潑水節(jié)的傳說

There are a lot of folk tales about the origin of the festival.

Here is one. Long long ago, there lived a tyrant in the Dai village. He stopped at no evil. He burned, killed and looted wherever he went. No one could get rid of him, because he was very powerful. He was afraid of neither water nor fire.

One day, he came across a beautiful Dai girl. He already had six wives and he wanted that girl as his seventh. So he married her. His wives, all kind-hearted women, utterly detested the barbarous acts of the tyrant and decided to kill him in order to protect the innocent people.

However, they were too weak to challenge him. They had to wait. One day, the tyrant came back with lots of trophies. That night, he got drunk.

The seventh wife, his favorite, thought it was the right time to act. "Your Majesty," she said to the tyrant, "You're the strongest person in the world. So, you can live as long as you want."

The tyrant was overjoyed. Being drunk, he was not as cautious as usual.

"My dear," he said, "I have a fatal weakness. If my hair twists around my neck, I'll die."

His wife memorized those words. When the tyrant fell asleep, the women began to act. They twisted his hair around his neck, and the tyrant died.

But as soon as his head feel onto the ground, a big fire began.

The women had no choice but to hold his head with their hands, doing it in turns, one for a year.

Each time one wife finished her turn and passed on the head, the others would splash water on her to wash away bloodstains.

And splashing water on one another became a way to vanquish the devil and symbolically express the wish for better times ahead. Water splashing became a symbol of good luck, a way to wish good fortune to strangers, friends and family.
 

 

很早以前，有一個兇惡的魔王，他身有魔法，落在水里漂不走，掉在火里燒不爛，刀砍不爛，槍刺不入，弓箭射不著。他自持法力過人，傲慢自大，整天橫行霸道，為非作歹。對人民欺壓擄掠，無惡不作。那時，天有十六層，他就成了其中一層的霸主。他已經(jīng)搶了7個美麗的妻子。 　　
有一年六月，正是人間過年的那一天，魔王在宮中飲酒作樂。酒過三巡，已經(jīng)醉醺醺的了。小妻子婻粽布乘機對魔王稱頌道：“我尊貴的大王，您法力無邊，德行高尚，憑著您的威望，您完全可以征服天堂、地獄、人間，您應(yīng)該做三界的主人。”魔王聽了洋洋得意，沉思了一會兒，轉(zhuǎn)過臉對愛妻說：“我的確能征服三界，我的弱點是誰也不知道的。”婻粽布接著又問道：“大王有如此魔力，怎么會有弱點？”魔王小聲回答：“我就怕別人拔我的頭發(fā)勒我的脖子，這會使我身首分家，你可得經(jīng)?？粗c兒。”婻粽布假裝驚訝的追問：“能夠征服三界的大王，怎么會怕頭發(fā)絲？”魔王又小聲的說：“頭發(fā)絲雖然小，但我的頭發(fā)絲卻會勒斷我的脖子，我就活不成了。” 　　
婻粽布聽了以后，暗暗打定主意。于是，她繼續(xù)為魔王斟酒，直到酒席散盡，她又扶魔王上床睡熟。這時，她小心地拔下魔王的一根頭發(fā)，未等魔王驚醒就勒到了魔王的脖子上。魔王的頭立刻就掉到地上，頭上滴下的血，每一滴都變成了一團火，熊熊燃燒，而且迅速往人間蔓延。這時，婻粽布趕忙把魔王的頭抱起來，大地上的火焰也就熄滅了，可頭一放下，火又燒起來了。于是，六個王妻也都趕來了，她們輪流抱著魔王的頭，這樣火才不再燒起來。 　　
后來，婻粽布回到人間，但她仍就渾身血跡，人們?yōu)榱讼吹羲砩系难E，紛紛向她潑水。血跡終于洗凈了，婻粽布幸福地生活在了人間。婻粽布死后，人們?yōu)榱思o念她，在每年過年的時候，就相互潑水，用潔凈的水洗去身上的污垢，迎來吉祥的新年。