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Published: September 25th 2013
CAMBODIA...The Thief Betrayed by a Perfume. It is said that shining a bright light in dark corners of the jungle makes cockroaches scuttle.
It is said that being unfaithful lacks spice and remains unattractive for a man or a woman without a touch of treachery.
Do I have your attention?
There was a merchant who brought home from a successful day of trading, five golden tablets.
To hide his day's gain, he buried them in a hole and marked the location by placing a stone with a knife on top of it.
However, the merchant's wife was entertaining her lover when her husband arrived home. Upon hearing his arrival she ordered her lover to hide under the house.
The merchant pretty chuffed at his day's success told his wife of his bounty and where he had hidden it.
Meanwhile, the wife's lover, crouching below, heard his words with delight and acted quickly, dug up the loot and took off with it, smiling that look of a fox that has successfully raided a chicken coop.
The next morning the merchant went to check on his treasure...but it was gone.
He then asked
to meet the Judge. Sadly the Judge could offer no remedy.
The merchant then went to see the King and told him of his misfortune.
The King listening carefully...considering...mmm...started to doubt the honesty of the merchant's wife.
The King then requested the merchant be given a bottle of oil...perfumed with a rare and heavily scented essence. He also told him to keep it by his bedside table...and if he discovered it empty...to advise the King immediately.
The merchant followed the King's instructions.
One day the lover visited his mistress.
Seeing the bottle of oil she sprayed it on her lover, emptying part of the contents on his smooth uncovered skin.
The merchant came home from work that evening...noticed the volume in the bottle was lower...and immediately left to tell the King.
The King with a knowing look in his eye seemed to think...its time for a party...inviting all his people to attend the frivolity.
When the lover entered the palace gates, he was immediately recognised as he was still covered by a strong essence...an aroma of guilt so to speak.
He was brought before the King.
Questioned by His
Majesty as to the origin of the strong perfume, the lover, unveiled, reeking of infidelity...admitted that it was the wife of the merchant that had sprayed it upon him...during his last visit.
The King judged that the guilty man should return the stolen golden tablets to the merchant.
He also decided that he and his mistress be incarcerated...chucked in the clink...and sold them as slaves.
*********
The King has long died...his kingdom engulfed by the jungle...vines climbing over the palaces, temples, the symbols of the mighty Khmer empire.
Trees stretching their roots between stone columns, stone blocks, trunks straddling stone rooves, their branches and roots like arms embracing, enveloping, blanketing, strangling, controlling, covering, hiding past glories from view.
*********
We would enter at daybreak...wander alone in their grandeur...marvel in quiet solitude...the spirits of Khmer kings fighting the spirits of the jungle...reliving the magnificence in their stories...asparas dancing among the stones...right here...in front of our eyes.
The temples of ancient Angkor.
Words don't do them justice.
Let the pictures tell their own stories...Part Two of which is below.
Relax & Enjoy,
Dancing Dave
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THE SMILE FROM WITHIN
aspiringnomad
Jason
Wat! No Tongues?
...best of the lot. Who takes the credit for this?