Sins - Kwarm Barb

kwarm_barb

sarNie Egg
And so it begins....

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It was the 1920’s in Laos. Far from the city and its influences lived a poor village in the grassy foothills-where the sun was always shinning, the breeze was never settled, and life was at its simplest. The land was fertile and many villagers were farmers. The village was booming with houses and markets. And in this village a new family was about to begin. A poor farmer named Yeng and his wife had just given birth to their first-born: a boy. They named him Kong for it was a blessing to have a son. But blessings are short-lived just as happiness. It was the winter after the boy turned 2, both his parents died in a logging accident. No one wanted to take Kong in for everyone was too poor to have an extra mouth to feed. Luckily there was a mute couple that could not bear children and took Kong in as one of their own. When Kong turned 12 his parents left to the city and on the way back through the dense forest both were robbed and killed by thieves. Kong was once again an orphan. Everyone in the village spoke of Kong’s ill fate and was afraid bringing him in would spoil their luck. So the village monks took Kong to live in the temple. One day the Enlighten Monk made his way through the village and came across Kong. He sat Kong down and told Kong about the two types of sins: sins that we create in this lifetime and sins from our past lives that has yet to be settled. The monk told him as for Kong’s, it was his past sins.

When Kong turned 18 he met and feel in love w/ the mayor’s daughter. Because Kong was a good man the mayor allowed for them to be married. After the Mayor’s term, Kong became mayor and took over his farmlands and cattle. Kong had come a long way from the poor orphan no one wanted to take in, but he never forgot what the monk told him. After he had his first son named Ae, he built on either side of his house two homes for the village orphans. At the time of the birth of this second son To, he had take in some 20 orphans. By the time he had his third song Tang, the first groups of orphans had left and a new group of orphans had came in. When Tang turned 6, Kong had his only daughter named Mai. It really did seem that Kong had really diminished his sins. He was fortunate to have 3 sons and was complete with 1 daughter. His village was at peace and his fortunes were amble.

Kong was my great-grandfather…and this is the true story of my remorseful family.
 

PhoneO_5

sarNie Oldmaid
Good story. He's very fortunate to have a a grandchild like you, able to pass on his life story :)
 

kwarm_barb

sarNie Egg
Kong’s 3 sons could not be more different. Ae was the eldest, tallest, and most masculine. To was the middle, the kindest, and the least good-looking. Tang was the youngest, most handsome, and most conceited.

Ae was the most disciplined of Kong’s children and the most mature because he was the eldest. He helped with the farm and took care of the orphans. One day when Ae was only 10 he went to look after the cattle and followed a bull in to the nearby forest. As he walked towards the stream, Ae stepped on a landmine that had been left there from the previous war. He did not know what to do except cry. Suddenly a soldier emerges from the bushes and told Ae not to cry. The soldier told Ae to stand still while he detonates the bomb. At last Ae was free. Ae brought the soldier home and Kong killed a bull for a feast thanking the soldier. A year later Ae enlisted in the Royal Lao Army and left home. Ae was a determined man and each year he got promoted. Ae return home shortly after he became Lieutenant and married a village girl. They had 1 sons and 1 daughters when Ae return to the army. And just in a couple of years he became General. For his first assignment Ae and his squadron were assigned to occupy a village on the Laos and Vietnam border. There he met a poor yet beautiful village girl who sold fruit by the local dock. Each day that the General passed by her the more he liked her. But because of General Ae’s ignorance and lack of respect for others, the girl was not found of him. She would ignore his presence and refuse to sell him fruits. Now the General was a handsome man with high status and he refused to allow anyone to make him feel any less. So he was persistent in pursuing her. One day General Ae arrives to the market only to find another man selling fruit with the girl. Feeling disrespected; the General had his soldiers remove the man. The girl slapped the General and humiliated him in front of everyone. That night the General sent his soldiers into the girl’s home and demanded she married him. When she refused they threaten to kill her family. Out of choices she left with the soldiers for the General’s station with guns and knives pointed at her the entire way. Angry, the girl never learned to love the General but bear 4 sons and 2 daughters. The General spent most of his time and love with his first wife instead. For the girl was not married out of love but out of pride.
 

LOL:)

sarNie Juvenile
Wow, I'm speechless. As I read this, I can picture it like a scenes in a lakorn. Hope you update soon. Great job.
 

kwarm_barb

sarNie Egg
Thank you to everyone who's been following my story. Please be patient with me. If you enjoy my story please help me promote the story here on AsianFuse.
 

kwarm_barb

sarNie Egg
Kong’s second son To was quiet and observant. During the feast his father did for the soldier that saved Ae, a shaman attended the event and was found of To. He asked to read To’s palm and told Kong that out of all his sons To was going to raise up to become a leader. Upon hearing this Teng and Ae were angry. Ae vowed to be the best out of the brothers. He decided to leave to join the army, determined to lead. To was glad to hear of his good fortune. He stayed in the village to pursue his education and helped the village prosper. To was not a handsome man but he was a kind man. He had many girls admired him. When To turn 20 he wanted to marry a poor girl who lived on the outskirts of town, but his father strongly disagreed. At first To thought it was because of the girl’s financial status but he later learned that she belonged to a clan that has been cursed. That was why her family was driven to live alone from the rest of the village. But To was drawn to the girl’s simplicity and brushed aside his father’s warnings. He married his wife shortly after. She proved to be a good housewife. She took care of all the orphans and farmland because Ae was in the army and Tang was away at school. After a year of marriage they had their first child - a son. That week a skilled shaman came through their village and To asked him to blessed the soul of his newborn son. Their son and them lively happily and comfortably for a year. Then many people spoke of their good fortune and laughed at themselves for being afraid of the curse. After that year they had their second son. One night after a rainstorm, To walked into the house to find that the baby had passed away quietly in his crib. Many people said that the child probably caught a severe cold from the rain. People comforted To and his wife and encouraged them to try again. But time and time again surely their newborns died one by one. After visiting the nearby doctors in search for answers, many doctors could not provide them with one. That lead many people and To to believe that it was because of the curse that he had disregarded so many years ago as rubbish. At that time both To and his wife fell into a deep depression. Kong worried for them immensely. Therefore asked his youngest son Tang to allow his 3rd son to go live with To and his wife to sooth their aching hearts. To turned around and began moving his life forward again, but unfortunately his wife couldn’t bear the loss of her 3 babies. After they harvest the rice that season, To’s wife passed away with a broken heart. She left behind the legend of the curse and her only surviving child for To to raise alone.
 

Vimalee

Live Love Laugh
OMG, this is so heart wrenching!

Thank you for sharing your ancestors' life story with us.

Appreciated your time and effort.
 

kwarm_barb

sarNie Egg
Kong’s 3rd and youngest son Tang was the most handsome among his sons. Tang had a set of alluring eyes; a head of beautiful brown hair, and his smile could ensnare any woman’s heart. In fact if you came across him in this ba-nok village you would wonder why he wasn’t in some movie on the big screen in the city instead. But as the youngest, Tang was also the most mischievous. Since he had his 2 older brothers, and his father’s wealth and respect from the villages he did not stop to consider any else’s feeling except for his own. And that included his father’s orphans. It was said that in fact Tang had never liked “sharing” his father with the orphans. He thought they were a menace, leeching off of resources that belonged to him and his brothers. Therefore Tang love to constantly reminds the orphans of his authority. There was an incident with one of the orphan name Sai that got Tang into a lot of trouble. Tang was 10 and Sai was a year younger than Tang but surpassed Tang in every subject in school. During the monsoon season that year a part of the roof gave out in one of the orphan homes. Kong moved Sai into Tang’s room temporarily. Tang hated having Sai around and could not wait to get him out. Tang thought of a plan to get Sai out of his room. Sai slept on the ground with a wool cloth as a comforter. That night when Sai had finally came to rest; he found his comforter soaked with pee. Sai had been dubbed ill fated before he was brought into the orphan home and was used to being hated. Sai laid there quietly with tears streaming down his face. The next night Tang came back to find Sai’s items still in his room. Unsatisfied, Tang continued doing what he was already doing. The next couple of days Kong saw that Sai was unable to do the amount of work he usually does. And whenever Sai went to bend over, he was constantly rubbing him back. But when Kong went to ask Sai what was wrong with his back, Sai replied that he didn’t now. Kong lift Sai’s shirt to check his back. To his horror, Kong found Sai’s back red and full of a blistering rash. The next day Kong took Sai into town to see a doctor. The doctor determined that it was uranic acid that caused the irritation. Kong demanded to know what happened, but all that came out of Sai’s mouth was that he wanted to be moved out of Tang’s room. When they got home Kong went into the room and picked up and felt the soaked comforter. Tang was dragged out and whipped in front of all the orphans to set an example. From then on Tang’s hatred towards the orphans grew, but he never attempted anything else on them.


[ TANG'S STORY - TO BE CONTINUED ]
 
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