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120  The Journal of the Royal Institute of Thailand Volume IV - 2012 Bot Doksoi Subhasit These poems were formerly selected for singing and reciting by primary school children because the language is simple and the contents can teach them good conduct. “Try to put an egg upright. However hard we try, the round egg will tumble. Though we can boil the fallen egg, What can we do if it falls on the ground? We had better put our effort To reading, writing and learning from books, Trying to acquire knowledge and putting it to practice. Don’t insist on wasting time putting an egg upright.” “Toot Too 5 , Dear Toot Too, How can you live in a hole? You are so lazy, what a shame! You invite me to chew betel nuts with you. I do not want to mix with your kind, Lazy bones who take advantage of their neighbours, And try to avoid even a small task. We should wake up early and work till evening, We shun idle people who are loathsome. (Prince Damrong, 1944: 29-30) A poem for King Rama V in R.S. 112 MC Poon Pisamai Diskul wrote the explanation why Prince Damrong composed the poem. When difficulty arose with the French in R.S. 112 (C.E. 1893), King Chulalongkorn was so depressed that he became seriously ill and stopped taking medicine. He wrote a farewell Chand (a type of poem) to some of his brothers. My father related to me, “As soon as I received the Chand, I wrote the reply immediately. I did not 5 A kind of mole. Prince Damrongrajanubhab and Thai Literature