Phikul Thong

I wonder what these flowers taste like.

Greetings, readers. Today's story comes from Thailand. Phikul Thong reminds me of a fairy tale we've already discussed, Diamonds and Toads, but there are some small but important differences. Click the link above to read this story, and continue below to analyze it with me.

Way back in 2018, I looked at Diamonds and Toads, a French fairy tale. In that story, the "good" daughter has gems and flowers come out of her mouth every time she talks. The "bad" daughter has toads, snakes, and such come out every time she talks. Whatever side of this you're on, it would be difficult to have something come out of your mouth every time you spoke. At least in this story, it's just when you're feeling sympathetic or angry.

Can we start with the angel? I'm going to assume that she knew Phikul's name, even if Phikul didn't tell her. So it's all well and good that an angel gave her a gift for doing something good. But did it really have to be phikul flowers coming out of Phikul's mouth? That would be like a girl named Daisy having daisies dropping from her mouth whenever she felt sympathetic. Like, angel, give a less ridiculous gift, please. It would even be less ridiculous if it were multiple kinds of flowers, but no. Just phikul flowers. Some people/divine beings...

I wonder what Phikul talked about for all of those days. Her stepmother wanted those golden flowers, so Phikul had to come up with something to talk about that would make her feel sympathetic. I guess at least they all had a better life with the money the stepmother made selling those flowers. Although, I feel like they still made Phikul do all the hard work around the house while she was talking. So maybe she just had a nicer house to clean.

It is also interesting to me that the stepmother didn't send her daughter, Mali, out right away to get a blessing. She waited until Phikul couldn't talk anymore and then sent Mali. I agree with the story that the stepmother is greedy, but apparently not as greedy as she could have been.

It's also interesting to me that the reason Mali didn't help the stranger was because Mali was jealous of her. The angel took the form of a beautiful woman wearing a gorgeous dress and asked for help. This is different from an old woman asking you for help. I feel like Phikul would have helped either of them, but an old woman is more likely to be an object of sympathy than a beautiful woman. I don't think the angel deliberately made the test harder for Mali, but it was a different sort of test. Of course, even if she didn't want to help the pretty lady, Mali didn't have to curse her and get super angry about it.

It looks like the stepmother's love for her daughter outweighed her greed. She was convinced that Phikul lied about some part of her story after Mali came back, spitting out worms. So the stepmother drove Phikul out of the house. She didn't try to keep Phikul just for her flowers and the money those brought. In the stepmother's mind, Phikul had hurt Mali, so Phikul had to go. Generally, I'm good with that kind of loyalty to your family, but Phikul was supposed to be her family too. And she didn't do anything wrong.

I suppose it's lucky for Phikul that she found a prince almost right away to marry. It would have been tough living in the forest alone. I wonder if the angel had anything to do with them meeting. I also have to wonder a bit about the prince. He doesn't seem to be alarmed that Phikul is spitting out flowers. He's charmed by her and proposes, apparently, right away.

Because Phikul marries this prince, she becomes queen of the city, putting her definitely above the stepmother and stepsister who treated her so terribly. I wonder if Phikul did anything to them, or if she just left them alone. On the other hand, I wonder if Mali and her mother tried to get into the palace since they were the queen's family. The story doesn't say, so I suppose they just ignored each other. That ending does leave us more with the "good" daughter getting the happy ending and the "bad" daughter stuck in a house full of worms. If she screamed in anger, did the worms get bigger?

The moral of this story is to help people out who ask for it. Even if they look like they don't need any help. Alternatively, if an angel shows up in a certain place for one person, they're probably going to be there again in a different disguise for another person. So be nice.

Have a different moral? Wondering if Phikul had to keep spitting out flowers for her husband? Wondering if Mali started a business selling worms? Have a different story you want me to talk about? Comment below!