The Story of Tum Teav
Monk Tum
A young boy named Tum was raised by a single mother (no name mentioned in the story) who lived in a province of Baphnoum (currently a district of Prey Veng province). Tum grew up into an extraordinary handsome young man with a beautiful voice. When the time came, the mother sent Tum to become a Buddhist monk at a Buddhist temple nearby, a center where local Cambodians received their education at the time. Monk Tum met another young monk named Pich at the temple and they both became close friend. They referred to each other as brother. The Abbot of the temple had educated Tum and Pich to become fine monks. Tum had a natural talent as a melodic singer of Khmer poetry chanting known as Smoat) and Pich was a flute player. Together, they teamed up to be a Smoat vocalist. The Buddhist temple was supported by the Buddhist parishioners in the surrounding villages. Villagers donated rice and other produced to temple.
Some monks at the temple were good wood carvers who made furniture ornaments called Tauk which was traded for rice, money, or other commodities for the temple’s needs.
One day, Monk Tum had an idea. He discussed with Monk Pich that selling Tauk in the surrounding areas would not earn enough money or supplies to support the temple. But if they travel afar, they would sell more Tauk for the temple. They both agreed and went on to see the Abbot, the head of the temple. After listening to the reasoning of Tum and Pich, the Abbot agreed, but before he let them go on with the journey, he gave them words of advice reminding them they are monks and that they should not fool around with girls. Such an act was then and is still now against the rules of Buddhism. They thanked the Abbot for his advice, said goodbye to him, and set out a journey with an ox cart full of furniture ornaments and personal supplies.
Tum and Pich at Po Cheung Khal
They travelled from one village to another selling Tauk at every stop. One day they arrived at Po Cheung Khal village, in Thbaung khmum district of Kampong Cham province. They were camping near a well where villagers came and fetch water for their household uses.
In the village of Po Cheung Khal lived the modest family of a household headed by a widow (known by-mouth story as Yeay (grandma) Phann, but no name is mentioned in the 1915 written version of Reverence Som). She had a beautiful daughter named Teav and a servant named Noh whom Teav trusted dearly on all matters in her life.
On the evening of the arrival of monks Tum and Pich, Noh went to fetch the water from the well as usual. She noticed there was a large crowd nearby the well listening to the Smoat (a poetry chanting) performed by monk Tum and Pich. She was struck by Tum’s handsomeness and his beautiful voice. She was impressed with the beautiful sound of flute that Pich played. She could not wait to tell Teav about what she saw at the well. Back at home, Noh told Teav that Tum knew how to read and sing a poem written on a palm leaf called Slekrit (many literatures were written on this medium at that time).
Teav Chaul Malub
Teav believed every words Noh told her. She was very excited and wanted to hear and see them personally with her own eyes. But she could not leave the house because she was undergoing the practice of “Chaul Malub,” (entering the “shade”), a then-practiced temporary seclusion in one’s own home of an adolescent girl by her parents and elders when she reached womanhood. Chaul Malub is a tradition that Cambodians no longer practice nowadays, but it was very significant back then in the 16th century Cambodia. It is a period ranging from three months to a year that the adolescent girl must hide herself in her own home and not to be seen by others except her immediate family.
Teav developed a strong desire to see monks Tum and Pich after hearing Noh’s story. She brought the subject to her mother, Yeay Phann, and asked if she could invite them to the house for a Smoat performance. Yeay Phann was also anxious to see Monk Tum and Pich perform. So she went to invite them to perform the Smoat at her house.
