Legend has it that, once upon a time, there were two brothers living together who never had any trouble with one another. There came a time, when they heard that there was a master living in a kingdom nearby who could teach various sciences. The two brothers then left home to seek to study those sciences of magic from the master, for their parents had been dead for a long time. The older brother was 19, while the younger brother was 16. Upon arriving at the residence of the master, they both respectfully bowed to him to ask to stay and study. Seeing the gentleness of the two men, the master then agreed to raise and teach them all the subjects.
Two years later, the teacher observed that they both had very good attitudes. He then consented to arranger the marriage for his 15-year-old daughter "Mony" who was very beautifu l and attractive to others and "Soda", the older brother, who was an orphan who traveled from the distance to live and with
From the day the older brother got married, he was not happy about his younger brother, as he became greedy just for benefits and the rank of dignitary. He thought that one day he would complete his studies and become an official; then, He would become preferable to the King. Every day, after finishing work, he walked to his wife and talked to her happily with sweet words.
As for "Sotha", he was not really happy, for his brother did not treat him as friendly as before. He constantly had doubts about it, and worried about his future work. He was so depressed, because his older brother did not talk to him and he did not have any job. " Who should I turn to if I am so depressed?" Thinking about it, Sotha then found a way of escaping from this meaningless home. One morning after he packed his luggage, he walked out of that house without telling anyone. After a long
walk, he reached a stream and sat down on its bank, crying sadly under a big banyan tree, feeling hopeless since he had no one on whom he could depend.
Night came; he ate a little food an slept under that banyan tree. When he had been asleep for a while, he saw a giant person holding a big stick in one hand coming out and shouting at him, saying: "Neh, man, where are you from that you have com to my place and don't offer me any sacrifice by burning incense for me?
Anyone who comes here has to do it for me." Sotha was so frightened and humbly responded, saying: "Oh, grandpa, please forgive me. I am so depressed. If you knew of my problem, you would lend me your sympathy." The genie then responded:
"No, I don't need to lend you any sympathy. I just know that you came to my place without paying any offering to me; I have to destroy you without any mercy. After saying that, genie pointed the stick at Sotha and recited a spell. Soon after that, the young man became a fine white stone at the place where he was standing . Upon that, the genie disappeared.
For Soda, when the learned that his brother had run away, he missed him miserably. He recalled the time when they shared sad and unpleasant experiences, from the death of their parents until his marriage. Thinking of all that, he left his wife and father-in-law to seek his brother everywhere, from the mountainous areas to the villages. On the way, he asked people for information about his brother, but he got no clue.
He walked around and he arrived at the stream where the big and branchy banyan tree was. Feeling exhausted, Soda took a rest under the tree, sitting with his back against the smooth stone nearby.
After sleeping for a while, a giant person, who was the same genie, and screamed: "Neh, brutal man, where are you from? You haven't paid me any homage."Upon hearing that, Soda was shaking and begging him, saying: "Grandpa, please forgive me. I just happened to enter this place. I would like to stay here for one night, for I have traveled from afar to look for my younger brother. However, I could not find him. If you know where he is, please let me know."
"No, I don't see any one's brother. I shall punish you now. If you want to meet your younger brother, I'll let you meet him. The stone you are leaning on is your younger brother." Then, the fierce genie pointed the stick at Soda's face, recited a spell and breathed a strong breath of air. Immediately, Soda became a betel palm growing next to the stone, and the genie vanished.
Mony, who did not see her husband return after his departure for a long time decided to leave her father to look for him. Since she missed her husband terribly, she decided to walk and run through the field and forest alone, where she was among fierce animals. She then arrived at the stream where a big banyan tree grew and the home of the same cruel genie. There she saw the big and branchy banyan tree, and a fine white stone by which there was a betel palm with its fruits dangling down side by side. She was utterly exhausted; she then sat down and leaned against the betel palm trunk and fell asleep for a while. The same genie threatened her with the same words he said to Sotha and Soda, despite her plea, screaming loudly: "I shall destroy your life now." She did not stop pleading, saying:
"Before you destroy me, please let me meet my younger brother-in-law and husband." The genie laughed at her loudly, while Mony was shaking. Seeing that, the genie got closer to her and screamed, causing the ground to vibrate: "If you want to meet your younger brother-in-law and husband, then I will let you meet them. And I'll let you be as intimate as you used to be with your husband. The betel palm you are leaning on is your husband. And the smooth stone is your younger brother-in-law. There you go. Upon those words, he raised the stick, pointing to her in the face as he did before. Mony then became a green betel climbing the betel palm. The genie then disappeared.
Later on, there was a king who went hunting in the forest with a troop. He found the banyan tree and the fine white stone, betel palm and betel growing upon each other. He felt so surprised that he searched for people who knew the story of these three. Shortly after that, people living nearby who witnessed the event told the king all about the story. The king asked his servants to bring wine, and to pick the betel leaf and betel nut to be put on the stone and together to have wine poured over them.
Then the threee dissolved into liquid as red as the blood falling to the ground. When the king witnessed this wonder, he said, "The tree persons loved each other so much in their previous incarnation that
they can dissolve into a single substance in this reincarnation."
Betel palm is often the preferred tree for the betel, The betel prefers to climb up the betel palm rather than any other trees. It is because they are faithful spouses in this legend.
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