Laos Creation Myth

In the beginning, there was nothing but a huge ocean. The god was living in the clouds, above the earth. He didn’t have a head or arms.
The god made another god, who growth from him like the mushroom in the forest. And when the new god got a shape, he started the creation. The ancestor God made a huge crab from one piece of the new deity and commanded the cancer to dive under the sea and hold the earth on its back. He then formed a serpent, an elephant, and finally a huge spider. And he ordered the spider to weave a huge net. The spider grabbed the net and the god made the vault of the sky from this net. And in this ancient time, the heavens, the earth, the grass were created, and the gods and the spirits were born. Then the gods, the spirits and the people often visited each other. There were three great khans on the earth: Pu Lang, Kan Khan, and Ket Khan. The people lived from fishing and rice production. One day, then, the gods proclaimed to the people that whenever they sat down next to a bowl of rice, they would have to report it to the gods. And if they eat meat, then a fried fish must be offered to the gods. But people did not follow the order of the thens. Even though they were warned three times, they still did not obey. Then the gods were angry and the lower world was flooded with water. The ocean stepped out of the bed, overwhelmed the earth and destroyed everything. Sand clouds rose to the sky, and people were all pulling out to one thread. Only the three great khans understood that the gods were angry on the people. They came to build a wooden house and a big raft. The wooden house with beams was lifted onto the raft, and when it was ready, they moved with their women and their children, and the waves swung the raft high. The flood was growing, so the raft eventually ended up in the realm of the gods. The Khans visited the king of the gods to declare their respect.

• Why did you come to my realm? – the master of gods asked.

• We have come down to pay the tribute to the righteousness and tell what happened on the earth.

The Master of Gods replied:

• We have often repeated you, respect those who live in the heavens. I proclaimed myself: “Estimate your lords and you’ll be happy.”
  You did not listen to my voice, now they were punished.
  The king of the thens chose the dwellings of the khans and their families among the gods. On the ground, water soon disappeared, and the solid earth rose again from the ocean. The three khans then contracted the king of the gods again:

• We can’t stay in the high heavens, here we can’t walk. Let us move back to the ground where there’s solid ground under our feet.

The supreme god agreed to the khans’ request and gave them a Greyhound buffalo to carry them to the lower empire. They settled down on the ground, plowed the ground with the buffalo and sowed rice. But after three years the buffalo was destroyed and the animal's body was left as a gift to the gods.
Shortly afterward, a tendril sprouted out of the buffalo's nose, which was growing until it finally had three basket-size pumpkins. Inside the three pumpkins, people were born. People shouted indignantly in their cradles. Pu Lang-song khan blew up their rumble and drilled the pumpkin's shells with red iron. The people pushed each other in the hole, but as they could only tear it out, Kan Khan cut a larger opening with his knife, throwing people through three days and three nights. Those who were hiding in the smaller opening were divided into two groups: Thai Lom and Thai Li. Those coming out of the larger hole formed three groups: Thai Löng, Thai Lo, and Thai Kvang.

When they all came to light, Pu Lung-song taught them about rice cultivation, weaving, and weaving. He then paired the women and the men and taught them the science of house building. Pu Lang-gong taught people to honor their parents, feed them, and care for the elderly. When the parents died, the children lamented them long and buried their bodies according to Pu Lang's laws. Because Pu Lang said:

• Burn the bodies of those who came to the world with the knife cut open and put their clean bones in a small house, and present your food offer every day. The bodies that hatched in the small hole, bury it in the ground, lift the grave above and sacrifice rice and wine daily.

The people who came out of the pumpkin through the knife cut hole were the Thai people, and through the small hole, the people and the kha, the people of the slaves, came out. But all of them served the three great khanes, the loyal subjects of the Khan.

People have multiplied and become like a water drop. And the crowd couldn't be steered anymore, no longer followed Pu Pu's and Kan's instructions. The three Khan went up to the Lord of the gods and complained against the people. The Lord of the Gods then appointed two celestial princes as the leaders of the people, but they did not care much for the good of their subjects; The Lord of the gods was very dissatisfied with the rule of the two khans, ordered them back to heaven, and entrusted his son, the virtuous Prince Bulom, with the control of the fate of the people.

Bulom Khan arrived in the lower world with an ornate accompaniment. He then sent the two divine builders of heaven together with the son of the Lord of the then. Then Tenget and Pitszanukukan. The divine masters of heaven taught people to forge knives, hoes, spades, silk and cotton weaving, and to prepare food. They were ordered to sacrifice the feet of the animals and the fried fish to the gods. They set the holidays and the days when the work was interrupted when it was forbidden to weave, spun, grind and do any other hard work.

• If you follow our regulations, the two divine builders said to the people - then they could live in peace.

Then Teng and Pixanukukan then went back to heaven and reported to the Lord of the gods that they had accomplished their mission, taught people how to manufacture work equipment and observe customs.

• Did you give people the tools they can have fun with? - he asked the Lord's gods' messengers.

• We've forgotten about it. - they said.

Then the master of the gods commissioned the leader of heavenly musicians, descend to the ground, and teach people to make drums, gongs, tambour, horns and other musical instruments.

The leader of the celestial musicians soon completed his work and returned to the Lord of the gods:

• It is now forbidden for people to go to heaven. But the gods must not descend any more.

The Lord of the then commanded to destroy the bamboo bridge, which connected the sky with the earth. And from that day on, the gods, the spirits and the people did not visit each other anymore.

Not long after Prince Bulom's terrestrial domination began, a great misfortune hit people. In the middle of a large marsh, a thick trunk was thrown out. The bulb was getting thickened, all rising taller, its stems rolling across the empire, and the dense leaves finally covered the earth. The rays of the sun did not penetrate the foliage, and everywhere there was frosty cold, the people cultivated their lands in vain. Bulom gave Khan a command to the people to cut out the dangerous plant rooted, but all of their work came to an end. Because of the poison, his angry streaks, he couldn't even get close to him. Finally, an old couple, Tha Niö and Thaon Ja, took on the difficult task. Before they left, they said:

• We ask people: if we die, sacrifice us. Call on our name before each meal and just take the food after the reverence.

People pledged to meet the old hero's wish. And they climbed the marsh with their axes. They had been working for three months and three days without rest until eventually the cave fell down - but buried the two brave old men underneath. After their death, they became the charities of the countryside, and when people sat next to their food, they cried out:

• Our ancestor, eat!

Then he brought peace and prosperity to the earth, and Prince Bulom was rightly ruling the people. Later, the prince had seven sons, and when the boys became men, their father divided the earth into seven realms and set his son at the head of the empires.