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CAMBODIA

Cambodians enjoy passing on traditional folklore, and stories about the Mekong dolphin's origin have been told for generations.

Traditionally, the dolphin was neither hunted, nor its meat eaten. It is believed to be bad karma to kill a dolphin.

One tale is of a beautiful girl born to a poor family in a village along the river. One day, she met the son of a wealthy man from the next village and they fell in love.

But the rich father wanted his son to marry a girl from another wealthy family.

The poor girl, however, was pregnant with the rich man's child. As her stomach got bigger, her parents realised that the rich man's son had deserted her. Her parents scolded her, but she did not shed a tear because she believed the boy would return to her.

Then one day she went to his home, but he did not accept her. She returned to her parent's home so distraught that she resolved to commit suicide.

The next day, she walked to the river and put a heavy bowl on her head. With three incense sticks in her hand, she prayed not meet any men in her next life. Suddenly, there was a big storm and a whirlpool sucked her body into the river.

The girl was then reborn as a dolphin; the bowl on her head is the reason that Cambodian dolphins today have round heads.

It is also believed that when Cambodian men die in the Mekong River, it is the girl taking her revenge.

Another Cambodian story about the origin of the Mekong dolphin features a rich and poor family.

One day, the father of the poor family went into the forest for firewood. There, he prayed to the spirits to be wealthy. When a spirit heard the prayer, it turned itself into a python.

The man took the python home and freed it in his daughter's bedroom. At nighttime, the snake transformed itself into a handsome wealthy man. The daughter and the man fell in love and married, so the family was no longer poor.

The news spread all over the village. When the rich family next door heard the tale, the father wanted to make himself the richest man in the village.

The ambitious man went to the forest and asked for more wealth. While he was praying, he saw a real python. He thought it was another spirit and took it home, where he let it loose in his daughter's bedroom.

However, because the ambitious man didn't feed the real python, it became hungry and one night swallowed the daughter.

In the morning, her parents noticed their daughter was missing and saw the python's massive stomach. They quickly cut it open and revived their daughter, but she smelled very strongly of fish.

By her odour, all in the villagers knew her story. Feeling very ashamed, the daughter committed suicide. She was then reborn as a dolphin, which is why people who see Mekong dolphins today say they have a very strong smell.

LAOS (where the Mekong dolphin is known as Pa Kha)

A long time ago there lived a king in Luang Prabang who had a daughter named Sida. The princess liked to trade goods and one day asked if she could go down the Mekong River to the sea on a large raft, and then travel to China to trade.

The king let her go, but assigned her a bodyguard named Mr Kha. On the raft were goods for trade, as well as animals, including a chicken, a duck, a drongo bird, and a peacock. In those times, people and animals could speak to each other.

They all set off down the Mekong River, but along the way became trapped in an area of water in southern Laos called Veun Song Kham, where the current travels in circles. The passengers survived there for three years, catching fish and eating the rice they had on the raft.

Eventually, with great effort, they were able to leave the swirling current and continue downstream. Unfortunately, their raft floated to the nearby Liphi (Khone fall) waterfalls just above the border between Laos and Cambodia, where the current flows very quickly.

Princess Sida and Mr Kha could not decide if they should continue their trip, so she asked the animals.

First, Princess Sida asked the chicken, who shouted "chote, chote", meaning "stop, stop". Next, the duck shouted "vat, vat", which meant, "paddle the raft to the bank". The frog croaked "leuk, leuk", meaning, "deep, deep". The drongo bird said, "Sia khong sia sen, sia khong sia sen", meaning, "life will be lost".

Finally, she asked the peacock, which called out, "peo vong peo vong" - "go along the main channel of water".

Princess Sida and Mr Kha agreed because they thought the peacock was the leader and was larger than the others and therefore more intelligent. By the time they realized the waterfall was very high, it was too late. The raft went over Liphi waterfall, killing everyone.

The princess was reincarnated as the river tern bird (Nok Sida in Lao), a fish-eating river bird. Mr Kha was reborn as the Mekong dolphin ("Pa Kha" in Lao).

Now, Pa Kha lives only in the Mekong River downstream from the Khone Falls, along the border between Cambodia and Laos. Wherever Pa Kha lives, Nok Sida is found as well. Dolphins chase fish to eat, causing the fish to rise to the surface and in turn feeding the birds.

It is said that the Pa Kha still finds food for Nok Sida, since he used to be servant of the princess. Also, Pa Kha only lives downstream from the Khone waterfalls, not daring to go upstream for fear the king will blame him for Princess Sida's death.

(Source: Ian Baird)