Krong Yong
— A Tale of the Kreung People —
A folktale from Ratanakiri Province
A story of Krong Yong, an elder with mysterious powers, handed down among the Kreung hill people.
Long, long ago, in the highlands of Ratanakiri where the Kreung people live, there was a mysterious place called the "Stone Field." In the middle of the jungle, no trees grew there at all; flat stone stretched as far as the eye could see.
In a cave nearby, where a stream flowed in, there was a dwelling complete with a stone bed. Living there was Krong Yong, the chief of the land, who possessed a mysterious spiritual power that let him control the weather at will.
Krong Yong's cave held everything one could need: plates, jars, hunting tools, even musical instruments for festivals. Whenever they needed something, the villagers would visit the cave and borrow it.
The Kreung also had a custom in which newlyweds would stay in Krong Yong's room for seven days to spend their honeymoon. During that time, it is said, Krong Yong moved elsewhere to stay.
Many years passed, and Krong Yong grew old and died. The Kreung tried to cremate him according to their custom, but strangely, no matter how much firewood they added, his upper body would not burn. Perhaps it was because of the spiritual power that dwelt in him. It took three days before the cremation was finally finished.
Once Krong Yong was gone, fewer and fewer villagers came back to return what they had borrowed, and in the end the cave was left empty.
One day, a man of bad character brought an unmarried woman into the cave and behaved improperly. Krong Yong, watching as a spirit, grew furious that the order of the village was falling apart, and one day he suddenly brought the stone ceiling of the cave crashing down.
About 10 km north of Banlung, the Stone Field and the collapsed cave remain to this day. Perhaps Krong Yong's spirit still lives on there.
The end.
About this story
This tale has been passed down among the Kreung, an ethnic minority of the Ratanakiri highlands. Besides the Khmer majority, Cambodia is home to minority peoples, mainly in the highlands, who have their own cultures and beliefs, and each has its own folktales.