The Farmer and the Naga

The Farmer and the Naga

Here's a story I wrote which has the spirit of the stories of Southeast Asia. Maybe you'll agree. You like stories don't you?

The Farmer and the Naga

There's a farmer that lives on a mountain side who wants to build a house but the big Naga serpent living on/under the land doesn't want him there because he thinks the farmer has come to steal his treasure so keeps preventing his crops from growing and making earthquakes that destroy the farmers house.

The farmer goes out onto the lake to catch some fish because he has to eat SOMETHING but the snake scares away all the fish and makes a giant wave that almost kills the farmer and pushes his boat onto the land. Some fish wash ashore which the farmer eats
One day the farmer comes back from the fields and the giant serpent has moved in to his home.

The farmer goes to the local shamaness who does a divination, looks at his astrological chart, makes a magic diagram the farmer has to sleep in for the night to incubate a dream, an amulet for the farmer to wear, gives him a tattoo of a Garuda bird (the snakes mortal enemy) made of urine, soot, oil and graphite{which bothers the farmer very much and a voodoo doll they stick with pins and hammer nails into which all don't work. He has no dream.

Next, he offers cakes, rice, incense, alcohol and warrior castles (piles of rocks as a toll) to appease the serpent and tries to hypnotize it (which seems to work for a second) and conjure him into a small box made of yarn but the Naga doesn't want to eat rice and sneezes at the incense. He says, "Anyway, I don't drink, I'll never fit into that box and I have all this land. What would I do with more rocks?." He makes them take it all away.

Next, they perform a sacrifice and offer up a cow for the snake which it eats with a smile on his face but still doesn't move out of the house.
Next night, the shaman starts by bathing the reflection of the Buddha to make holy water, lighting fire crackers, ringing several large bells and brandishing a sword. Then drumming and chanting mantras which keep the snake awake at night so the snake chases the shaman off to get some rest but not before the shaman throws the water on him and black feathers which don't work either.

The farmer wants to try to kill it but the shaman says that if they just kill it, the farmer will have lots of bad luck. His crops won't receive any water and the land will be barren because the Naga controls all that. Anyway, they're difficult to kill.

The shaman and the farmer go back to the shaman's hut where she begins to chant 100,000 repetitions of the mantra of her tulpa which is a spiritual entity the shaman has created. She sends it to haunt the Naga's dreams. This begins to drive the Naga crazy but he still won't get out of the house.

Next the shaman summons her ancestors by drumming and jumping up and down and asks them to haunt the Nagas dreams too. She also asks them for guidance. Now the naga is going completely nuts.

The shamans grandmother tells her to go to the Crimson lake and persuade the female Naga there to call him to her cave. She agrees because she has seen him before and thinks he's handsome. They also took 10 cows for her to eat.

She goes to the farmer's home where the Naga is staying and they fall in love immediately but instead of going back to her cave she moves into the farmers home too.
Now the farmer is hopping mad and tells the shaman she's completely worthless because now he has two Nagas to deal with and no cows.
That night the shaman dreams of where the Naga's cave is and tells the farmer that they'll be rich beyond they're wildest dreams because if the snake is in his house, whose guarding the treasure?

They hike in the mountain and sure enough find the Nagas cave. They take wheel barrows full of treasure down the mountain.
They confront the Naga and say that he can keep the house because now they have their treasure and will move to a really nice home on the seaside.

The Naga finally comes out of the house to kill him but the shaman reminds him that the tulpa and her ancestors will haunt his dreams forever in that case. Anyway, they brought him the love of his life so the treasure was appropriate payment. The dragon reluctantly agrees.

The shaman and the farmer get married and live happily ever after. The Nagas do too.