Paw Yan's Mix-Ups

Paw Yan's Mix-Ups

Once, in a Lao village, there lived a man named Paw Yan. He was kind, willing to work, and always sincerely wanted to do his best. There was only one problem: Paw Yan often understood words much too literally. One morning, he told his wife, “Today I will build a watchtower beside the rice field. From there, we can see whether birds or buffalo wander into the crops.” “Good,” said his wife. “Just take four strong posts, each about as tall as our children.” Paw Yan nodded with the seriousness of someone who had received the wisest advice in the world. “As tall as the children. I understand.” He took a rope, some light bamboo poles, and called the children to come with him. At the field, Paw Yan dug four holes. “Stand here,” he told the children. “I only need to see how tall the posts should be.” The children stood one by one beside the holes. Paw Yan measured the bamboo, moved it around, held one pole across their shoulders and raised another above their heads. “No, this one is too short. That one is almost right. I need one a little longer.” Then he became so interested in measuring that he left the children waiting and went to fetch more bamboo. Evening came, and no one returned home. “Where can they all be?” his wife wondered. She walked to the field and saw a strange sight: four children standing beside four holes, while Paw Yan, now back with bamboo, was still measuring and measuring. “Paw Yan!” cried his wife. “I said to take posts as tall as the children, not to use the children as measuring sticks!” Paw Yan froze. “Oh… that is what you meant.” The children laughed. Even his wife could not keep from smiling. “Very well,” she said. “Tomorrow I will build the tower myself. You can do a simpler job.” The next day she told him, “While I work in the field, gather food for the pigs. Take it to them in the evening.” “I certainly will not confuse that!” Paw Yan promised. He took a basket and went out to collect greens. At first, everything went well. Then he saw a shiny pebble on the ground. “I wonder how it got here.” While he examined the pebble, he forgot why he had come. Then he noticed a butterfly. Beyond the butterfly was a trail of ants. The trail led to a tall tree, and the ants were hurrying down its trunk. “How clever!” Paw Yan said. “They are not afraid of falling. I should watch how they do that.” He watched for so long that the sun began to lean toward the horizon. “Oh! The pigs!” Paw Yan rushed home, grabbed the first sack he saw, and ran to the pigpen. “Here is your supper!” he called happily. He opened the sack and stopped. It was full of rice prepared for the whole family. The pigs grunted as loudly as if they were surprised, too. “Wait! This is not for you!” Paw Yan tied up the sack and carried it back. “I must gather real feed after all,” he decided. But on his way, he saw the same tree and the same ants. “How do they walk headfirst down the trunk without falling?” Paw Yan thought that he could do the same. He climbed carefully onto a low branch, hugged the trunk with his arms, and tried to climb down upside down. “Slowly… a little farther…” Then one foot slipped. Paw Yan landed with a soft plop in a pile of dry grass. First his feet appeared from the pile, then his hands, and finally his tousled head. “Now I know,” he told himself. “I am not an ant.” That evening, his wife saw the straw in his hair. “Well,” she asked, “did you feed the pigs?” “Almost.” “Did you mix up the tower?” “No.” “Did you give them our rice?” “Almost.” “Did you fall out of a tree?” Paw Yan shyly pulled a straw from his hair. “Only a little.” His wife shook her head, but she smiled. “Paw Yan, you do not lack effort. You lack one thing: before you do something, stop and think about what you were asked.” Paw Yan repeated very seriously, “Stop. Think. Then do.” The next morning, he took the basket. He stopped. He thought. Then he asked, “This is the basket for the pigs’ feed, yes?” “Yes,” said his wife. “And the feed goes in the basket, not the rice from the kitchen?” “Exactly.” “And we do not use children as posts?” “Not under any circumstances.” Paw Yan nodded happily. “Now I understand everything.” And this time, he truly did the job well. People say that after that, whenever Paw Yan was given a new task, he did not rush. First he repeated it aloud, then asked one or two questions, and only then got to work. His mistakes became much fewer. Although, whenever a very interesting trail of ants appeared nearby, his wife still liked to check whether Paw Yan remembered where he was going and why.

May this story leave a little light in your heart ✨