three nights. He dared not to use the shortcut because it was dangerous sometimes. He just went to the normal way. On the way, he saw a rich guy in that village. He got a job from that rich guy. After one month, someone came and told him that his father was going to die soon, so he had to go back. “If you don't go back, you will not have a chance to see your dad.” And so, at the time, he did not get any wages and any salary yet, but he told his boss. The rich guy at the time, he didn’t have any money in his hand, but he really felt pity on that guy. Finally, he gave a buffalo to the guy and his sister. This time, on the way back to home, they chose the shortcut because they wanted to see their father. If they went in the normal way, it would take two or three days and they couldn’t have the chance to see their father. No matter how hard it was, they would choose the shortcut. They were riding the buffalo. The sister and the brother were taking the buffalo for the whole day. The buffalo was very tired the whole way. Yeah, in the middle way, in the middle they saw a very big patty field of rice. The buffalo was very hungry. It ate the rice there. In the middle of the field, there is a small hut. They heard a voice. They didn’t see anything, but they heard the voice coming out from the hut. And then they heard a girl telling her grandma, “Grandma, Grandma, you see the buffalo is eating all our patty.” The grandma came out of the hut. “Who is that?” she shouted. And then they were so afraid, and they apologized to that grandma. They told that grandma about their real story and then they apologized the grandma. “Please don’t do us anything. Please forgive us. Let us go back to see our father. So finally, after the funeral, we will come back and help you for the harvest.” That grandma told him, “You have to keep your promise.” “Oh yes, we’ll keep our promise. We’ll come back and help you for the harvest.” Then, she let them go. When they went back home, they saw the corpse of their dad. After the funeral, as they promised, they come back to help the harvest. They helped all the harvest until they finished everything. “We keep our promise, so let us go back now”. The grandma told them, “Don’t go 3 �back. I need you more. I’m also getting very old. I’m very old. I have no children, so I will give all my things to you.” Finally, they got everything from the grandma. And then their lives became better. Moral: If you keep your promise, your life will be better in the future. The story of cuckoo bird Once upon a time, there was a couple. They have seven children, six sons and one daughter. At that time, around that year, the village had robbery. That’s why most of the people did not have time to sleep. They had to check whether the robbers were coming. But the youngest daughter, who their parents love her very much. The other six brothers also love her very much. She slept a lot. When she slept, nobody could wake her up. In the Karen village, they didn’t have the pillow, but they use the . . . , the very long . . . All the family use the … as a pillow. If the thieves or robbers came, the mother just took it and everybody woke up. But one day, the robber came, but the parents took the pillow out. All the other boys woke up and the girl didn’t wake up. She was left alone at home. All the other people left and ran. She was around about six years old at the time, so she always nagged to mom to go and slept with her friend in someone’s house. The parents never let her go and sleep there because she slept all the time. That’s why. In case the robbers come, she might be in trouble, and that’s why the parents never let her go and sleep in someone’s house. But on that night, she was nagging all the time, all the time, but she doesn’t want to hear that mom doesn’t want to . . . and she let her go and sleep in the house. But unfortunately, on that night, the robber come and rob the house. All the family members left and ran away. She was left alone at the house because nobody took her. She was only six year at the time that she was left in the house alone there. On the night when the thief and the robber came, she was beaten very badly, so the thief and the robbers forced her to give them money. She said, “I don’t have the money.” “Come on, tell me your parents’ name. You have to ask money from your parents, otherwise you will be killed.” So from that time, she was trying to call her mom. Cuckoo, cuckoo. This is like, “Mom, mom, mom.” Yeah, that’s why wherever she goes, she was trying to call her mom’s name. “Where are you now?” Finally, she was beheaded by the thief. She was beheaded and later she was incarnated into a cuckoo bird. Moral: Children should not sleepover. 4 � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Southeast Asian Folktales Book Project Collection, 2018-2019 Description An account of the resource The Southeast Asian Folktales Book Project Collection consists of materials from a collaboration between UMass Lowell faculty members and community-based organizations in the Lowell, Massachusetts, area to collect and publish folktales from four community groups: Burmese, Cambodian, Laotian, and Vietnamese. The complete collection is available on this site. -------------------------- SEADA would like to thank the following individuals for their work in making this collection available online: Monita Chea. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Southeast Asian Folktales Book Project Collection, 2018-2019. UML 24. Center for Lowell History, University of Massachusetts Lowell, Lowell, MA. Relation A related resource The collection finding aid, https://libguides.uml.edu/uml24. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The document with four Burmese stories, [2018] Subject The topic of the resource Folk literature, Southeast Asian Tales--Southeast Asia Description An account of the resource The document with four Burmese stories for potential inclusion in the Southeast Asian Folktale book. The first story is titled, "Swine, Pig, and Lion. The second story is titled, "The White Elephant" and is about a king's servant who went into the forest to capture the white elephant. The third story is titled, "If you keep your promise" and about a grandpa telling his life story to his grandson. The fourth story is titled, "The story of cuckoo bird." Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Southeast Asian Folktales Book Project Collection Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available University of Massachusetts Lowell Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource [2018] Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource UMass Lowell Library makes this material available for private, educational, and research use. It is the responsibility of the user to secure any needed permissions from rightsholders, for uses such as commercial reproductions of copyrighted works. Contact host institution for more information. Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf; 4 p. Language A language of the resource English Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context Tham - isolated Burmese Folktales Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Lowell, Massachusetts 2010-2019 Burmese Documents