Travels in the Central Parts of Indo-China (Siam), Cambodia, and Laos (Vol. 1 of 2): During the Years 1858, 1859, and 1860Mouhot, Henri
History
Travels in the Central Parts of Indo-China (Siam), Cambodia, and Laos (Vol. 1 of 2): During the Years 1858, 1859, and 1860
Mouhot, Henri
Cambodia -- Description and travel; Khmer language; Natural history -- Indochina; Thailand -- Description and travel
On the south side, to the left hand, is a military procession--bodies
of soldiers headed by chiefs, some mounted on elephants, others on
horseback, and each corps carrying different arms, lances, halberds,
javelins, sabres, and bows. On the right are two series, one
representing the Hindu Paradise Swarga, the other the Hindu infernal
regions Naralma. A crowd of persons are entering Paradise, and are
received in palanquins: they have with them banners, fans, parasols,
and boxes for holding betel, without which even Paradise would not be
perfect happiness to a Cambodian.
A triumphal march. Paradise.--The elect seated on a magnificent dais,
surrounded by a great number of women, with caskets and fans in their
hands, while the men are holding flowers and have children on their
knees. These appear to be all the joys of Paradise.
The punishments of the infernal regions, on the contrary, are varied
and numerous; and while the elect, who are enjoying themselves in
Paradise, are all fat and plump, the poor condemned beings are so lean
that their bones show through their skin, and the expression of their
faces is pitiful and full of a most comic seriousness. Some are being
pounded in mortars, while others hold them by the feet and hands;
some are being sawn asunder; others are led along, like buffaloes,
with ropes through their noses. In other places the _comphubal_
(executioners) are cutting men to pieces with sabres; while a crowd
of poor wretches are being transfixed by the tusks of elephants, or
on the horns of rhinoceros. Fabulous animals are busy devouring some;
others are in irons, and have had their eyes put out.
In the centre sits the judge with his ministers, all sabre in hand, and
the guilty are dragged before them by the hair or feet. In the distance
is visible a furnace and another crowd of people under punishment,
being tortured in divers ways--impaled, roasted on spits, tied to trees
and pierced with arrows, suspended with heavy weights attached to their
hands and feet, devoured by dogs or vultures, or crucified with nails
through their bodies.
These bas-reliefs are perfect; the rest are inferior in workmanship and
expression.
On the east side, a number of men, divided into two equal groups, are
represented as attempting to drag in contrary directions the great
serpent or dragon with seven heads, while, in the centre, an angel
stands looking on. Many angels are seen floating in the sky above,
while fishes, aquatic animals, and marine monsters swim about in a sea
visible beneath. The angel is seated on the celebrated mountain of
Thibet, Pra Soumer, and in different places angels with several heads
give assistance to those pulling the serpent. The king of the apes,
Sdach Soa, appears also here.
To the right is a military procession and a combat, the chiefs being
mounted on elephants, unicorns, griffins, eagles with peacocks’ tails,
and other fantastic animals, while winged dragons draw the cars.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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