From Google Maps
Little Mimi sits on the bank, sucking her thumb and looking glum.
“Little One,” says the monk who sits beside her, “have you lost your coin?”
She shakes her head. “No. I’m praying.”
The monk looks behind him at the temples there, and back at the girl beside Mekong River. ‘To whom do you pray?”
“To the seven-headed naga.”
“Oh?” The monk thought he understood her reason. “You want for someone to take you across the river? Then your prayer is answered; I’ll readily do so.”
But the girl shook her head. “I want the seven-headed naga to take me to naga-loka.”
“You wish to die?” The monk was amazed.
“No,” said the girl. “I wish to see all the gems and gold and other treasures there.” And she sighed.
130 words, written for What Pegman Saw: Vientiane Laos
It is said that a seven-headed naga told the prince Thattaradtha to build a new city on the banks of the Mekong. That city was, eventually, to become the modern Vientiane.
Nagas are found throughout Hindu and Buddhist mythology; semi-divines, or a race of half-human half-serpent beings, they reside in naga-loka, an underground realm filled with gold and gems and all precious things.
crispina kemp 
Enchanting
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Thank, Jen.
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You’re welcome 🙂 Very enchanting.
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Double thanks.
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😊🌼
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Nice story! 🙂
We do see a lot of references to Nagaloka in Hindu mythology! 😀
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Thank you.
I remember reading (it might have been in the Rig Veda) that the Aryans rid the land of the Naga-people. This strikes me as very similar to Irish mythology which has Tuatha De Danaan ridding the land of the Fomorians. The Fomorians are taken to be demons. It all stems from a very ancient Indo-European mythology.
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Oooo This one is especially delicious. And I am thrilled you followed it with insightful narrative, it really put the piece in perspective.
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I thank you, Violet. I had to add the detail otherwise it’s not obvious how it relates.
I’ve been pretty obsessed with the nagas since my teen years. An eastern version of our mermaids, and the loathly ladies of the sacred wells.
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You do know how to dig up the most interesting things!
Loved this.
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Thank you, Dale. As I told Violet, I have a long-running fascination with the Negas. So.. it had to be.
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Super cool story.
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I thank you muchly.
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Great stuff, Christina. I love what you uncovered her. The exchange between the monk and the child is wonderfully done.
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Thanks, Karen. As I’ve said elsewhere, the nagas are old friends of mine. It was great to be able to include them.
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Interesting — I like the link to the legend of the city. And it’s an amusing lesson, too: that if you tell children stories about a spectacular world of the snakes, of course they’re going to want to go see it!
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Indeed. Though it’s not really a story of snakes, so much as the spirits of the underworld. The Nagas are the eastern equivalent of our mermaids and loathly ladies of the well, fertility spirits that will wreak vengeance if offended.
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Yes, of course. But I looked up Naga Loka and the sources I saw called it the “World of Snakes.”
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Naga derives from same PIE word as snake. But see wkipedia’s article
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patala
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love her thinking – she just wants to see all the shiny things of legend! Sweet and touching tale.
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I thank you, Lynn. I enjoyed writing it. I like the Naga-folk.
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Not a race I know much about, but fascinating by the sounds of it
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All mythic, the Hindu equivalent of the Irish Fomori. Everything, back on. The parallels between Hindu and Celtic are incredible. It’s more than the sharing of their root language.
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That’s really interesting – I had no idea.
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You’d be amazed at the underlying mythologies shared across the Indo-European peoples. But it goes further than that and include Afro-Semetics too. Because, prior to 6000 BCE, we were a loosely homogeneous people; our ancestors dispersed with their bags of corn, their stories and dialects.
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To think those stories have survived so long, passed long by word of mouth for thousands of years before being written down – just fascinating and it just shows the staying power of a good story!
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The Sleeping Beauty story has been traced back to 2000 BC. Gulp. But the stories don’t remain with their original words. It’s the motifs, the stereotypes, the heroes, protagonists, shapechangers etc, and how they interact, the story arc. One might say there is nothing new.
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How very true and something that’s so difficult as a writer – to accept that fact but still be able to put your own spin on those old tropes
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Yet that’s how Homer would have done it; it’s how the Old Testament was written. It’s how the Arthur stories began. We follow in the steps of giants.
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We do indeed 🙂
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🙂
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The innocence of childhood 🙂
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Indeed.
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Wow. I enjoyed your little tale and information. I have heard and read stories of nagas from my childhood and there are various myths associated with it. It’s enchanting and incredible. Thank you for sharing an amazing tale 😊❤️
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I thank you, Ramyani. It means a lot that someone who’s familiar with the stories from childhood likes my tale.
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Of course! You are gifted this way and I am sure you have got already enough proof of that ❤️
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I thank you. 🙂
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