Khun Chang Khun Phaen is an outstanding classic in the Thai language, an entertaining folk epic set amidst the social panorama of traditional Siam. Masterfully told in the style of an ancient saga, it is a spectacular love story rich in romance, adventure, violence, farce, and magic, and ending in the tragic and enigmatic death of its heroine.

The great Thai linguist William Gedney once remarked, ?if all other information on traditional Thai culture were to be lost, the whole complex could be reconstructed from this marvelous text.? Written in lively prose, this new, abridged...