the religious beliefs, the political system, are all conditions within which a given kind of personality develops."29
Sang Thong's long period of development in Thailand, the views expressed in it, and the keen interest felt in its story by many present-day Thais place it in the literary tradition which is an integral part of the "circle" forming Thai cultural character. This drama, moreover, reflects most of the other elements mentioned by Margaret Mead in the passage quoted above.
In "The Birth of Prince Sang," as well as in later episodes of Sang Thong, views are expressed concerning the responsibility of kingship and the respect due to it, the mutually helpful relationship that should exist between a parent and child, the effects of deeds of one's past life upon one's present life, the pragmatic and manipulative use of both natural and supernatural means to achieve desired results, and the importance of status relationships. Most of these values and views of the world are expressed in some detail, as are the depictions of the particular reciprocal relationship the king has with the queen and both have with their people, the particular kinds of spirits that are thought to exist, and the ways a person tries to influence the workings of karma.
Few, if any, of the traditional views of life found in Sang Thong are distinctively Thai in the sense that individual elements cannot be found elsewhere in the world, particularly in Asia; but in their totality they form a distinctively Thai configuration. As the notes to Acts One through Nine will point out, the themes in Sang Thong, as portrayed through the dramatic events and in the attitudes of its human and mythological characters, reveal a common Hindu-Buddhist-Brahman cultural and literary heritage as well as a peculiarly Thai development in which foreign features were adapted and assimilated according to Thai values and understandings. Furthermore, Thais of diverse ranks adapted such foreign features to their own ways of life. Sang Thong in its present literary form, and as translated and summarized in this volume, comes from two divergent streams: the long process of oral transmission existing mainly among the folk, and the more sophisticated written tradition perpetuated by temple scribes and court poets. These streams inevitably continue to diverge in present-day Thailand, and both traditions carry indelible traces of Rama II's ingenious 19th-century fusion of rustic and courtly drama.
Sang Thong
THE GOLDEN PRINCE
OF THE CONCH SHELL
List of Characters
(in order of appearance)
ACT ONE
KING YOSAWIMON, father of Prince Sang
QUEEN CHANTHA, wife of King Yosawimon, mother of Prince Sang
QUEEN CHANTHEWI, minor wife of King Yosawimon
MAID of Queen Chantha
ASTROLOGER, prophet of doom for Yosawimon's kingdom
OLD MAN AND WOMAN, peasants protecting Queen Chanthewi
PRINCE SANG (Sang Thong), child born in a conch shell; hero of later episodes
ACT ONE
The Birth of Prince Sang
Now I'd like to tell the story1
of King Yosawimon2 the great ruler.
He had no son, and thus his royal line would end.
One day, during his inspection of the city,3
the people cried out that he must have a son.
The Bearer of the Land4 felt aflame, as if pierced by arrows.
He could not eat, nor could he take a bath,5
Sitting, sleeping, he felt great anguish.
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