A sorcerer-monk had made magic his main occupation. He had penetrated its mysteries so deeply that he could, with the help of mantras, transform himself into a tiger and every night he did not fail to exercise his power.
But this metamorphosis made him take on the carnivorous habits of this beast.
The witch monk who had become a tiger, was always consumed by the desire to eat human flesh.
So he began by devouring his disciples.
As each night one of them disappeared, a great emotion reigned in the monastery and the surrounding country.
An investigation was launched, and after a thousand searches, human bones were finally found piled up under the priest's bed.
Suspecting some strange curse and fearing the fate of their companions, the monks left the pagoda, but did not dare to complain openly.
The witch monk He was left alone and asked the faithful of the neighbourhood to send him children to serve him.
Six or seven were brought to him, all of whom disappeared to the great astonishment of the parents.
Henceforth, children were no longer entrusted to her.
The monk was therefore reduced to running around at night, where he had to make do with dogs and pigs.
One evening, buffalo traders came to seek shelter for the night in the sâla of the pagoda.
The witch monk knowing his irresistible passion and foreseeing the danger that these poor people were going to run, warned them that there was a very dangerous tiger prowling around the pagoda at night and that they were in danger of being eaten.
- Bah!" said the leader of the band; "I have crossed the forest where there are many more tigers; I am not afraid of anything here.
But after this warning, he thought it prudent to guard against any surprise, and for this purpose he made three statuettes of buffaloes out of wax, which he placed at the entrance to the sâla at the top of the stairs, and then, after reciting mantras which he had received from a sorcerer, he went to sleep with his companions.
The tiger arrived, but as soon as he reached the landing of the staircase he found himself in the presence of three buffaloes, no longer of wax, but of flesh and blood.
The merchant's mantras had done this wonder.
Attacked vigorously by these formidable opponents, the tiger was soon tumbled, thrown into the air, and then disemboweled.
When the merchants woke up in the morning, they found the old monk dead next to the statues, his belly open and his entrails spilled.
The chief, a bit of a witch himself, understood what had happened. He had the corpse removed and after making a suitable pyre he set it on fire.
The ceremony over, the caravan continued on its way. But the pagoda, although freed from the monster, remained abandoned, struck with a curse.
By Charles HARDOUIN
Published in the Revue des traditions populaires,
1890, vol. V, pp. 696-708.
More stories in the category : Thai legend
FR_BE
EN
IT
PT
ES
ZH
RU