{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_32375/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_32375","id":"gutenberg_32375","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/32375","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","Folklore -- Burma","Tales -- Burma"],"text":"Produced by Barbara Tozier, Bill Tozier, Meredith Bach,\nand the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at\nhttps://www.pgdp.net\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n SHAN FOLK LORE STORIES\n FROM THE\n HILL AND WATER COUNTRY\n\n BY\n WILLIAM C. GRIGGS, M. D.\n\n\n\n\n                           TO MY FRIEND\n                J. N. Cushing, D. D., F. R. A. S.\n _Principal of the American Baptist College, Rangoon, and Senior\n           Shan Missionary, the greatest authority upon\n            Shan literature, and the translator of the\n                  Bible into that language, this\n                   little book is dedicated by_\n                            THE AUTHOR\n\n\n\n\nINTRODUCTION\n\n\nThe following stories have been taken from the great mass of unwritten\nlore that is to the black-eyed, brown-skinned boys and girls of the Shan\nmountain country of Burma what \"Jack the Giant Killer\" and \"Cinderella\"\nare to our own children.\n\nThe old saw as to the songs and laws of a country may or may not be\ntrue. I feel confident, however, that stories such as these, being as\nthey are purely native, with as little admixture of Western ideas as it\nwas possible to give them in dressing them in their garment of English\nwords, will give a better insight into what the native of Burma really\nis, his modes of thought and ways of looking at and measuring things,\nthan a treatise thrice as long and representing infinitely more literary\nmerit than will be found in these little tales; and at the same time I\nhope they will be found to the average reader, at least, more\ninteresting.\n\nIt may, perhaps, be not out of place to say a little of the \"_hpeas_\"\nwho appear so frequently in these stories. The _hpea_ is the Burman\n_nat_, and is \"a being superior to men and inferior to Brahmas, and\nhaving its dwelling in one of the six celestial regions\" (Doctor\nCushing's \"Shan-English Dictionary\"). They are universally worshiped by\nthe inhabitants of Burma. If a man has fever, the best thing to do is\nto \"_ling hpea_,\" that is, to feed the spirits, and the sufferer\ntherefore offers rice, betel-nut, painted sticks, etc. Some kinds of\n_hpeas_ live in the sacred banyan trees, and frequently have I seen men,\nafter a long day's march in the jungle, sit shivering on the ground when\nwithin an arm's length lay good dry fire-wood. It had fallen, however,\nfrom a tree in which lived a _hpea_, and not a man would dare touch it.\nBig combs of honey may be in the nests of the wild bees, but it is safe\nfrom the hungry traveler if it is sheltered by such a tree. Some watch\nover wells, tanks, and lakes, and it is notorious throughout the\nSouthern Shan States, that a promising young American missionary, who\nwas drowned while shooting, met his death by being dragged to the bottom\nof the lake by the guardian spirit, who had become incensed at him for\nkilling a water-fowl on his domains.\n\nIn Shan folk-lore the hero does not \"marry and live happy ever after,\"\nbut he becomes the king of the country.\n\n AMERICAN BAPTIST SHAN MISSION HOUSE,\n         BHAMO, BURMA, 1902.\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS\n\n\n A LAUNG KHIT                                       9\n\n HOW BOH HAN ME GOT HIS TITLE                      19\n\n THE TWO CHINAMEN                                  32\n\n THE STORY OF THE PRINCESS NANG KAM UNG            45\n\n HOW THE HARE DECEIVED THE TIGER                   57\n\n THE STORY OF THE TORTOISE                         66\n\n THE SPARROW'S WONDERFUL BROOD                     78\n\n HOW THE WORLD WAS CREATED                         85\n\n HOW THE KING OF PAGAN CAUGHT THE THIEF            92\n\n\n\n\nLIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS\n\n\n \"_Each year at the Feast of Lights ... she prayed_\"                   10\n\n \"_The man standing at the top of the tree was the long-lost\n brother_\"                                                             37\n\n \"_Again the cunning hare deceived the tiger_\"                         63\n\n \"'_I am nothing but a tortoise swimming in the lake_'\"                68\n\n \"_On his way he saw what seemed to be a bed of flowers_\"              79\n\n\n\n\nFOLK LORE STORIES\n\n\n\n\n\"A LAUNG KHIT.\"[1]\n\n\nOnce upon a time there was a woman who lived in the State of Lai Hka.\nShe was a very pious woman and always gave the best rice and _puc_ to\nthe priests as they walked, rice _chattie_ in hand, through the city in\nthe early morning. Every year when the girls and boys went to the river\nand filled their chatties with water to throw over the pagodas and idols\nto insure a good rainy season and abundant crops, she always had the\nlargest bucket of the clearest water and threw it higher than anybody\nelse. She carried the sweetest flowers to the _zayat_ every evening, and\non worship days took rice in the prettiest of cups made of banana leaves\nand offered to the Gautamas in the idol-house.\n\nBut she was not happy. When her neighbors went to the pagodas they had\ntheir little ones tied upon their backs or running at their sides, but\nshe had no child whom she could take with her, none to whom she could\ntell stories of the great Lord Sa Kyah who rules over the spirits in the\n_hpea_ country, and so she was sad. She was getting old too, and often\nenvied the women who lived near who had bright boys to run errands and\ngirls to help in the house. Each year at the Feast of Lights, when she\nsent her little candle floating down the river, she prayed for a child,\nbut in vain.\n\nAt last she made a pilgrimage to a pagoda where folks said was a _parah_\nwho would give anything that was asked of him. Bright and early she set\nout, and on her head as an offering she carried an image of a tiger and\none of a man, and when she arrived at the pagoda she offered the images\nand prayed for a son.\n\nWhile she was praying at the pagoda, Lord Sa Kyah heard her, took pity\non her, and promised her a son. But, alas! when he was born, to his\nmother's great sorrow, instead of being the beautiful boy she hoped for\nhe was nothing but a frog.\n\nLord Sa Kyah in order to comfort her, however, told her that her son was\nreally a great _hpea_, and that after one year and seven months he would\nchange into the most handsome man in all the hill and water country.\n\nAll the women scoffed and made fun of the poor mother, and all through\nthe village she was called Myeh Khit, or \"Frog's Mother,\" but she bore\ntheir jeers in silence and never reviled in return.\n\nNow the king of the country had seven daughters. All were married except\none, and one day Myeh Khit went to him to ask for this daughter in\nmarriage for her son. The king was of course very angry that she should\nask that his only remaining daughter should marry a frog, but he spoke\ndeceitfully, called his daughter and asked her if she would be willing\nto accept a frog for a husband. Like a dutiful daughter she told him\nthat she would \"follow his words\" and do as he wished, as she had no\nwill apart from his.\n\n[Illustration: \"Each year at the Feast of Lights ... she prayed.\" Page 10.]\n\nThe king then called the woman and said: \"O woman, I will give my only\nremaining daughter to your son, but I make one stipulation. You must\nbuild a road, paved and properly built, from the market-place to my\npalace; the sides must be decorated with painted bamboos, and the work\nmust be done within seven days or you shall die. Now go, and prepare for\nthe work, and at the end of the seven days I will make ready the\nmarriage feast for my daughter or order the executioner to take off your\nhead.\"\n\nIn great distress Myeh Khit returned to her home and sat down on the\nfloor of her house and wept. All day long she bewailed her hopeless\ncondition. In vain her son asked her the cause of her sorrow. Afraid of\ngrieving him she would not tell him; but at last when six out of the\nseven days had passed, and knowing the fate that awaited her on the\nmorrow, she told him how she had gone to the king with her request, and\nthe time being almost expired, that she must make ready to die on the\nmorrow.\n\n\"The executioner's sword has already been sharpened, my son,\" she said,\n\"and to-day in bazaar they were talking of it, and promising to meet one\nanother at the palace to-morrow when the sun should be overhead.\"\n\nAs a last resource she made ready food and sweetmeats. She took paddy\nand placed it over the fire till the heat broke the husks and the pure\nwhite grains appeared. These she mixed with the whitest of sugar, and as\nshe was too poor to own plates, she went into the jungle to where the\nnew bamboo was bursting through its green prison, and taking the broad\ncoverings of the new leaves she fashioned them into dishes and offered\nthem with many prayers for help to Lord Sa Kyah.\n\n\"Our lord knoweth that my son can do nothing,\" she cried. \"He has not\neven hands to help, and what can our lord's slave do to avoid the great\ntrouble to which I have arrived?\"\n\nThat night in the lovely _hpea_ country the mighty Lord Sa Kyah reclined\non his golden throne of state. By and by the velvet mat became so hot\nthat he could sit upon it no longer, and looking down he saw, squatting\nbefore him on the floor, a frog.\n\n\"O our lord,\" said the frog, \"I come to remind our lord that he is his\nslave's father. My mother, our lord's slave, has arrived at great\nsorrow, and unless our lord pities us and takes compassion on our lord's\nslave, she will arrive at destruction to-morrow. Graciously do this act\nof kindness, O chief of all the _hpeas_.\"\n\nLord Sa Kyah took pity on his son and promised to help him. The four\nstrongest spirits in his kingdom were four _hpeas_. They were twins and\nthe name of the first two was Nan Ta Re and that of the second Hte Sa\nKyung. These powerful spirits he ordered to complete the road during the\nnight.\n\nThe next morning when the king arose he looked forth from his palace\nand a most wonderful sight met his gaze. He rubbed his eyes, for he\nbelieved they deceived him. He pinched himself to see whether he was\nreally awake or whether he was dreaming. For a wonderful thing had\nhappened during the night, so wonderful, in fact, that one cannot be\nsurprised that he thought it unreal.\n\nFrom the bazaar to the very gate of the palace was a broad, smooth road.\nOn each side were brick walls covered with the whitest of cement, and\ndecorated with the heads of lions, and two large griffins, built of\nbrick and covered also with cement, guarded the entrance. They were more\nthan twelve cubits high; their mouths were wide open and showed their\nterrible fangs, and their eyes looked upon the king with a stony glare.\nThe road was paved with blocks of stone cut as smooth and laid as true\nas the cells of a honeycomb. There was one road for men, one for oxen,\nand yet another for horses. _Zayats_ had been built here and there so\nthat travelers aweary could rest and be thankful, and over all was a\nwide canopy of white cloth that extended entirely from end to end and\nfrom side to side to protect the king from the sun when he should move\nalong the road to observe its wonders more closely.\n\nIn utter amazement he beat the gong that hung ready to his side with\nsuch vigor that _amats_, soldiers, attendants, and the people from the\ncity, came rushing out of their houses to the palace gates expecting at\nleast that the neighboring prince with whom they had long been at war\nhad taken the city by surprise; but they, like the king, stood\ntransfixed and speechless with wonder when they saw the road with its\ncarvings and _zayats_ and the canopy with the golden border spread above\nall.\n\nThe king called Myeh Khit. She came, and hidden in her turban was her\nson. The king had thought to punish this presumptuous woman by giving\nher an impossible task to do with a penalty that put her beyond the\npower of offending again, and was of course angry and disappointed that\nhis scheme had been unsuccessful; but the occurrence had become the\ncommon talk of the market-place, and so he was obliged to carry out his\npart of the bargain, although it had gone contrary to his expectation\nand desires. So, much against his will, he called his daughter and gave\nan order that for seven days there was to be a feast in honor of the\nmarriage of the princess.\n\nBut when the rejoicings of the people were finished, Khit was not given\npermission to live in his father's palace but was sent with his wife and\nmother to live in the old house where he had been born.\n\nSix days after the marriage there was a feast at the pagoda, and the six\ndaughters of the king went in state.\n\nThey rode upon royal elephants; dancers danced before them; the golden\numbrellas protected them from the sun; and everybody fell upon their\nknees and clasped their hands as the august personages went along. Their\nretinue filled the street when they stopped at the little house where\ntheir sister lived.\n\n\"O sister,\" they called, \"are you coming to the feast?\" but the poor\ngirl in great shame told them she could not come, and when they had\ngone, she sat on the floor with her face in her hands and gave way to\nher grief.\n\nWhile she was sobbing, her husband approached and told her not to be\nsorrowful. \"My father is the great Lord Sa Kyah,\" said he, \"and he will\ngive me anything I ask, so do not say, 'I am ashamed to go, as I have\nonly a frog for a husband.' You shall yet see your proud father and\nunkind sisters bowing before you and offering you presents as they offer\nto gods.\"\n\nSeeing how distressed the poor girl really was, the Lord Sa Kyah took\npity on them and descended to earth. He brought with him wonderful white\nclothes such as the _hpeas_ wear. They were brighter than the stars that\nshoot across the sky at night, or the lightning that flashes over the\nheavens during the hot season. He also gave them a magic stone, which if\nplaced under their tongues, would enable them to fly wherever they\nwished.\n\nThe next morning was the last day of the feast when the boat races would\nbe rowed, when the horses of the king and his chief _amats_ would race\nfor prizes, when the best jugglers would show their most wonderful\ntricks, and the best dancers would dance under the booths. In the midst\nof the fun and excitement a great shout rent the air: \"The mighty Lord\nSa Kyah is descending!\" and right in the middle of the feasting there\nwas a flash of brilliant light and two wonderful beings alighted. They\nwere clothed in dazzling white, and flew swifter than when a kingfisher\ndarts from a tree toward its prey in the water.\n\nEvery one came crowding around as near as they dared, and upon their\nknees offered presents of food to the wonderful beings.\n\nFirst and foremost came the princesses, who bowed till their foreheads\ntouched the dust; they lifted their clasped hands over their heads and\nturned away their faces while they offered the sweetest and most savory\nfood to the visitors. But it was noticed that although the spirits ate\nthe food offered by the _amats_ and common people, they would not eat\nthat given by the princesses, but wrapped it up and placed it on one\nside.\n\nThe next day the princesses came to their sister's house and derided\nher. \"O wife of an animal,\" they cried, \"you would not come to the\nfeast, and so you lost the chance of seeing the mighty Lord Sa Kyah\ndescend from the _hpea_ country,\" and then they told of the wonderful\nsight, and again made fun of their unfortunate sister.\n\nKhit's wife smiled at them and then she said: \"It is you who are\nunfortunate, not I. My husband is not the ugly animal you think him to\nbe, but is a great and powerful _hpea_. It was not the Lord Sa Kyah who\ndescended yesterday, but his son, my husband, and myself, and to prove\nmy words, whose are these?\" and she produced the very bundles of food\nthat her sisters had offered the day before to the supposed ruler of all\nspirits.\n\nThe sisters were surprised to see that she had the food there, but they\nlaughed her to scorn when she told them of her husband.\n\nIn order that his son should become mighty and famous, the Lord Sa Kyah\nsent one of his attendants to the king, and caused him to give an order\nto his children that they should have a boat race. The one who reached\nthe winning post first and carried away the flag on its rattan pole was\nto be king in his room, and the one who came in last was to be slave to\nthe fortunate one.\n\nThere were great preparations among the servants of the six princesses,\nand many wagers were made as to who would be successful, but none wished\nto wager as to who would come in last, as all knew it would be the\nyoungest sister.\n\n\"She has no boat,\" said they, \"and has no servants to make one, or money\nto buy one. Even if she had, what could she do? Her husband has no\nhands, how could he row against and defeat the swift boatmen who have\nbeen called by the princesses?\"\n\nThe king gave seven days in which his daughters were to prepare for the\nrace, and during that time the shouting of the various crews as they\npractised on the lake was heard from early morning till the sun dropped\nbehind the mountains, but only six boats were seen.\n\nThe race was to take place on a lake at the outskirts of the city, and\non the morning of the seventh day, when the six princesses took their\nstations they were surprised to see that there was a seventh boat there,\nbut they did not know that it was a magic boat sent by the Lord Sa Kyah\nfrom the _hpea_ country, and that the sixteen rowers were not men, but\n_hpeas_.\n\nThe course was over a thousand cubits to a post, around it, and return,\nand so fast did the magic boat glide through the water that it had\ncovered the entire distance and the captain had laid the flag at the\nking's feet before any of the other boats had reached the first pole\nthat showed half the distance.\n\nBut something even more wonderful than that had taken place. During the\nrace, the time set apart during which the son of Myeh Khit was to have\nthe form of a frog had expired, and, lo! he was now the most handsome\nman in all the hill and water country. He had a crown of gold upon his\nhead, and the magic white clothes such as only _hpeas_ wear were on his\nperson. His wife was clothed in as beautiful a manner, and the king, at\nlast seeing the mistake he had made in treating him so badly, knelt on\nthe shore and asked: \"Which lord is the son of his slave?\" by which he\nmeant, which of the lords was the one to whom he had given his daughter.\n\nBut the Lord Khit, as he was now called, did not take a mean revenge on\nhis unkind brothers and sisters, and when they came on their knees\nbegging for their lives, and asking the privilege of being his slaves,\nhe took compassion on them, and instead of ordering them to immediate\nexecution, made them his _amats_.\n\nThis is why the Shans who live in the hill and water country worship Sau\nMaha Khit.\n\n[1] \"'A Laung,' one who is progressing toward a divine state; an\nincipient deity.\"--_Cushing's \"Shan Dictionary,\" p. 586._\n\n\n\n\nHOW BOH HAN ME GOT HIS TITLE.\n\n\nBoh Han Me was one of the greatest generals who ever lived in the hill\nand water country. Just what his original name was nobody knows now, but\nthis story tells how he gained his title.\n\nOne day he went into the jungle with his wife and his two children to\ngather _nau_, which is a kind of _puc_ made from the young bamboo\nshoots. They were very successful in getting it, and were just on the\npoint of going home with their loads, when right before them appeared a\nlarge black bear. The bear opened wide his mouth and roared, showing his\nimmense white teeth and great throat, and came ambling toward them\ngrowling all the while in the fiercest kind of way.\n\nNow as soon as the man saw the bear he just threw away all the _nau_\nthat he had in his hands and ran for his life, calling on his wife to do\nthe same. The two children followed their father and left their mother\nto get out of her trouble as best she could. She, however, was as brave\nas her husband was cowardly, and instead of running away, she took a\nhandful of the longest of the shoots and thrust them down the open\nthroat of the bear and killed him. She then took the short sword that\nthey had brought from home to cut the shoots, and with it she skinned\nthe bear, cut him up, and made the skin into a sack in which to carry\nthe meat.\n\nMeanwhile her cowardly husband did not stop running till he reached the\ncity in which he lived, and then he told all his neighbors how he had\nbeen in the jungle and a great bear had attacked them; how he had fought\nbravely for a long while, but at last it had killed his wife and eaten\nher. The neighbors were very sorry for him, but advised him to get home\nand fasten all the doors and windows before the spirit of his wife would\nhave time to get in, for they said, seeing that she was killed when he\nwas with her, her ghost would without doubt try and gain admittance to\nthe house and haunt it. Once in, it would be very difficult to get her\nout.\n\nThe man, more frightened than ever, ran home as fast as he could and\ncalled his children to bring all the rice that was already cooked into\nthe house, and then they fastened up the two doors and the one window\nwith bamboos and rattan. There was to be a feast in the city that night,\nand the two children wanted to go and see the fun, but their father was\nin such a fright that he would not give them permission to go, or even\nto look out through the holes in the sides of the house where the bamboo\nmatting had come unfastened and bulged away from the posts.\n\nBy this time the sun had set and it was just getting dark, and the man,\ntired with the hunt in the jungle and the excitement after, was just\ngoing to sleep when he heard a voice that he recognized as his wife's\ncalling to be let in.\n\n\"Husband, _oie_!\" it called, \"open the door and let me in. I am very\ntired and hungry, and want rice and sleep. Get up quickly. Why have you\nfastened up the window and doors with bamboos and rattan? There are no\nbad men around; any one would think you were afraid thieves were coming\nto-night.\"\n\nThe man was frightened almost to death when he heard his wife's voice,\nfor he felt sure it was her ghost coming to haunt him, so he called out:\n\n\"Ghost of my wife, _oie_! I will not let you in. If I did I would never\nbe able to get you out again. You want to haunt this house. I will not\nlet you in. Go away, go away!\"\n\nIn vain the woman told him that she was indeed his wife, that she was\nnot a ghost at all, but had killed the bear and had his skin on her back\nwith the meat in it, and begged to be let in; the man would not believe\nher and so she had to wait outside. All night long she called and begged\nher husband to let her in, but in vain. When the sun had risen, however,\nhe felt a little braver, and so he put his head out through the thatch,\nand saw that it really was his wife and not her ghost. With great joy he\nran down, opened the door, and let her in, but when his wife told him\nhow she had killed the bear, he again became frightened.\n\n\"We have arrived at great trouble,\" said he. \"When the people hear that\nyou have killed a bear, they will most surely kill you. What shall we do\nto escape and be freed from the impending punishment?\"\n\nBut his wife was a clever woman, and when the neighbors came in to ask\nhow it was that she had not been killed, she told a wonderful story, how\nthrough the bravery of her husband she had been saved; that he had seen\nthe bear, and by his bravery, that was so great it was good to marvel\nat, it had been driven off. The neighbors were very pleased that so\nbrave a man lived in their quarter, and he became famous, people calling\nhim Gon Han Me, or \"the man who saw the bear.\"\n\nGon Han Me was very proud of his title, as many other vain people have\nbeen proud of titles they never earned, but it came near costing him his\nlife, and this was the way it led him into great danger. One day a large\ncobra fell into the well that was in the yard before the chief door of\nthe king's palace, and everybody was afraid to draw water because of it.\nWhen the _amats_ told the king that a cobra was in the well, he gave\norders that it was to be taken out, but nobody was brave enough to go\ndown the well and kill the snake. The chief _amat_ was in great\ndistress. He feared the king would deprive him of his office if the\nsnake were not killed immediately. He was not brave enough to descend\nhimself, and money, promises, and threats were of no avail to induce any\none else to go. Everybody declined to take the risk, and said: \"Of what\nuse is money, or horses, or buffaloes, to a man bitten by a cobra? Will\nthat free him from death? Nay, go yourself.\"\n\nThe poor _amat_ was at his wits' end, when at last one of the attendants\ntold the king that in the quarter of the city where his sister lived,\nwas a man so brave that he was called Gon Han Me, and said he: \"If a man\nis brave enough to see a bear in the jungle and not be afraid, surely\nhe will dare go down the well and kill the cobra.\"\n\nThe king was much pleased with the attendant for showing a way out of\nthe difficulty. \"He surely is the man we want,\" said he; \"go and call\nhim immediately to come and destroy the snake.\"\n\nThe attendant of the king came to Gon Han Me and said: \"Brother, _oie_!\nthe king has heard that you are a very brave man, so brave, in fact,\nthat your neighbors all talk of you and you have arrived at the rank of\nbeing called 'Gon Han Me.' Now in the royal well there is a snake, a\ncobra, which as you know is called the worst snake that lives. It is a\nvery wicked snake and everybody has arrived at great trouble because of\nit. Nobody dares draw water there, and the king has given orders that it\nis to be killed. However, no one at the palace is brave enough to\ndescend the well and kill the snake, but when his majesty heard of your\ngreat bravery, he sent me to order you to come immediately, descend the\nwell, and kill the cobra. He will give you great rewards, and besides\nwill make you a _boh_ (officer) in the royal army.\"\n\nWhen Gon Han Me heard this he was in great distress and called his wife.\n\"Wife, _oie_!\" he said; \"this unlucky name will certainly be the cause\nof my death. It will truly kill me. The king has called me to descend\nthe royal well and kill a wicked snake that is frightening everybody in\nthe palace. I am not brave enough to go. If I do not go, the king will\nhave me executed. I shall be killed whichever I do. If I go the snake\nwill kill me, if I do not go the king will kill me. I shall arrive at\ndestruction, and all because of this miserable name.\"\n\nThe wife pondered awhile and then advised her husband to get dressed in\nhis best clothes and go to the palace, look down the well to see what it\nwas like, then make some excuse to come back home and she would tell him\nwhat next to do.\n\nThe man was soon dressed in his best clothes, and was already going down\nthe steps of the house when his wife called out that he had left his\n_hsan_ behind him. Now when the Shans go into the jungle, or on a\njourney, they carry with them a rice-bag, or _hsan_. This is a long\nnarrow bag, more like a footless hose than anything else, and when\nfilled with rice it is worn around the waist, where it looks like a big\nsnake coiled around. Now Gon Han Me was very proud of his rice-bag, for\ninstead of being made of plain white cloth, as is the custom, it was\nembroidered all over with different colored wools, and was so long that\nit went around his waist several times.\n\nHe was so excited and terrified that when he reached the well he did not\nnotice that one end had been unfastened and was dragging on the ground,\nand as he went to the well to look over, it caught around his legs,\noverbalanced him, and he went head first into the well with a tremendous\nsplash. The next instant the snake lifting its head darted at him, and\nall that the men above, who were waiting with breathless interest to\ndiscover how the battle would end, could hear, was an infinite amount\nof splashing, yells, and hissing. Gon Han Me never knew how it was, but\nin the fall his _hsan_ became twisted around the neck of the snake, and\nin a few minutes it was choked to death.\n\nThe man for a while could hardly believe that the snake was really dead.\nIt seemed too good to be true, but he came to the conclusion that his\n_kam_[2] was good, and he would yet be a great and famous man. He\ntherefore assumed a heroic air, and at the top of his voice called to\nthe men at the mouth of the well:\n\n\"Brethren, _oie_! I have killed the snake and thus freed you from the\ngreat danger from which you were suffering. I will now throw up the end\nof this long rice-bag. Do you catch it and pull me and the dead snake up\nto dry ground.\" He thereupon threw up the end of the embroidered _hsan_,\nthe men caught it, and the next minute he appeared with the dead snake\nin his hand.\n\nThe king was very pleased with Gon Han Me for his brave act. He gave him\ngreat rewards as he had promised, and also gave order that in future he\nshould be known by the name of \"Boh Han Me,\" or \"the officer who saw the\nbear.\"\n\nSome time after this there was war between the king and the ruler of the\nnext province. There was a great council called and it was unanimously\nagreed that as Boh Han Me was the bravest man in the country, he should\nbe appointed as commander-in-chief.\n\nWhen the message came to his house, however, it caused him great\ndistress, for as he told his wife, he did not want to be killed in the\nleast; he did not wish to run the risk of being killed or even hurt.\nBesides he had never been on horseback in his life. He had a buffalo\nthat ploughed his fields, and it is true that occasionally, tired with\nthe day's work, he had ridden home on its back when the sun sank into\nthe west, but he was sure that if he got on the back of a horse it would\nimmediately divine that he was ignorant of the art of riding, did not\n_mau_ as he said, and he would be thrown to the ground and hurt, killed\nmaybe. Who could tell?\n\nAgain his clever wife came to the rescue. \"You must go to the fight\nwhether you want to or not,\" said she. \"The king has given orders and he\nmust be obeyed. To disobey the king is more dangerous than seeing a bear\nor even fighting a snake, so go you must. As to riding, that is easily\nmanaged. Bring your pony here and I will show you how to ride without\ndanger.\"\n\nOn the never-to-be-forgotten day when the whole family went into the\njungle to gather _nau_, they were very poor, but since the fight with\nthe snake in the well, they had become rich, and so now the _boh_ had\nservants to do his bidding, and he therefore called one of them to\nsaddle his pony and bring it to the door of his house. This was soon\ndone. He took his seat, and then his wife took long pieces of rawhide\nand fastened his legs, from ankle to knee, on both sides to the stirrups\nand girths. She knotted them securely so that there would be no chance\nof his falling off his steed. He was very pleased that he had such a\nclever wife, who could help him out of every trouble into which he might\nfall, and rode away well pleased with himself, and soon reached the\nplace where the soldiers were assembled awaiting his appearance before\nbeginning the march.\n\nTo have seen him nobody would have thought that he was frightened sick.\nHe sat up bravely, and you would have thought that he was the best\nhorseman in all the hill and water country, but all the time he was\nturning over in his mind the advice given by his wife when they talked\nit over the night before. This was what she said to him: \"Now, when you\nget to the soldiers, see them start off. Give all the orders in a very\nloud, pompous tone. Talk high, and they will think you _mau_ very much\n(are very clever). Then you can easily find some excuse to get to the\nrear, and you must stay there till the fighting is all finished.\"\n\nThere was one party to this arrangement, however, that they had both\nfailed to take into account when making their plans, and that was the\npony. They neither remembered that there was a possibility of the pony\ntaking it into his head to carry his master where the latter did not\nwant to go, but that was just what happened, for, when the pony saw all\nthe other horses and the men marching off, he too commenced to move\nforward. He was a fine big pony and was accustomed to head processions,\nnot to come at the tail end, and so he started off of his own accord.\nNow we have said that his rider had never been on horseback before, but\nhad often ridden his buffalo from the paddy field when the day's work\nof ploughing was over. When a man on a buffalo wishes to stop, he jerks\nthe rope that is fastened to the animal's nose, and obedient to the\nsignal, it stops. So, when the _boh_ found his steed forging ahead a\nlittle faster than suited him, he jerked the reins, expecting the pony\nto stop, but to his consternation, he found it go all the faster. He\njerked harder, the pony broke into a quick trot. He jerked again, the\npony began to gallop. He was now thoroughly frightened and called out at\nthe top of his voice, but this only frightened the pony more and it\nbegan to gallop just as fast as ever it could, and worse than all, it\nheaded straight for the enemies' soldiers, whom he could see in the\ndistance getting ready to receive him. He cursed his wife with all his\nheart. If he could only fall off! She had taken too good precautions\nagainst that. He pulled and tugged, but the rawhide was strong; the\nknots were too tight; and every minute brought him nearer to his\nenemies. He could hear the shouts of his friends in the distance getting\nfainter and fainter as the distance increased, calling him to come back.\nHow he wished he could! He swayed from side to side, first on one flank\nthen on the other. The pony now had its head down between its knees, the\nbit between its teeth, and was tearing along like the wind. It would be\nhard to say which was the more frightened, the horse or its rider; each\nfrightened the other. But there was a lower depth yet to be reached. In\njumping over a hole the saddle slipped to the side, the next instant\naway it went, turned, and saddle, rider, and all slipped clear around,\nand Boh Han Me found himself still securely lashed to the saddle,\nsquarely under his horse instead of on it.\n\nMeanwhile in the camp of the enemy a council of war was being held. \"Can\nany one tell me,\" asked the king, \"who commands our foes?\"\n\n\"Our lord,\" said one of the _amats_, \"it is a man who has been picked\nout of the whole army, and is the bravest man who ever drew a sword. He\nis called Boh Han Me because he conquered a great fierce bear in the\njungle. He also went down a well in the royal palace and killed the\nlargest and fiercest snake ever seen in all the hill and water country.\"\n\nThe king was much disquieted when he heard of the prowess of this man,\nand was pondering whether it would not be better to fight with silver\nthan steel, and offer a great reward to any man in the enemies' camp who\nwould bring to him the head of this doughty soldier, when he heard a\ngreat shout. He sprang to the tent door and looked anxiously out. All\neyes were bent in one direction and a look of intense wonder, not\nunmixed with fear, sat on each face. The king naturally expected to see\nthe whole army of the enemy approaching in overwhelming numbers, but he\nshared the wonder of his soldiers when he saw, not an army, but one\nsingle man dashing toward him. The next instant the rider disappeared\nentirely, but the horse came on faster than before. Next instant there\nwas the rider again, arms tossing in the air, hair streaming behind,\nonly to disappear the following moment in the same mysterious way.\n\nThe face of the king blanched with terror as he asked in a whisper, \"Who\nis this man?\"\n\nA hundred voices cried: \"It is Boh Han Me, the bravest man alive! He has\nsome charm that makes him invisible whenever he wishes, and he cannot be\nhurt by sword or arrow.\"\n\nNothing spreads so quickly as a panic, and almost before the king was\naware of it, he was carried away in the fierce rush to escape. His men\nwere blind with fear; they threw away their arms; men and officers fled\nfor their lives, their only thought to flee from that horse and its\nterrible rider who disappeared and reappeared in such an awful fashion,\nand in a few minutes the field was deserted and the whole army in full\nretreat.\n\nThe horse by this time was exhausted. It stumbled, but regained its feet\nonly to fall again immediately. It made another effort to struggle to\nits feet, but this time unsuccessfully, and then lay still on its side,\nits flanks heaving and its breath coming and going in quick sobs. Very\ncautiously Boh Han Me drew a knife and slowly cut one knot. The horse\ndid not stir. Another followed, and soon one leg was freed. This made\nthe task easier, and soon both legs were cut from their bonds and he\nsprang to his feet, bruised and sore, it is true, but no bones broken,\nand only too glad to be on solid earth again, and he vowed he would\nnever from that day forth ever get on anything that moved faster than a\nbuffalo.\n\nWhat the king said when he reached the place where the foes had encamped\nmay be imagined. He declared that a man as brave as his general had\nnever lived in any age or country. For one man to charge a whole army,\nand, what was more, drive it off too, was a thing good to marvel at, and\nBoh Han Me did the wisest thing he ever did in his life, he just held\nhis peace. When they had gathered together the spoil they returned home\nwith the hero by the side of the king. The latter gave him a grand\npalace with gold, silver, oxen, buffaloes, elephants, and slaves in\nabundance, and also the rank of Boh Hoh Soek, which is the highest rank\nof general in the army, and means, \"head of all the troops.\" The happy\nman lived many, many years, but he kept his promise, and whenever he\nwished to travel he rode upon an elephant and never again as long as he\nlived got upon the back of a horse.\n\n[2] _Kam_, luck, or fate.\n\n\n\n\nTHE TWO CHINAMEN.\n\n\nAges ago, when this world was new, having been created but a short\nwhile, two Chinese boys left their native country and started out on\ntheir travels to discover things new and strange. After wandering for\nmany days they came to the hill and water country where the Shans live.\nHere they found a monastery, where lived very wise and learned priests,\nwho instructed them in many ways.\n\nThey lived here some time and won the esteem of the head priest to such\nan extent that he showed them a magic sword and bow that had lain in the\nmonastery many years waiting for somebody to carry away. The law was\nthat the man who could bend the bow or could draw the sword from its\nsheath should keep it.\n\nThe elder brother went to the sword and tried to draw it. He pulled, he\ntugged, he strained, till the sweat ran down his face, but in vain. He\ncould not draw it out one inch.\n\nSeeing the ill success of his elder brother, the younger thought it\nimpossible for him to draw the magic sword, but at his brother's command\nhe took the handle in his hand and pulled with all his might. To\neverybody's surprise out came the magic sword, and the Chinaman walked\naway in triumph.\n\nThe elder brother now made up his mind that if he could not get the\nsword he would try for the bow, and he might have more success with\nthat, so he exerted all his strength, and slowly, slowly bent it, till\nthe cord was taut and the bow all ready to shoot.\n\nThe people of the city were amazed that the two brothers should have\nsuch strength and good luck, and many envious eyes followed them as they\nagain set out on their journey, carrying their trophies with them.\n\nThey traveled on and on till they gave up counting the distance, it was\nso great, till one day, as they were resting on the banks of a large\nriver in a far country, they saw a great fish swimming in the water. It\nwas so great that nobody heretofore had been able to catch it, and it\nwas in fact the king of all the fishes. It broke all the nets and\nsmashed all the traps. It snapped all the lines that were set for it,\nand nobody was strong enough to pull it ashore when it did take the\nhook. The Chinamen saw it, and the elder brother instantly strung his\nbow, put on a bolt, and shot the great fish as it was swimming in the\nshallow water. In a few minutes he had it on his shoulder, and they\ncommenced to cross the bridge to the other side of the river.\n\nNow the river was very wide, the current was very swift, and the bridge\nwas not at all strong. It was only made of bamboos and rattan and swung\nfrom side to side as the men crossed it. When they got to the middle it\nbegan to creak and strain till the two travelers were in great fear it\nwould break. The one who had killed it turned to his brother and said:\n\n\"O brother, the fish is so heavy I am afraid the bridge will break.\nPlease draw your magic sword and cut it in halves, and then we will be\nable to get to the other side in safety.\"\n\nThe younger brother therefore drew his sword and cut the fish in halves;\nbut he did not yet know how sharp the sword was, for he cut the fish in\nhalves, it is true, but not only that, but the whole bridge as well, so\nthat his brother fell into the water and was immediately swept from his\nsight. On his part he could not of course cross, now the bridge was\ndown, so he returned to the same side of the river and ran along the\nbank looking to see whether his brother would be swept ashore in some\nshallow place; but although he ran till he was exhausted and then\ntraveled for many days by the side of the river through the jungle, he\ncould discover no trace of his lost brother.\n\nSwiftly down the stream his brother was carried. He tried to swim first\nto one bank and then to the other as the current swept him along, but in\nvain. At last he gave up trying. Nobody knows just how long he was in\nthe water, but for many days he floated, and when he was on the point of\ndying from exhaustion, cold, and hunger, his feet touched bottom, and,\nmore dead than alive, he crawled up the bank to dry land.\n\nHe found that he had landed near a garden, and, on climbing over the\nwall, he discovered that it belonged to the king. He was too tired to\nclimb back again, however, so sank on the ground and the next instant\nfell asleep from sheer weariness.\n\nNow it happened that the king of that country had just died, and his\n_amats_ had taken out the royal chariot and were drawing it around the\ncity looking for the proper person to become king. As they went along\nthey saw this young man sleeping in the royal garden with his magic bow\nbeside him. He had come from nobody knew where. He was so strong that\nthe river even could not kill him. Above all, he had a wonderful magic\nbow which none of the _amats_ or nobles could bend, so they came to the\nconclusion that he indeed was the man who should be king of the country,\nand he was crowned with great pomp and magnificence.\n\nThe other brother had been left standing on the bridge when the elder\nfell into the water, as we have said, and for many days he followed the\nriver bank till he too arrived in a far country. It was a very strange\ncountry. There were no men there, only monkeys, but they were the very\ncleverest monkeys that ever lived, and were ruled over by a _nang me\nprah_, that is, a queen, just as men are ruled. This queen of the\nmonkeys fell in love with the Chinaman and married him, so that he\nbecame king of Monkey Land. They built a palace for him on the top of\nthe highest tree in the jungle. Every seventh day they brought him food.\nSome brought plantains, some mangoes, some rice, and some fish fresh\ncaught in the river.\n\nThe elder brother had now been king of the country where he had landed\nfor some years, and one day he remembered his younger brother, whom he\nhad left standing on the broken bridge with the sword in his hand. He\ntherefore called his _amats_ and told them he was going on a long\njourney, and that they must rule well and justly till he returned. He\nthen called his favorite servants and set out to discover his brother.\nThey had a great store of provisions carried by coolies. He had his\nroyal elephants, on which he could ride when traveling over the steep\nmountain roads and to carry his chief queens, and ponies for riding over\nthe plains.\n\nOne night, however, he became separated from his followers and lost his\nway. He shouted and called, but shouted and called in vain. He could not\nfind a trace of them. Servants, horses, elephants, and goods were all\ngone, and he was in great fear that he would die in the jungle. When\nmorning broke he was much surprised to see that he had arrived at a\ncity, but that the houses were all built on the tops of the trees, and\non looking closer, he discovered that instead of people living in these\nhouses the inhabitants were all large monkeys. Not a man was to be seen,\nand the monkeys were very fierce and screamed at him in anger from the\ntop of every tree. One especially he noticed as being more fierce than\nany of the others, and he accordingly leveled his magic bow and shot it\ndead. As it fell from the tree to the ground he heard all the friends of\nthe dead monkey come rushing out of their houses on the tops of the\ntrees calling to one another that a man had killed one of their\nbrethren, and asking that their friends would come to kill the man who\nhad been guilty of the deed.\n\n[Illustration: \"The man standing at the top of the tree was the long-lost\nbrother.\" Page 37.]\n\nAfter a little time the king came to a tree that was taller than any\nother in the jungle, and upon it was a palace. Stairs led from the door\nof the palace to the ground, and as he looked more closely he saw a man\nup there. In great joy he called out to him, asking to be directed. \"I\nam the king of a far country,\" he said, \"and I am on a journey to search\nfor my brother, whom I have not seen for many, many years. Last night I\nlost my way. Will you take pity on me and show me the way and I will\ngive you a great reward?\"\n\n\"Who was your brother?\" asked the man in the tree.\n\n\"He was a Chinese student,\" returned the king, \"and he had a wonderful\nmagic sword. One day as we were traveling he cut a great fish in two,\nbut such was the virtue residing in the magic sword that he not only cut\nthe fish in halves but the bridge as well, so I left him standing on the\nend of the bridge.\"\n\nYou may imagine how pleased the king was when he discovered that the man\nstanding at the top of the tree was the long-lost brother for whom he\nwas searching, and he made ready to ascend to his house in the treetop.\n\nAt that moment a little monkey ran down the tree toward him, and he\nkicked it aside, saying, \"Out of my way, little monkey.\"\n\nThe small monkey in great anger said: \"I am not a monkey, but your\nnephew.\"\n\n\"My nephew!\" exclaimed the king in great astonishment. \"What do you mean\nby that?\"\n\nHis brother, the monkey king, then explained to him that he had married\nthe queen of all the monkeys and that this was their child, that he\nruled over all the monkeys, who had built this palace for him and every\nseventh day brought him tribute of food.\n\n\"I am sorry to say, then,\" said the elder brother, \"that I have killed\none of your subjects,\" and at the same moment the wife and son of the\ndead monkey approached their king.\n\n\"Our lord,\" said they, \"the man yonder has been guilty of a great crime.\nHe entered the domains of our lord and although we did nothing to him,\nyet he raised his bow and killed one of the servants of our lord.\nTherefore our lord's servants demand that he shall be killed too.\"\n\n\"I am very sorry,\" said the king of the monkeys, \"that you have killed\nthat special monkey. He was very clever and brave. He was also one of my\nchief _amats_, and his friends will assuredly kill you.\"\n\nThe monkeys were now assembling by hundreds and calling to each other\neverywhere. Every treetop appeared alive with angry figures all calling\nfor vengeance on the man who had killed their friend.\n\nThe king, however, who had taken sides with his brother, was not afraid,\nand said he could kill all the monkeys in the country; and he drew his\nsword and cut in halves the monkey nearest to him. To his great\nsurprise, however, the two halves of the monkey he had killed each\nbecame a whole monkey and attacked him again, so that he now had two to\nfight instead of one. If he cut off the hand or leg of a monkey with\nhis long sword, it immediately turned into two, and he soon saw that\nunless he devised some other way of fighting them they would soon kill\nthem both.\n\nHe therefore rushed off to the jungle and got a great hollow bamboo. He\nthen went to a bees' nest and swept all the bees into it, and caught a\ngreat many scorpions and centipedes, snakes and spiders. When the\nmonkeys came toward him to renew the fight, he opened one end of the\nbamboo and the insects and reptiles, swarming out, very angry at being\nkept prisoners in the hollow bamboo, soon drove the monkeys off so that\nthe two brothers were able to escape. Shortly afterward they found the\nescort of the king and together returned to the city where the good\nelder brother made the younger his chief _amat_.\n\nNow when the younger brother became _amat_, he of course saw what a\ngreat king his brother was. He saw his subjects kneel before him; he saw\nthe royal elephants, oxen, horses, and buffaloes; he saw the riches in\nmoney, jewels, and goods that belonged to him; that his queens were the\nmost beautiful women in the land; and he became jealous. Then he coveted\nall these things. The next step was easy; he determined to kill his\nbrother and become king in his stead. Then he began to ponder and plot\nhow best he could destroy the brother who had been so good to him. He\ndid not remember how that same brother had left all these things to come\nand hunt for him; how he had given him riches and honor and position,\nso that now he was chief minister and next to him in power. No, he did\nnot think of any of these things, but like the ungrateful man that he\nwas, thought only that his brother had more than he.\n\nHe soon came to the conclusion that he could not kill his brother in the\ncity, for everybody loved the king, and he feared that his crime would\nbe discovered, so he was obliged to wait until they should be alone in\nthe jungle together. The opportunity soon came. One day the king was out\nhunting and had gotten separated from all his followers. His brother the\n_amat_ was a short distance ahead when he saw, just in front of him, a\nvery deep hole, so deep in fact that it was impossible to see the\nbottom. In great excitement he turned and beckoned to the king as fast\nas he could, calling out in a loud voice that he had something very\nwonderful to show him.\n\nThe king thought that at least he had discovered a mountain of rubies\nand came running up. He knelt by the side of the hole but could see\nnothing.\n\n\"There is nothing down there,\" said he.\n\n\"Let our lord lean a little farther over,\" said the cunning _amat_. \"He\nwill then see the most wonderful thing in the world.\"\n\nThe king bent farther over and his wicked brother gave him a push that\nsent him headlong to the bottom.\n\nHe had now succeeded in all his plans; he had reached the height of his\nambitions, but although he became king he was not happy. He had trouble\nall the time. It is true he had his brother's riches, that he rode the\nroyal elephants, wore the royal robes, and lived in the royal palace,\nbut he had trouble with his _amats_, with his soldiers, and his people,\nand therefore instead of being happy as he expected he would be, he was\nunhappy and miserable.\n\nIf he had only known what was happening in the jungle he would have been\nmore anxious still. His brother was not dead as he thought. The fall to\nthe bottom of the hole did not kill him and he was only a prisoner. His\nfollowers had all gone back to the city with his wicked brother. He\ncalled, but called in vain. He heard nothing but the echo of his own\ncries, and he was about to give up in despair, when it happened that the\nmighty Lord Sa Kyah coming through the jungle heard his cries and\ninquired the cause. The king did not know that this was the Lord Sa\nKyah, but told him all that had happened. Lord Sa Kyah was very angry\nwith the king's heartless brother and created at the bottom of the hole\na lily of the kind that has a very long stalk. The king sat upon the\nblossom of the lily which then began to grow very rapidly, and as it\ngrew carried the king up toward the mouth of the hole.\n\nAs he gradually rose toward daylight he saw that a tree was growing at\nthe very edge of the pit, and that some of the branches hung over. He\nsaw also that a monkey was busily engaged in feeding on the leaves and\nfruit. The lily, of course, made no noise as it pursued its upward path;\nthe king also kept quiet so as not to frighten the monkey, and when he\nwas near enough suddenly put forth his hand and caught it by the tail.\nThe monkey screamed and kicked, fought and scratched, but in vain; the\nking held on, and at last the monkey climbed down the tree taking the\nking with him, and the latter was speedily standing once more on solid\nground and able to offer up his thanks to the mighty Lord Sa Kyah.\n\nThe king was not long in reaching the city and when he arrived, to his\ngreat sorrow he saw, as he expected, his ungrateful brother reigning,\nwhile the people all sorrowed for their old king. He determined to wait\nawhile before he declared himself, feeling that the Lord Sa Kyah who had\nalready once helped him when in trouble and danger would aid him in\nregaining his lost kingdom; so he went into the poorest part of the\ncity, put on the poorest and most ragged clothes that he could find, and\nsat near the gate of the city begging, from whence he often saw his\nbrother riding by in state.\n\nOne day the heralds came riding by and stood in the open space fronting\nthe market where the gambling booths are, and gave notice that the king\nhad commanded that if anybody could bend the magic bow belonging to the\nlate king, his brother, he was to be made the chief _amat_ of the\nkingdom and receive many and great presents besides.\n\nAs may be imagined, the next day there was a great crowd gathered\ntogether at the great gate of the palace, waiting for the king. At last\nout he came with all his ministers and followed by attendants bearing\ngolden umbrellas. Behind him came a soldier carrying over his shoulder\nthe magic bow which was placed at the king's feet. The king called upon\nhis soldiers to come and bend the bow, and the strongest of them came\nforward, but although they pulled and tugged, tugged and strained, they\ncould not bend it. Then the people of the city, or \"the king's people,\"\nas they loved to call themselves in contradistinction to the people who\nlived in the jungle villages, tried, but met with no better success than\nthe soldiers. They could not bend the bow. The king then ordered the\n_amat loeng_ to call the men from the jungle. The very strongest coolies,\nthose who carried heavy burdens over the mountains, came in answer to\nthe king's summons, but although some of them could carry fifty _soie_\nover the highest mountain they could not draw the cord a hand's-breadth.\n\nThe king, much disappointed, was about to return to the palace when a\nbeggar man approached and bowing at his feet said he was able to draw\nthe bow and fire an arrow from it. The king was angry at what he thought\nwas the presumption of this beggar. The soldiers derided him, saying\nthat the bravest of them could not draw the bow and how was a beggar to\ndo it? The coolies also asked him whether he could carry fifty _soie_\nover Loi Mawk Pah that was called the Cloud Mountain, because its head\nwas often in the clouds. But the beggar asked to be allowed to try and\nthe king gave orders that he should be given the bow, at the same saying\nthat he assuredly should be made _amat loeng_ if he was successful, but\nif he could not bend the bow, he should be put to death immediately.\n\nThe beggar assented to these terms and seized the bow. He took hold of\nthe string and without any show of strength pulled it a hand's-breadth,\nand then as the king and his courtiers looked on in amazement he pulled\nit to its full length, placed the string on the ivory trigger, put an\narrow on it, and asked the king where he should shoot.\n\n\"Straight up into the air,\" said the king. The beggar raised the bow,\ntwang went the string, and the arrow whizzed out of sight. Everybody\nstood looking up into the sky when suddenly one of the courtiers gave a\nwarning cry. It came too late. The arrow had gone straight up, turned,\nand fell almost on the same spot from whence it was shot. Almost, but\nnot quite, for in its fall it struck the upturned face of the king and\nhe fell dead.\n\nA great cry was raised as the king fell and the guards rushed forward to\nseize the beggar and lead him to immediate execution, but he waved them\noff with a gesture of his hand. The next instant his rags fell from him\nand he stood before them in the royal robes of a king.\n\nThus we see that the younger brother, although indeed he had not\nmurdered his brother the king, yet did kill him in his thoughts and\nintentions, and he suffered the punishment that is always meted out to\nthe man who kills his fellow.\n\n\n\n\nSTORY OF THE PRINCESS NANG KAM UNG\n\n\nThere was once a king who reigned over one of the largest States in the\nhill and water country. For a long time there had been war between him\nand the _sau hpa_ of the neighboring State, but at last his soldiers had\nbeen successful, and his enemy had been driven out of his possessions,\nwhich had thereupon been added to his own. A great feast had been given\nwhen his soldiers returned to their homes, and he was now sitting with\nhis queens and his seven daughters in the palace watching a performance\ngiven in honor of the victory. He praised the actors for their skill,\nand then asked his daughters whether they had enjoyed the performance.\nThey one and all assured him that they had enjoyed it much, and then\nturning to them he continued:\n\n\"That is right, my daughters, enjoy yourselves to-day and to-morrow and\nall through your lives. You are the daughters of a mighty king, and it\nis your lot to be happy and enjoy yourselves all your lives, therefore\nagain I say enjoy yourselves and be happy.\"\n\nThe eldest of the daughters, who was a perfect courtier said: \"O our\nlord, our luck is fortunate, because it depends on that of the lord our\nfather, and who is so fortunate as he?\"\n\nThe king was very pleased with the flattery of his daughter, and\npromised to grant any request she would make of him.\n\nThe youngest daughter, however, was young and foolish, and had not yet\nlearned the truth that in a king's presence it is not well always to say\nwhat one thinks, and therefore she said to her sister: \"Your luck may\ndepend on the luck of the lord our father, but mine is my own and\ndepends upon myself alone.\"\n\nWhen the king heard this he was very angry that one of his daughters,\nand she the youngest too, should have the presumption to say that she\ndepended for anything at all on any other than he, and he determined to\npunish her.\n\nFor a long time he pondered on the best way to do this and at last\ndevised a plan which, if severe, was at least novel.\n\nHe called his _amats_ to go throughout the whole land and search for the\npoorest man in all his kingdom, and when they had found him they were to\nbring him to the palace and he would marry his youngest daughter to him,\nand then, said he, \"We will see about luck after that.\"\n\nDay after day the heralds searched the land but they could not find a\nman poor enough to suit the king. All who were brought before him\nacknowledged that they had something valuable, either a little money, a\nprecious stone, or a distant relative who was rich and from whom they\ncould borrow a little if necessary. A man of this description would not\nsuit the angry king. He wanted one poorer than that.\n\nAt last the _amat loeng_, or chief minister, brought a man before him and\nsaid that he was the poorest in all the land. His name was Ai Du Ka Ta.\nHe was a woodseller in the bazaar, who every day went into the jungle\nand picked up the dead branches of the trees that had fallen to the\nground, and brought them to the market every fifth day to sell. So poor\nwas he that he did not even own the sword that is the almost inseparable\ncompanion of the Shan and is used, among other things, to cut down the\nsmall trees that are left to dry for firewood, so he had to be content\nto pick up the small branches that he found under the trees, and got a\nproportionately small price when he carried his load into the bazaar.\n\nWhen he appeared before the king, his trousers were all fringed at the\nbottom where they had been torn by the thorns in the jungle. His turban\nmonths before had been white, but now it was a deep gray; it was only\nhalf its original length and was full of holes. Jacket he had none, and\nwhen the king asked him how many blankets he had upon his bed at home to\nkeep him warm at night when the cold wind brought the rain up the\nvalley, he answered sorrowfully, \"Not one, our lord.\" He had no relative\nexcept an old mother whom he was obliged to support, and who was known\nthroughout the district in which she lived as the woman with the\nbitterest tongue in all the land, and when too sick to move from her\nmat, she would yet fill the air with poisoned words.\n\nThe king was very pleased with his _amat loeng_ for finding Ai Du Ka Ta,\nand gave him a very fine horse as a reward. Then he called his daughter,\ntook away all her fine clothes and married her to this poorest man in\nhis realm and drove her out of the palace amid the jeers and taunts of\nthe very people who, before her disgrace, had waited upon her every word\nand had done her bidding while they trembled before her. The king also\ntook away her old name and commanded that in future she was to be known\nas Nang Kam Ung, which means, \"The woman whose luck depends upon\nherself.\"\n\nThe house, or rather hut, to which Ai Du Ka Ta took his bride was in the\njungle. It was only four bamboo poles stuck in the ground and covered\nwith dried grass and bushes. Not even a sleeping mat was on the\nground--there was no floor--and the chattie in which he cooked his rice\nhad a hole in it, and had to be set upon three stones sideways over the\nfire with the hole uppermost, to prevent the water leaking and putting\nout the fire.\n\nFortunately the girl's mother had helped her to smuggle out her\n\"birth-stone,\" which was a large, valuable ruby, and so she took it off\nher finger and gave it to her husband, telling him to go and sell it and\nbuy clothes and food for both of them.\n\nAi looked at the stone and said, \"Who will give me food and clothes for\na little red stone like that? We have no fools or mad men living near\nhere who would do such a foolish thing as that,\" for you must remember\nhe had lived in the jungle all his life, and had never heard of precious\nstones, much less seen one till now.\n\nHis friends were just as ignorant of its value as he was. He went from\nhouse to house in the little village near, but all laughed at him till\nhe became disgusted, threw the stone away in the jungle and came home in\na very ill humor with his wife for leading him such a wild-goose chase,\nand making him appear foolish in the eyes of the few people he knew.\n\nHis wife was in great distress when she found that he had thrown the\nruby away, and told her husband that if he had gone to the city and\ntaken it to the jewelers, instead of to the ignorant people in the\njungle, they would have given him in return enough money to keep them in\nfood and clothing all the hot season and build a new house into the\nbargain.\n\nAi looked at her and said: \"Indeed, that is a thing good to marvel at.\nWhy, I know where there are coolie-basket loads of such red stones in\nthe dry bed of a river near where I gather sticks for fire-wood in the\njungle, waiting for anybody to carry away, and I never thought them\nworth the labor of taking to the bazaar.\"\n\nThe princess was full of joy when she heard this, and the next morning\nthey borrowed two coolie baskets from a man in the village. Bright and\nearly they went to the river bed, and there, even as Ai had said, were\nbasket loads of fine rubies. They gathered them up carefully and buried\nmost of them, covering over the hole with a flat stone, so that no one\nwould discover their hoard, and then the princess, picking out a double\nhandful of the largest and clearest ones, sent them to her father.\n\nThe king, when he saw the jewels, instead of being pleased, fell into a\ngreat passion, called the unfortunate _amat loeng_ into his presence, and\nafter rating him soundly, deprived him of all his goods, houses, and\nlands, deposed him from office, and drove him from his presence as poor\nas Ai himself had been.\n\n\"I ordered you to call a poor man,\" roared the king to the trembling man\nbefore him. \"I said he was to have no goods or property at all, and here\nthe very next day he sends me a double handful of the very best rubies I\never saw in my life.\"\n\nIn vain the culprit assured the king that the day before Ai was\ncertainly the poorest man in the whole kingdom, and complained that the\njewels must have been the work of some _hpea_, whom he had unwittingly\noffended, and who had therefore determined on his ruin in revenge. The\nking would listen to no excuse, and the unhappy _amat_ was glad to crawl\nfrom his presence before resentment had carried him to the length of\nordering his execution.\n\nThe very next night a wonderful golden deer entered the royal garden\nwhere the king was accustomed to sit when it became too warm in the\npalace, and after doing an immense amount of mischief, eating favorite\nflowers, and otherwise destroying and ruining the garden, it leaped over\nthe fence and disappeared in the early morning fog, just as the guards\nwere arousing themselves from sleep. It was in truth not a golden deer\nas the guards had told the king, but a _hpea_ that had assumed this\nform; but the king not knowing this ordered his heralds to go through\nthe city immediately and call upon all the inhabitants to come early\nnext morning to help their lord catch it. Ai was summoned with the rest\nof the people. He had no horse, but going to the city gate that day he\nsaw that a race between horses belonging to the king was about to be\nrun. Ai was a good horseman, and asked the head horse-feeder of the king\nto let him ride one of the animals. He rode, and rode so well that he\nwon the race, and that official was so pleased with him that he promised\nto grant him any request in his power. Ai asked for the privilege of\nriding the same horse at the hunt next day, and the request was readily\ngranted, and thus it happened that, next morning when he went to the\nplace appointed, he rode a horse that was faster than any other there\nexcept the one the king himself rode.\n\nThe people were divided into four parties; one toward the north, one\ntoward the south, one east, and one west. The king stationed himself\nwith the party at south, and the _amats_ were at the north, and when the\ndeer was at last driven out of the jungle by the beaters it headed\ntoward the king and dashed by him at great speed.\n\nThe _hpea_ that had taken the form of the deer wished to have some fun\nat the king's expense, and therefore kept ahead just where the king\ncould see him all the while, sometimes but a cubit or two away from him,\nand then when the country was open, darting far in advance. So swiftly\ndid they go that in a few minutes the men on foot were left behind, and\nafter a while all except those upon the very fastest horses were\ndistanced, till at last only the king and Ai were left, the latter but a\nlittle behind the king. All day long the chase continued till, just as\nthe sun was setting and men and horses were both exhausted, the deer\nmade straight for a precipice that appeared to block the path on each\nhand as far as the eye could reach. The king was congratulating himself\nthat the deer could not possibly escape now, when he saw right before\nhim an opening in the rock, and the next instant the _hpea_ disappeared\nin the cave and the king was obliged to give up the chase, for even if\nhis horse could have carried him any farther, which it could not, the\ncave was so dark that nothing could be seen inside.\n\nThe king fell from his horse almost dead with fatigue, and managed to\ncrawl under a wide-spreading banyan tree that grew near. The only other\nperson there was Ai, and he, coming to the king, massaged his limbs till\nthe tired monarch fell asleep. After a while he awoke and Ai asked him\nto eat some rice he had prepared, but the king said he was too tired to\neat anything; but at last he managed to eat a little sweet, glutinous\nrice that the princess had cooked in a hollow piece of bamboo and given\nto her husband before he set out that morning.\n\nThe king was very grateful and asked Ai his name; but the latter was\nafraid to tell what his real name was, so, as his mother years before\nhad been in the habit of selling betel-nut in the bazaar, he told the\nking that his name was Sau Boo, or betel-nut seller.\n\nThe king was very pleased with him and promised him great rewards when\nthey got back to the palace; but in a few minutes he had dropped asleep\nagain, and Ai sat alone keeping guard.\n\nIt was very fortunate that he too did not go to sleep, for as every one\nknows, the banyan is a sacred tree, and this one was inhabited by a\n_hpea_ who was noted for being one of the cruelest and most dreaded\nspirits in all the land. Ai roused the king and told him there was a\n_hpea_ in the tree and begged him not to sleep there for it would\nassuredly kill them both before morning.\n\nThe king said, \"Wake me not, trouble me not. From my head to my feet, I\nam nothing but aches and pains. Were I to move I should die. I may as\nwell die at the hands of the _hpea_.\" So saying he fell asleep again,\nand Ai did not dare to disturb him, but watched all night long.\n\nDuring the night Ai heard the _hpea_ grumbling to himself several times\nand promising himself the pleasure of killing them on the morrow, so he\npretended to be asleep so that he could hear what the _hpea_ said and if\npossible thwart him.\n\n\"These mortals have presumed to sleep under my tree,\" he heard him say,\n\"but it shall be the last time they sleep anywhere. Let me see,\" he\ncontinued, \"how shall I kill them? Which will be the best way? Ah, I\nknow. Early to-morrow when they get ready to leave, I will break the\ntree in two, and the top shall fall on them. If, however, they escape, I\nwill saw through the supports of the first bridge, so that it will\nbreak when they are in the middle, and they will fall to the bottom of\nthe valley below. Then if that should fail, I will loosen the stones of\nthe arch of the city gate so that it will fall on them as they pass\nunderneath, and if that does not kill them, when the king arrives at his\npalace and being thirsty with his long ride calls for water, I will\nchange the water in the goblet to sharp needles that will stick in his\nthroat and kill him. If he does not drink the water, however, he will\nassuredly be very tired and will go to sleep immediately, and I will\nsend an immense rat into his room that will kill him without doubt.\"\n\nHaving finished making his plans, the _hpea_ left the tree and started\nthe work of preparing the different traps for the mortals who had\nenraged his hpeaship by daring to sleep under the tree, and thus profane\nhis home.\n\nThe king was frightened half to death when he awoke next morning, and\nfound that he had been sleeping all night under the tree of that special\n_hpea_; but Ai, or Sau Boo as the king called him, told him not to be\nfrightened for he could save his life if the king would only follow his\nadvice and do as he told him.\n\nThe king promised to follow his words implicitly, and also promised him\nunheard-of rewards if he only helped him to get to his palace in safety.\n\nThe first danger was the tree, and so Ai got their horses ready and\nunder the pretense of allowing them to eat grass before setting out on\ntheir journey, he gradually worked them nearer and still nearer the\nedge of the tree, and then, with one bound, they both galloped out from\nunder it. At the same instant there was a great crash and the whole top\nof the tree fell to the ground. So near did it fall on them that the\nking's turban was torn from his head by one of the upper branches, but\nbeyond this no harm was done.\n\nNext, instead of riding over the bridge, they went along the bank a\nlittle distance, and soon found a place where the _huek_ was narrow and\nleaped their horses to the other side. While they were jumping, Ai threw\na heavy stone he had brought with him on to the bridge, and the _hpea_,\nwho fortunately was near-sighted, thinking it was the tread of the\nhorses, broke it down, so that fell into the water fifty feet below, but\nthe king and his follower were safe on the other side.\n\nThe next danger was the city gate. They walked their ponies slowly as\nthough they were very tired, till they came to within a cubit of the\ngate, and then galloped through at the top of their speed, and crash\nwent the gateway behind them. They were covered with dust but not hurt.\n\nThe king was very thankful to have arrived at his palace and being very\nthirsty with the journey and excitement, as the cunning _hpea_ had\nexpected, called for a drink of water, but ere he could place the cup to\nhis lips his faithful follower turned it upside down, and instead of\nwater, out fell a cupful of sharp needles, and again the king's life was\nsaved.\n\nWorn out with his ride he told his servants to prepare his room as he\nwould sleep. Ai called the chief guard and told him to have a lamp\nburning all night, to take his sharpest sword with him, and guard the\nking carefully. In the middle of the night when the tired king was\nsleeping soundly, into the room came creeping slowly, slowly, the\nbiggest rat ever seen. It had long, sharp teeth and wicked glaring eyes,\nand made toward the king. But the guard, warned by Ai, was on the watch,\nand just as the rat was about to spring at the king's throat, the\nsoldier with a sweep of his long, sharp sword cut off its head, and thus\nthe king through the cleverness of one man escaped the last danger and\ncould now live without fear.\n\nThe next morning the king called his heralds and bade them go into the\ncity and summon Sau Boo to come to the palace to be rewarded. They\nsearched and called, but searched and called in vain. No man ever heard\nof a man by that name, and the king was fast getting angry when the\n_amats_ told him that they personally had gone to every house except\none, and that was the house of Ai. The king in surprise ordered them to\ncall his son-in-law. \"He may be able to tell us something about him,\" he\nobserved. Ai accordingly obeyed his summons, but the king was more\nsurprised yet when Ai told him that Sau Boo and himself were one and the\nsame, and that it was he who had rescued the king from so many dangers.\n\nAt first his father-in-law became angry and refused to believe him, but\nAi gave an account of everything that had happened from the time when\nthe deer broke cover, till the rat was killed by the guard, and thus\nconvinced the king of his truthfulness.\n\nThe king then made a great feast, called all his ministers and generals\ntogether, and made a proclamation that Ai in future should be his _amat\nloeng_ and should be king when he himself died.\n\nThus did the princess prove that her luck really depended upon herself,\nand not on the king, and to-day we say, \"May your luck be as good as the\nluck of Nang Kam Ung.\"\n\n\n\n\nHOW THE HARE DECEIVED THE TIGER.\n\n\nAt the beginning of the world a hare, tiger, ox, buffalo, and horse\nbecame friends and lived together. One day the tiger was out hunting\nwhen, it being in the middle of the hot season, the jungle caught fire,\nand a strong wind blowing, it was not long before the whole country was\nin flames. The tiger fled, but the fire followed. Never mind how fast he\nran, the flames followed him, till he was in great fear of being burned\nalive. As he was rushing along he saw the ox feeding on the other side\nof the river and called out to him:\n\n\"O friend ox, you see the fire is following me wherever I go. Where is a\nplace of refuge that I can escape the fire?\"\n\nNow close to the tiger was a jungle full of dried grass, such as the\nShans use for thatching their houses, and the ox replied, \"Go to the\ngrass jungle yonder, my brother, and you will be safe.\"\n\nBut dried grass is the most inflammable thing in the whole hill and\nwater country, and so here, not only did the flames follow the tiger,\nbut they ran ahead of him and threatened to engulf him on every side. In\ngreat anger he roared at the ox, \"False deceiver, if ever I escape from\nthis danger, I will return and kill you,\" but the ox only laughed at him\nand continued eating.\n\nIn desperation, the tiger leaped over the flames and found himself near\nthe horse. \"O friend horse,\" he cried, \"where can I go? I am in great\ndanger of being burned to death.\"\n\nNow it happened that once the tiger had been very rude to the horse and\ncalled him many bad names, so now he thought this was a good opportunity\nto be revenged; so he said: \"Yonder is a big bamboo jungle, run to that\nand you are safe\"; but the tiger found that the horse was also a false\nfriend, for the fire following him speedily ignited the tall bamboos\nwhich burned fiercely and falling from above, almost completely covered\nthe poor beast.\n\nAt the beginning of the world the tiger was a beautiful yellow color,\nbut the bamboos falling all over him, burnt him in stripes, and since\nthat time his descendants have had long black stripes all over their\ncoats.\n\n\"When I have escaped from this,\" yelled the angry tiger, \"I will come\nback and kill you.\"\n\n\"Very good,\" sneered the horse, \"and I will arch my neck so that you can\nget a good bite,\" but this was said to deceive the tiger, as the horse\nintended to lash out with his hind feet when the tiger came to fight\nhim. Nevertheless, from that day the necks of all horses have been\narched, and they cannot fight an enemy in front, but are obliged to arch\ntheir necks, lower their heads, and kick from behind.\n\nThe tiger, by this time tired to death and suffering from the burns of\nthe bamboos, saw the buffalo and accosted him as he had his other\nfriends.\n\n\"O good friend buffalo,\" he cried, \"I am in great danger of being burned\nalive. The horse and the ox have not only deceived me, but in following\ntheir advice I have arrived at a worse condition than before. What can I\ndo to be freed from this great danger?\"\n\nThe buffalo looked up from the cool river where he was enjoying a bath,\nand taking compassion on him said: \"If you will catch hold of my throat\nI will duck you in the river and so you shall escape from the danger\nthat is following you.\"\n\nSo the tiger seized the good buffalo by the throat and was held under\nwater till the fire had burnt itself out. The tiger was very grateful to\nthe buffalo and made an agreement with him that from that time no tiger\nshould ever kill a buffalo, and it is only the very worst tigers, those\nthat kill men, that ever kill a buffalo, and the tigers that are guilty\nof killing buffaloes are sure to be killed themselves, sooner or later.\n\nThe tiger held so fast to the buffalo that when the latter came out of\nthe water, his throat and neck were all white, and buffaloes all have\nthat mark on their necks and throats till this very day.\n\nThe tiger was so cold after his bath that he shook and shivered as\nthough he had fever, and seeing a little house made of dried grass a\nshort distance off he went to it and found that a hare was living there.\n\n\"Good friend,\" said the tiger, \"I am so cold I am afraid I shall die.\nWill you take compassion on me and allow me to rest in your house and\nget warm before I return home?\"\n\n\"Come in, our lord,\" said the hare. \"If our lord deigns to honor my poor\nhouse with his presence, he will confer a favor that his slave will\nnever forget.\"\n\nThe tiger was only too glad to go into the hare's house, and the latter\nimmediately made room for him by sitting on the roof. Soon the tiger\nheard click! click! click! and he called out: \"O friend hare, what are\nyou doing up there on the roof of your house?\"\n\nNow the hare was really at that moment striking fire with her flint and\nsteel, but she deceived the tiger and said, \"It is very cold up here,\nand our lord's slave was shivering,\" but the next moment the spark\nstruck the dried grass on the roof and the house was soon in flames.\n\nThe tiger dashed out just in time and turned in a rage on his late host,\nbut the hare was far away, having jumped at the same moment that the\nspark set fire to the roof of the house.\n\nThe tiger gave chase, but after a while he saw the hare sitting down and\nwatching something intently, so he asked, \"What are you looking at?\"\n\n\"This is a fine seat belonging to the Ruler of the Hares,\" returned she.\n\n\"I would like to sit on it,\" said the tiger.\n\n\"Well,\" said the hare, \"wait till I can go and ask our lord to give you\npermission.\"\n\n\"All right, I will watch till you come back and will not kill you as I\nintended doing, if you get me permission to sit on it,\" said the tiger.\n\nNow this was not a chair at all, but some hard sharp stones that the\nhare had covered with mud and shaped with her paws to deceive the tiger.\nThe hare ran off a long distance and pretended to talk with some one and\nthen called out: \"The lord of the chair says, our lord the tiger may\nsit, if he throws himself down upon it with all his might. This is our\ncustom.\"\n\nThe tiger flung himself upon what he thought was the chair with all his\nmight, but the soft mud gave way and he fell upon the stones underneath\nand hurt his paws badly. He therefore sprang up and vowed vengeance on\nthe hare that he could just see far off in the distance.\n\nBy and by as the hare was running along she saw a large wasps' nest\nhanging from the branch of a tree, so she sat down and watched it\nintently. When the tiger came up he was so curious to know what the hare\nwas looking at so intently that he did not kill her, but instead asked\nher what she was looking at.\n\nThe hare showed the tiger the wasps' nest on the tree and said: \"That is\nthe finest gong in all the hill and water country.\"\n\n\"I would like to beat it,\" said the tiger.\n\n\"Just wait a minute,\" returned the hare, \"and I will go to the lord of\nthe gong and ask permission for you to beat it.\"\n\nThe hare ran till she was far away in the jungle, and then at the top of\nher voice called out: \"If you wish to beat the gong, the lord of the\ngong says you must strike it as hard as you can with your head. That is\nhis custom.\"\n\n[Illustration: \"Again the cunning hare deceived the tiger.\" Page 63.]\n\nThe tiger butted at the nest with all his might and made a big jagged\nrent in its side, and out flew the angry wasps in swarms, completely\ncovering the poor tiger, who with a dreadful yell of pain tore away from\nhis tormentors. His face was all swollen, and from that day till the\npresent, the faces of tigers have all been wide and flat.\n\nAgain he chased the hare, and when the smart from the stings of the\nwasps had subsided a little, he found to his great joy that he was\ngaining on his enemy fast. The hare on her part saw that the tiger would\nsoon catch her and looked around for some means of escape, and spied\njust before her a snake half in and half out of its hole.\n\nThe hare stopped as before and sat gazing at the snake so intently that\nthe tiger instead of killing her as he had intended to do, asked her\nwhat it was in the hole.\n\n\"This,\" returned the hare, \"is a wonderful flute that only kings and\nnobles are allowed to play. Would our lord like to play?\"\n\n\"Indeed I would,\" said the tiger; \"but where is the lord of this\nwonderful flute? Whom shall I ask for permission?\"\n\n\"If our lord watches right here,\" said the cunning hare, \"his slave will\ngo to the lord of the flute and ask permission,\" and the tiger, well\ncontent, sat down to wait.\n\nAgain the cunning hare deceived the tiger by pretending to ask\npermission, and when a long distance off he called as before: \"Our lord\nhas permission to play the flute. Let him put it in his mouth and blow\nwith all his might. This is the custom of the lord of the flute.\"\n\nThe foolish tiger immediately took the snake's head into his mouth, but\nthe sound that followed came from the tiger, not from the flute, and a\nterrible yell he gave as the snake bit his mouth! But the hare was far\naway and would soon have been safe but for an unlooked for accident that\nnearly ended her life.\n\nThe people who lived in that part of the hill and water country were at\nwar with the State that joined them on the north, and thinking that the\nsoldiers of the enemy would soon invade their country they had made a\ntrap in the middle of the path over which the hare was running. First\nthey dug a hole so deep that should anybody fall in, it would be\nimpossible to climb out again. The sides of the pit were dug on the\nslant so that the opening was smaller than the bottom. Over the top they\nhad placed thin strips of bamboo that would break if any extra weight\ncame upon them and they had covered the whole with grass and leaves so\nthat no traveler would know that a trap was there. Into this hole fell\nthe poor little hare.\n\nPresently the tiger came up to see where the hare had gone, and when he\nsaw the hole in the middle of the path, he called out, \"Where are you,\nfriend hare?\" and the hare from the bottom of the trap called out, \"I\nhave fallen into a trap.\"\n\nThen the tiger sat on the ground and just bent double with laughter to\nthink that at last he had the hare in his power, but the little animal\ndown in the hole although she did not say anything, thought harder in a\nfew minutes than the tiger had in all his life. By and by as she looked\nup through the hole she had made in the roof, she saw that the sky\noverhead was getting darker and darker as a storm was coming on, so in\ngreat glee, although she pretended to be very much frightened, she\ncalled out as loudly as ever she could:\n\n\"Our lord tiger! our lord tiger!\"\n\nAt first the tiger did not answer, so the hare then called, \"Does not\nour lord see the great danger approaching? Let our lord look at the\nsky.\"\n\nThe tiger looked up and saw the dark clouds coming slowly, slowly on,\ncovering the whole sky; his laughter stopped and he soon began to get\nvery frightened.\n\nAfter a while, when it had become still darker, he called to the hare:\n\"O friend, what is the matter with the sky? What is going to happen?\"\n\nThen the hare replied: \"Our lord, the sky has fallen where you see it is\ndark; that is far away, but in a few minutes it will fall here and\neverybody will be crushed to death.\"\n\nThe foolish tiger was now frightened half to death and called to the\nhare: \"O friend, I have treated you badly in trying to kill you. Do not\nbe angry and take revenge on me, but take compassion on my terrible\ncondition, and graciously tell me how to escape this danger, and I swear\nthat I will never try to harm you more.\"\n\nIt was the hare's turn to laugh now, but she only laughed quietly to\nherself, for she was afraid the tiger would hear her, then she said,\n\"Down here our lord's slave is quite safe. If our lord descends, he too\nwill be safe,\" and before the hare had hardly finished, the cowardly\ntiger made a jump for the hole the hare had made and joined her at the\nbottom of the trap.\n\nBut the hare was not out yet and she began to plan how she could get out\nherself and yet keep the tiger in. At last a happy thought struck her.\nShe sidled up to the tiger and began to tickle him in the ribs. The\ntiger squirmed and twisted first one way and then the other, first to\none side and then to the other; at last he could stand it no longer and\ncatching the hare he threw her out of the trap and she landed on solid\nground.\n\nAs soon as the hare found she was safe, she began to call at the top of\nher voice: \"O men, come! come! I, the hare have deceived the tiger and\nhe is at the bottom of the trap. O men, come! I, the hare call you.\nBring your spears and guns; bring your swords, and kill the tiger that I\nhave tricked into entering the trap.\"\n\nAt first the men did not believe the hare, for they did not think that\nan animal so small as the hare could deceive the tiger, but then they\nalso knew that the hare was very clever and had much wisdom, so they\nbrought their spears and their guns, their swords and their sticks, and\nkilled the tiger in the trap.\n\nThus did the hare prove that though small she was full of wisdom, and\nalthough the tiger was bigger, stronger, and fiercer than she, yet she,\nthrough her wisdom, was able to kill him.\n\n\n\n\nTHE STORY OF THE TORTOISE.\n\n\nThere was once a man who had two wives. Now as everybody knows it is\nalways the chief wife that the husband loves best, while the other\ninstead of being _Mae Long_, is only _Mae Noi_, and this often causes\njealousy and trouble in the family. It was so in this case, especially\nas the chief wife did not have a son to add to her dignity. They each\nhad a daughter, the name of the chief wife's child was Nang Hsen Gaw,\nand that of the other Nang E.\n\nOne day the husband of these women went to the lake to fish. He caught a\nlarge number of shell fish and put them on the shore for his wives to\nbring home. The younger took her share of the load, but, being very\nhungry, she ate them all. The mother of Nang Hsen Gaw, however, was not\ngreedy like the other woman, and so she put all the fish that were left\ninto her bag and began to trudge slowly toward the house.\n\nNow, the mother of Nang E was a witch, although no one, of course, knew\nit. Being wicked enough to be a witch, she did not hesitate at\ncommitting any other crime, even the most dreadful, and she therefore\nmade up her mind that she would kill the mother of Nang Hsen Gaw so that\nshe could be the chief wife. She got home much sooner than the other\nwoman, as she had no load to carry, and when she saw her husband he\nnaturally asked her where the fish were. \"Now,\" she thought, \"here's a\ngood chance to get that woman out of the way,\" so she told her husband\nthat his other wife was a _poer_, or witch, and she had taken all the\nfish away from her. Now, witches are of course very much dreaded, so\nwhen the poor woman came home with her heavy load of fish, the villagers\nkilled her with their sticks, and she was changed into a tortoise in the\nlake.\n\nAnd now at last the mother of Nang E was chief wife, but do you think\nshe was satisfied? Not a bit of it. She heard that her rival was now a\ntortoise in the lake, and she determined to kill her again.\n\nSome time after this, as Nang Hsen Gaw was in the jungle watching the\ncows that belonged to her father, she walked along the edge of the lake\nand was very much surprised to hear her own name called in familiar\ntones. She looked around, but could see no one, and she was getting very\nfrightened, thinking that it was perhaps a _hpea_ who wanted to entice\nher into the thick jungle so that he could devour her, but at last she\nlooked on the ground at her feet and saw it was a tortoise that was\nspeaking to her.\n\n\"Nang Hsen Gaw,\" it called. \"My daughter, _oie!_ I am your mother who\nwas killed through the wicked acts of my rival, the mother of Nang E. I\nhave arrived at great trouble, and now, instead of being the chief wife\nof a rich man, I am nothing but a tortoise swimming in the lake. Take\npity on me, my daughter, and out of compassion every day bring me cotton\nthread and raw cotton, so that I can weave and spin.\"\n\n[Illustration: \"'I am nothing but a tortoise swimming in the lake.'\"\nPage 68.]\n\nNang Hsen Gaw was a dutiful daughter, and every day when she went to the\njungle she took cotton for her mother to spin, and thread for her to\nweave, and daily talked with her, telling her all the gossip of the\nvillage and anything else that she thought her mother would like to\nhear.\n\nBut the mother of Nang E was on the watch, and thinking it strange that\nthe girl should take cotton and thread to the jungle every day, and\nbring none back with her when she drove the cattle back at night, she\nfollowed her, heard her talking with her mother, and thus found out in\nwhat part of the lake her enemy was, and laid her plan accordingly.\n\nThat evening, unknown to her family, while her husband was busy working\nin his garden, she went to the house where lived the doctor of the\nvillage, unfolded her plans to him and asked for his help. Being an\nunscrupulous man he agreed, took the silver the woman had pilfered from\nher husband, and promised to help her. The next day she was taken very\nsick and her husband called in the doctor, who told him that the woman\nmust have a tortoise from the lake near-by. If she boiled and ate it\naccording to his directions she would get well, if not, she would die.\nHaving performed his part of the bargain he returned to his home at the\nother end of the village.\n\nNext morning the man went to the lake to get the tortoise. Nang Hsen Gaw\nwas much distressed when she saw her father set out, and her distress\nbecame worse when she saw that the wicked stepmother had directed him\nto the little pond where her own mother was. The man took a large bucket\nmade out of wicker work, and commenced baling out the water, but Nang\nHsen Gaw was able to warn her mother just where her father was, so that\nwhen he was on one side of the pond her mother went to the other, but at\nlast he sent the girl home, and in a few minutes secured the tortoise\nand was soon carrying it away for his wife to eat.\n\nWhen he got home he gave her the tortoise, little thinking who it was,\nand then went out, while the witch called Nang Hsen Gaw to watch the pot\nwhich had been put over the fire.\n\nSoon the poor girl heard her mother call out. She said that the hot\nwater had reached her knees, and begged her to put out the fire. She\ncommenced to rake out the hot embers from under the pot, when her\nstepmother saw what she was doing, and taking up a heavy bamboo beat her\nunmercifully and made her put more sticks on the fire. Soon her mother\ncomplained again that the heat had reached her shoulders, and again Nang\nE's mother beat her, and made her put more sticks on the fire. Soon she\nheard her mother say: \"My daughter, _oie_! The hot water has reached my\nneck and I shall soon be dead. When it is all over, do not let that\nwicked woman destroy me altogether, but bury me in the jungle,\" and in a\nfew minutes she was dead.\n\nNang Hsen Gaw tried her best to get the dead body of her mother, but her\nstepmother watched her carefully, and all she could not eat herself she\ngave to the dogs, to prevent her daughter from getting any, but one dog\nran off with his portion into the jungle. Nang Hsen Gaw followed in time\nto rescue the webbing between the fingers.[3] This was all that was\nleft, but she buried that carefully in the jungle far from the house\nwhere her stepmother lived.\n\nThe next day as she was walking through the jungle feeding her cows, she\nheard sweet music. It sounded like twelve organs all playing at the same\ntime, and yet in harmony, each organ blending with the others. In great\nsurprise she hunted around till she came to the spot where she had\nburied the part of her mother's hand, and saw that during the night this\nhad changed into a beautiful _mai nyung kham_ tree.[4] And so this good\nand dutiful daughter went every day to listen to the tree as she had\ngone daily to the lake when her mother had been a tortoise, and the tree\nsang sweeter when she was near than at any other time.\n\nBut such a wonderful thing as this could not be kept a secret. Others\nheard of it and people came from far and near to hear the sweet music\ncome from the tree. One of the _amats_ of the great king who \"ate\"[5]\nthe country, heard that a miracle was to be seen in this jungle, and\naccordingly reported it to his lord, who sent men to cut the tree down\nand bring it to his palace. All day long the men worked at the tree,\nfrom the time the country became light till the moon rose at night, but\nalthough they had the sharpest of axes and were the most skillful\nworkmen in all the country, yet with all their labor they could only cut\nthrough the bark, and during the night the tree grew so quickly that\nwhen the morning dawned, it was twice as large as it was the night\nbefore, and the marks made by the axes on the bark were covered with new\nbark harder than ever.\n\nThe king was very angry when he heard of the ill success of his woodmen,\nhad them all executed, and sent others, but they had no better success\nthan the first. But this only made the king more stubborn and determined\nto get the tree at any cost, and he therefore sent the heralds all\nthrough the country and made a proclamation that any man who could bring\nthe tree to his palace should be made his _Kem Moeng,_ that is, heir\napparent; should it be a woman, she should become _Nang Me Prah_, or\nchief queen. Many men therefore came with sharp _pahs_ and axes but all\nwere equally unsuccessful, and the king despaired of ever getting the\ntree, when Nang Hsen Gaw heard of the reward offered by the king, and\ntold the heralds she could bring the tree to his palace. The king was\nfull of joy when he heard this, and made great preparations for her. On\nher part she simply went to the jungle and, taking off her turban,\nfastened it around the tree and carried it bodily into the palace where\nit sang as sweetly every day as when it was in the jungle.\n\nWhen the mother of Nang E heard of the good fortune that had befallen\nNang Hsen Gaw she was very angry, and calling her own daughter to\nfollow her, she set off for the capital. When she had arrived there she\ndisguised herself and became a servant to the queen, and pondered how\nshe could kill the _Nang Me Prah_ and put her own daughter Nang E in her\nplace.\n\nOne day this wicked woman told the queen that she had found some fine\nsoap beans and bark, that she was very skillful in shampooing, and as\nthe next day was to be a great feast when the queen would follow the\nking on her royal elephant, the soap beans would make her black hair\nblacker, and the gloss glossier than ever, and asked her to allow her to\nwash the queen's head at a well that was just outside the gate of the\npalace, near the royal gardens, where the water was very sweet. The\nqueen consented and called her attendants to follow, but the stepmother\nwas much too cunning to allow that, so she told the queen that her\nmethod of washing was better than any other woman's but it was a secret,\nand she would reserve it for her majesty's own private use, but she did\nnot want any of the attendants to see how it was done. If they did, she\nadded, the next day at the feast every lady in the court would have hair\nas glossy as the queen's, but if they went alone, her hair would be as\nmuch more beautiful than any other woman's as the sun is more beautiful\nthan the bamboo torch that lights the way through the jungle at night,\nwhen there is no moon. The young queen was not proof against this\nflattery, and so the two women went alone out of the palace, the very\nguards who watched at the gates not knowing whither they were going.\n\nThey soon arrived at the well, and as the queen was bending over, her\nlong hair covering her face so that she could see nothing, her wicked\nstepmother suddenly drew a knife and stabbed her to the heart, then,\ncalling her daughter to help, she buried the poor young queen under the\nroad leading to the well. She took the royal robes and put them on her\nown daughter, Nang E, who returned to the royal palace and entered the\nroyal apartments, all the attendants thinking it was the real queen\nreturned from a bath in the river.\n\nThat same afternoon, as the king walked through the palace, he was\nsurprised to see that the wonderful singing tree was all withered and\nmute. In great distress he called for the queen and ordered her to make\nthe tree sing as before, but although Nang E tried with all her might,\nshe could make no sound. She tapped it softly as she had seen Nang Hsen\nGaw do, but all in vain. It was silent.\n\nNow the king was in the habit of wearing Burmese clothing instead of\nShan, and one day when he had gone to his room to put on his _ptsoe_, he\nfound that a little sparrow had built, her nest in it. He was a very\nkind man, and so allowed the little bird to live there, and in gratitude\nto the king this sparrow was in the habit of telling him all she saw as\nshe flew around the city from morn to night, and whenever the king\nwished to find out anything that puzzled him, he would often call the\nsparrow to tell him what to do.\n\nHe therefore now called the little bird and asked it what ailed the\ntree, and the sparrow told him that the woman who was then in the royal\napartments and wearing the clothes of the _Nang Me Prah_ was not the\nreal queen, but a woman named Nang E, and seeing her approach, the brave\nlittle bird began whistling, \"This is not the _Nang Me Prah_, this is\nNang E, Nang E. Oh! Nang E!\"\n\nIn a great rage the king commanded his servants to call the woman, and\nwhen she was come into the royal presence she dared not open her mouth\nto answer the king, for she was not so clever as her mother, who could\ndisguise her voice as well as her face, and she knew that if she began\nto speak the king would see that she was not Nang Hsen Gaw, so she\nremained silent. But this did not save her, for the king looked at her\nand said:\n\n\"You wear the robes and jewels of my queen, but you have not the same\nface, and you are afraid to speak to me,\" and he immediately called his\nchief executioner to take her away and cut off her head.\n\nBut even this did not bring back the music to the tree, and the king was\ndisconsolate.\n\nThe next morning when the guard of the royal garden went to his post, he\nsaw, near the well, a beautiful _mawk moo_ flower, took it home with him\nand placed it in the _chattie_ of water that every Shan keeps in his\nhouse as an offering to the _hpeas_. The old mother Nai, soon after took\nher basket and went to the bazaar to buy _puc_ for her son's breakfast,\nbut when she returned she was surprised to see that during her absence\nsome one had swept the house, cooked the food, and that the \"morning\nrice\" was all ready to eat. The eating-tray was set out in the middle of\nthe room. The rice and curry was arranged in order on it, and the\ndrinking _chattie_ was full of scented water. She called her son and all\nthe neighbors to ask who had done this, but no one could tell her, and\nin great amazement they sat down to their meal. That evening the same\nthing happened again. While she was out, the house was again swept, the\nfood was prepared, and the tray arranged as in the morning. For several\ndays this happened, and then the old woman determined to hide and see\nwho did these kind acts. She did so, and was amazed to see that as soon\nas she had left the house (she went under the floor and looked up\nthrough a hole between the bamboos), that a spirit came out of the _mawk\nmoo_ flower that her son had brought from the road leading to the well,\nand commenced to sweep the house. In the midst of it the old woman\nrushed up to the flower and destroyed it, so that the spirit could not\ngo back to its refuge. At the same instant, it changed into the most\nbeautiful woman ever seen.\n\nThat afternoon, Nang Hsen Gaw, for the spirit was she, told old Nai how\nher stepmother had killed her at the well, and buried her, and how she\nhad been changed into the spirit of the beautiful _mawk moo_ flower the\nguard had brought to the house, and that she would soon go back to the\nking in the palace.\n\nThey neither of them had seen the little sparrow sitting on the roof,\nbut she had been there all the time, and now flew off to the king and\ntold him all that she had heard. The king gave orders that the wicked\nmother of Nang E should be executed immediately, and that a band of\nsoldiers should go to the guard's house to escort his bride back in\nstate to the palace, where she reigned many, many years, till she saw\nher grandchildren and great-grandchildren grow up. As soon as the queen\nentered the gate, the tree began to play; the withered leaves put on a\nbright hue, and beautiful flowers burst into bloom; and while Nang Hsen\nGaw lived, the tree bloomed and played sweetest music every day.\n\nThe lessons that this story teaches are: As surely as the wheels of the\ncart follow the oxen, so surely will wickedness be punished. If you sin\nyou must suffer. The man who kills another will assuredly meet the same\nfate.\n\n[3] The Shans call the two front feet of a quadruped \"hands.\" The digits\nare called \"fingers\" not \"toes.\"\n\n[4] The sacred peepul tree.\n\n[5] The Shans do not usually say that a king \"rules\" over a country, but\nthe expression generally used is that he \"eats\" it; a very suggestive\nand alas! too often only too true expression.\n\n\n\n\nTHE SPARROW'S WONDERFUL BROOD.\n\n\nMany, many years ago, at the beginning of the world, a little sparrow\nbuilt her nest on the top of a tall tree that grew near the edge of a\nlake. In it she laid five little eggs, and never was mother bird prouder\nthan she, and all day long she flew from tree to tree chirping out her\njoy. So proud in fact was she, and so much noise did she make, that a\nmonkey that lived on the other side of the lake was struck with the\nremembrance of how he had once dined with great satisfaction on eggs\nlaid by the sparrow's sister, and in a few minutes he was on his way to\nrepeat the performance.\n\nIn vain the little bird cried and begged him to spare her brood,\npromising to show him where the sweetest plantains in all the country\nwere growing; the monkey only laughed at her and climbed the tree to get\nthe prize.\n\nThe next moment the robber would have gotten his spoil, and this\nwonderful story would never have been told, but just then the great lord\nSa Kyah looked earthward and saw the tragedy that was taking place.\n\nLike a drop of rain that falls from a tree when the wind blows after a\nshower, the mighty lord descended, and when the would-be robber reached\nthe nest his hand entered an empty one.\n\n[Illustration: \"On his way he saw what seemed to be a bed of flowers.\"\nPage 79.]\n\nThe eggs were soon brought back from the _hpea_ country where the lord\nSa Kyah had taken them for safety, and in due time were hatched. Out of\nthe first protruded a sharp bill, and a kingfisher, bright of plumage\nand swift of wing, broke out of its speckled prison. The next egg broke\nand a buffalo came out, to be followed by a lordly striped tiger from\nthe next. A terrible _hpea-loo_, with head and claws like a bird and\nbody like a man, tore his way out of the next one, already looking\naround for a man whom he might devour for his first meal.\n\nOnly one egg remained, and that the smallest of all, but out of it came\na man, and the mighty lord Sa Kyah smiled when he saw him, and said that\nalthough he was the smallest and the last, yet he must feed his brothers\nand take care of them.\n\nOne hot day in summer the buffalo that had come out of one of the eggs,\nwalking through the jungle, much troubled by mosquitoes, thought how\nnice would be a wallow in a hole well known to him under the shade of\nthe trees by the bank of the lake, where the sun had not dried the mud\nto the hardness of bricks as it had in every other wallow, and\naccordingly turned his huge body in its direction, and slowly set off\ntoward it.\n\nOn his way there he saw on the ground what appeared to him to be a bed\nof flowers growing on the bank of the lake, and after smelling it\ncarefully over, leisurely ate it all up.\n\nThe sun was hot, the earth dry, and the flowers had long ago died, and\nwhat the buffalo thought were flowers were really ten white jackets and\nten red skirts. But when he had finished his meal he continued his\njourney to the wallow, and then with a grunt expressive of great\nsatisfaction, sinking into the soft mud till only the tips of his horns\nand the top of his head were visible, he closed his eyes and enjoyed\nhimself.\n\nBy and by there was a great commotion in the water--shouts, laughter,\nand jokes, together with a great splashing. The lazy buffalo opened one\neye and saw ten young girls who were having great fun in the cool water,\nthrowing it over one another and chasing each other here and there. When\nthey came to the place where they had left their clothes, however, their\nmirth received a sudden check. They had all disappeared! They stood up\nto their armpits in the water looking at each other with very long faces\ntill, spying the buffalo in his mud bath, they approached him, and in\nthe most courteous language asked him whether he had seen their dresses.\n\nThe great beast closed the eye he had opened, and slowly uncovered the\nother one, but beyond this took no notice of the maids forlorn. Then,\ncalling him \"Kind Brother Buffalo,\" they begged him to answer them,\nsaying that all the people who left the village to go to the bazaar\nbefore the sun had risen would soon be passing on their way home. The\nbuffalo blew a big cloud of mud and water from his nostrils, but said\nnever a word.\n\nNow it happened that the youngest of the sparrow's brood, the man, was\nin the jungle all the time. He had seen his brother eat up all the\nclothes and had heard all the conversation. He had noticed too, that\nalthough all the maidens were beautiful, the youngest was the most\nbeautiful girl he had ever seen. He saw how straight was her form, how\nblack was her hair, and that her eyes were the color of the sky when\nthere are many stars but no moon, and he determined to get her for his\nwife. He therefore now approached the party and told them that he could\nhelp them, and that no one besides could tell them where their clothes\nwere, but that they must promise that the one whom he should pick out\nshould be his wife.\n\nTo this they agreed, and thus it happened that he became possessed of\nthe most beautiful woman in all the Shan country. So beautiful in fact\nwas she, that it is said the birds stopped in the middle of a song when\nthey saw her. The squirrels stopped half-way up the tree in their search\nfor nuts as she walked under the trees, and her fame spread far and\nwide.\n\nAt this time a hunter came wandering through the jungle in search of\ngame, and saw her standing at her door. He, like everybody else, was\nstruck with her wonderful beauty, and he thought to himself, \"For a long\ntime I have been most unfortunate. I have caught but few animals, and\ntheir furs have been poor and mangy. Now, if I tell the king of my\ncountry about this beautiful girl, he will give me a great reward.\"\n\nThus reasoning he set out home and told the king what he had seen,\nenlarging upon her great beauty till the king resolved to get her at any\ncost.\n\nHe therefore set out, taking with him soldiers and attendants as became\nsuch a mighty lord, and when he saw the object of his journey he\nacknowledged that the hunter had not deceived him, and he determined to\ntake her back with him to the palace; but at the same time he made up\nhis mind to go about it in a cunning way.\n\nNow this king had a wonderful fighting cock of which he was very proud,\nand which had never been beaten. It had a beak of iron and spurs as\nsharp as the knives that come from Lai Hka, and a voice so loud and\npiercing that every morning when he crowed every other rooster in the\ncity scurried away in fright at the challenge.\n\nThe king, therefore, said that he and the woman's husband should have a\ncock fight. He would wager his country against the other's wife. In\ngreat sorrow the man went out into the jungle to think over his\nmisfortune, and while sitting on the ground in a most disconsolate\nmanner he heard a little bird calling his name, and looking up he saw\nhis brother, the kingfisher, perched above him.\n\n\"O brother, do not fear,\" said the bright little bird. \"I do not forget\nthat you are my brother and have guarded me long, and now I will surely\nhelp you in your trouble.\"\n\nWhen the time came for the fight, therefore, and the king's fighting\ncock stood proudly up, suddenly down from a tree flew the kingfisher,\npecked him with his long, sharp bill, and then flew away before he could\nso much as turn his head. Time and again this happened till the king's\nchallenger finally stretched himself dead on the ground.\n\nThe fight ending in this way, however, did not suit the selfish king a\nbit, and he therefore said it was not a fair fight, and brought out a\nlarge, fierce dog. This dog was the terror of the State, but the king\nsaid that it should fight any other dog that could be brought against it\nfor the same stakes as before. The tiger brother, however, was on the\nwatch, and before the dog could get near his opponent, a blow from his\npaw ended his career.\n\nStill the king persisted in his unjust course, and now declared that the\nwager should be finally settled by a fight between two buffaloes. Now\nthe buffalo brother was ashamed of the way in which he had treated the\ngirls in the water, and had long wished for an opportunity to retrieve\nhis honor, so that he now fought with such bravery against the royal\nbuffalo that he speedily conquered it.\n\nThen the king, seeing that he was beaten every time, threw off all\ndisguise and said plainly that he had come to get the girl for his wife,\nhad brought soldiers to help him if necessary, and he would take her in\nspite of losing the different battles, and in spite of her husband or\nanybody else.\n\nHe stepped forward to take her, but he did not know that one more\nbrother yet remained to be heard from, for out of the jungle with a\ndreadful yell came rushing the _hpea-loo_, his beak open, his claws\noutstretched, and king, soldiers, and courtiers all disappeared down\nhis ravenous maw.\n\nThe next month the fortunate man with his beautiful wife became king in\nthe place of his enemy, and lived to be the oldest monarch in the whole\nof the Shan country.\n\n\n\n\nHOW THE WORLD WAS CREATED.\n\n\nIn the beginning of the world, many, many cycles ago, so long ago, in\nfact, that no man knows how long it was, there were no trees, no hills,\nno land, nothing but water. The wind blew the waters hither and thither,\nsometimes in great waves, sometimes in quiet ripples; the wind blew, the\nwaves rolled, and that was all.\n\nNow it happened that Gong Gow, the Great Spirit Spider, felt weary with\ncarrying around her heavy burden of eggs wrapped up so carefully in\ntheir white covering fastened to her waist, therefore she said to\nherself:\n\n\"I would fain place my eggs in a safe place, but know of none where they\ncan hatch themselves without danger,\" so she searched through the\nuniverse to find a suitable place, and at last she spied the water that\nis now the world, and in it began to spin her web.\n\nBackward and forward, forward and backward, round and round, in and out\nshe wove, till at last all was done, and full of content she left her\neggs in their web prison nest and journeyed away.\n\nThe wind blew and drove the water hither and thither as aforetime, and\nsoon little pieces of solid substance caught in the meshes of the web,\nand behold! as the time passed the solid substance became more solid\ntill it formed mud and separated itself from the water, and when the mud\nhad dried, lo! it was the earth.\n\nSo the eggs of the great Spirit Spider were safely locked up within the\nearth; by and by they hatched, and breaking forth there appeared the\nfirst man, Boo Pau, and the first woman, Myeh Pau, from whom all the\nancient people who belonged to the first race were descended.\n\nMany, many years passed and people lived out their lives, till one day\nthe great earth caught fire. It burned fiercer than anybody's\nimagination can conceive, and it destroyed everything. All the beautiful\nforests with their green coverings of moss and leaves, all the cities\nwhich the first race had builded were burned down, till by and by there\nwas naught more for the fire to consume, and it was then the end of the\nhot season; the time of wet came soon after, and the rain fell upon the\nburning earth in such torrents that the whole sky was covered with the\nsteam.\n\nNow it happened that in Moeng Hpea, the far-away land where dwell the\npowerful spirits whom we call \"hsangs,\" the smell of the steam ascended\nand ascended till all the spirits smelled the sweet scent, and said to\nthemselves:\n\n\"Behold, there appears a sweet smell arising from below, what can it\nbe?\" and there was much marveling at what could cause such\nsweet-smelling incense as that then ascending.\n\nAnd it also happened that in Moeng Hpea were nine spirits, five of them\nmales and four females, and these being of more adventurous spirit than\ntheir fellows, determined to find out for themselves where the sweet\nperfume came from. So they set out on their travels downward. They\ndescended faster and faster, and the faster they descended the sweeter\nbecame the smell, till at last they landed upon this world of ours, and\nbending down to the earth they tore great handfuls of it out and ate it\nwith the greatest relish.\n\nIt was morning time when they descended, and they fed upon the fragrant\nearth all day till the sun set and the shades of evening began to\nsurround them, then the eldest of the spirits looked around upon his\nfellows, and said:\n\n\"Brethren, oie! it is time that we ascended to our own country,\" and as\nthe rest assented they stood up to return, but alas! they could not\nrise, they had eaten so much earth it had made them too heavy to soar,\nand from that day to the day they died none of them ever found their way\nback to the beautiful country of the Hsangs, but had to spend all their\nlives upon this earth of ours.\n\nThus we see that it is earthly desires that keep us from the spirit\ncountry. We see, or we hear, we smell or desire some earthly thing. We\nget our desires, but they keep us pinned down to the earth. We cannot go\nto the spirit country because of them.\n\nWhen the spirits discovered that they could not return to the Hsang\ncountry they agreed that they would marry each other and take up their\nabode upon this earth of ours. But here arose a difficulty; there were\nfive male hsangs but only four females! There was chance of a great\nquarrel, but the strongest of them, his name was Hsin Kyan, thought\nwithin himself:\n\n\"I am stronger than any of my brothers and could easily defeat them and\nmarry whom I will, but what merit would there be in that? I will ask\nthem whether they would be willing to make me king and each of them give\nme of their daughters when they are old enough, then in time I shall\nhave wives and power as well.\" Thus we see it is the man who is willing\nto control his desires and wait who becomes great.\n\nHsin Kyan's brethren were very glad to make the agreement and thus it\nwas that he became the ruler of them all. When the daughters of the\nothers were old enough, they brought them to the king, and from that day\nit has been the custom for men to offer their daughters to the king.\n\nNow it happened that the universal lord, Sa Kyah, who rules over all\nspirits and men looked earthward and saw the new kingdom that was\nestablished; he became jealous and determined to kill Hsin Kyan and take\nhis kingdom away from him. But Hsin Kyan was very subtle and cunning, so\nhe tattooed himself with charms of such great strength that even the\nmighty lord Sa Kyah could not kill him. For many years they fought.\nGreat mountains were thrown by each combatant at the other, but Hsin\nKyan could not defeat the lord Sa Kyah, neither could the lord Sa Kyah\nkill Hsin Kyan.\n\nOur great ancestor Hsin Kyan had seven daughters, whose names to this\nday are remembered among us as they have been given to the different\ndays of the week, from Nang Ta Nang Nooie, the eldest, after whom we\ncall the first day of the week Wan Ta Nang Nooie, to Nang Hsa Ne, the\nyoungest, and when the mighty lord Sa Kyah found that he could not kill\ntheir father, he spoke to these daughters and told them he was searching\nfor one whom he would make his chief queen, and that if one of them\nwould kill his enemy, their father, and bring to him his head, he would\nchoose that one to be his queen and make her joint ruler of the\nuniverse; with him she should govern everything created.\n\nBut the charms tattooed upon Hsin Kyan were very potent. Water would not\ndrown him; fire would not burn him; rope would not strangle him; and he\nwas invulnerable against thrust of spear and stroke of sword, and\nalthough all seven of his daughters tried to kill him yet they were not\nable to do so and six of them gave up the attempt in despair.\n\nOne day, however, the youngest, she whom we worship on the seventh day\nof the week and because she was the smallest call it Wan Hsa Nae, was\nwalking in the jungle, and as she was passing under a tree she saw a\nbird sitting upon its topmost branch. Now this girl knew how clever\nbirds are, and so she said to it:\n\n\"Brother Bird, oie! can you tell me how I can kill my father?\"\n\nNow although this daughter was the youngest, yet she was more lovely\nthan all her sisters, and the bird was so pleased with her that he said:\n\n\"Nang Hsa Nae, you are so beautiful that I will tell you the secret of\nyour father's charm. Water cannot drown him, fire cannot burn him,\nneither can sword or spear wound him, but there is one way in which he\nmay be killed. Take you, seven strands of a spider's web and twist them\ninto a cord, then with a piece of white bamboo make a bow; with this you\nwill be able to cut off the head of your father and take it to the\nmighty lord Sa Kyah, and oh!\" continued the clever bird, \"when you are\nhis queen, do not forget the good turn I have done you, and the debt of\ngratitude you owe me therefor.\"\n\nNang Hsa Nae was full of joy when she learned the secret of her father's\ncharm and she promised the little bird that when she became queen of the\nuniverse she would grant him any desire that he craved.\n\nThat night when everybody else was asleep, Nang Hsa Nae crept to her\nfather's side and with the bow made of the seven twisted strands of a\nspider's web killed him and cut off his head.\n\nWith great joy she carried it to the universal lord. He was very glad to\nfind that his enemy was at last dead, but although he had given his word\nto her, yet he would not marry Nang Hsa Nae, for, said he, she has\nkilled her father although I could not conquer him. Were I to marry her,\nwho will go surety for her that she will not do the same to me? So the\nwicked daughter did not gain her ambitious end after all.\n\nNot only that, however, but she and her sisters received a punishment,\none they are even now suffering, and will continue till the world ends.\nIt is this:\n\nWhen they found that the lord Sa Kyah would not marry their youngest\nsister or even accept their father's head, they said among themselves:\n\n\"What shall we do with the head of our father? Where shall we bury it?\nShould we place it in the earth the whole world would catch on fire;\nshould we throw it into the sea, all the seven oceans would immediately\nboil; what shall we do?\"\n\nIn their distress they went to the mighty lord Sa Kyah and in humble\ntones begged his lordship to give them advice so that they would be\nfreed from the terrible trouble to which their wickedness had brought\nthem. He looked at them and said:\n\n\"This is what you must do. You,\" pointing to the youngest, \"must carry\nyour father's head in your arms all this year, and when the year is\nfinished you can give it to the sister who is next older than yourself.\nShe will carry it for a year and thus one of you will ever after bear\nit.\"\n\nAnd so it is. We know when the year ends because then come the Wan Kyap\nor washing days, when the princess who has carried her father's head for\na year gives it to her elder sister and washes the bloodstains from her\nclothes.\n\nFrom these spirits all the inhabitants of the world are descended, and\nso we see the saying of our philosophers is true, \"We have all descended\nfrom spirits.\"\n\n\n\n\nHOW THE KING OF PAGAN CAUGHT THE THIEF.\n\n\nMany, many years ago there lived near the old city of Pagan a famous\nrobber chief who was so fierce and cruel that he made all men fear his\nname. He stole and killed and burned till the mothers used to frighten\ntheir disobedient children by saying, \"Boh Lek Byah will get thee.\" He\nwas a very brave and clever thief, and he became so strong that the\nheadmen and elders of all the towns and villages throughout the country\nwere obliged to fee him with money and goods, and if by any chance they\ndid not pay this blackmail immediately it was demanded, that very night\nthe followers of the robber chief would assuredly burn down their\nvillage and kill every man, woman, and child within it, for this was\nShan and Burmese custom.\n\nBoh Lek Byah entered every house in Pagan. None was too big, none too\nsmall. He stole from the _whon's_ house as easily as from the hut of the\npoor man; it made no difference to him, till at last the palace where\nthe great king lived was the only place whence he had not gotten booty.\nSeveral of his followers were caught and crucified, but that did not\nstop his bad actions or frighten him. In the old days, when a robber was\ncaught he was taken to the jungle where the tigers are. All the tigers\nknew the place of execution as well as a dog knows worship days when\nthe women offer rice and curry at the pagodas. They used to tie the\nthieves fast to the cross by their feet, hands, and hair, and when they\nhad jeered at them and the women and children had pelted them with\nstones and beaten them with bamboos, everybody went home and left them\nfor the tigers to eat, and thus they did to the followers of Maung Lek\nByah, but they could never catch the robber chief himself.\n\nAt last the people of Pagan city came to the Amat Loeng, who was next in\nrank to the king himself, and said:\n\n\"Our lord, for long thy slaves have been in great and sore trouble, and\nunless our lord takes pity upon his servants we shall all arrive at\ndestruction.\"\n\n\"What can I do?\" cried the _amat_, in a loud, angry voice, \"has he not\nstolen from me? Did I not pay him two whole _ticcals_ of pure silver as\nprotection money no later than the last Water Feast, and yet did he not\nrob me as I was coming home in my boat yesternight, and when I told him\nthat I was the Amat Loeng, did he not laugh in my face and yet rob me\njust the same. What can I do?\"\n\n\"Our lord can go to the Ruler of the Golden Palace and plead for his\nslaves,\" suggested one of the suppliants.\n\nNow, the Amat Loeng was a very cunning man, and he knew that if the king\nheard that Boh Lek Byah had stolen so much from his subjects he would be\nvery angry, and might perhaps even deprive him of his rank as chief\namat, for it was his duty to see that all robbers were caught and\npunished, therefore after thinking for a while, he said:\n\n\"My friends, listen to me; let us each give silver, as much as we can\nafford; it is better to give part of our possessions than to have\neverything taken from us. Dost hear? This silver we will give to the\n_boh_, and he will then not trouble us any more, but will go to towns\nwhere the people are poorer and cannot afford to give as much as we, the\ncitizens of this royal city of Pagan; then shall we have peace.\"\n\nThis advice was very good and would have been acted upon, but\nunfortunately, one of the little princes happened to be in the audience\nchamber that morning and heard what had been said. He went to his\nfather, the ruler of the Golden Palace, and told the king what he had\nheard; therefore his majesty called the _amat_ to the Golden Foot and\nasked him of these things.\n\n\"What is this I hear?\" he demanded. \"Has this wicked man robbed as much\nas the people say? Why hast thou not caught him as it was thy duty to\ndo?\"\n\n\"Son of the Sun,\" replied the servant, trembling very much as he kneeled\nbefore him, for who would not be afraid when the king is angry? \"it is\ntrue; but this thief is a very wicked and clever thief, besides which he\nhas a wonderful charm tattooed upon his body which is so potent that it\nmakes him invulnerable to wounds from sword or gun, neither can he be\nbound with ropes, therefore it hath been impossible for the slave of our\nlord the king to capture or harm him.\"\n\n\"Then,\" said the king, still very angry, \"get thee a charm still more\npotent than the one the robber chief hath, for if thou dost not bring\nhim or his head to me ere three days have elapsed, thou shalt fall from\nthy rank of chief _amat_. Dost thou hear?\"\n\nThe _amat_ bowed till his head touched the floor before the Golden Foot\nand he crawled away from the presence the most unhappy man in all the\nking's possessions. Then in great haste he ran to his house and called\nall the charm-makers in the city to come to him without delay. Then when\nthey had assembled before him he commanded them to make him a charm\nwhich would be stronger than the one tattooed upon the body of the\nrobber chief, Boh Lek Byah. But the charm-sellers one and all declared\nthat this was an impossibility, for the thief had upon the luckiest day\nof the whole year eaten a piece of flesh cut from the body of a murdered\nman, and so he could not be harmed in any way, neither was it in their\npower to give his lordship the amat a charm stronger than his.\n\nVery frightened was the amat when he heard this, and very frightened\nwere the soldiers who had been ordered to go with him and catch the\nthief. Their wives also cried all that night, for they knew what a\nterrible man the robber was, and how angry he would be with the men who\nhad dared come to capture him. He would show no mercy, and without doubt\nwould kill them all, and in derision send their heads back to the city\nafterward. This the robber had done before more than once to parties of\nsoldiers sent to take him.\n\nNow it happened that among the soldiers who followed the Amat Loeng was\none who had a very wise and clever wife, and when she saw her husband\nmarch away and knew the great danger that he and his fellows were in,\nshe went to the wife of another soldier, and this is what she said:\n\n\"Sister, oie, listen to my words. If we do naught but sit in our houses\nand weep our husbands will all assuredly arrive at destruction, for the\n_boh_ is a very cruel and cunning man. Of what use will our houses be to\nus if we have no husbands? Listen, therefore, to what I say. The man who\ncollects the blackmail for the _boh_ from the headman of a village\nacross the river and delivers it into his hand is well known to me. His\nname is Maung Gyei, and he sells books in the bazaar. He is a very wise\nman, and knows all the followers of the Boh Lek Byah. Let our husbands\nfight the _boh_ with silver. It is sharper than a sword, and injures not\nthe man who handles it skillfully. We will collect all the money we can.\nI will sell my earrings, thou canst sell thy bracelets, and the wives of\nall the other soldiers can do likewise. This will bring a big bag of\nsilver, and half of it we will give to Maung Gyei. He will then call\nsome of the followers of the _boh_ to a secret place and tell him that\nthe Amat Loeng will give him the balance in return for the head of their\nmaster, if they take it to his lordship ere three days have have\nelapsed. Our husbands will then bring the head of this wicked man to the\nroyal palace and lay it before the Golden Foot; they will reap much\nhonor and glory for having fulfilled the order of the king and the\ncountry will be freed from this great trouble.\"\n\nNow, when the wives of the other soldiers heard these words they\nperceived that she was indeed a very clever woman, fit to be the wife of\na great _amat_ instead of a common soldier, and one ran swiftly after\nthe _amat_ and his men, for in truth they had not gone far, but were\ntraveling slowly, because they feared to come up with the _boh_ and his\nfierce followers; and they were filled with joy at the good news the\nmessenger brought them. At the order of the _amat_ his men hid\nthemselves in a thick jungle till the money should be collected and\nbrought to them.\n\nAfter two days and when it was very dark, a man came to them saying that\nhe was the friend of Maung Gyei, and bore with him the head of the\nrobber chief, and thereupon showed it wrapped up in a cloth. Then were\nthe soldiers full of joy again, and they paid the money to him, and that\nnight they slept peacefully, for they knew that their enemy could harm\nthem no more, and that they had been delivered from the great danger\nwhich had been threatening them. Before they slept the _amat_ sent a\nswift messenger to the city to tell the king the good news that the\nrobber chief was dead, and that they were bearing his head with them and\nwould present it before the Golden Foot the next morning.\n\nNext day, therefore, at the head of his men, he marched to the Golden\nPalace, and the people of the city were so full of joy over the fact\nthat Boh Lek Byah was dead, that great numbers followed the procession\nto the palace gates in the hopes of getting a glimpse at the head of\ntheir enemy, and everybody praised the Amat Loeng for his bravery and\nwisdom in killing the robber chief who had oppressed them so sorely. His\nwife also called musicians and dancers, and gave orders to her servants\nto prepare a great feast that night in honor of her brave husband. They\nreached the Golden Foot and knelt before the throne, but when the basket\nwas opened, behold, it contained the head of another man, and not that\nof the _boh_ at all.\n\nThen did all the people in the city laugh at the _amat_ because his\nenemy had deceived him, and he fell from his rank of chief _amat_. All\nhis golden umbrellas were taken away from him and given to his\nsuccessor, and he was obliged to earn his living by selling medicines in\nbazaar, and from that day till he died he bore the nickname of Amat Toak\nArah;[6] but the people all praised the cleverness of his enemy, the\nthief.\n\nNow, when the king saw how cunning Boh Lek Byah was and how easily he\nhad deceived his servant, he determined that he himself would take the\nrobber chief and thus gain great credit and renown. To this end he gave\norders to the headman of every village throughout his kingdom that\ndirectly the robber should come within his jurisdiction he was to report\nimmediately, and the king would send a trusty officer to arrest him. He\ndid not tell them that he himself would go, therefore for a long time\nthe headmen feared to obey the order of the king for, said they among\nthemselves: \"The _boh_ deceived the Amat Loeng, who was one of the most\ncunning of men, and will he not escape from any other whom it should\nplease our lord the king to send against him? Is there any more cunning\nman in the palace now than before? When he finds out also that we have\nreported his presence to the king his mind will become hot against us,\nand he will without doubt return and destroy all our houses and kill\neverybody in our village. Nay, it is better to give him silver and beg\nhim begone elsewhere,\" so although they told the messengers of the king\nthey would follow his words, they simply held their peace when the\ndreaded robber chief was near their village.\n\nBut after a long time the headman of Myo Haung, who was braver than his\nfellows, came to the palace and told the king that the _boh_ was then at\nhis village, and would leave when it became dark, taking boat for Myo\nKywe, which was a suburb of the city of Pagan.\n\nThe heart of the king was filled with joy when he heard this piece of\ngood news, and he gave the headman a great reward. Also he took off the\nroyal robes such as is the custom of kings to wear, and put on very poor\nones so that no one would think that he was the lord who ate the country\nof Pagan. He also took with him a sword; not the royal sword with the\nsilver sheath and ivory handle, but an old dah with a wooden handle\nbound around with rattan string, and a sheath of wood, such as the\ncommon people carry, then he went to the bank of the river near Myo\nKywe and waited. He waited long, but his heart was strong and he did not\nbecome discouraged by reason of the waiting, and at last he saw coming\ndown the river a small boat, and in it a man whom he knew immediately to\nbe the thief.\n\nMaung Lek Byah guided his boat toward the bank near where the king was\nseated, for he was a skillful oarsman, and when he had fastened it with\na rattan loop to the end of his oar stuck into the soft mud at the\nwater's edge he ascended the path to the village, and as he reached the\ntop of the bank he caught sight of the king in his dingy clothes and\nwearing the old sword with the wooden handle, sitting on the side of the\npath.\n\nHe was surprised to see a man there at that time of night, for the gongs\nwhich call the priests and old women to worship had sounded long before,\nand everybody in the village was sound asleep, therefore he gazed\nearnestly at the king and then called out:\n\n\"Who is that?\"\n\n\"It is a man who wishes to arrive at the rank of disciple to our lord,\"\nreplied the king.\n\n\"Art thou a man of the day or a man of the night?\" asked the robber\nlooking down at him.\n\n\"Thy servant is a man of the night,\" replied the king.\n\n\"Hast thou not heard how many of my followers have been caught and\nexecuted? How that the tigers at the entering in of the villages will\nnot now eat oxen but wait till one of my men is tied up for them? I\ntell thee they have not long to wait either. Art thou not afraid?\"\n\n\"Ah, our lord,\" replied the king, \"thy disciples suffered because they\ndid not take heed and follow in the footsteps of our lord, therefore\nhave they arrived at destruction; but thy servant will study thee, O\npayah, and thus will I learn how to become a great _boh_ and also to\nescape their fate.\"\n\nNow when the king talked in this fashion the _boh_ was very pleased with\nhim, and gave him permission to follow. He also promised to teach his\nnew disciple all his arts; that he would not let him ever be caught and\nwould make him as famous a _boh_ even as he was. \"And so,\" said he, \"as\nthou hast a sword with thee, follow me. I will give thee thy first\nlesson.\"\n\nNow it happened that as they walked along toward the city the thief\nbegan to think within himself, \"Who can this new disciple be? He surely\ncomes from a high family, for he speaks not like the common people, but\nas kings have a custom of speaking. He wears the clothes of a common\nman, and carries the sword of a coolie, but yet his words are the words\nof one used to command. Can he be a spy sent by the _amat_ whom I\ntricked so nicely the other day, I wonder?\" and thus he turned it over\nand over in his mind.\n\nThe _hpeas_ have ever aided the kings of Burma, and now those whom the\nking had been in the habit of feeding daily were watching over him, and\nwhen they heard the _boh_ thus talk with himself, for the spirits can\nhear us think even when we make no sounds of words, they put it into\nthe head of the robber to go to the house of the king's own astrologer.\nIt was not very far and they soon arrived there. Then Maung Lek Byah\nsaid to the king:\n\n\"Stay thou here and watch; if thou dost see or hear aught come and call\nme,\" but he himself went under the house of the astrologer to discover\nwhether he slept or not. When he knew that the man was sound asleep he\nwould draw a sharp knife which he carried in his girdle, cut a hole in\nthe mat side of the house, creep in through this hole and take what he\nwished; then he would escape before the lord of the house awoke.\n\nAs he was watching, however, he heard the astrologer come out upon the\nveranda so that he could study the stars, for that was his custom; then\nhe heard him say to himself:\n\n\"Truly this is a good thing to marvel at, for I see the star of that\nfamous robber chief, Boh Lek Byah, and following it closely is the star\nof none other than the ruler of the Golden Palace himself.\"\n\nFor a long time the astrologer sat upon his veranda pondering over this\nstrange occurrence and trying to think what it should portend; but in\nvain. He could think of no solution of the mystery, so after again\nsaying that it was a good thing to marvel at he gave it up and went into\nhis house to sleep.\n\nThus did the thief discover the high rank of his new disciple, for the\nastrologer knew the star of the _boh_ well and would make no mistake. He\nalso knew the star of the king. Had this same astrologer not cast the\nhoroscope of the robber chief and foretold which days were lucky and\nwhich unlucky to him, so that by taking heed he had never been caught?\nTherefore when he again came forth from under the royal astrologer's\nhouse and saw the king was still waiting without, even as he had given\norders, his mind was filled with great fear.\n\nThen said the king directly he saw the robber: \"O Kin Byah, thy servant\nknows a place where there are so many rubies that they are as common as\n_maknin_ seeds that the children play with in the dust; gold is as\nplentiful as iron is with us, and there is enough silk to stock ten\nbazaars. All this is within reach of our hands. I can guide thee to the\nplace, for I know it well; wilt thou follow?\"\n\nThen said the thief: \"I know of but one place of which thou canst say\nthat with truth, and that is the Golden Palace; but a man may not enter\nthere and live. Knowest thou not that the guards carry sharp _dahs_, and\nthat if a man is caught there without permission from the king or one of\nhis _amats_, he is immediately impaled? In very truth it is a place good\nto shun and fear greatly, even as the den of a hungry tiger in the\njungle.\"\n\n\"True, O brave man,\" replied the king, \"but this evening as I passed by\nthe palace I saw hanging from the top of the wall a rope-ladder; we can\nclimb over, take enough to make us rich for the rest of our lives, and\nrun away before the guards with the sharp _dahs_ discover that we have\nbeen there. Thus shall we earn much wealth and glory, and people\nthroughout the land will call our lord the 'Boh Who Entered the Golden\nPalace,' and all men will fear his name more than the name of a hungry\nleopard.\"\n\nThen were the thoughts of the _boh_ in great confusion, and he said to\nhimself: \"Of a truth I am about to arrive at destruction at last. I have\nhad my last adventure. If I do not follow the king he will assuredly\ncall out to the guard and I shall be taken. If I go, how shall I be\ndelivered from the great dangers which will surround me in the Golden\nPalace? I am undone whichever way I take.\"\n\nThen said he to the king: \"O disciple, whom I love much, I fear to enter\nthe Golden Palace, for this I perceive is one of my unlucky days. We\nwill therefore go to Pin Tha village, for I saw this morning a great\nnumber of coolies there. They were following a great prince from the\nhills. They have been traveling far to-day and are therefore heavy with\nsleep, and we can despoil them of as much as we can carry away. As they\nare very weary with their journey, none will know aught till they awake\nin the morning.\"\n\n\"Upon what day wast thou born?\" demanded the king, and the _boh_ said\nthat it was upon a Saturday.\n\n\"Then,\" said the king, \"behold! this is a lucky day,\" and he drew forth\nfrom under his jacket a horoscope, which showed that this was a lucky\nday upon which a man who had been born upon a Saturday could undertake\nany deed requiring great wisdom and bravery in its accomplishment, and\nin spite of all that Maung Lek Byah could say the king led the way\ntoward the palace, and the _boh_ was obliged to follow him, which he did\nwith very slow and hesitating steps, for his heart had become as weak as\nwater.\n\nEven as the king had said, there was a rope-ladder hanging over the\npalace wall, and the _boh_ perceived in what manner the king had left\nthe Golden Palace, but being a very wise man he followed without opening\nhis mouth.\n\nThey passed through the palace courtyard and saw there a thing good to\nmarvel at; all the guards who ought to have been watching their lord\nwere slumbering, so that the king and the _boh_ gathered up all the\nspears and _dahs_ belonging to these men and carried them away, hiding\nthem in a secret place under one of the houses.\n\nAs they entered the palace buildings the thief became so full of alarm\nthat all his strength left him and he could hardly walk. Then the king\nsaw that his follower had arrived at great fear, and as they passed the\nhouse where the royal food was prepared, he said:\n\n\"Friend, I perceive that thou art in sore distress; come, eat the food I\nam about to prepare for thee and thou wilt become strong.\"\n\n\"Nay,\" said the _boh_, \"that I cannot do. Can a common man eat of the\ngolden food and live? This will I not do; surely I should be accounted\nworthy of death.\" The king would not listen to him, but entered the\nroyal kitchen, and with his own hands cooked some food which he\ncompelled the thief to eat.\n\nNow, the king had prepared two messes, one in which he had cunningly\nplaced some opium and one without, and it was the food which contained\nthe opium that the king gave to the _boh_. Therefore, after a little\ntime, he said to the king:\n\n\"O disciple of mine, I know not what is the matter with me. I have no\nstrength and although it is death to sleep in the Golden Palace yet must\nI sleep, for if I do not I shall surely die.\"\n\nAs he said these words his head drooped upon his chest, his eyes closed\nand he fell asleep. Once more was the heart of the king filled with joy\nand he bound the _boh_ with strong ropes in great haste and made him a\nprisoner.\n\nEarly the next morning the king called the officer who was in charge of\nthe guard the night before and when he was come before the face of his\nmajesty, the king said:\n\n\"I have a parable to tell thee. Once upon a time there was a great king\nand in his country was also a famous robber chief and, behold, one night\nthe king was sore troubled with questions of statecraft so that he could\nnot sleep, therefore he walked throughout his palace. As he was passing\nthrough the courtyard he spied a ladder hanging from the top of the\nwall. Now the thief of whom I have spoken had that very night entered\nthe Golden Palace and at that same moment the king caught sight of him,\nloaded down with plunder, creeping toward the rope ladder beside which\nhe stood. Then the king fell upon him and took him prisoner, bound him\nsecurely with strong ropes and dragged him to a safe place; but the\nsoldiers who should have been watching were all asleep. What should be\ndone to such guards as these?\"\n\nNow the officer did not yet know that the _dahs_ of his men had been\nstolen, so bowing before the Golden Foot, he replied:\n\n\"Head of thy servant's body, there is but one thing to be done, they are\nworthy of death. Their lord should pass judgment upon them without mercy\nand that immediately.\"\n\n\"That is a good judgment,\" replied the king, and turning again to the\nofficer of the guard, he said:\n\n\"Last night I saw the great and renowned robber chief, Boh Lek Byah, in\nthis palace. I took him prisoner with mine own hands, behold, he lies\ntied fast with ropes in yonder room, but all the guards who should have\nbeen watching were asleep. Where are their _dahs_? Let every man who has\nno sword be impaled before I eat my morning rice.\"\n\nThen were the hearts of the king's _amats_ full of joy when they heard\nthat the thief whom they all feared was a prisoner in the palace, and\nthey praised the wondrous bravery and subtlety of their royal master,\nsaying that without doubt he was the bravest and wisest king who ever\nsat under a white umbrella.\n\nThe king was very proud as he listened to their praises and gave orders\nthat the robber chief should be brought before him.\n\nWhen Boh Lek Byah was led to the Golden Foot he prostrated himself, and\nthe king said:\n\n\"If a man be found in the royal palace at night what hath custom decreed\nshould be the punishment for his presumption?\"\n\nThen the prisoner said: \"King above all kings, it is death.\"\n\n\"Hast thou anything to say why thou shouldst not be impaled or given to\nthe tigers to eat?\" demanded the king in a terrible voice.\n\n\"Lord of the world,\" replied the unfortunate man, \"last night thou didst\nask to become disciple to our lord's slave. Will the disciple order his\nteacher to be executed? When our lord's slave was beneath the royal\nastrologer's house he discovered that his new disciple was the Eater of\nthe Country and so when our lord of the Golden Palace ordered his slave\nto enter, he would have been worthy of death had he not obeyed. Will the\nSon of the Sun execute his slave for following his words?\"\n\nThen when the king heard that the robber had known who he really was, he\nmarveled much at his wisdom, and said:\n\n\"Assuredly thou art too wise a man for the tigers to eat. Take thou\nyonder sword, it belonged to him who yesterday was captain of the royal\nguard. Follow me and thou shalt later become my chief _amat_.\"\n\n[6] Literally, \"The counselor who fell from his rank,\" _i. e._, was\ndegraded.\n\n\n\n\nGLOSSARY OF TERMS\n\n\nPUC. Curry.\n\nZAYAT. A place built for the accommodation of travelers, also used as an\nassembly place for worship, especially during religious feasts; they are\nusually built near monasteries.\n\nPARAH. (Burmese, _payah_) a god; an image of Gautama Buddha.\n\nKAM. Luck.\n\nMAU. To be skillful.\n\nAMAT LOeNG. The chief amat or chief counselor of a prince.\n\nSOIE. The Indian \"_viss_\"; a weight equal to about three and a half\npounds avoirdupois.\n\nCHATTIE. A cooking pot, usually made of earthenware.\n\nHUeK. A deep rent in the earth with steep sides; a ravine; a torrent\nusually runs in it during the rainy season, but it is dry in the hot\nseason.\n\nHPEA. Spirit or supernatural being.\n\nAMAT. A minister of State.\n\nHSAN. A rice bag.\n\nNANG ME PRAH. A queen.","title":"Shan Folk Lore Stories from the Hill and Water Country","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":28674}