Sri Thanonchai

Sri Thanonchai (Thai: ศรีธนญชัย) is a character from Thai folklore.[1] The earliest documented mention of Sri Thanonchai came during the Ayutthaya Kingdom. Sri Thanonchai was known as a clever trickster. Legends describe intellectual rivalry between Sri Thanonchai and others (especially the King of Ayutthaya). Sri Thanonchai is often compared to the German folk character Till Eulenspiegel.

Plot (synopsis)

The story is divided into chapters that each tell a particular story. Sri Thanonchai was born into a farming family in the area of Ayutthaya.[2]

Birth

Sri Thanonchai's mother-to-be one night dreams that she brings the moon back to her house. She tells her husband about her dream, and her husband tells the Brahman about the dream. The Brahman says that they will have a bright child. Later the wife gives birth to Sri Thanonchai. He is the only child in the family, but later his mother bears another son. His brother receives a lot of attention from his family, and Sri Thanonchai becomes jealous. Sri Thanonchai's mother asks him to wash his brother. Sri Thanonchai proceeds to "clean" his brother by cutting out his stomach and cleaning its inside, placing him back in his cradle.[3] When his parents return home and find their son dead, they send Sri Thanonchai to live in the Temple.

Roofing

One day the Monk sees that the Roof of the temple is old and it is falling down so he asks the temple boys to fix the roof. Sri Thanonchai was the only boy who did not help. The other temple boys tell the monk that Sri Thanonchai did not help. Sri Thanonchai is scared that the monk will get mad at him so he reconstructs the roof himself. The other boys fixed the roof by twisting it to the right, so Sri Thanonchai twists the roof to the left. When the monk arrives, Sri Thanonchai asks his friends “which way did you twist the roof?” His friends answer “to the right”. The monk looks up and see that the roof is twisted to the left so he believes that Sri Thanonchai was the one who constructed the roof.[4]

King of Ayutthaya

The King of Ayutthaya was strolling in the royal gardens with his courtesans and courtiers. As they reached a garden pond, the king, thinking to challenge Sri Thanonchai's wit, taunted him. “You are brainy, Sri Thanonchai. Can you think of a way to make your king go into this pond?” Sri Thanonchai answered. “Your Majesty, I could not persuade you to get into this water. That I could not do. But I could certainly make you come out of the water”. “Let us see” and the king quickly took off his clothes and lowered himself into the pond. Floating in the water, he asked. “Now, Sri Thanonchai. Start talking. How will you make me come out of this water?” Sri Thanonchai laughed. Bowing politely to the king, he said “Dear Majesty. I was not attempting to make you come out of this pond. I was attempting to make you go into the pond. And as you can see, I have succeeded!”. “Sri Thanonchai, you are too clever!” exclaimed the king. He came out of the water graciously, pleased with the wit of Sri Thanonchai.[5]

Watermelon seeds

The King punishes Sri Thanonchai by sending him to stay on an isolated island. Luckily foreigners visit on a boat. Sri Thanonchai hides on the boat to get a ride to Market. During the ride, he sees the foreigners bring two big watermelons, both cut in half. The foreigners say that they will bring these two watermelons to gambling with the king. Sri Thanonchai knows what is happening, so he hides in the Palace. The next day, the foreigners bring the two watermelons to the king, and ask him to guess how many seeds are in the watermelons. If the king wins the foreigner will give the king everything he has but if the king loses, the king has to give the foreigner the city. At this time the king is thinking of Sri Thanonchai and asks a soldier to go and get him. Suddenly Sri Thanonchai appears and volunteers to guess the number of seeds. He pretends to do complicated calculations but gives the correct number of seeds in the watermelon as he has seen it before. This feat allows him to return and work in the palace.[6]

Characterization

The main character in this story is Sri Thanonchai. He is a trickster who can talk his way out of any situation and he is good at twisting words and making people believe him. He pretends to be innocent and to do exactly what people tell him to do.[7][8]

Cultural significance

The main character is a normal man, who is brave enough to break rules that normal people would not dare to break and jokes around with it. His jokes include joking with foreigners, monks, noblemen, rich men and the king. Some people study and analyse Sri Thanonchai’s actions and concluded that his actions reflect the needs of normal people to win over the power of these people. They want to be able to fight against these people, not by force but by literature.[9]

In the story many Thai aphorisms do not mean what they sound like. Sri Thanonchai uses these phrases and does his tricks. The story also includes the everyday life of Thai culture, that monks walk barefooted to receive food offerings, marriages, market life and Thai gambling.

Other names

Sri Thanonchai is a well known character in the central area of Thailand. In the north and northeast (Isan) of Thailand, as well as Laos, the character is called Xiang Miang.[10]

  • Sri Thanonchai 555+ (Thai: ศรีธนญชัย 555+) is a comedy movie based on a Thai folklore about Sri Thanonchai, a crafty boy who uses his wits to take advantage of others.

Notes

  1. ↑ Vathanaprida, Supaporn; MacDonald, Margaret Read; Rohitasuke, Boonsong (1994-01-01). Thai Tales: Folktales of Thailand. Libraries Unlimited. ISBN 9781563080968.
  2. ↑ ยังรอต, วิไลรัตน์ and องค์วุฒิเวทย์, ธวัชชัย (2555) จิตรกรรมเล่าเรื่องวรรณคดีอมตะ: อิเหนา ศรีธนญชัย สังข์ทอง สุวรรณหงส์ คัทธณะกุมาร สินไซ. มิวเซียมเพรส.
  3. ↑ ยังรอต, วิไลรัตน์ and องค์วุฒิเวทย์, ธวัชชัย (2555) จิตรกรรมเล่าเรื่องวรรณคดีอมตะ: อิเหนา ศรีธนญชัย สังข์ทอง สุวรรณหงส์ คัทธณะกุมาร สินไซ. มิวเซียมเพรส.
  4. ↑ ยังรอต, วิไลรัตน์ and องค์วุฒิเวทย์, ธวัชชัย (2555) จิตรกรรมเล่าเรื่องวรรณคดีอมตะ: อิเหนา ศรีธนญชัย สังข์ทอง สุวรรณหงส์ คัทธณะกุมาร สินไซ. มิวเซียมเพรส.
  5. ↑ Vathanaprida, Supaporn; MacDonald, Margaret Read; Rohitasuke, Boonsong (1994-01-01). Thai Tales: Folktales of Thailand. Libraries Unlimited. ISBN 9781563080968.
  6. ↑ ยังรอต, วิไลรัตน์ and องค์วุฒิเวทย์, ธวัชชัย (2555) จิตรกรรมเล่าเรื่องวรรณคดีอมตะ: อิเหนา ศรีธนญชัย สังข์ทอง สุวรรณหงส์ คัทธณะกุมาร สินไซ. มิวเซียมเพรส.
  7. ↑ Vathanaprida, Supaporn; MacDonald, Margaret Read; Rohitasuke, Boonsong (1994-01-01). Thai Tales: Folktales of Thailand. Libraries Unlimited. ISBN 9781563080968.
  8. ↑ ยังรอต, วิไลรัตน์ and องค์วุฒิเวทย์, ธวัชชัย (2555) จิตรกรรมเล่าเรื่องวรรณคดีอมตะ: อิเหนา ศรีธนญชัย สังข์ทอง สุวรรณหงส์ คัทธณะกุมาร สินไซ.มิวเซียมเพรส.
  9. ↑ ยังรอต, วิไลรัตน์ and องค์วุฒิเวทย์, ธวัชชัย (2555) จิตรกรรมเล่าเรื่องวรรณคดีอมตะ: อิเหนา ศรีธนญชัย สังข์ทอง สุวรรณหงส์ คัทธณะกุมาร สินไซ. มิวเซียมเพรส.
  10. ↑ ยังรอต, วิไลรัตน์ and องค์วุฒิเวทย์, ธวัชชัย (2555) จิตรกรรมเล่าเรื่องวรรณคดีอมตะ: อิเหนา ศรีธนญชัย สังข์ทอง สุวรรณหงส์ คัทธณะกุมาร สินไซ. มิวเซียมเพรส.

References

  • Nagavajara, Chetana (1996-05-01). "The Brechtian connection: Innovations on contemporary Thai stage". The European Legacy. 1 (3): 1225–1230. doi:10.1080/10848779608579554. ISSN 1084-8770.
  • Supaporn Vathanaprida; Margaret Read MacDonald; Boonsong Rohitasuke (1994). Thai Tales: Folktales of Thailand. Libraries Unlimited. pp. 11–. ISBN 978-1-56308-096-8. (Accessed: 15 November 2016).
  • ยังรอต, วิไลรัตน์ and องค์วุฒิเวทย์, ธวัชชัย (2555) จิตรกรรมเล่าเรื่องวรรณคดีอมตะ: อิเหนา ศรีธนญชัย สังข์ทอง สุวรรณหงส์ คัทธณะกุมาร สินไซ. นนทบุรี: มิวเซียมเพรส.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.