The Krouth king as Méas-Nop, his human chess-playing guise; appearance and garden imagined.
Original narrative illustration; appearance and material setting imagined, not an authenticated cultural specimen.
Overview
In Pavie’s abridged Néang Kakey, the Praputisat begins another existence as the son of a Krouth princess and becomes a powerful king. Pavie identifies the Krouth with Garouda, a celestial bird. This king can change his appearance at will, lives among extraordinary gardens, mountains and seas, and eats forest fruit. Every week he descends to King Promatat’s country. Near a fig tree he assumes an ordinary man’s body and the name Méas-Nop. Promatat invites the visitor to play chess, enjoys his skill and welcomes his subsequent visits. During a game Méas-Nop sees the king’s favourite wife, Néang Kakey; the attraction is mutual. He later raises a storm to conceal carrying her through the air to his distant realm.
The king’s friend, the Yack Kotonn, investigates by becoming invisible, following Méas-Nop to the fig tree and shrinking into an almost imperceptible insect that rides on the Krouth’s wing. Kotonn reaches Kakey and becomes her lover during the bird king’s absences. Carried back without his host’s knowledge, he sings before the chess players about the palace and his time with her. The Krouth returns Kakey to Promatat and disappears from the tale. Promatat then has her set adrift on a raft; she is overwhelmed by fear, the raft overturns and she drowns. This is the fate assigned by this particular abridgment, rather than a moral judgment adopted here. The Krouth is a specific participant in that narrative, not a replacement account of every Garuda tradition.
Origins & earliest records
Pavie’s French summary of a heard Khmer-language narrative, Néang Kakey, in Contes populaires du Cambodge, du Laos et du Siam. He explicitly says he did not later obtain a fuller telling. The selected chapter names no individual teller; the introduction credits Ngin and Som with preparing Khmer, Lao and Siamese texts from his French summaries.
Records & interpretation
Complete Néang Kakey chapter, printed pp. 71–77, including its collection prelude and ending; full introduction, pp. 1–24, and native 1903 title-page witness.
Selected bibliography
Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.
- 01
Contes populaires du Cambodge, du Laos et du Siam
III, Néang Kakey, pp. 71–77; introduction pp. 1–24.
Family & connections
A source-supported family tree or inspiration record has not yet been compiled for this profile. Related reading below indicates a connection in subject matter, not a proven lineage or creative influence.
References
Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.
- Historical collector’s primary narrative summaryPavie: Néang Kakey, complete original French summaryResearch access: 2026-10-18
Image credits
AI-generatedThe Krouth king as Méas-Nop, his human chess-playing guise; appearance and garden imagined.
Original narrative illustration; appearance and material setting imagined, not an authenticated cultural specimen.
