• The Marriage Pot

    Deep in the jungles of southern Asia there lived a young girl in a small village. Even though this girl was still quite young she one day decided that it was time to find a husband. She begged and pleaded with her father to allow her to marry, but no matter how much she cried he would not consent. Finally one day he decided he had had enough. He came up with a sly way to get her to drop the subject all together. He went out and bought the biggest clay jar he could find, it was nearly as big as the girl herself, he then took it too her and said.
    “If you can take this jar into the jungle to the water hole and fill it completely and then bring it back. If you can do this, then I shall let you choose a husband.”
    She looked at the jar with defiant determination and tried to lift it. It was so heavy that she could barely lift it off the ground. Undaunted, she began to drag the jar through the jungle. Once she had filled the jar she tried to drag it back, but it was so full that she could not move it. She tried this for many hours until it started to get dark. Suddenly a bear came out of the jungle and started to chase her. Seeing the bear she ran and climbed a tree to get away.
    “Help me help me!” she screamed in fear.
    At that moment a mischievous imp named Oni was flying over head. Now Oni normally loved to play tricks on adults and he would have just gone on by but he noticed the girl was not very old. Moved by her plight, he swooped down and scared the bear away.
    “Thank you so much” she said. She then went back to her jar and continued to try and drag it back home through the jungle. Slightly amused by the site of such a small girl trying to move such a large jar he walked up and with his super natural strength he easily hefted the jar up to his shoulder and walked beside her through the jungle all the way back home. In the morning her father came out to see the jar filled with water. He was dumbfounded by the thought that she had spent the whole night dragging the pot back home with water in it. With no more ideas as to how to dissuade her from marrying he gave in.
    “Surely a girl with this much determination is ready for the trials of marriage” he told her. “You may pick any man to be your husband that you wish.”
    She burst out of the house and ran back through the jungle to the water hole shouting with joy, she jumped into the water and started dancing around. As she was doing this she noticed Oni sitting down stream catching fish. She quickly ran to him.
    “Thank you for all your help, you’ve made it so that I can be happy in life. How can I ever repay you?”
    “There is no need for your gratitude, young girl, any good man would have went out of his way to help in such a simple matter.” He replied.
    With this answer she knew then that this man, filled with mystery and magic, was the one she wanted to spend her life with. Together they walked back to the village where she presented her betrothed to a bewildered father. His hands tied by his promise to her, he gave his blessing and they were soon married and happy forever after.