Thread: Old Thai Poem

^Like a dream

had to defrost a sausage anyways.

Two birds, one stone and all that...

Thanks for that Bogon, you're a officer and a scholar. I'll get my Hass Students Dictionary out, I wish I had my old McFarlands dictionary, it had pages of antiquated Thai words and quaint sayings in, but the dog ate it.
My teacher will never know.
It looks like I got it wrong about the boatman, or did I get two different legends mixed up?
Like the old reggae song says; "The more that I learn, the less I know". Gotta go now and try to top the latest offering by that well know bard "withnallstoke".
(I think it's Bard).
RR
The older I get I get, the better it was.

^Don't be a stranger, now RR...

Very impressed with your latest ditty about the young lass from Nokn Ratishima, withnallstoke. Was the lady’s name Kunying Mo by any chance?
I’ve been trying to think of another limerick linking place names to motorbikes. All I can come up with is;
There was a young maid from Great Horton,
Who had one long tit and one short’un,
But to make up for that,
She had a bloody great hat,
And a fart like a five-hundred Norton.
My old army mate back in the early sixties had a Beamer, an R69s with a dustbin fairing (brand new and built to order). The only bike I could find to keep up with him on our weekend blasts back from north Germany to Glos (UK) was a 1951 Vinny Black Shadow; boy did we have some fun on the Autobahns on the way back. (in the nicest way of course). The Honda 400 fours were just making an appearance then but they had no chance.
Like I said, “the older I get, the better it was”.
RR

Yes, it appears that the boatman that I mentioned is another legend. Both were executed by their king though, so it's obviously a risky profession.

Hi Bogon. Yeah. Seems I got it wrong again..but I keep trying.
Nice picture of "RamButt". He looks a bit cheesed off. Maybe that's because someone has pinched his eating-irons from his belt pouch.
On a different tack... Those old Thai poets didn't go in much for lengthy descriptive passages did they? Talk about a minimalistic style. Two or three words per line, 4 lines overall and that's your lot.
Are you a ex-pat? My formative years were spent in Issan, I used to follow an Issan thread on Teakdoors called "Addicted to Issan". If you get bored take a peek. There are some great stories about our escapades in Leong Nok Tha district back in the sixties.
ATB,RR.

Originally Posted by Restless Rider

Those old Thai poets didn't go in much for lengthy descriptive passages

They preferred a length up the back passage.

"They preferred a length up the back passage."

Is that why they call it the Annals of history?

Originally Posted by Bogon

The poet was called Sriprat.

Here is a translation of the poem.

"I call the Earth to act as a witness, for I too am a man with a teacher.
He ordered my execution though I have committed no wrong.
If I was not wrong, may this sword pay him back".

If you need any more info, then post it here.

The boatman understood nature, but the King did not.

Thanks for that wasabi, Can you tell me a bit more about the executed boatman please? I found a version of his life & death on-line but can't translate it all. It seems to me he crashed the royal Barge in order to avoid a ambush by rebels. He didn't want to report them for humanitarian reasons. The King was reluctant to order his death and beheaded a statue instead. But the coxswain insisted on his own beheading out of respect for the law. Was he a historical figure or a storybook legend? The canal/waterway he was said to be on was very twisty and the King ordered it to be straightened, so it may be a true story. or a urban legend.

(the older I get the better it was)

RR

There once was a boatman it's said,
Whose body could not find its head.
He crashed on a bank
'Cause his driving was wank,
So the king made him clinically dead.

"There once was a boatman it's said,
Whose body could not find its head."

Humour in the jugular vein?

wot? me worry?

RR