Chapter Two                     

 

THE LEGENDS OF PRINCE COBRA

 

 

I.  LOR LAEB BECOMES PRINCE COBRA

 

Counting from the time of the first Tai King, King Lor, all Tai chronicles state that 13 generations had passed by before the birth of Prince Cobra.  Based on the establishment of Muoi Lo (Meuang Lor), assumedly in late 870's A.D., Prince Cobra would have been born about 400 years later, in the 1250's. His birth was during the reign of Tai King Taav Kwaak and Lao King Kam Fong (Souvanna Khamphong) who ruled Laos in 1286-1313.*22

 

According to the legend, the story of Prince Cobra begins with King Taav Kwaak's reign in the Kingdom of Muong Muoi.  While making a tour in the country, King Taav Kwaak overheard a young lady complaining about his wife, Queen Naang An Fai: "Saa Kheun Baw Nheun Fai, Tai Kheun Baw Nheun Nam" which means "When Saa people visit, she doesn't offer fire (tobacco to smoke). When Tai people visit, she doesn't offer water (to drink)."  She said that the queen was not fit for her position.  "If I were the king's wife…"

 

The King commanded that the young lady to be presented before him for inquiry.  Her name was Naang Sor, a descendent of the Saa leader named Am Pooy.  When asked if she had made such a challenge to the Queen, Naang Sor bravely admitted that she had.  To respond to her challenge and give her an opportunity to prove herself, King Taav Kwaak proclaimed her his concubine.

 

Because he did not choose her out of love, the King never visited Naang Sor, except once.  Yet, she bore him a son named "Kam Laet" in the 1250's.  This insulting name, "Laet", which means, "barely touched" was officially changed to "Laeb" meaning "fine or mini."  Because she had borne him a son, the King offered a Tai name to Naang Sor.  She was thereafter called Naang Kam Nhaan.  "Nhaan" the contrast of "Laeb" means "thick or big."

 

When Prince "Kam Laeb" reached the age of six or seven, he was tricked into going with two servants to collect bamboo poles.  Ordered by the Queen to kill Kam Laeb, the servants stationed the little prince below a foothill.  After the servants sharpened each bamboo pole at the top of the hill, they hurled them down at Prince Kam Laeb.  However, the little prince skillfully caught the poles, one after another, without getting hurt.

 

A second scheme to kill Kam Laeb was later planned.  There was a rumor that a "Nok Iang Kam" or "golden bird" was hiding in a tree hole.  Influenced by the Queen, King Taav Kwaak ordered Prince Kam Laeb to go and get that golden bird for him and the kingdom.  Naang Kam Nhaan, Kam Laeb's mother, knew that the hidden bird was actually a ferocious cobra hatching her eggs, but she could not refuse a king's order.  She therefore wisely prepared to protect her son.

 

Before Prince Kam Laeb went off to get the golden bird, Naang Kam Nhaan gave him a turban of puffy cotton to cover his entire head.  When Prince Kam Laeb climbed up to the tree hole, a giant cobra with a golden neck jumped out and poked the head of the intruder.  As planned, the cobra's fangs got struck in the puffy cotton, and as instructed by his mother, Prince Kam Laeb grabbed the cobra by the neck and plucked out its tongue.  He then stuffed the cobra into a bag, and happily returned to the palace.  Not knowing the difference between a bird and a cobra, Prince Kam Laeb proudly presented his catch to his father who was with his ministers at the time.  Prince Kam Laeb opened the bag and the cobra angrily slithered around the meeting hall.  Scared to death, some ministers frantically jumped down from the house through the windows.  Many people were injured because of that incident.

 

Prince Kam Laeb's fame was noted from then on.  His name was officially changed to Prince Cobra after that remarkable event.  When he became king, to emphasize the greatness of his reign, he was sometimes called "Pou Chao Ngou Haou Kor Kam" or "King of the Cobra with a Golden Neck."

 

 

Footnote:

 

22.    Congress Library, Laos Country Study (1997)

 

 

II.  "HEUA TOONG" OR THE GOLDEN BOAT

 

When Prince Cobra reached the age of ten, a second legend was created after another extraordinary event.  It happened at a meeting between King Taav Kwaak and a Vietnamese King.  The meeting was held at Thang Long, an ancient Vietnamese King's town, which is located by Mae Nam Tae (The Black River, about 40 kilometers west of Hanoi).  King Taav Kwaak took along his favorite son, Prince Cobra.  While his father was attending the meeting, Prince Cobra wandered around the town.  He then caught sight of a shimmering, golden boat docked on the Black River bank.  He wanted to touch it, but it was guarded by a dozen Vietnamese soldiers.  "Get away, it's the King's boat!" commanded the soldiers.  "You don't have enough strength even to hold the golden paddle".  Hearing the insult, Prince Cobra challenged: "Why don't you let me try… and you will see how the Tai people, even children, can paddle upstream in rushing river."

 

The soldiers laughed and dared the Little Prince: "The golden boat is yours if you can paddle it upstream!"  Once in the boat, Prince Cobra paddled it vigorously upstream, out of the soldiers' sight.  He paddled the golden boat away from the town of Thang Long and headed it toward Muong Muoi, about 200 kilometers upstream.  The soldiers waited and waited for the golden boat to be returned, until they had no sign of hope.  They realized that the Little Prince had actually paddled it away.  The soldiers finally took to their boats to pursue the Vietnamese king's boat along the Black River.

 

Once Prince Cobra arrived at Paa Muoi Village where the Nam Muoi Creek and the Black River join, he realized that the soldiers would catch him soon.  He stopped the boat, dropped the anchor, and then sunk the boat into the creek.  From there, he rushed home.  When the soldiers caught him at the palace, Prince Cobra reported that the boat had been sunk in the rushing water of the Black River.  The problem of the lost boat ended there for the Little Prince, but surely not for the soldiers.

 

Prince Cobra, in his times of sadness and trouble, often raised the golden boat to the surface of the water and leisurely paddled it along the Nam Muoi Creek.  For security, he had to sink it back after each ride.  Legend has it that in times of bad fortune for the country, the golden boat tips its head up enough to be seen for a nick of time.  People claim to have seen the golden boat a few years before the defeat of the French and the Tai at the Battle of Dien Bien Phu in 1954.

 

III.  "KHI SEUA" OR TIGER RIDER

 

The Saa people were known to have great magical powers.  They could turn a figurine made of grass into a buffalo or any animal with no difficulty.  However, the presence of those animals could not be seen, only their sounds could be heard.  Prince Cobra learned this magic from his mother, Naang Kam Nhaan, and practiced some of it.  For rough or long rides, he would sometimes overpower a tiger and ride it as if it were a horse.  This is the reason Prince Cobra was known as the "great tiger rider".

 

In the end, being a tiger rider celebrity cost him his life.  It happened during the time when King Cobra retired from his reign and lived in Muong Sai (Meuang Saay).  While the King was riding a tiger on a lengthy tour of the countryside, his senior wife at home steamed his shirt or "Neung Seua." Her action was merely to make King Cobra anxious to return home, but unfortunately it broke the spell of the magical power.  The tiger instantly turned back into its ferocious self, attacked, and killed King Cobra.  This happened near a lake, which was thereafter called "Noong Chong" or the "Lake Tiger."  To commemorate the death of King Cobra, the ceremony of "Te Taa" or "Offering by the Water" has been dedicated to him at that Lake in Muong Sai every year since his death until 1951, a few years before the Battle of Dien Bien Phu.

 

 

Remarks: 

 

(1) The legends of Prince Cobra's childhood were not documented in any version of the Tai Chronicle.  They may have been recorded elsewhere but not yet discovered.  However, most of the Tai people and especially every Baccam family know these stories and have discreetly narrated them to their children for over 700 years as a folk tale.  In the "Kor Lor Hoong" or the "Worship Room," there would also be included a "Kaa Lung" or a "Saa head-basket" to commemorate Naang Kam Nhaan, the mother of King Cobra. 

 

(2) None of the versions of the Tai Chronicle states that King Cobra was killed by a tiger.  All versions imply that he died in his old age, but do not mention the cause.  The recorders may have considered this tragic death to be an internal family matter.