The Bridge of Mother and Son
Once upon a time in the village of Pinzivay, there lived an old woman with her son named Panwan. They did not have a single patch of their own land, so the old mother had to gather firewood in the mountains to sell, while her son tended other people's livestock. Panwan was a very agile and nimble young man. He loved to run and jump, was good at climbing trees, could lift large boulders, and could somersault over his head with a running start. Because of this, he was strong and healthy. One day, while he was herding the cattle, two bulls began to butt heads. Their eyes turned bloodshot, they lowered their heads, struck each other with their horns—and became locked together, unable to separate. Panwan ran over, grabbed both fighters by their horns, and flung them apart, sending them several fathoms away. The bulls' horns even bent from the force of Panwan's strength! The young man looked at the heavily panting bulls and said:"If you keep fighting, I'll break your horns completely!"
Near Pinzivay flowed a small river, over which a beautiful stone bridge had been built, with a pavilion standing on it. Below, the bridge was supported by five stone pillars.
It was a sturdy bridge! But when strong winter winds blew, the water in the river would rise from the rushing mountain streams and begin to erode the stone pillars. This happened every year. Yet, for a time, the bridge remained firm. One cold winter day, the north wind raged with particular ferocity, its gusts uprooting large trees. Panwan was driving his herd across the stone bridge. The bridge shook and swayed as if it were made of bamboo. The young man looked down—oh no!
One of the stone pillars had already fallen, and the bridge itself was on the verge of collapsing! It would have been disastrous for the villagers of Pinzivay if that had happened, as the bridge was part of the main road. And rebuilding such a bridge with a pavilion would have been no easy task!
Without hesitation, Panwan rolled up his pants and—splash!—jumped from the bridge into the water. Brr! The water was freezing! The young man crawled under the bridge and braced his hands and head against its arch. He stood there, as if cast in steel, not daring to move. His arms quickly grew numb, but he couldn't lower them—the bridge might collapse and crush him! So Panwan stood and stood, straining with all his might.
At that moment, his old mother was returning home with firewood. The stone bridge swayed in the wind, and the woman bent down to look beneath it. Oh no! A stone pillar had fallen! The bridge was about to collapse! How could it ever be repaired? In an instant, she dropped her firewood and—splash!—jumped into the river. Seeing his mother, Panwan shouted:
"Mom, go away! I can hold it alone!"
The mother realized that her son had been standing there for a long time and said lovingly:
"No, my son, you can't hold it alone. The bridge is already shaking. I'll help you!"
And she braced her head and hands against the bridge's arch. Now they stood together, mother and son, facing each other in the icy water, supporting the bridge. Several days passed. A fisherman floated by and noticed two stone-like pillars beneath the bridge that resembled people. He looked closer and saw that it was Panwan and his old mother. They had turned into stone pillars and were firmly propping up the bridge. The fisherman ran to the village and called the people. The villagers looked at the stone heroes, tears streaming from their eyes and falling into the river. From then on, the bridge near Pinzivay was called the Bridge of Mother and Son.
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