IN THIS MOMENT - Tribute for all TEACHERS

Telling Lao stories.

Telling Lao Folk Tales.

Listening to the telling of folktales, the children will be cheerful and happy as well as imaginative.  Ideas from the tales such as compassion, love, caring for other humans and environments will be implanted into the children's minds. Children will learn the concepts of sacrifice and heroism from these tales.

VERSION I BEGINNING

Concepts reinforced: Question words: WHO, WHAT, WHERE, WHEN, HOW

Prepositions: UP, DOWN, AROUND, IN, ON, LEFT, RIGHT, BEFORE

Vocabulary: MONGOOSE, BEAUTIFUL, DANCE, CHANCE, LONG AGO,

I would use this as Readers’ Theater where groups of kids do choral speaking for each of the three roles: Narrator, Bird, and Mongoose. They can repeat after you the parts you want them to learn. Possible interactive questions are presented in parentheses.

“A PARADISE BIRD AND A MONGOOSE” Easy Version

N=NARRATOR(S) B=BIRD(S) M=MONGOOSE(S—OR MONGEESE?)

N: Our story takes place in Laos.

M: Where is Laos?

N: Laos is very far away.

M: What is Laos?

It is a beautiful country with tall trees, blue skies, plants and animals, and many bright colors.

B: When did the story happen?

It happened long, long ago, before we were born.

M and B: Please, tell us the story!

N: One day in Laos, the skies were

(blue), the trees and grasses were bright (green), and the flowers were (red, blue, yellow, purple, pink, etc.) A hungry mongoose walked through the beautiful jungle.

M: I am so, so, so hungry! (But, what can I eat?)

N: The mongoose looked left, right, and all around. But no food could be found.

Then, he looked up in a tree.

M: What do I see here? A beautiful, big, juicy bird—and it is dancing! What a tasty lunch that bird would make! (The mongoose licks its lips and rubs its tummy.)

Hello, Beautiful. Who are you?

B: (Chants and moves to a rhythm, side to side.)

WELL, EVERYBODY KNOWS THAT I’M THE BIRD.

I SING THE BEST SONGS YOU EVER HEARD.

AND NOW I’M LEARNING TO DANCE, DANCE, DANCE.

I’LL BE THE BEST IN THE WORLD IF I GET THE CHANCE.

M: (Licking it lips again.) I can help you be the best dancer in the whole world.

B: How can you help me?

M: You are moving from side to side.

Do it this way (M shows B how to do it):

WE GO UP, DOWN, ALL AROUND

WE GOT THE BIRD AND THE BIRD IS THE WORD.

WE GO UP, DOWN, ALL AROUND

WE GOT THE BEST DANCE ON THE GROUND.

(B tries the dance, but doesn’t do it well. Stops dancing.)

It’s no good. I’m still not the best dancer in the world.

What is wrong?

M: (Jumps up and down) I know! I know!

Say this after me: (B repeats each line.)

WE GO UP, DOWN, ALL AROUND.

WE GOT THE BIRD AND THE BIRD IS THE WORD.

WE GO UP, DOWN ALL AROUND.

WE GOT THE BEST DANCE ON THE GROUND!

B: But, we don’t have the best dance. Why???

M: (Smiling and licking its lips)

Don’t be sad. I have the answer.

(Where do you dance?) You dance in the tree.

Like I said, you need to dance ON THE GROUND.

B: Oh, you’re right!

(Sings.)

I’M SO GLAD I TOOK THIS CHANCE.

THE WORLD WILL LOVE THE WAY I DANCE.

I’LL BE A VERY FAMOUS BIRD!

EVERYONE WILL KNOW THAT THE BIRD IS THE WORD!

(The Bird jumps down.)

M: One more thing: Close your eyes while you dance!

(The bird closes its eyes and dances wildly in place on the ground.

The Mongoose dances in a circle around the bird until it fades away.

The Mongoose stands alone on stage, licking its lips and rubbing its tummy in a satisfied way.)

I TOOK A CHANCE, AND GOT THE BIRD!

EVERYBODY KNOWS THAT THE BIRD IS THE WORD! DELICIOUS! (The Mongoose takes a bow.)

N: And the lesson in this story is: Listen to yourself, and don’t trust a stranger. Do what you love from your heart, not so that you will be famous.

The Magic White Swan 

 A farmer went fishing one day. He had a long fishing net. Like other farmers, he wore a piece of cloth around his head. He cast his net, but he got nothing. He did it again and again, but he got nothing. There was not a single fish. He cast his net once, twice, thrice, but he got nothing. He cast his net for the last time and pulled up the net. He pulled and he pulled. "Oh, it is so heavy." Then, he found a white pebble in his net. It was the most beautiful pebble that he had ever seen. So, he took the pebble home and placed it on the altar above his head. After dinner, he went to sleep. The next day, the white pebble had turned into a white swan. The swan approached the farmer and said, "I will take you to a place, a beautiful place, full of flowers. You can take whatever you like." [Source: seasite.niu.edu/lao/LaoFolkLiterature /*\]

 So the swan began flapping its wings and flew off to the garden with the farmer sitting on its back. Once there the farmer enjoyed the garden. He picked one flower and felt that it was heavy. He picked the second one and it got heavier. He picked the third one and it was even heavier. "Oh, I don't think I should pick any more flowers. It will be too heavy for the swan to fly and take me home." So, the swan took the farmer back home and disappeared. The flowers were turned into gold! So, the farmer became a rich man. /*\

 The news of his wealth reached the ears of his friend, who came to ask the farmer right away about how he had acquired his wealth. The farmer told his friend everything. The next day, his friend went to fish in the river with his long net. He cast his net, but he got nothing. He cast his net once, twice, thrice, but he got nothing. He cast his net for the last time and pulled up the net. Then, he found a white pebble in his net. He took the pebble home and placed it in his room. The pebble became the beautiful white swan who said to the second farmer:"I will take you somewhere today, to a flower garden."So, the man jumped on the swan's back and the swan took off to the flower garden. Once there the man picked the flowers, one, two, three. /*\

 "Oh, I have to pick a lot since I have come here already," he said. So he picked two arms' full of flowers and went to the swan. "Take me home now. I will put these away and I will come back for more." So he jumped on the swan's back. It was so heavy. The swan almost could not fly. He flew, swaying left and right with weight. But he was able to take the man to his house with difficulty. The man jumped off the swan's back and said, "Now, wait here. Don't go away. I will go back to the garden to pick more flowers." Then he took the flowers into his room. When he came back, the swan disappeared. He returned to his room, but he found . . .only ordinary flowers, no gold. 

Lao Folk Tales: The Mango Tree

 One upon a time a fine mango tree grew in the jungle near the village. Every year when the fruit was ripe the village children ran into the jungle and picked the fruit. One day, however, when the children went to the tree, they found a fence all around it. At the side of the fence there were two huge, fierce dogs. A stranger came out of the jungle. "Go away!" he shouted loudly. " This is my tree now." "No, it is not," the children cried. "You don't own the jungle. The tree is everybody's tree. Anyone can have the fruit." [Source: seasite.niu.edu/lao/LaoFolkLiterature /*\]

 The children were telling the truth but the stranger did not listen to them. He made his dogs chase the children back to the village. The children went to the village headman and told him what had happened. The village headman was very wise and, after some thought, he worked out a clever trick to play on the nasty stranger. The next day one of the girls of the village went to the tree again. She threw two pieces of meat to the dogs and climbed over the fence. Then she took a mango from the tree and began to eat it. Again, the stranger ran out of the jungle and he shouted at her : "Stop! You cannot take my mangoes. Go away." The girl took another bite from the mango. Suddenly she screamed out loud and fell to the ground. At that moment, the headman came by and asked : "What have you done to that girl?" "Nothing!" the man answered. "She took one of my mangoes and fell to the ground."/*\

 "The headman looked sadly at the little girl. "She has mango sickness," he said. "Once every ten years, this mango tree has poisonous fruit. This must be the tenth year for this tree. You must not eat the mangoes on it this year." Then he picked up the girl and carried her back to the village. The next morning, the village headman took the children into the jungle to the mango tree. The stranger had gone, and he had taken his fence and his huge dogs with him. Once again, the children picked up the fruit, and carried them back to the village, laughing and singing because the tree was everybody's tree once more.

LAO LITERATURE

 Traditional Lao literatures consists of Buddhist sutras, jatakas (stories connected with the past lives of the Buddha), poems and epics. Many works have been lost because they were originally written in form of palm-leaf books, which perish quickly. Other were recorded and passed down orally in the form of songs and recitations. For English speakers, the pickings are even slimmer as very few works of Lao literature have been translated to English. 

 The most famous piece of classical Lao literature is the Pha Lak Pha Lam , an epic based on the Hindu Ramayana . Hindu literature is believed to have been introduced to Laos via the Angor civilization in Cambodia around one thousand years ago. The Lao version of the story has uniquely Lao elements. There are even some tribal versions of the Ramayana. 

 There are also many folk stories. A famous story associated with Luang Prabang is the legend of Pu Yer Yer. It goes: Many, many years, under King Khun Boromrajathirat, a huge tree rose from the earth and became so big its branches blocked out the sky and brought darkness and coldness to the earth. The king asked if anyone could cut down the tree. No one responded. Finally an odd couple named Pu Yer Ya Yer emerged and said they would give it a try. They labored for three months and three days and achieved their goal. The only problem was that they were standing in the wrong place at the wrong time when the tree fell and their spirits are remembered today.