THE MEKONG DOLPHIN

Cambodians enjoy passing on traditional folklore, and stories about the Mekong dolphin's origin have been told for generations.

Traditionally, the dolphin was neither hunted, nor its meat eaten. It is believed to be bad karma to kill a dolphin.

One tale is of a beautiful girl born to a poor family in a village along the river. One day, she met the son of a wealthy man from the next village and they fell in love.

But the rich father wanted his son to marry a girl from another wealthy family.

The poor girl, however, was pregnant with the rich man's child. As her stomach got bigger, her parents realized that the rich man's son had deserted her. Her parents scolded her, but she did not shed a tear because she believed the boy would return to her.

Then one day she went to his home, but he did not accept her. She returned to her parent's home so distraught that she resolved to commit suicide.

The next day, she walked to the river and put a heavy bowl on her head. With three incense sticks in her hand, she prayed not meet any men in her next life. Suddenly, there was a big storm and a whirlpool sucked her body into the river.

The girl was then reborn as a dolphin; the bowl on her head is the reason that Cambodian dolphins today have round heads.

It is also believed that when Cambodian men die in the Mekong River, it is the girl taking her revenge.

Another Cambodian story about the origin of the Mekong dolphin features a rich and poor family.

One day, the father of the poor family went into the forest for firewood. There, he prayed to the spirits to be wealthy. When a spirit heard the prayer, it turned itself into a python.

The man took the python home and freed it in his daughter's bedroom. At nighttime, the snake transformed itself into a handsome wealthy man. The daughter and the man fell in love and married, so the family was no longer poor.

The news spread all over the village. When the rich family next door heard the tale, the father wanted to make himself the richest man in the village.

The ambitious man went to the forest and asked for more wealth. While he was praying, he saw a real python. He thought it was another spirit and took it home, where he let it loose in his daughter's bedroom.

However, because the ambitious man didn't feed the real python, it became hungry and one night swallowed the daughter.

In the morning, her parents noticed their daughter was missing and saw the python's massive stomach. They quickly cut it open and revived their daughter, but she smelled very strongly of fish.

By her odour, all in the villagers knew her story. Feeling very ashamed, the daughter committed suicide. She was then reborn as a dolphin, which is why people who see Mekong dolphins today say they have a very strong smell.