APIFantasy | Myth and Folklore Anthology

Cambodian Mythology - Ghost Banana Tree

Once upon a time, a poor farmer and his wife lived in a small village in Cambodia. Unable to support his wife and desperate for work, the husband left to find work in a faraway village. For years, he worked hard and saved enough to return with a hope of a better future.

Unbeknownst to him, while he was away, his wife fell ill and died. Restless, her ghost began to haunt the villagers, and they started to avoid the house where the couple resided. No one would dare venture near it, and after some time, they stopped seeing the ghost.

When the husband finally returned to the village, he noticed how quiet the house was and how not a soul could be seen in its vicinity. Confused and worried about not finding his wife in the house, he went to ask the villagers. He learned about the sad news of his wife's passing, and the villagers also warned him about the haunting in his house, but he didn't heed their warnings and came back to his empty house.

He was saddened by the death of his wife and the fact that he couldn't be with her in her last moments. There was a beautiful banana tree in their backyard, which they had both grown with love. It was lush and green, and it used to bore the sweetest bananas in the village. The man remembered the happier time when the couple would sit under its shade to enjoy the cool breeze.

Heartbroken, the husband started sitting under the tree often, reminiscing about the good times they had spent together. Soon, he began to notice strange things happening around the tree. The bananas would turn black and rot, and the leaves would rustle even when there was no wind. Since he didn't understand it, he decided to ignore the strange happenings.

One night, he woke up to find his wife's ghost standing next to the banana tree. She was holding a bunch of bananas in her hand and was staring at him with a cold, vengeful gaze. Until that moment, he hadn't believed the stories related to him by the villagers, but now seeing the ghost with his own eyes terrified him, and he ran out of the house to seek help.

He ran to a Buddhist monk's house in the village and asked the monk for a prayer of protection. His wife's ghost had followed him to the monk's house, but she couldn't enter the building. After trying many times, she noticed a large banana tree with its leaves touching a window. Even though she couldn't enter the house any other way due to the protection prayers, she was able to enter by climbing the tree and using its large leaves that touched the house.

She then killed her husband, and their spirits left the mortal plane together. Later, the monk cut down the banana tree to make sure such an incident was never repeated.

Even to this day, the story of the Ghost Banana Tree is a popular legend in Cambodia. People tell the tale to their children and warn them about the dangers of planting banana trees near their homes because that's how ghosts and bad luck can enter the houses.

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