Wednesday, May 28, 2014

THE GIRL ENTERING THE AGE OF PUBERTY

There was a narrative that there was a notorious thief who had no wife and built a house in the forest to keep his wealth such as silver, gold, fabric clothes and so on that he had stolen from other people. Later on, the thief thought: "I have a lot of wealth, but I have no one to keep it and what is the use of making any effort to find it? Because after I pass away, this wealth will be useless; it is regretful If I have a wife and children, they will inherit it and I won't be so lamentable."

After thinking so, the thief wandered around the village, looking at the kids playing noisily under the tree. He saw a small girl, quite pretty and lovely, with white complexion. He persuaded the girl to separate from the kid group and lured her to his home.

Because he was afraid that the girl escaped to her parents and to protect her from being found by her parents, the thief kept the little girl in a locked room. Every time of the meal or whenever he had delicious food, the thief gave it to her through a small hole.

The little girl in the dark room was growing from day to day until she became mature. Since she was in the room, not exposed to the sunlight, and never walked on the land for years, she was thin and pale differently from the other girls.

Now knowing what was wrong with his daughter, the thief was very scared. He went to a village and met an a old lady who was a midwife. The thief implored the old lady to cure his daughter.

When arriving at the thief’s a house, the old midwife went to ask her how she was. While she was aware of how the girl was, the midwife said: “Don’t worry, granddaughter! You are ill because you enter the age of puberty, the time when you change your span of age.this change makes you pain and tired. But, that is nothing; I will find medicine for you to drink.” Then, the midwife went to strip some barks and used them for medicine. “ Granddaughter, when the day of menstruation is coming,” the midwife advised, “ you must boil the little with a packet of this herbal medicine and drink it for a several days so that you can recover and your skin will become more beautiful.” When the midwife was looking after the thief’s daughter, she always paid attention to her behaviors and her great beauty. She thought herself that she would look for a good-looking young man who was well matched with her.

After drinking the medicine, the young pretty lady was recovered from the illness. Then, the old midwife went to the thief and respectfully asked for permission to leave for home and told the thief not to keep her in the room again. The thief gave the midwife some gold and silver as a gift and guided her home. While the midwife was ready to leave, she thought, “This house is so far from the village; and the forest is very quiets and frightening. If I want to come here again, how can I find the way here?” Thinking so, she took out a packet of watermelon seeds she brought with her and walked after the thief, sowing the sees until she got home.

One day, it was because of the deed of previous life, it made a young man who returned home from gaining knowledge stay in the midwife’s house. Late in the evening, the man was tired and the way to go was still too far, he decided to salute the midwife for a night stay. Simultaneously, the old woman came out and saw the young man greeting her. Then, she kindly agreed to allow him to stay. The old woman was cooking while inquiring the young man about his family background.

The old woman kept talking note of the young man’s behavior and beauty since he arrived. Then after the meal, she asked him, “Grandson, before you left your parents for knowledge, have they engaged you with anyone for marriage?” “Not yet,” replied the young man, “I think if I meet any girl who has good character, I will marry her.” “Do you know any beautiful girl in this village?” he asked the old lady. “In this village, there is no any girl who is well matched with you, but I have seen a beautiful girl who is the daughter of the notorious thief who lives so far from the village,” answered the old woman. The midwife described the event she saw the beautiful girl, after hearing what the woman praised about the girl, the young man was very anxious to see her. He asked the old woman to take him there, but the woman refused. “No, Grandson!” said the old lady, “I can’t go with you because I feel frightened with the thief.” “Usually, that thief is very cruel,” she added, “I am so old; I don’t want to be killed, but I want you to become her husband. Go to bed, and you can leave for the young lady tomorrow morning.”

The night, the young man thought of everything that might happen. He could not sleep because he felt strange with the new bed and anxious for the day time tomorrow to see the beautiful girl. He was also worried about his journey alone in the forest and the danger he might have with the thief.

Early morning, the midwife got up and prepared food and water for the young man. When he got up, the midwife called him to have breakfast and then gave him the food parcel to eat on the way. The old woman showed the young man to see the watermelon plants. "Grandson," said the old lady, "follows these plants, you will arrive at her house; and you must be careful. Have a good journey, good success as you wish, if the enemies come before, let them go over and if the enemies come from the back, let them disappear" the afternoon; the young man arrived at the thief's house.

Luckily, the thief was not at home; he went to rob, leaving his daughter at home alone. As usual, she cleaned the house, not thinking that anyone come around. The young man peeked at her and saw her alone, he decided to call her. "Who dare come here?" she thought fearfully when hearing the strange voice. But when she glanced at the voice, she saw the young man was very handsome and not frightening, she opened the door for him to enter the house. They chatted with each other. Moreover she welcomed him in a way of loving. Then, they both agreed to become husband and wife, and the beautiful young lady took the man to hide from her foster father's sight.

Later, the thief noticed that his daughter’s behavior was different from before. She always beautified herself and did the housework without asking. She was being likely to satisfy someone.

The thief was curious, so he began to observe his daughter. When seeing a handsome young man in his house, the thief was very disappointed with his daughter and felt embarrassed with her husband, he decided to leave home. After living in the forest for long time and not seeing the father return home, the husband and wife came down into the village to look for the father.

When arriving in the village, they went to thank the midwife and gave her some gifts. The midwife was very happy and assembled the villagers to come and see the young lady's beauty. The old lady said, "This young lady is so beautiful and has white complexion because she had been kept in a dark room, and as soon as she left the dark room, she got married." Having heard that, the villagers then kept their daughters in a dark room at the age of puberty in order to whiten their skin as the young lady. Since then, this habit became a custom.

- THE END -

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