Phadaeng Nang Ai

Phadaeng Nang Ai (Thai: ผาแดงนางไอ่) is a traditional folk tale of Northeast Thailand. The story tells the origins of Nong Han Kumphawapi Lake at Udon, a Thai province known for the origin of the traditional Rocket Festival. Phadaeng Nang Ai is a tale of love between the princess Nang Ai and two princes, Prince Phadaeng and Pungkee Prince. When a man becomes heartbroken and beaten to death, the road to war is paved, causing the country to collapse into the freshwater lake of Nong Han.

Nang Ai: Introduced as the princess of Eakchatheeta and the most beautiful woman in the world, her cycle reincarnation and the curses which transcend it are core to the story.

Prince Phadaeng: from Patpong city, enchanted by the Princess' beauty.

Prince Pungkee: prince of the underwater city and Nang Ai’s husband in a previous life.

The story of Phadaeng Nang Ai was retold from one generation to the next, with slight variations occurring with each retelling. Despite this, the story has remained largely intact with regards to the original.

The story mentions that King Kim of Eakchatheeta city had a beautiful teenage daughter named Nang Adam, and that all the princes from the other cities heard about her beauty and were looking to court her.

The prince Phadaeng of Patpong City, in particular, got news of her exquisite beauty, and in anticipation of winning her hand, he decided to send her gifts of gold, diamonds, and silks. With the gifts already sent to Princess Nang Ai, the Chamberlain told her about him and how strong and handsome the prince Phadaeng was. After she heard about his story, she got quite interested in this man and she sent a tribute back to the prince Phadaeng for compensation. Before the Chamberlain returned from the journey, Nang Ai left a message to the Prince Phadaeng, inviting Padang's army to come into her city and meet her. When Phadaeng met Nang Ai, they fell in love with each other because she belonged to him according to destiny. They finally became husband and wife.

The prince Pungkee was the son of Sudtonark, prince of the underwater city, who desperately wanted to see the beautiful Nang Ai because of his previous existence. Pungkee in his past life was a poor man, and mute. He traveled begging for money from each village until he reached a millionaire's house, then he begged to live in this house by doing housework to pay for his living there. The millionaire liked him so much, that he gave him his daughter, who was the past existence of Nang Ai, to be his wife.

Pungkee in his previous existence was not same as other men. He didn’t love his wife, but she never muttered at him and she always took care of him, in the way a good wife should. After that, Pungkee missed his house, so then he brought his wife to come back home with him. [A millionaire whose wife's father prepares food for the journey, carried by a daughter, but...] (meaning unclear) Pungkee never helped her carry it (food) all the way to his home. The way was very difficult (ail?), because they had to cross the mountain, the forest, and the canal, until the food that she was trying to carry became nothing to lift, due to it falling along the way. Pungkee now saw mature figs, and so he climbed to harvest them for a lunch. Nang Ai waited for the mature figs from her husband at the bottom of the fig tree, but he didn’t mind her and walked away. So, she decided to climb it by herself. After she was full, she climbed back down to the land, but she didn’t see her husband; she looked for him everywhere. She didn’t find her husband, and that rankled her and kept her on suffering along the way, until she reached a river. She took a bath and she prayed and asked in the next life for her husband to die at the branch, and for them never to become husband and wife again.

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