Once upon a time, in the land of Cambodia, there lived a poor but honorable man named Meanop. One night, his wife dreamed of three diamonds. He asked a fortune-teller to interpret the dream and was told that his wife would soon give birth to three divine spirits. But until that time, she must not eat green mangoes.

During the next few months, the wife refrained from eating the fruit because Meanop kept a close eye on her. Unfortunately, one day he was away for work, and his wife couldn't resist the craving. She climbed a mango tree to eat the green mangoes. Unfortunately, she fell from the tree, which caused the premature birth of her two sons, also leading to her death.

One of the sons was an ox, who was named Preah Ko. The other son was a man named Preah Keo. Despite the premature birth, their father saved them both. However, the villagers didn't accept them because of the way their mother had died. Hence, they became outcasts.

One day, they decided to play with other children but the children only made fun of them and refused to share food with them. Meanop was away and the brothers were hungry. When Preah Ko saw his brother's hunger, he miraculously produced culinary dishes from his belly. Villagers witnessed this and decided to tie the ox to a kandol tree. They wanted to use him for their own selfish needs.

The two brothers decided to escape their village. Preah Ko, who had more divine powers, asked Preah Koe to grab him by his tail and they flew away into the sky. The tree he was tied to fell killing a few villagers in the process. Meanop, unaware of the fate of his sons, died of grief.

In another version of the legend, the two brothers escape to a forest. Years passed and they became accustomed to living in the forest. There was a pond in the forest where five princesses came to play. Preah Koe joined them and fell in love with the youngest princess, Neang Peou. He stole a kiss from her. The other sisters become jealous.

When the princesses returned to the palace, they relayed this event to their father, the king, who became furious. He ordered the execution of Neang Peou regardless of her mother, Botumea's protests. Later, the god Indra brought her back to life. The spirits led her back to the pond where she was reunited with Preah Koe.

For his brother and the new bride, Preah Ko brought an entire palace out of his stomach and celebrated the marriage between Neang Peou and Preah Koe.

But the story of the two brothers didn't end there. A neighboring Kingdom tried to invade the Kingdom of Cambodia. And their king challenged the Cambodian king to a cockfight between their roosters. But the Cambodian king's rooster was defeated. Then, Preah Ko transformed into a rooster to save their kingdom and won the fight.

The rival king then challenged him to an elephant fight. Preah Ko transformed into an elephant and defeated his rival. To acknowledge this victory, the king of Cambodia gave his kingdom to his daughter, Neang Peou, and her husband Preah Koe. The brothers' lowly birth was forgotten and the entire kingdom accepted them.

A different version of the legend relays how the neighboring Kingdom challenged Preah Ko to a third fight, which was a bullfight. The best craftsman crafted a metal bull. The bull was undefeatable and as Preah Ko fought it, he foresaw his defeat. Instead of continuing the fight, he asked his brother and Neang Peou to grab his tail. The three tried to escape, but Neang Peou fell and died. The god Indra turned her body to stone and brought her soul to paradise.

As for the two brothers, rather than becoming captives of their rival kingdom, they flew off to the land of Phnom Sruoch. After that, their life became a tableau of hide and seek. Finally captured, they were taken to the capital of their rival kingdom, where a special palace with seven walls was built to keep them captive. According to the legend, that's where they remain to this day.

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