Xyooj Mim & Xyooj Kaub

 

 

This Hmong folktale is called, Xyooj Mim & Xyooj Kaub. It is very similar to the story, Ntsuag thiab Niam Nkauj Zuag Paj. The difference is in the opening's details.

 

Unfortunately, I do not have time to write the story down in Hmong so I am providing the audio clip only. For those of you who may not understand the Hmong language, here is a summary.

 

 

Xyooj Mim and Xyooj Kaub are a pair of orphaned siblings. One day, Xyooj Mim chances upon a dragon prince who offers her marriage and in return, he promises to give her brother a magic rice grain and a piece of meat that could replenish itself to feed the young Xyooj Kaub for the rest of his life. But the catch is that Xyooj Kaub must never completely eaten all his rice and meat. If he empties the food, it can never replenish itself again. Once grown, Xyooj Kaub's curiosity causes him to break the magic food spell, and he is left hungry once more.

 

While crying beside a lake, he stumbles upon the dragon king who offers Xyooj Kaub food and directions to find his sister, Xyooj Mim. To repay the dragon king's generosity, all he asks of Xyooj Kaub is to relay a message to his dragon king-in-law to come help rebuild his fire-damaged kingdom.

Xyooj Kaub treks on foot for many miles to reunite with his sister. After meeting his brother-in-law, the dragon prince took Xyooj Kaub to heaven where he gets a chance to see his deceased parents and elder brothers and sisters-in-law. But still human, Xyooj Kaub cannot remain in heaven so he descends to Earth once more with his brother-in-law.

 

Xyooj Mim throws Xyooj Kaub a welcome party. Xyooj Kaub then makes a bet with the village head to see who has the skills to call the dragon king out of his lake. Of course, using the words taught to him by the first dragon king he met, Xyooj Kaub is the one who can call the dragon king out. The dragon king grabs Xyooj Kaub and takes him into the dragon kingdom. Everyone thinks that Xyooj Kaub died.

 

In the dragon kingdom, Xyooj Kaub and the dragon king's beautiful youngest daughter, Nkauj Zuag Paj, fall in love. After many games of riddles and contestations, the dragon king finally gave in to Xyooj Kaub's request for wishing to wed Nkauj Zuag Paj.

 

After the wedding, the dragon king hides Nkauj Zuag Paj inside an umbrella and gave the umbrella to Xyooj Kaub. The old king tells the lad not to open the umbrella, no matter how hot the scorching sun gets, until he arrives home. But Xyooj Kaub, unaware that his bride is hidden inside the umbrella, starts to complain about the hot weather and about how het got married but his wife is no where to be found. He also does not know that the terrible weather is being influenced by Nkauj Kub Kaws, the sister of the thunder god--who is also in love with Nkauj Zuag Paj.

 

After being tempted to open the umbrella many times, Xyooj Kaub finally opens the umbrella and Nkauj Zuag Paj tumbles out. She reprimands Xyooj Kaub about not listening to her parents advice. He asks her to return to the umbrella, but she replies that it's too late.

 

While Xyooj Kaub is fast asleep that night, Nkauj Zuag Paj's family comes to build them a home and give them servants and rice fields. But Nkauj Kub Kaws feigns a beautiful face and often comes to flirt with Xyooj Kaub. She brainwashes Xyooj Kaub into believing that only she is the perfect match for him and that Nkauj Zuag Paj is a monster who drinks the blood of sheep. Although Nkauj Zuag Paj warns Xyooj Kaub many times that Nkauj Kub Kaws is a malicious being, Xyooj Kaub does not heed his wife's words. In the end, he chases her away and upon descending back to the dragon kingdom--she takes their home, servants, and rice fields with her. She leaves only a rooster for Xyooj Kaub as she still pities him very much, despite the malice he has shown her.

 

After Nkauj Zuag Paj is gone, Nkauj Kub Kaws finally reveals her true face to Xyooj Kaub. She then mocks him for his stupidity and leaves him as well. 

 

Having nothing now, Xyooj Kaub goes to sit beside the lake that Nkauj Zuag Paj had disappeared into and cries there every day. One day, he meets a pair of frog female servants, who are out to wash Nkauj Zuag Paj's clothes. After begging them many times, they decide to help Xyooj Kaub to see his wife by drinking the lake's water. On their third attempt (after Xyooj Kaub mocks their bloated physical appearance the first two times), Xyooj Kaub jumps into the emptied lake. He finds Nkauj Zuag Paj again, but cannot take her back. Since her departure from him, the thunder god has already came to ask for her hands in marriage and in a few days, she will be leaving with him. However, she tells Xyooj Kaub not to lose hope. She instructs him that he must filled three basins with water and place one at the front door, one at the back door, and one on the rooftop. On the day that she will be flying to heaven with the thunder god, upon hearing the sound of bells, Xyooj Kaub needs to look the reflection in the basins and grab her. But, she did not make it clear to Xyooj Kaub that when he sees her reflection in the water of the basins, he needs to grab her from the sky and not grab her reflection in the water.

 

On the day that Nkauj Zuag Paj passes by Xyooj Kaub's home, he goes through all three basins but was unable to grab Nkauj Zuag Paj.

 

After three days of living with the thunder god, Nkauj Zuag Paj decides to leave him by giving the excuse that she has some unfinished business in the dragon kingdom. But when Nkauj Zuag Paj descends to Earth, she fetches Xyooj Kaub and places him under her armpit. They then dodge and escape the wrath of the thunder god, and resettle at the bottom of the heavens where they lived happily ever after among the billions of stars.

 

The moral of this story is that whenever a Hmong couple gets married, they need to keep the marriage umbrella close for at least three days in order to avoid the mischiefs of Xyooj Kaub and Nkauj Zuag Paj.

 

Here is the audio version of the story.