Sunday, December 15, 2013

KIRIROM MOUNTAIN STORY

It is narrated that: once upon a time, the King named Preah Bat Sorya reigned at Krason Kingdom. The King had two queens. The first queen was called Vong Thyea and had two sons, namely Voreak Vong and Sora Vong. The second queen was called Muntea and had a son, named Vei Vongsa.

Since the three sons became of age, the second queen named Muntea was obsessed with jealousy, for she was afraid that all the royal properties would be granted to the sons of the first queen. Hence, she tried to ignite trouble every day. One day, Sora Vong and Voreak Vong were playing in the campus. Then, she suddenly grabbed the two royal boys and caught them between her thighs. And she called out to the others and made an accusation that the two royal boys looked down on her and forcefully abused her as the second queen. Having seen that, the King became furious and ordered the executioner to kill the two royal boys without any further consideration. However, due to the power of good deed of the royal boys, when the executioner was about to kill them, the queen named Vong Thyea plead the executioner not to kill her sons. The executioner felt sympathetic and brought the two royal boys out of the Kingdom. The queen gave a royal ring to each of the royal boy and she asked them to promise to return to the Kingdom in ten years. Following the advice from their mother, the two royal boys started an adventurous journey into the forest due to their fate. They fell asleep under a tree in a quiet forest, for they were exhausted.

At that time, the Indra saw the princes; he immediately created a white magic chicken and a black magic chicken coming to look for food around the princes. And they said, "I am a black chicken. If anyone eats me, he will take reign in seven years. "I am a white chicken. If anyone eats me, he will take reign in seven months." After saying that, the two chickens fought with one another in front of the princes till their last breathe. The princes were astonished. As they were starving, Sora Vong picked the white chicken, while Vireak Vong picked the black chicken and cooked them for food with peaceful mind. After eating the chickens, the princes traveled for seven months. They arrived at a rest hall in a forest near Kunthapor Borei Kingdom. And they took a rest there.

Talking about this Kingdom, following the death of the King, the officials, servants and soldiers organized a search for the fortunate person to govern the royal properties of their country. They completed the parade and started the journey by placing the royal elephant with the royal canopy in the front, dedicating that if the fortunate person is found, may the royal elephant stop in front of him. When royal elephant arrived at the rest hall where the princes were sleeping, it stayed still. The royal servants and soldiers got up to the rest hall and invited the prince named Sora Vong to rein the royal properties in Kunthapor Borei.

The prince did not accept it, saying that he was not capable for it. However, the royal servants did not agree with the prince; they carried him and put him onto the royal canopy and paraded him to the capital The prince was filled with great nostalgia for his younger brother and asked the royal servants to bring him along, but they refused to do so. When they arrived at the Kingdom, a ceremony was organized for the marriage of Sora Vong and the princess named Sa Boch Pha who was the daughter of the then King, and for granting him the crown to be the King with peace ever after. For the princes named Yoreak Vong, when he wake up and could not find his older brother, he cried and became so worried. He walked around to call out for him throughout the forest, but he could never find him. Vireak Vong felt hopeless. He did not know where to go. He decided to walk across the forest following the footprints of the elephant till he arrived at the royal palace of his older brother. He asked permission from the guard in order to get in and look for his older brother. However, he was refused and even threatened.

The prince walked away from their according to his fate. Having traveled across the forest for five days and nights, he arrived at the house of an old lady nearby the royal palace of the King named Preah Bat Thoranit in a Kingdom. He then asked the old lady for a stay for one night. She allowed him to stay with glee. However, the vicious old lady saw his royal ring and assumed that he was a thief stealing the royal property. She got in and informed the King about it. The King was raged and ordered the soldiers to catch and tie the prince up for interrogation. Though the prince answered that the ring was inheritance from his mother, the King still accused him as a thief and ordered the soldiers to put him in the iron cage with a brutal situation. One day, a ferocious giant invaded Chey Borei Kingdom reigned by the King named Sor Toat who was a close friend of the King Thoranit the Kingdom was in great turbulence. The giant events came into the royal palace and chased out the spiritual guards guarding the royal palace gates. And the giants intended to eat the King Sor Toat. However, he had not entered the palace to catch the King yet. He hid himself in a cave where the spiritual guards stayed.

Talking about the King Sor Toat, having heard about that, he was terribly frightened. He instructed the soldiers to set the junk out to the Kingdom of Preah Bat Thoranit in order to inform him about the matter and ask him for assistance. Once Preah Thoranit was informed, he ordered the soldiers to push the junk into the water to Chey Borey Kingdom. However, the soldiers were not able to push it into the water, and they announced for a strong person to do this. The prince named Vireak Vong who was in the iron cage claimed that he could push the junk The King promised if he could push the junk, he would be released and given a lot of gifts. Due to his predestination, the prince could push the junk at ease. The King then traveled by the junk to Chey Borei Kingdom along the prince Voreak Vong and his daughter princess KesResey as well as officials, servants and soldiers. Having arrived at Chey Borei Kingdom, the soldiers set up the camp nearby the royal palace of Preah Bat Sor Toat, while the King went in the royal place in order to talk with the King Sor Thoat.

Talking about the princess Kes Kesey, she was asleep and dreamt that an aged man came to tell her that the prince Voreak Vong was her spouse in the previous incarnation. From the time she woke up, she had been thinking about the prince till she fell deeply in love with him. The prince was also in love with her. From day to day, the prince and the princess had been talking to each other. Following his talk with Preah Bat Sor Toat, her father, Preah Bat Thoranit added that, "T have a boy who had stolen the royal property. And I put him for punishment into an iron cage. But this boy is very strong; he could push a junk that many people could not do it. He accompanies me, and now he is in the camp outside the palace. We should let him try with the giant. Let's see whether he agrees to do it. If he does, though he could not win over the giant, it would not matter, as he is already an offender." Having thought about that, he instructed a servant. to call the prince Vireak Vong, and he told him about the vigorous giant who wished to eat the King SOT Toat at the time. He asked the prince to kill the giant. If he could do it, the prince would get a lot of gift.
 
The prince accepted the royal instruction. However, in order not to let the giant recognize that he was an ordinary person, he requested for the royal attire and sword of Preah Sor Toat to adorn himself as the King Sor Toat. And he went into the cave to fight with the giants and killed him at that time. Preah Bat Thoranit saw that the prince was strong and powerful, so he decided to let his daughter, the princess Kes Kesey be the queen of the prince and let the prince reign the royal properties instead of him. Preah Bat Sor Toat saw that the prince could kill the giants, which saved him from danger he then let his daughter named Voreak Votey be the queen of the prince and let the prince reign the whol Chey Borei Kingdom as well. The prince reigned the two Kingdoms and had two queens – Kes Kesey as the first queen and Voreak Votey as the second queen, they were living happily in Chey Borei Kingdom. The spiritual guards who used to take care of Chey Borei Kingdom and had escaped at the time, came back to guard Chey Borei Kingdom. And they offered Keo Moniroat (crystal ball) to Preah Chao Voreak Vong who was the new King so that he could swirl it and fly.

When the queen Kes Kesey became three-month pregnant, Preah Bat Voreak Vong felt like visiting the Kingdom of his parents as advised by his mother that he should return in ten years. The King said good bye to his father-in-law and the queens to visit the Kingdom of his parents alone. But the queen Kes Kesey didn’t agree to stay. She wished to go with the King. However she was pleaded to stay, she would not agree to do so. The father then agreed to let them go. The King Voreak along with the queen Kes Kesey swirled the ball and flew away. When they arrived at the hut of a hermit, they took a rest there. Then, the King walked around with his queen. At that time, the hermit stole Keo Moniroath (the crystal ball), swirled it and flew up in the air for fun. Since the wind was so strong that the hermit fell down · with his head pulled off and died, while Crystal ball fell into the Kunthapor Borei Kingdom, the Kingdom of the older brother. The soldiers picked up the ball Preah Bat Sora Vong.

When the King Voreak Vong and Queen Kes Kesey knew that the hermit stole the ball and flew away, they walked up to the bank of a river. They swam holding on to a piece Of wood in the middle of the great vast of water. Unfortunately, the King and the queen were hit by the storm and placed apart away from the piece of wood. The queen Kes Kessey drifted on the river bank. She tried to look for her King, but she could not find him. She used her handkerchief as the flag so that her King would recognize her and know that she was still alive. And she walked through the forest all alone. Till she arrived in Kunthapor Borei, she met a hunter. She begged him for a stay in his house. The hunter felt so sympathetic toward her and asked her all about her story. Then, he brought her to his home.

Unfortunately, the queen was scorned by the hunter's wife with many heartbreaking words and accused that she was a vicious woman who tried to love her husband. Though the queen agreed to be their mad, she still behaved in a way that looked down and threatened the queen every day. The queen was trying to focus on her work, cleaning the house regularly like a slave. When she reached seven months of pregnancy, she was to deliver the baby. The queen felt great pain in her abdomen; she cried, but no one could ever help her. The hunter's wife chased her out to deliver the baby outside the fence of her house, for she was afraid that it might bring bad luck to her house. The queen tried to crawl with her hand holding on to her abdomen till she reached the road outside the fence. At that time, she gave birth to a baby in the open area under strong rain, thunder and storm with loads of suffering.

At that time, the Indra saw the queen delivered a baby in a situation like that. He magically created an aged lady to take care of the baby and promised the queen that, "You can take back the baby at my house in the East. To recognize whether the child is yours, you shall leave something with him. She then took off the royal ring the King gave her and tied it to her baby neck. Then she returned to work for the hunter's wife as before. Upon her return, the Indra magically created a big vulture to stay over and protect the baby, and magically created a clean piece of cloth "silk cloth" to put the baby on at the place, through which the King of Kunthapor Borei Kingdom usually traveled. One day, Preah Bat Sora Vong, the King of Kunthapor Borei Kingdom went hunting. He saw the vulture was covering the baby in the middle of the road. He ordered the soldiers to bring the baby to him. The King then saw the ring of his younger brother, Prince Voreak Vong. He was wondering; then, he returned to his royal palace and had a rest hall built.

In the hall, the King instructed to have painted pictures of his story from the beginning till the time he reined the Kingdom. And he announced about his donation to the public. If anyone asked for anything from the King, he would give it in the public hall. From that time on, the crowds of people often went there to get the donation from the King and they looked at the painted pictures on the wall with joy. Talking about Voreak Vong, since he was hit by the storm and separated, he drifted to the river bank. He had been searching for his queen. And he found the handkerchief the queen placed it as a sign. He realized that she was not dead. Then, he continued looking for her for many months. When he knew that the King donated all kind of food to people, he entered the hall with the intention to get food. When he saw the paintings on the walls of the hall depicting his own story and the persons looked like his older brother and him, he was sobbing and became fainted there.

The royal servants saw that and informed the King. The King then instructed them to bring him in. In the royal palace, Preah Chao Sora Vong recognized that he was his younger brother. He cried and told him all about the story since they were separated. Preah Bat Sora Vong learnt about that and presented the baby and the crystal ball he had found to Preah Bat Voreak Vong. Preah Bat Voreak Vong recognized the royal ring and the ball that they were his belongings. Then he went out to look for his queen. Coincidently, the queen could no longer stand with the hunter's wife, for she badly bullied her. The queen Kes Kesey sneaked out and ran away. And she met her King with joy. They both went to meet the King brother and told him all about her story. They then stayed in peace in the palace. Preah Bat Voreak Vong asked his older brother to visit their parents' Kingdom as advised by their mother that they had to return in ten years.

The older brother told him that, "the four of us - the Kings and queens, shall not go there on our own, as we are the Kings. We shall get organized in parade ready to travel by land and water to prevent any danger along the way. Preah Bat Voreak Vong received the order. Then, he returned to the two Kingdoms of his parents-in-law by swirling the ball in order to get the army troops, while his older brother arranged the navy troops. When the troops were mobilized, Pres Bat Voreak Vong was the commander of the army troops and Preah Bat Sora Vong was the commander of the navy troops. Having arrived Krason Kingdom of his parents, the troops set the camp getting ready to sorrow the Kingdom. Preah Bat Sorya who was the father, after he instructed the executioner to kill the two sons, had the queen Vong Thyea put in an iron cage with suffering accusing her for being an unfaithful woman. He then handed over the royal properties to the prince Vei Vongsa who reined the Kingdom after him.

Having known that the enemy soldiers were surrounding the Kingdom, Preah Bat Vei Vongsa was so frightened and restless. Preah Bat Voreak Vong instructed the servants to inform Preah Bat Vei Vongsa that, "Give me the Kingdom, or the war will start." Preah Bat Vei Vongsa responded that, ''I'm not scared. If your King wants my Kingdom, I will give it to him only if he wins the elephant fighting. If I win, I will only reign this Kingdom." The servants went back and told Preah Bat Voreak Vong all about the response. Preah Bat Voreak Vong agreed to have the elephant fighting as suggested. In the battle, Preah Bat Voreak Vong and Sora Vong as well as the elephants killed Vei Vongsa and his elephants. Preah Bat Sorya, the father, was frightened when he knew that his beloved son lost in the war and he went in to surrender. When he was there, he could not recognize his sons, assuming that they were killed by the executioner he ordered. And although the princes tried to tell him the story, he would never believe it. The two princes told him the story from time when the executioner took them to be killed up to the time they were there by presenting him the royal rings. Then, he believed that they were his sons.

Having known that they were his sons, he asked about what had happened from the beginning. He learnt that the queen Muntea was a vicious woman who tricked to have the princes and the queen Yong Thyea separated from him. He instructed the executioner to kill the queen Muntea. And he released the queen Vong Thyea and gave her back the title as the queen. Then he handled over the royal properties to the two princes.

The END

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