[Aik Haw]

The Smell of Salt Fish

During the Song Dynasty, there was a dispossessed old woman in Fukien province who was so poor that all she could afford was to buy two katis of rice every 14 days. This went on for many months, after her most unfilial son, at the whim of his wife, set his mother on the street as a pauper, leaving her with nothing more than the shirt on her back and her meagre household skills to fend for herself.

Now, she lived in a relatively crowded corner of the city. One day, new neighbours moved in, not much richer than her but at least they were able to buy one more thing other than rice, salted fish.

Everyday, they would fry salted fish and eat it with their rice. The old lady, living next door to them, ate her rice at exactly the same time while savouring the fragrance of salted fish. Everytime she inhaled, she imagined herself eating the salted fish as she devoured her white rice.

A few months later, the neighbours were told of the old woman's peculiar eating habit. This got them angry and they demanded they she pay them for all the salt fish they bought. They argued that because she enjoyed the fragrance of the salt fish, she was in fact eating with them and needed to pay.

The old woman, having no money, was unable to pay them. They therefore went to the lower courts to have the matter settled.

Upon hearing the case, the Judge nodded at the neighbours. "Indeed, I fully agree the old woman is guilty. For this, she will definitely have to pay you."

The old woman, having just acquired one coin that day, nearly fainted when the Judge ordered his guards to pass to her a tin.

"Drop your coin in as payment." he ordered. Relunctantly, she let go of the coin. A loud clang as metal slammed on metal filled the hall.

The guard than empty the tin and pass the coin back to the old woman.

"Drop it in," he ordered.

She did this for fifty times before it was over.

The judge said, "The payment is done."

The neighbours asked where is the money.

The judge replied, "This old woman merely savoured the fragrance of your salt fish while eating. For this, I have ordered that she overcompensates the payment back to you, by letting you hear the colliding sound of a coin 50 times over."

[Hereford Eye]

They didn’t have no preacher
When they laid Black Jack away,
For there wasn’t much a preacher
Could have figgered out to say.
Black Jack had been an outlaw,
Till a bullet cut him down,
A scourge upon the highways,
A terror to the town.

The gang that he had rode with
Wasn’t there to see the the sight
Of Black Jack being put to bed
To sleep his long last night.
Six honest cowboys bore his pall,
A plain, rough box of pine,
The most of them had smelt his smoke
And heard his bullets whine.
No tears was shed, I recollect,
And surely none was due.
Black Jack ad been a bad ‘un
And his evil days was through.

Yet when the dirt was throwed
Upon the grave wherein he lay,
One grizzly-headed cowhand
Stepped forward with a spray
O’ plain wild flowers,
And it didn’t take him long,
For all he said was
“This is for a cowboy that went wrong.”

Black Jack had been an outlaw,
And the price he paid was fair,
But still ‘twas mighty solemn
Just to view them flowers there,
For we knowed that this ol’ cowboy
Had once been Black Jack’s friend---
And he also was the Sheriff
That had brung him to his end.

- S. Omar Barker

[kater]

Primary chief bard
Am I to Elphin,
And my original country
Is the region of the summer stars;
Johannes the diviner
Called me Merddin;
At length every king
Will call me Taliesin.

I was with my Lord
In the highest sphere
On the fall of Lucifer
Into the depth of hell;
I have borne a banner
Before Alexander;
I know the names of the stars
Of the north and of the south.

I was in the Court of Don
Before the birth of Gwydion;
I was at the place of Crucifixion
Of the merciful Son of God.
I have been for three periods
In the Court of Arianrod;
I have obtained the muse
From the cauldron of Ceridwen.

I have been bard of the harp
To Lleon of Lochlin;
I have been on the White Hill
In the Court of Kynvelyn:
I have been a teacher
To the whole universe;
I shall be until the day of doom
On the face of the earth

Taliesin

[Eldanuumea]

I hadn't visited this thread in quite a while....what lovely pieces, enjoyable stuff! Thanks guys.

[Aik Haw]

During the time of the Lord Buddha, there was a woman named Kisa Gautami. Kisa Gautami was the daughter of a well to do merchant and was hence wedded to the son of a very wealthy merchant. Out of the single consummation during their wedding night, they both had a son, whom the couple adored dearly.

Alas, the child just before his first birthday was struck by a malady ( most likely meningococcal meningitis with septicaemia given the elaborate syndrome writing in the great and long poem on the story ) that no doctors of that era could remedy. The child died two days later.

Kisa Gautami, bereft of her husband's support as he was off trading, cried over the corpse of her son. She prayed to the Gods, begging them to restore life to her son. She carried the newly dead corpse to every single temple in town, scaring the priest and the locals that she passed. Finding herself in a deadlock, no one being able to resurrect her son, she turned to the only person she knew might be able to help her.

Cradling the now bloated corpse in her arm, she stepped into the Jeta Monastery, sending a few more timid nuns and monks scampering for dear life, found the Buddha waiting for her.

The Buddha told her that her son can be resurrected but she needed to do one very important thing for him.

He needed 3 mustard seeds from a household that has never known death.

Kisa Gautami, thanking the Lord Buddha, went on around town, knocking on every single door she went past, asking them if anyone in their household had ever died and if none had, can she get some mustard seeds. By this time, she was carrying an oozing corpse across town.

Kisa Gautami was shocked that no household she visited had not known death. Even after amassing all her resources, she still could not find a person whose family seem to be comprised of Immortals.

Kisa Gautami then realised the Truth, that Death was inevitable, and came to all beings. It was there and then that Kisa Gautami transcended into the first stage towards Buddhahood. She cremated the body of the child and became one of the first few Buddhist nuns.

[kater]

The Ancients of the World
There was once an Eagle living in the woods of Gwernabwy: he and his mate had young ones till the ninth generation and far beyond that; then the old mother eagle died, leaving her husband a lonely widower, without anyone to console and cheer him in his old age. In the sadness of his heart he thought it would be well if he married an old widow of his own age. Hearing of the old Owl of Cwm Cawlyd, he took it into his head to make her his second wife, but before doing so, being anxious not to degrade his race, he determined to make enquiries about her.

He had an old friend, older than himself, the Stag of Rhedynfre, in Gwent. He went to him and asked the age of the old Owl. The Stag answered him thus: "Seest thou, my friend, this oak by which I lie? It is now but a withered stump, without leaves or branches, but I remember seeing it an acorn on the top of the chief tree of this forest. An oak is three hundred years in growing, and after that three hundred years in its strength and prime, and after that three hundred years in returning into earth. Upwards of sixty years of the last hundred of this oak are passed, and the Owl has been old since I first remember her. Nor does anyone of my kindred know her age. But I have a friend who is much older than I, the Salmon of Llyn Llifon. Go to him and ask him if he knows aught of the age and history of the old Owl"

The Eagle went to the Salmon, who answered him thus: "I have a year over my head for every gem on my skin and for every egg in my roe, but the Owl was old when first I remember her. But I have a friend who is much older than I, the Ousel of Cilgwri. Haply he knows more about the Owl than I do."

The Eagle went and found the Ousel sitting on a hard flint, and asked him if he knew aught of the age and history of the Owl. The Ousel, answering, said: "Seest thou this flint on which I sit? I have seen it so large that it would have taken three hundred yoke of the largest oxen to move it, and it has never been worn away save by my cleaning my beak upon it once every night before going to sleep, and striking the tip of my wing against it after rising in the morning. Yet never have I known the Owl younger or older than she is today. But I have a friend who is much older than I, the Toad of Cors Fochno. Go to him and ask him if he knows aught of the age and history of the Owl."

The Eagle went to the Toad, who answered him thus: "I never eat any food save the dust of the earth, and I never eat half enough to satisfy me. Seest thou the great hills around this bog? I have seen the place where they stand level ground. I have eaten all the earth they contain, though I eat so little for fear lest the mould of the earth should be consumed before my death. Yet never have I known the Owl anything else but an old grey hag who cried to-whit-to-whoo in the woods in the long winter nights, and scared children with her voice even as she does to-day."

Then the Eagle saw he could marry her without bringing disgrace or degradation on his tribe. And so it was from the courtship of the Eagle that it was known which were the oldest creatures in the world. They are the Eagle of Gwernabwy, the Stag of Rhedynfre, the Salmon of Llyn Llifon, the Ousel of Cilgwri, the Toad of Cors Fochno, and the Owl of Cwm Cawlyd, and the oldest of them all is the Owl.

[kater]

Why the Red Dragon is the Emblem of Wales
After the Treachery of the Long Knives, King Vortigern called together his twelve wise men and asked them what he should do. They said to him: "Retire to the remote boundaries of your kingdom, and there build and fortify a city to defend yourself. The Saxon people you have received are treacherous, and they are seeking to subdue you by guile. Even during your life they will, if they can, seize upon all the countries which are subject to your power. How much more will they attempt it after your death?"

The King was pleased with this advice, and departing with his wise men travelled through many parts of his territories in search of a convenient place for building a citadel. Far and wide they travelled, but nowhere could they find a suitable place until they came to the mountains of Eryri, in Gwynedd. On the summit of one of these, which was then called Dinas Ffaraon, they discovered a fine place to build a fortress. The wise men said to the King: "Build here a city, for in this place you will be secure against the barbarians."

Then the King sent for artificers, carpenters, and stonemasons, and collected all the materials for building; in the night, however, the whole of these disappeared, and by morning nothing remained of all that had been provided. Materials were procured from all parts a second time, but a second time they disappeared in the night. A third time everything was brought together for building, but by morning again not a trace of them remained. Vortigern called his wise men together and asked them the cause of this marvel. They replied: "You must find a child born without a father, put him to death, and sprinkle with his blood the ground on which the citadel is to be built, or you will never accomplish your purpose."

This did not appear such strange advice to King Vortigern as it does to us. In olden times there were very cruel practices in connection with building. Sometimes a human victim was sacrificed in order that his blood might be used as cement; at other times a living person was walled in a new building - often an innocent little child.

The King thought the advice of his wise men was good, and sent messengers throughout Britain in search of a child born without a father. After having inquired in vain in all the provinces, they came to a field in Bassaleg, where a party of boys were playing at ball. Two of them were quarrelling, and one of them said to the other, "0 boy without a father, no good will ever happen to you." The messengers concluded that this was the boy they were searching for; they led him away and conducted him before Vortigern the King.

The next day the King, his wise men, his soldiers and retinue, his artificers, carpenters and stonemasons, assembled for the ceremony of putting the boy to death. Then the boy said to the King, "Why have your servants brought me hither?" "That you may he put to death," replied the King, "and that the ground on which my citadel is to stand may be sprinkled with your blood, without which I shall be unable to build it." " Who, said the boy, "instructed you to do this?" "My wise men," replied the King. "Order them hither," returned the boy.

This being done, he thus questioned the wise men: "By what means was it revealed to you that this citadel could not be built unless the spot were sprinkled with my blood? Speak without disguise, and declare who discovered me to you." Then turning to the King, "I will soon," said he, "unfold to you everything; but I desire to question your wise men and wish them to disclose to you what is hidden underneath this pavement."

They could not do so and acknowledged their ignorance. Thereupon the boy said, "There is a pool; come and dig." They did so, and found a pool even as the boy had said. "Now," he continued, turning to the wise men again, "tell me what is in the pool." But they were ashamed and made no reply. "I," said the boy, "can discover it to you if the wise men cannot. There are two vases in the pool." They examined and found that it was so. Continuing his questions, "What is in the vases?" he asked. They were again silent. "There is a tent in them," said the boy; "separate them and you shall find it so."

This being done by the King's command, there was found in them a folded tent. The boy, going on with his questions, asked the wise men what was in it. But they knew not what to reply. "There are," said he, "two serpents, one white and one red; unfold the tent" They obeyed, and two sleeping serpents were discovered. "Consider attentively," said the boy, "what the serpents do." They began to struggle with each other, and the white one, raising himself up, threw down the other into the middle of the tent and sometimes drove him to the edge of it, and this was repeated thrice. At length the red one, apparently the weaker of the two, recovering his strength, expelled the white one from the tent, and the latter, being pursued through the pool by the red one, disappeared.

Then the boy asked the wise men what was signified by this wonderful omen, but they had again to confess their ignorance. "I will now," said he to the King, "unfold to you the meaning of this mystery. The pool is the emblem of this world, and the tent that of your kingdom; the two serpents are two dragons; the red serpent is your dragon, but the white serpent is the dragon of the Saxons, who occupy several provinces and districts of Britain, even almost from sea to sea. At length, however, our people shall rise and drive the Saxon race beyond the sea whence they have come; but do you depart from this place where you are not permitted to erect a citadel; you must seek another spot for laying your foundations."

Vortigern, perceiving the ignorance and deceit of the magicians, ordered them to be put to death, and their graves were dug in a neighbouring field. The boy's life was spared; he became known to fame afterwards as the great magician Myrddin Emrys or Merlin, as he is called in English), and the mountain on which he proved his mighty power was called in after time Dinas Emrys instead of Dinas Ffaraon. He remained in the Dinas for a long time, until he was joined by Aurelius Ambrosius, who persuaded him to go away with him. When they were about to set out, Myrddin placed all his treasure in a golden cauldron and hid it in a cave. On the mouth of the cave he rolled a huge stone, which he covered up with earth and green turf, so that it was impossible for anyone to find it. This wealth he intended to be the property of some special person in a future generation. This heir is to be a youth with yellow hair and blue eyes, and when he comes to the Dinas a hell will ring to invite him into the cave, which will open out of its own accord as soon as his foot touches it.

[Aik Haw]

Beautiful story kater!!

[Cadfael]

I am a story teller.. and my stories must be told...
I have many stories, some for young and some for old.
From my many travels I have gatherd these tales...
To teach you good sense, when all else fails.
Sometimes there are tears... sometimes there is laughter...
But always.. a happily ever after

Answers on a postcard...

Can anyone tell me where that was from?

[Hobbit]

Erm....from 'The Storyteller' TV series. :)

Hobbit