Saturday, February 7, 2015

TUM TEAV

At Vi hear Thom Pagoda in Ba Phnom province, there were two novice monks, one of whom was called Tum, while the other was called Pich. They loved each other like brothers. And they usually made taok (containers) for sale. Tum was handsome and eloquent, as well as [possessing] skillful knowledge of magic, while Pich was good at playing a reed wind instrument.

The windy season came, they both became bored. They said goodbye to their master in order to take taok (containers) for sale in a distant place. They walked until they arrived in Tbaung Khmum province. Everywhere they went; people were attracted to the appearance and voice of Tum. In the meantime, Nor, who was the maid of Teav, passed by that place holding a water jar. She heard Tum chanting. She stayed still and listened to him. Then, she rushed to fill the jar with water and went back to tell Teav about it. When Teav was told about what Nor had admired about Tum she begged her mother to invite him to do the chanting at home.

When Teav's mother heard this, she felt sympathetic and walked out covering herself with a scarf. When she arrived there, she asked the monk, "I would like to invite you to eat betel nut at my house." Then, Tum responded, "You can go and arrange the place first, I will be pleased to go there later." After the invitation was made, Teav's mother rushed back home in order to arrange the mat, pillow, and materials for offerings to the monk. Having discussed this with Pich, Tum immediately started the journey to the house of Teav's mother. Once they arrived, Teav’s mother greeted them and offered the prepared betel nuts and betel leaves. A while later, Tum started chanting. Hearing the chanting, Teav became restless, and moved in and out of the room. Once Tum saw Teav, he fell in love with her. He decided to chant any parts that used "courting words". Teav prepared the blanket, ointment containers, betel nuts and cigarettes and put them on the tray on the pedestal. Then, she asked Nor to bring them to Tum, and she prayed to have Tum as her life partner. Tum received the offerings, and spelled the charm to Teav so that she would fall in love with him. From that moment on, they thought anxiously about each other.

The morning came when the sun was shining, and the two novice monks said goodbye to all their friends nearby and drove the carriage back [to where they had come from]. They both worked very hard without rest till late evening when they arrived. They both went up to bow to their master, the patriarch, and told him all about the story. Then, they left him to have a rest. Tum covered himself with the blanket Teave had given him and thought about her. He felt he could no longer stay in the monkshood. He asked his master to leave monkshood. The master calculated his identity numbers and prophesied that he would lose his life. He suggested that he delay it [leaving the monk hood] until Pisak (the sixth month of the lunar calendar), while he allowed Pich to leave the monkshood at that time. Tum was depressed because he was not allowed to do this. He then took candles and incense sticks, and made a declaration to leave the monkshood close to a mound. After that, he went to apologize to his master. And he said goodbye to his mother in order to go to Tbaung Khmum immediately in Pich's company.

Pich and Tum traveled during the hot day without rest. When the night came, they both slept in the crotches of a tree, worrying about fierce animals. And Tum also questioned the efforts he was making for a woman, which seemed inappropriate. When Tum and Pich arrived in Tbaung Khmum, they went to stay at their foster mother's house.

Oknha Orchoun, a District Governor in Tbaung Khmum province, had agreed with his wife to ask for Teav's hand for his son, Meun Nguon. Teav's mother was so happy, and she told Teav that-she had decided to match her with Meun Nguon. Hearing this, Teav strongly objected to her decision. However, she [her mother] forced her to accept it by quoting the proverb: "The cake shall not be larger than its mold."



Many days later, the news reached Tum; the scholar was so worried. One evening, he arrived at Teav's house. Coincidentally, Teav's mother was not home. Teav saw Tum walking back and forth; she asked Nor to invite him into the house. Tum and Teav had the chance to talk. They both vowed to be honest with each other. They made love. Nor helped hide it. When Teav's mother arrived, Tum made an excuse that he had come in search of cows and horses to buy. Teav's mother amicably greeted Tum and Pich, and allowed them to stay at her house as long as they needed. Tum had always been taking the chance to spend timewith Teav secretly. Meun Nguon often went in to please her without knowledge of her affairs.

In that era, there was a king named Preah Bat Reamea Cheung Prey. He heard that the scholar Tum and Pich, who were good at chanting and blowing a reed wind instrument, had won great approval. At that time, the fame of Tum and Pich reached Lungvek capital, and he ordered his servants to accompany them into the city. Later, he wished to have a beautiful woman as his queen. The royal soldiers went in search of the woman. They found no one till they arrived in Tbaung Khmum where they found only Teav. They brought her to the King. Along the way, was restless, thinking about Tum? Days later, she and her mother arrived at the palace. The following morning, the King came to the royal palace, while Teav's mother brought her in to see the King.

The King was satisfied with Teav. He asked Tum to sing, and admired her beauty. Tum accepted the order. Then, he bowed and walked in to take a proper seat. He looked up and was surprised to see Teav who had been brought in by her mother. Tum was enraged. With the love he had for her, he sang; telling the King that Teav was his girl. The King was furious. However, he took control of his anger under the guidance of dharma. And he pronounced them to be spouses.

Teav's mother was disappointed and returned home alone. She went to talk with Orchoun in order to renegotiate their earlier agreement. Teav's mother wrote her a letter telling her that she was sick and asking her to return to Tbaung Khmum. Teav arrived home and knew that she had been cheated. She sent a letter to Tum. Tum was depressed and he told the King the whole story. The King became enraged with Orchoun.

The King gave Tum a letter [telling him] to go to Tbaung Khmum. Hearing the drum from the distance, Tum was shocked and crying till Pich asked him to get dressed and to cover his head with a black silk blanket given by the King. Then, they walked straight to the wedding hut. When they arrived and saw that the wedding organizer was drunk and had fallen asleep, they both tried to get in like the other guests. They entered the house and greeted the elders. They enjoyed the feast like the other guests. Tum drank wine and got drunk. He became brave; he sang, calling Teav out of the room. Teav came out; Tum carried her and placed her on his lap. He kissed and caressed her. He accused her of being unfaithful to him. She fed Tum's desire and ran crying back into the room. Teav's mother was in a rage and called for Orchoun to arrest and kill Tum.

When Teav heard that her man had been caught, she begged them not to tie him with rattan but with the scarf given by the King. Tum was taken away. That night, Teav knew that Tum was killed. She asked Nor to bring her a betel knife. She prayed that no one would see her when she descended from the house. When she met a cowherd, she took off her ring; then, she asked him to take it and sing, telling the guests that Teav and Nor were dead, along with Tum. After that, she walked around till she found Tum's body under a big banyan tree in Cheung Khal village. The two ladies committed suicide, falling across Tum's body.

While the wedding participants were then astonished to hear the boy's singing and tried to be in pursuit of Teav. Hearing that Teav had disappeared, Orchoon was furious and followed her to Choeung Khallarge Bodhi tree, where he found the three guys dead. Once the corpses were being buried, a royal message was seen dropping out of Tum's body. Orchoon was very frightened on sight of the message and blamed Teav's mother for the incidence. Having known that Tum was killed, Pich and his teammates traveled on boats to Longvek palace to inform the King of the event. The King Choeung Prey was very irritated to hear it, he traveled to Tbaung Khmum and commanded that Orchoon's family and Teav's mother be arrested and their heads be raked to death, while their associates were also ordered to work as laborers.

THE END

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