The Cicada

• Chakacan (The Cicada), retold by Maha Bunyok Saensunthon 

Listen in Lao  

Once the cicada cried lii lae lii lae haad ... lii lae lii lae haad...  To the sleepy owl the sounds seemed to say,

The frightened owl defended himself by saying, "hok sak hok sak (I will throw a lance; I will throw a lance.)

The frightened deer under a mimosa tree heard that and thought that someone was throwing a lance at him.

He ran away so fast that he kicked the sesame vines and the sesame seeds hit the eyes of a wild pheasant.

The blinded pheasant at once scratched the ground ants' nest.

The startled ant ran to bite the snake's naval.

The painful snake then bit the guord's vine, and a guord fell right on the head of the chameleon's baby.

The chameleon went to the lion, "Please, king of the jungle, the snake bit the guord's vine that made a guord fall right on my baby."

The lion sent for the snake right away.  Once there, the lion inquired, "why did you bite the guord's vine?  That made a guord fall right on the chameleon's baby?"

"Oh, please sire, the ant bit my naval and I was hurt, so I bit whatever was near," replied the snake.

The lion then sent for the ant right away.  Once there, the lion inquired, "why did you bite the snake's naval?  That made the snake bite the guord's vine and the guord fell right on the chameleon's baby?"

"Oh, please sire, the wild pheasant scratched my nest that made me startled so I bit whatever was near," replied the ants.

The lion then sent for the wild pheasant right away.   Once there, the lion inquired, "why did you scratch the ants' nest?  That made the ant bite the snake's naval.  That made the snake bite the guord's vine, and made the guord fall right on the chameleon's baby?"

"Oh, please sire, the deer kicked the sesame vine and made the sesame seeds hit my eyes and blinded my vision, so at once I scratched the ants' nest," replied the wild pheasant.

The lion then sent for the deer right away.  Once there, the lion inquired, "why did you kick the sesame vine and make the sesame seeds hit the wild pheasant's eyes and blind its vision.   That's the reason why she scratched the ants' nest and made the ants bite the snake's naval and made the snake bite the guord's vine and the guord fell right on the chameleon's baby?

"Oh, please sire, the owl cried, "hok sak hok sak" (I will throw a lance; I will throw a lance.) that frightened me so much that I ran and kicked whatever was in my way."

The lion then sent for the owl right away.  Once there, the lion inquired, "why did you cry, "hok sak hok sak" (I will throw a lance; I will throw a lance.) that frightened the deer who ran and kicked the sesame vine and the sesame seeds hit the wild pheasant's eyes and blinded its vision.    That's the reason why she scratched the ants' nest and made the ant bite the snake's naval that made the snake bite the guord's vine and the guord fell right on the chameleon's baby?

"Oh, please sire, the cicada cried, "lii lae lii lae, ca khwuang hae sai hua nok khao"(lii lae lii lae, I will dare cast a net over the head of that owl.)  I was so frightened that I defended myself by crying, "hok sak hok sak" (I will throw a lance; I will throw a lance.)

The lion then sent for the cicada right away.  Once there, the lion inquired, "why did you cry, lii lae lii lae, ca khwuang hae sai hua nok khao" (lii lae lii lae, I will dare cast a net over the head of that owl" that frightened the owl so much that he cried in defense of himself, "hok sak hok sak" (I will throw a lance; I will throw a lance.) that frightened the deer who ran and kicked the sesame vine and the sesame seeds hit the wild pheasant's eyes and blinded its vision.   That's the reason why she scratched the ants' nest and made the ant bite the snake's naval that made the snake bite the guord's vine and the guord fell right on the chameleon's baby?

"Oh, please sire, that's the way I have been taught to cry," replied the cicada.

So the lion said, "Ha, now we know the root cause of all this.  So, it is you, cicada, who caused the death of the chameleon's baby."   Then the lion said, "Let's punish the cicada by making him pay tribute to us all."

The frightened cicada then replied, "Oh, please sire, I don't have anything to pay tribute with."

The lion then said, "Well, then we can all take your inside as payment."

Since then, the cicada's body has been hollow.