Many Karen literatures never failed to mention the role of Karen kings and Karen kingdoms. There are many Karen folklores told or recited orally as source of wisdom, knowledge, instructions and discretion. Moral is what the Karen ancestors emphasized in the legacy they left. One of the popular maxims for the Karen people is to avoid three booby traps. They are (1) Corruption (2) Inebriety (3) Adultery. Obey it and you have success in your life. Break it and you will only meet trouble and failure. These precious words of wisdom were incorporated into myths and folklores and passed on to posterity generation after generation.
The Karens have a great stock of stories that are often told. These stories are told orally in the form of htars, folklores, sagas and legends. One unique and common thing of these stories is that they told about the Karen people and they constitute quite a great part of Karen history.
Admonition, instruction, moral and prophesy made up these stories. No one knew exactly when these stories began and by whom they were narrated. Perhaps, these stories might have been in use, since the Karen as a race entered old Babylon around 2287 B.C.
Successive Karen sages or anonymous leaders of the communities composed these stories in accordance with the passage of time, location and event. Many of the prophecies in these stories had already been fulfilled now. Even though most of the Karen’s prophecies used to predict happy endings, they demand wise decision and strict obedience to it. These priceless legacies had enriched Karen cultures for years, and revealed Karen characters in the simplest way…