Phra Aphai Mani

Phra Aphai Mani (Thai: พระอภัยมณี) is a 30,000-line epic written by Thailand's best-known poet, Sunthorn Phu. It is also part of Thai folklore and has been adapted into films and comics.

The main protagonists are Prince Aphai Mani, a mermaid, and a female yak or ogress.

Plot

Phra Aphai Mani and his brother, Sisuwan, are Thai princes. Their father sent them away to study with the hope that they would gain knowledge to help them rule the country. Sisuwan learned to sword fight and Phra Aphai Mani learned to play a magical flute that could put people to sleep or kill them. When they returned home, their father was angered by what they had learned and drove them away.

One day while Aphai's companions were lulled to sleep by the sound of his pipe, a female ogress named Nang Phisua Samut, came and took Aphai away to her cave. She disguised herself as a beautiful maiden and Aphai fell in love with her. They lived together until she bore a son, Sinsamut. When Aphai found out that his wife was really an ogress, he fled with his son. He was assisted by a family of mermaids, a father, mother, and daughter. The father and mother were caught and eaten by the ogress. The mermaid daughter took Aphai and Sinsamut to Kokaew Phitsadan (Wonder Island) where a hermit saved them from the ogress. Aphai married the mermaid daughter and they had a son, named Sutsakhon.