Northern Laos
The Beginning of the World
Many, many years ago, all the world was a rock and humans lived
far under the ground with their animals.
As it so happened, one day a man and his wife were following their
dog that was chasing a monkey through an endless rock tunnel.
After a long trip they emerged on the surface of the world, a great
black flat rock.
They returned home, gathered seeds and worms, and brought them
to the surface. Soon the seeds sprang up, the worms multiplied, and
life on the earth began.
— Folk Stories of the Hmong : Peoples of Laos, Thailand, and Vietnam
