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In ancient times, there was a queen named Srei
Ayuthiya.
Since no man could propose to such a beautiful, noble woman, she decided to
choose the man of her own preference for her husband. After that, it became
the custom in the country that a woman proposed to a man.
Some women, especially those who were not so appealing, were very
unhappy with this arrangement and wanted to change the custom. One day, the women thought up
a trick to make the men come to propose to them
again.
All the women gathered for a meeting. At that time, the women employed
their trick. They dared the men for a contest to build a mountain.
If
the men won this competition, all would remain the same and women would have to continue asking the
hand of the men, while if the women won, the men would have to ask the
hand of the women. Work on the mountain
must continue until the morning
star rose, and then they could stop.
The men believed it would be easy to win
this contest, because they were much stronger and could carry more earth,
so they accepted the contest.
Both started working hard, digging the earth to build the
mountain, and the men were clearly winning the competition.
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In the middle of the
night, while the men took a rest, the women hung
a lantern way up in a tall tree. The men, seeing the light of the
lantern, thought that it was the
morning star and went to sleep,
convinced they had won. But the women continued
constructing their mountain. When the daylight arrived, their mountain
was higher that the one from the men. They woke up the men and showed
them the morning star. - "This is the real morning star, not the lantern we hung in a
tree," they pointed out to the surprised men. The
men had to agree that they had lost the competition.
As a result, since that day, it are the Khmer men who have to ask the hand of
the women in marriage.. This custom of men proposing to women has
continued up to the present day.
The 2 holes that were made to dig earth for the mountains are now
ponds, at the foot of the mountains. The
hole that was dug by the women always holds water, even in the dry
season, while the hole that was dug by the men is always dry, even in
rainy season.
Spirits, placed
on it by the magic of the women, are the explanation why the men's pond
permanently stays dry.
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