Phra Nang Suwanasopha

 Once there was a beautiful and clever princess named Phra Nang Suwanasopha. Her
father, the king, wanted her to marry a man as clever as she was, a man who
could make her talk, for the princess was very shy. In fact, she was so shy
that she didn't talk to any man, not even
her father.

When
Phra Nang Suwanasopha was old enough to be mar­ried, the king sent word to
nearby kingdoms. He said that who­ever could make the princess talk could marry
her. From all around eager princes came to try and make the princess
speak. But they all went home again. Phra Nang Suwanasopha had nothing to say to any of them.

The
king had almost given up finding a husband for his daughter. Then another prince came to the palace to try his luck.
This prince was called Phra Sanphasit, and he brought many fine gifts with him. He also brought one of his best friends.
Before going to see the princess, Phra Sanphasit used magic to put his friend's soul
in a lamp.

Phra Nang Suwanasopha was waiting in her room when
the prince arrived carrying his lamp. He set the lamp carefully on the floor and began to tell a story.

"Once
there were three merchants travelling by boat," he began. "They
stopped each night to rest by the bank of the river. One
night, one of the merchants was awakened by a
sound. Something was bumping against the boat. When he looked over the side, he saw a piece of wood. Now,
this mer­chant liked to carve, so he pulled the piece of wood out of the
water. He then carved it into the shape of a beautiful girl. He spoke some
magic words and the girl came to life. At this moment the other merchants woke
up. One asked the girl to come and sit near him_'. The other brought
some fine cloth for her to wear. The girl
was so sweet and beautiful that all the mer­chants fell in love with
her, and they began to fight over who should marry her." Phra Sanphasit
paused, then he asked the lamp who should marry the girl.

The lamp immediately replied, "Well, of course the
mer­chant who carved her in the first place should marry her."

"Wrong!"
said the princess. "The one who carved her is her father. The one who asked her to sit with him is her mother. The
one who brought her cloth should be her husband."

At this, a great
cheer went up in the courtyard outside
Phra Nang Suwanasopha's room where all the
courtiers were listening. Phra Sanphasit knew, however, that lie would
have to make the princess say more than just those few words. He moved his
friend's soul from the lamp to the bedpost and began to tell another story.

"Once
there were four princes walking through the forest. One was an archer. One was
a fortune-teller. Another was a swimmer, and the other was a magician. “Tell
us,” they said to the fortune- teller, “What will happen today?”

“Oh, today will be very exciting,” he replied. “In a few minutes a big
bird will fly past. It will have a lovely girl in its claws. We're going to try
to rescue her."

"At that
moment they heard a bird flapping its wings over­head. Looking up, they saw a large bird with a girl held firmly in
its claws. The archer took out an arrow and shot the bird. The, bird squawked
and dropped the girl into a deep pond. Then the swimmer dived into the
water where he found the girl dead on the bottom of
the pond. He brought her up, and the magician used his powers to give her life
again. The girl sat up and smiled at the
princes. She was so beautiful that they
all fell in
love with her. Naturally, they soon began to quarrel about who should
marry her." Again Phra Sanphasit paused. Then he asked the bedpost who
should marry the girl.

The
bedpost quickly said, "Of course, the archer should marry her. After all,
he shot the bird."

"Silly
bedpost," said Phra Nang Suwanasopha. "The swim­mer is the one who
should marry her. He touched her first."

The
cheering in the courtyard was very loud now. Phra Sanphasit moved his friend's
soul to the head of the bed. This time he did
not begin with a story. Instead, he asked a direct question, "Which is softer to touch, a lovely girl or a fluffy kapok pillow?"

"'That's
easy," said the head of the bed. "A kapok pillow is the softest thing
in the whole world."

"Not me. The softest and nicest thing in the
world," said the princess, "Is the heart of a good husband."

The courtiers outside cheered. Phra Sanphasit knew now that he had won the princess's heart. They were
married shortly thereafter, and lived happily from that time on.

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