Bot Lakhon Rueang Dalang Chabap Muen Chamnian: The New Discovery of an Old Version of the Dalang

Abstract

Bot Lakhon Rueang Dalang Chabap Muen Chamnian, a literary work of unknown origin, was recorded in a Samut Thai, or a folded paper book, and is now kept at Chiang Mai university library. It is inscribed on the book cover that Muen Chamnian wrote the text. Bot Lakhon Rueang Dalang Chabap Muen Chamnian is a different version of Bot Lakhon Rueang Dalang of King Rama I. It starts from a scene in which Panyi enters the Manya kingdom, and moves forward to a scene in which Butsaba and Karattika disguise themselves as male dancers and make a journey in search of Panyi, their husband. This paper aims to examine the characteristics and establish the date of composition of Bot Lakhon Rueang Dalang Chabap Muen Chamnian by comparing it with the Dalang of King Rama I. The study finds that Bot Lakhon Rueang Dalang Chabap Muen Chamnian has many characteristics that are different from the Dalang of King Rama I: some contents, proper names, words and phrases are different from those in King Rama I’s Dalang; the verses for shadow puppetry (Bot Phak) are inserted in the text; certain words and Naphat songs are used, like those in Bot Lakhon composed before the Rattanakosin period. These characteristics illuminate the differences in style of performance between Bot Lakhon Rueang Dalang Chabap Muen Chamnian and the Dalang of King Rama I. They also indicate that Bot Lakhon Rueang Dalang Chabap Muen Chamnian was composed before the Dalang of King Rama I. Bot Lakhon Rueang Dalang Chabap Muen Chamnian, therefore, should be recognized as the earliest version of the Dalang in Thai literature, contributing to deeper knowledge of the history of Dalang literature.