Mro Folktale — The Broken Jewel and the Journey of Two Companions

Long, long ago, in a kingdom nestled among the mountains, there lived a king whose wealth sparkled like fire and whose happiness flowed like water. Peace reigned under his sky, undisturbed by storm or sorrow. But happiness, as all stories teach us, does not last forever.

The king often ventured far from home, riding across distant lands in pursuit of conquest. In his absence, a wandering monk arrived at the palace. He seemed humble, his robes dusty from travel, and the queen—lonely and trusting—offered him shelter. Slowly, the monk grew close to her. And slowly, like termites in wood, greed crept in.

The queen began handing over pieces of treasure—gems, gold, ornaments—from the royal vaults to the monk. His hunger grew. One day, he demanded the kingdom’s most sacred possession: a shard of the royal diamond—a symbol of their fortune and harmony. The queen, enchanted, gave it to him without pause.

With the jewel in hand, the monk vanished like smoke into the hills. From that moment on, darkness seeped into the land. Disease spread like mist. Famine dried up the rivers. Violence bloomed like weeds. The treasury emptied, and the king—returning to a realm he no longer recognized—was baffled by the decay.

In desperation, the king began selling everything he owned—his elephants, his horses, his livestock, even the ornaments from his palace walls. At last, only two loyal companions remained by his side: a cat and a dog.

The cat, sensing the king’s despair, whispered to the dog,
“How long before he sells us too? Something is wrong, brother. This ruin has a secret.”

The dog nodded. Together, they set off toward the distant Himalayas, where dreams, it was said, could reveal the truth.

The next morning, the cat asked,
“What did your dream show you?”

The dog lied, “I saw full bowls and warm fire—we shall not go hungry again.” In truth, he had seen nothing.

The cat replied, “I saw the queen giving the sacred diamond shard to a deceitful monk. That’s when misfortune began.”

The dog asked, “What can be done?”

The cat answered, “In my dream, I saw the monk asleep, holding the jewel in his mouth. If we could tickle his nose with the tail of a white mouse, he’d sneeze and drop the jewel. The mice live in burrows by the blue sea.”

So off they went. By the sea, they found three white mice. The cat leapt into the burrow, but the dog, afraid, stayed back. When the mice ran out, the dog snapped and killed two instantly. The third time, he found his courage and joined the cat. Together, they captured a mouse alive.

That night, they crept into the monk’s chamber. He lay in deep sleep, snoring faintly, the diamond glinting between his lips. The cat gently brushed the white mouse’s tail against his nose. The monk sneezed. The jewel fell. The dog caught it swiftly in his mouth.

They ran. Behind them, the monk gave chase, but he was no match for their determination.

When they reached a wide canal, the cat teased,
“They’ll serve you from a golden bowl, me from a dirty one.”
The dog burst out laughing—and in that moment, the jewel slipped from his mouth and fell into the water.

Back they went to the Himalayas. The cat dreamed again.
“The jewel,” he said, “was swallowed by a giant katol fish. The fish will be caught at the morning market tomorrow.”

The next day, they waited. When the fish was sliced open, the cat pounced and knocked the jewel to the ground. The dog grabbed it and ran. This time, no one could stop them.

Again they crossed the canal. The cat said nothing. The dog smiled quietly, his grip on the jewel firm.

Back at the palace, the king learned from a royal astrologer of all that had happened—the queen’s betrayal, the stolen diamond, the monk’s greed. The queen was exiled to a distant island.

Then came the cat and the dog, returning the jewel to the king. Grateful, the king fed the cat from a golden bowl and the dog from a silver one.

The dog looked at the cat, smiled, and this time, said nothing at all.
Peace and abundance returned to the kingdom, like sunlight after storm.