A story I heard on Hmong radio a few months ago:
Back in the homeland, there was a man named Pao, who enjoyed courting women, especially widows. One day, he heard from his buddy that there was a beautiful woman, Sheng, whose husband had just passed and men from different villages wanted to court her. Being the macho man that he is, Pao decided to take upon the challenge to go see this woman for himself. That day he headed out to Sheng's village. Crossing the heavy jungles of Laos and after many hours, he made it to the village.
And yes, it was true! Sheng was a very beautiful widow; Pao liked her so much he stayed even pass sunset. It was getting late into the evening when Pao noticed the shadow of a man lingering at the corner of Sheng's bamboo hut. Sheng had her back against that corner so she did not notice, but Pao was getting quite annoyed with the thought that another man was eavesdropping on their conversation.
"Sheng, es cas koj yuav muaj hluas nraug zov koj ntau ua luaj nas ?" (Sheng why are there so many men courting you)
"Oh, twb tsim muaj li mas." (Oh, there is no one)
"Koj dag xwb, es tus txiv neej nyob ntawd koj qab tsev ntawv nes?" (You're lying, what about that man behind your house)
Sheng turned around and quickly turned back to Pao and said, "Lig lig lawm es koj mus tsev os. Kuv yuav mus pw thiab." (It's very late, you should go home. I am going to sleep soon.)
Shocked by Sheng's sudden change of mood, Pao asked why and she responded abruptly, "Kuv hais tias mus cev mus xwb mas." (I say go then just go.)
Confused, Pao agreed and said he will come back in a few days to visit again. They exchanged their good nights and Pao started on his journey back to his village. Barely a mile into the jungle, Pao noticed the outline of a man sitting by a tree stump right by the well beaten path. Pao wondered to himself why anyone would be sitting in the jungle at this time of night, perhaps he is lost or resting from a long journey. The closer Pao got to this shadow man, the stronger was a stench that sent the hair inside his nostrils to curl. What is that odor! He wondered to himself.
Pao was about 5 yards away from the man at this point and noticed he was dressed in Hmong clothing, the kind only worn by the deceased. All the hair on his body stood up and he felt his body paralyzed. The shadow man looked up at Pao and with a wicked smile he said, "Mus zoo koj nawb." (Have a good journey) This sent Pao running back the path he came, screaming "dab! dab!" all the way back to Sheng's village.
He ran to Sheng's little bamboo hut and banged on her door, "Sheng, qhib qhov rooj tsuag tsuag!" (Sheng, hurry and open the door)
Sheng opens the door and asks why Pao came back and if everything was alright. Pao told her what he saw in the jungle and that it was a dead man. Sheng then said to Pao, "Koj puav xav paub hais tias vim li cas kuv thiali hais kom koj mus tsev?" (Do you want to know why I told you to go home)
"Es , vim li cas nos?" (Why)
"Pao, tus txiv neej koj pom ntawd kuv qab tsev ntawv yog kuv tus txiv es xiam lawm." (Pao, the man you saw at the corner of my house earlier is my deceased husband)
Pao's hair stood up and he realized that the man he saw in the jungle resembled the outline of the man who had been watching them earlier. He was too afraid to walk home and asked if Sheng had any relatives who would allow Pao to stay the night at their hut. Pao stayed the night with some of Sheng's relatives and did not leave until the sun was out. Needless to say, he never came back to court Sheng. And he also never courted another widow ever again.
The end. I apologize if I may have misspelled some Hmong words, I'm still learning. Hope you enjoyed the story!
