This Hmong folktale is full of broken promises. Three times a widow breaks a promise that whoever removes a large rock from her field can marry one of her daughters. Each time the rock is returned. She finally relents and agrees that the mystery helper (a huge, shape-shifting snake), can marry her daughter “Pumpkin Seed”. Later, over three nights, she breaks a promise to Pumpkin Seed that she will kill the snake while it is sleeping. Forced to accompany the snake to its home, Pumpkin Seed proves just as untrustworthy as her mother before unexpectedly living “Happily Ever After”.
Our source for the story is the book Folk Stories of the Hmong Peoples of Laos, Thailand, and Vietnam by Norma Livo and Dia Cha. As we have commented before, folktales can usually be classified under three headings: those that carry a message about life, those that explain things, and those that are just plain fun. To me the message here is about obeying parents. Despite marrying the snake against her will and later wanting it killed, Pumpkin Seed dutifully follows the snake home and is richly rewarded.