Several hundred years ago, there was a king named Ammok. The king had seven sons, but the youngest son was different from the rest. He would remain quiet all day and engage in cooking like the girls. Because of this, he was named ‘Pahailya.’ After years of enduring humiliation from the king, one day, out of deep resentment, he left the kingdom.
Walking along the path, Pahailya arrived in a forest where he saw a small hut and a goat tied up in front of it. He decided to spend the night there and, after having his dinner, he fell asleep. In the morning, Pahailya woke up to find his horse missing. Seeing no one else around, he became suspicious of the goat. The next night, he kept a close watch on the goat’s movements, and as he had suspected, once the night grew deep, the goat shed its disguise and transformed into a demoness. Witnessing this, Pahailya ran into the forest, but the demoness, now in the form of a young woman, chased after him.
Pahailya eventually arrived at the palace of a king. He pleaded with the king, saying, “Please protect me! This girl has come to ruin my life.” The girl, however, declared, “Your Majesty! He is my husband. He left home and abandoned me. I want him back.” The king then turned to Pahailya and said, “If you do not wish to be with this girl, give her up for 1,000 coins, and I will marry her.” Pahailya agreed, accepted the coins, and left, making his way to the house of a helpless old woman in that kingdom.
From that day, the demoness stayed in the form of a queen during the day and would transform at night, capturing and devouring the people of the kingdom. Fear spread throughout the land, and many residents fled in terror. Despite his best efforts, the king could not find a solution. When Pahailya heard about this, he approached the king and said, “I want to become your guard and confront this menace.” The king agreed to his proposal. From that night onward, Pahailya stood guard in front of the demoness queen’s quarters, sword in hand, ensuring she could not emerge and prey on anyone. As a result, the kingdom was protected, and the queen’s health gradually began to deteriorate from the lack of human flesh.
To get rid of Pahailya, the demoness queen told the king, “In my homeland, there is a cow the size of a mouse that gives milk 7-8 times a day. If Pahailya retrieves this cow, I will no longer need to buy milk.” Hearing this, the king ordered Pahailya to fetch the cow. Obeying the command, Pahailya set off toward the demon city. Along the way, he met a dervish who, using his magic, transformed Pahailya into a crow. With wings spread wide, Pahailya flew to the land of demons and managed to bring back the extraordinary cow.
When Pahailya returned, the queen was once again troubled. Because Pahailya stood guard with his sword every night, she could not come out to devour the people. After several days of this, the queen approached the king once more and said, “In my homeland, there is a special grain of rice that, when sown, ripens in just one day. If we plant this rice in our kingdom, we will never face food shortages again.” The king, intrigued, ordered Pahailya to fetch the miraculous grain from the queen’s land. The queen then handed Pahailya a letter and said, “Deliver this to my mother.”
Pahailya left the kingdom once more, journeying toward the land of the demons. This time, he encountered an even more powerful hermit. The hermit had been meditating for eighteen years, and his body had become entwined with the roots of a tree. Pahailya explained everything to the hermit and showed him the letter given by the queen. The hermit opened the letter and found that it was written in the language of demons: “Mother, this young man is my greatest enemy. Because of him, I have been unable to hunt. As soon as you see him, kill him.” The hermit used his magic to change the words in the letter and then sent Pahailya on his way. Once again, Pahailya took flight and arrived in the land of the demons. This time, he went straight to the mother of the demon queen and presented the letter. The letter now read, “Mother, this young man is your grandson. Take good care of him and show him where the rice seeds are.”
Thus, Pahailya began living among the demons. One day, while exploring the northern side of the house, he discovered a pond whose waters were red, like blood. Upon returning home, he asked the demon queen’s mother about the peculiar pond. At first, she tried to avoid the question with various excuses. But after much pleading and insistence, she finally revealed the truth: the demons bathed in that pond, and their sweat turned the water red.
When any of the demons faced danger, the color of the pond’s water lilies would turn black. Conversely, when the lilies were white, it indicated that the demons were safe. In the center of the pond stood the king of the water lilies, a large flower. Beneath its root, buried in the soil, lay a small chest. Inside that chest was a bumblebee, which contained the souls of all the demons. One day, while the demons were out hunting, Pahailya cleverly retrieved the life-bumblebee from beneath the pond and flew back to his own kingdom as a bird.
Upon returning, Pahailya found that the demon queen had devoured half of the kingdom’s subjects. He then informed the king to convene an urgent meeting at the royal court. When the meeting was called, Pahailya revealed the true form of the demon queen before everyone. After being exposed, the queen rushed at Pahailya to kill him. However, before she could do anything, Pahailya decapitated the bumblebee, killing the demoness. The king and everyone in the kingdom were very pleased with Pahailya, rewarding him with immense wealth and placing him in charge of the kingdom’s administration from the royal palace.