The jar is a Thai legend that tells how a magic jar has the power to make its owner rich or poor.
In the past, a poor man worked in the rice fields for a rich man.
He ploughed hard, never complained, avoided bad deeds.
When he was free, he provided help, he went to the temple to obtain merit.
One afternoon, while ploughing, the plough hit a stump and got stuck.
The hard-working ploughman tries in vain to dig it out.
He unties the buffaloes, goes to get his pickaxe.
Under the stump, he finds a jar.
He is delighted. He's been wanting one for a long time.
He digs around the jar diligently; he extracts the jar without damage, washes it, removes the earth around it, and takes it home.
In the cool of the evening, he does not put water in it.
He places the jar close to the door.
No one takes any notice.
After dinner, he is there with his wife on the terrace.
Children run and play.
His son finds a coin, plays with it, drops it in the jar.
He takes over the room. There were two of them.
He removes a coin from the jar. There is always one left in the jar.
He understands that it is a magic jar, which automatically reproduces what is put in it.
Word spreads throughout the village.
A rich man would like to get hold of this jar.
He claims that it was on his land. He is the owner.
The poor guy refuses, because he is the one who found it.
The rich man goes before the king.
The puzzled king appoints an expert judge.
This judge also wants to take the jar. He tells the poor man to bring it before the trial. He keeps it at home.
If it's a magic jar, he has to enjoy it. When night falls, the judge has the jar put in the room.
When he went out, his father came into the room with an ingot and put it in the jar.
The ingot multiplies. The old man bends over and falls into the jar.
The son pulls his father out of the jar. But he finds another father in the jar. And so it goes on.
Finally, he breaks the jar, and finds twenty dads inside, who have to be fed, housed and laundered!
Excerpt from the book: Tales and legends of Thailand
collected and translated by Maurice Coyaud
Tales and Legends of Thailand © (French only) Flies France, 2009
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