During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, Thai poets produced epics depicting elaborate myths and legends which intermingled the human, natural, and supernatural worlds. One of the most famous of these classical compositions is the "Samuttakhoot kham chan," presented here in English for the first time as "The Tale of Prince Samuttakote." The work of three poets, it was begun during the reign of King Naray (1656-1688) and was completed in 1849 by the patriarch-prince Paramanuchit Chinorot (1790-1853).
Translated with enchanting poetic imagery, the poem relates the adventures of...