Lao Folktales

<p>Here in one slim volume is a selection of the best-known and best-loved Lao folktales that have entertained the Lao people for generations. We meet the legendary trickster Xieng Mieng who matches his wits with merchants monks and kings. We find a quick-witted toad that terrifies tigers a turtle that flies a cadre of snails that race a rabbit and a mynah bird that speaks five languages fluently.<br/><br/>The reader may recognize a whisper of Aesop or a Jataka tale but each story is distinctively Lao retold with Lao humor and charm reflecting a Buddhist culture in a Marxist state. Works by Anoulom Souvandouane the foremost illustrator in Laos enliven the stories.</p>