Posted: 11/2/05
Teen Talk ColumnXieng Mieng: The cleverest man in the kingdom
A long time ago there was a man named Xieng Mieng (ìsee-ung - mee-ungî). But he was not always known as Xieng Mieng. He was once a novice in a temple and his name was Kham (ìkaamî). Kham was very clever, but he was also very lazy. He loved to trick people. This is the story of how Xieng Mieng got his name: One day, Kham was taking a bath in the river. Some merchants carrying Mieng walked by. (Mieng is a type of gum made from the leaf of a bush. Kham loved to chew Mieng.) ìNovice, how deep is this river? Can I cross it?î asked the Mieng merchant. ìI donít think you can cross this river,î said Kham. ìI think that I can,î answered the merchant. ìOkay, letís make a bet. If you can cross the river I will give you all of my clothes. But if you cannot cross this river, then you will give me all of your Mieng. Okay?î said Kham. The merchants then picked up their baskets of Mieng, took off their shoes, pulled up their pants and started to cross the river. ìThis is easy. This river is not deep at all,î they said. And then they walked through the river to the other bank. ìWe won novice. We won the bet. We crossed the river. Now give us your clothes,î said the merchant. ìNo, no, no, you did not win the bet, because you did not cross the river. You just walked through the river. To cross the river you must jump from that bank of the river to this bank. You lost the bet. Now where is my Mieng?î asked Kham. ìWe crossed the river! Now give us your clothes!î yelled the merchants. ìYou did not! Give me your Mieng!î Kham yelled back. And Kham and the merchants argued and argued. ìLet us go see the king. The king will decide,î said the merchants. ìLet us go to the king then,î said Kham. So the young novice and the merchants, with their Mieng, went to see the king and they both told the king their stories. Leaving shortly, the king returned to the room with a ruling: ìMerchants of Mieng, Kham is half right and you are half right. Therefore, you do not need to give Kham all of your Mieng. But you must give him four baskets and five alms bowls of Mieng,î said the king. ìYou are a very wise king,î said Kham, ìPlease wait here, merchants. I must get my four baskets and five bowls.î Soon, sixteen people carrying the four biggest baskets in the kingdom arrived at the palace. ìWhere is Kham?î asked the king. ìI am in here,î said Kham. The voice came from inside the basket and Kham jumped out of the basket with five alms bowls. ìYou tricked us!î said the merchants. ìI did not trick you,î said Kham. The king told me to ìFill four baskets and five alms bowlsí and are these not baskets? Are these not alms bowls?î Kham and his friends then filled the baskets and bowls with all of the merchantsí Mieng. The king then called Kham to his palace. ìKham,î said the king, ìnovices are not allowed to bet. This is against the law of the temple. Now you must leave the temple.î That is how Xieng Mieng got his name. Now, you see, donít judge people by how they look ó because they can be very clever. ï Kalia Lee is a ninth grade student at Century Junior High School. Forest Lake Times
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