This Story is taken from 试析四则傣族洪水神话, An Analysis of Four Dai (Tai) Flood Myths by Yongxian Qu (2018)

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Long, long ago, a great flood came. The waters rose so high that even the mountains were swallowed up. In a certain family, when the floodwaters reached their very doorstep, a small boat drifted by. But the boat was tiny—it could only hold two people. So the father and mother made a painful decision: their son and daughter would take the boat and escape. The parents stayed behind.

The God looked down from the heavens and saw that the entire human world was submerged beneath the waves.

This was to be the second creation of humankind. The gods knew that creating people was no easy task. So they commanded the waves to recede.

The great flood raged for months, or perhaps an entire year. Every living thing perished—except for the brother and sister. They alone survived.

But there was a problem. They were siblings, born of the same parents, and siblings could not become husband and wife.

Years passed, one after another. The brother and sister grew older. They were now past the age of fifty. If they did not become husband and wife, they could have no children. And without children, humanity would vanish forever.

So, for the sake of humankind, they had to marry.

The first child they bore had to be a boy. The second had to be a girl. Because they were already old, they could only have these two children.

They were shy and ashamed. They covered their eyes. And in the end, they gave birth to two children. The elder was a boy. The younger was a girl.

Then the man took the boy, and the woman took the girl. They left their home and went to live in separate places. They did not allow the children to call them "Father" or "Mother." They did not want the children to know the family ties between them. The children were to grow up without knowing each other, so that when they came of age, they could become husband and wife.

The boy and the girl grew up separately. Neither knew that there was someone of the opposite sex in the world.

Again the years passed. The boy became a man. The girl became a woman. They grew old.

At that time, the man was living in the north. The woman was living in the south.

One day, the man went hunting in the mountains, following the river downstream. At the same time, the woman went out to gather food, following the river upstream. And so, they met.

Meeting each other, they realized for the first time that the opposite sex existed in the world. But by then, more than half of their lives had already passed.

Because they were already old when they became husband and wife, they could only bear two children—again, one boy and one girl.

This time, they let the children know their family relationships. But they taught them: siblings born of the same parents cannot become husband and wife. So once again, they separated.

The man took the boy to one place. The woman took the girl to another.

When the boy and the girl grew up, they met again—just as their parents had—while hunting and gathering. But this time, they were still young when they met. And because they were young, they could have many children.

First, they gave birth to two girls. Then they gave birth to two boys. But these four children could not become husband and wife either. "Brothers and sisters cannot marry each other"—that was the law passed down from their parents. But they also said if a couple has a twin son and daughter, they can be husband and wife and don't need to live separately from young age. That was the custom so the the four children had to separate once again and continue the chain of illegitimate marriages and never living together

But from the time of these four children onward, their parents declared: "If twins are born, a boy and a girl, they can become husband and wife."

And so, even to this day, the saying remains: Twins—a boy and a girl—can become husband and wife.

Admin Note: Although this folklore says that boy-girl twins can become husband and wife, and there is even a ritual in Thailand where twins are symbolically married, but in practice many Tai groups in China actually see twins as bringing badluck. And Tai people also have strict rules against incest. This folklore is only one of the many folklores explaining creation of the world.