Nuyan - Ja-Aye Stories

A noble boy

In ancient times, there was a village called Sixty Village, where old men and women did not live long. In Sixty Village, people who became adults could not live beyond sixty years of age. Even when they reached sixty, the old men and women sacrificed their lives to ensure that they would live a good life. In their village, there was a long-standing custom. That custom was that those who reached sixty years of age would go to the lake at the top of their village and jump into a lotus flower that was blooming in the lake to have a good life in the future. It was said that if they jumped in this way, they would die, and the deceased would live a good life in the future, and there would be happiness. Therefore, the people of that village, whether men or women, would jump into the lotus flower in the lake when they reached sixty years of age. That is why the village was called Sixty Village in the past.

One day, an old woman who had lived in that village all her life was approaching the age of sixty. The old woman was about to die, so she gave all her possessions to her sons. But for herself, she left behind a pair of the best clothes to wear if she died. She thought that one day she would go to the lotus pond, jump into the lotus flower, and die. She told her children who were far away. One by one, the children who lived far away also came. When they heard that their mother was about to die at the age of sixty, they cried bitterly at the thought of parting. But the mother said, “Don’t cry, my children, only if you jump into this lotus flower will you achieve a good life, so be happy. Pray for me.” Despite this, the children continued to cry and cry. There was only one child among them who did not cry. He was a son and a duke who ruled a large city and small villages. When the old woman lived in a small village under the duke's rule, she could not help but cry, thinking about the reason why she could not live long in the village. The duke begged his mother, "Mother, everyone else jumps into the lotus flower at the age of sixty and dies, but don't jump into it. It is better to feel sorry for her, because she died for no reason. Don't sacrifice your mother's life by jumping into the lotus flower." However, the old woman shook her head and replied, "Oh, don't stop your mother, she wants to be good like everyone else in the next life. My son and daughter should pray for your mother." The duke begged his mother in the same way. Despite his apology, the old lady did not give up, but continued to do whatever was required of her, waiting for the moment when she would be ready to jump into the lotus flower.

When the young prince realized that he could not tell his mother, he went away alone to a secluded place and sat and thought for a whole day. He would return in the evening. He went to a hermit in the forest and told him about the events that had happened in their village. The wise hermit also discussed what he knew. One day the young prince returned from the forest. That day was only seven days before the day when the old woman was to jump into the lotus flower. The young prince would sit alone at night and think, and during the day he would take his disciples and go out to the lake. In the lake, he learned that there was a strange lotus flower that, unlike other lotuses, bloomed early in the morning and closed up again in the evening and sank into the water.

One day, the Duke sent his disciples from home to bring many carts of gunpowder. He also sent many carts of linseed oil. When the gunpowder and linseed oil arrived at the lake, he waited every morning to see the lotus bud appear. The lotus bud soon appeared in the water and soon bloomed, its red color filling the entire lake. It was known that those who were about to die had to jump into the lotus flower when it bloomed, so the Duke poured the gunpowder bags he had brought into the lotus flower as soon as it bloomed. When the gunpowder bags were gone, he also poured the linseed oil bags into the lotus flower. He crossed the lake in a boat and carefully watched to see if the gunpowder fell into the lotus flower before returning home. He ordered his disciples to wait until the lotus flower closed again at night and sank into the water. The disciples, like every day, waited until the lotus flower closed again and sank into the water, then returned.

The next morning, the day of the Duke's mother's sacrifice was to jump into the lotus flower. The children who had come from far away were also crying bitterly, for they were about to be separated from their mother for the last time, and the whole house was filled with noise. The only one among them who did not cry was the Duke. The Duke waited for his mother to do whatever she wanted. When the time came, the Duke and his mother prepared a large retinue and went out to the lake. They prepared a small boat by the side of the lake to take his mother to the lotus flower. The Duke had not yet let his mother go into the water, but while they were waiting, they saw a strange sight: a lotus flower suddenly appeared in the middle of the lake, but smoke rose. While the people were just staring at the smoke, the water turned red. The whole lake turned red with blood, and the people were afraid. While they were watching, they heard a loud noise and the water began to move more.

At that moment, the water began to boil, and they saw a long tail appear where the lotus flower would have appeared. Behind that tail, they saw a large, scaly dragon slowly appear. After the dragon's body appeared, its body moved rapidly as if in pain. The entire lake was red with blood, and soon they saw the lotus flower that appeared every morning. The lotus flower was no longer a real lotus flower, but when they looked at it in relation to the dragon's body, they realized that it was a dragon's mouth. When they saw that the dragon's mouth was shaped like a lotus flower, the young prince, through the crowd standing on the shore, crossed the lake in a small boat and stabbed the dragon with a spear. The dragon was covered in gunpowder, so when he stabbed it again with his spear from a place where it was writhing, it calmed down.

When it was calm, he knew that it was dead, so he had his disciples drag the dead dragon onto the land. The dragon's body was so large that the people who were watching helped him to drag it. When the dead dragon reached the land, the young duke cut open its belly. When he cut open its belly, they saw a mountain of human bones. Along with the bones, they also saw the clothes of the dead women and men. Then the children and grandchildren of the dead people remembered and wept bitterly. When the young duke's mother saw this, she was grateful to her son for his wisdom and for his risk-taking. All the people in the city gathered around and worshiped the young duke. If the Duke hadn't made such a bold plan, it's impossible to predict how many more old men and women would have died in the future.

From that day on, even if the old men and women in the village reached the age of sixty, they no longer had to sacrifice themselves, but they knew that the people of the past had made mistakes and done wrong things, and they could live to be over a hundred years old. In order for future generations to remember the kindness of the young duke who saved the lives of the entire village, a stone statue was carved and erected on the top of the village.