Burmese Monk's Tales
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Buddhism / Folk Tales B urmese Monk’s Tales Burmese Burmese Monk’s Monk’s Tales Tales The Burmese Monk’s Tales contained in this collection were first told during that dark decade of Burmese history (1876–85), when the coming event of the C British conquest of the whole country was perturbing M the Burmese people. For the first time since the Y eleventh century the future of Burmese Buddhism CM became uncertain, and there was widespread fear, MY both in Upper Burma still under a Burmese king and C CY o in Lower Burma already under British rule, that the and introduced by llected, translated, CMY final fall of the Burmese kingdom would result in the Maung Htin Aung K total extinction of both the national religion and the Burmese way of life. Told with the purpose of allaying this anxiety and fear, these tales give a full and faithful résumé and appraisal of the position of Burmese Buddhism on the eve of the British conquest of 1886. Pariyatti Press Collected, translated, and introduced by 867 Larmon Road Onalaska, Washington 98570 www.pariyatti.org Maung Htin Aung $11.95 US This eBook is offered freely. If you wish, you may donate and help us continue offering our services. May you be happy! To make a donation, please visit: www.pariyatti.org PARIYATTI 867 Larmon Road Onalaska, Washington 98570 USA 360.978.4998 www.pariyatti.org Pariyatti is a nonprofit organization dedicated to enriching the world by: v Disseminating the words of the Buddha v Providing sustenance for the seeker’s journey v Illuminating the meditator’s path Burmese Monk’s Tales COLLECTED, TRANSLATED, AND INTRODUCED BY Maung Htin Aung PARIYATTI PRESS an imprint of Pariyatti Publishing 867 Larmon Road, Onalaska, WA 98570 www.pariyatti.org © 2016 Pariyatti All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without the written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. ISBN: 978-1-68172-048-7 (Print) ISBN: 978-1-68172-049-4 (PDF) ISBN: 978-1-93875-440-1 (ePub) ISBN: 978-1-93875-441-8 (Mobi) Library of Congress Control Number: 2016909916 First Pariyatti Edition, 2016 Maung Htin Aung was a Visiting Professor at Wake Forest College, 1965–66. He was the Rector of the University of Rangoon from 1946 to 1958, and the Vice- Chancellor in 1959. He was the author of Burmese Drama (1937), Burmese Folk- Tales (1948), Burmese Law Tales (1962), Folk Elements in Burmese Buddhism (1962), and The Stricken Peacock: An Account of Anglo-Burmese Relations 1752– 1948 (1965). Design on title page: an excerpt from The Pageant of King Mindon (1865). Royal palanquin derived by Warren Infield from a contemporary document reproduced in Memoirs of the Archaeological Survey of India (1925). Acknowledgments My grateful thanks are due to the Venerable Aggamahápaóðita Thiri Sayadaw, head of the Thiri Mingalaryone Monastery, Kemmendine, Rangoon, and a member of the Council of Ten Great Abbots of the Dwarya sect, for his guidance and advice in my study of the history of Buddhism in Burma. My grateful thanks are also due to Professor U E. Maung, M.A., Emeritus Professor of Burmese in the University of Rangoon, and his wife (my elder sister) Daw Mya Mu, M.A., formerly Reader in Burmese at the same University, for their guidance and help. I also take this opportunity to express my appreciation of the following former pupils of mine who assisted me in the compilation of this work: U Ohn Gaing, B.A., B.L., C.A., of the Port of Rangoon, and U Ba Thein, BA., B.L., of the Burma Audit and Accounts Service. This is the second of two books which I was able to complete as a scholar- in-residence at Columbia University in the School of International Affairs during the academic year 1963–64, and for that privilege and opportunity I am grateful to President Grayson Kirk and Dean Andrew W. Cordier. MAUNG HTIN AUNG Uris Hall Columbia University in the City of New York June 30, 1965 Table of Contents Acknowledgments Introduction 1 Burmese Buddhism on the Eve of British Conquest ...................................3 Tales by the Thingazar Sayadaw 29 1. The Hungry Man from the Hills ........................................................31 2. Gourd Is Forgotten and Gold Is Remembered ....................................32 3. The Cucumber Alchemist ...................................................................33 4. A Cure for Asthma .............................................................................34 5. The Head-Clerk Who Could Not Wait for the Dawn.........................36 6. The Puppet Master Who Yawned Away the Night ..............................38 7. The Novice Who Jeered at the Sabbath-Keepers .................................39 8. Mistress Cold Who Sold Pickled Fish .................................................41 9. The Mother Who Wept with Her Son-in-Law ....................................42 10. The Monastery-Donor Who Had His Eyes Washed ..........................44 11. The Shaven-Head Who Preferred Pork to Cabbage ...........................46 12. Lucky and Unlucky Days .................................................................47 13. Saturday-Borns .................................................................................49 14. Aloft the Plum Tree ..........................................................................50 15. The Father and His Absent Sons .......................................................51 16. The Dead Monk without a Funeral Pyre ..........................................52 17. To Each His Own Foot ....................................................................53 18. The Hillman’s Revenge .....................................................................54 19. The Monk and the Dwindling Tiger .................................................55 20. When Will the Monk Return? ..........................................................57 21. The Old Maid Who Waited for Her Lover .......................................58 22. The Village Which Liked Long Sermons ..........................................59 23. The Novice Who Mutinied against His Abbot ..................................61 24. The Two Monks Who Fought ..........................................................62 25. The Eavesdropper .............................................................................63 26. The Old Widow and the Thief .........................................................65 27. A Question of Seniority ....................................................................66 28. Soft Music Is Better than Medicine ..................................................67 29. The Widow Who Lost Her Silver Coins ...........................................68 30. Mistress Monastery-Donor Who Broke into a Dance .......................70 31. One Prescription Is Enough .............................................................71 32. How Master Lazybones Obtained a Wife .........................................73 33. Why the Tawny Dog Ran Away .......................................................75 34. The Abbot Who Missed His Lay Brother .........................................76 35. Monk Lily Tray from East Rangoon .................................................77 36. The Monk Who Became an Oil-Vendor ...........................................78 37. Master Extraordinary and the Glutinous Rice ..................................80 38. Master Tall and the Buffaloes ...........................................................81 39. The Haughty Ferryman ....................................................................82 40. The Farmer Who Was Afraid of His Wife .........................................84 41. The Townsman Who Pitied the Blacksmith ......................................85 42. The Son-in-Law Who Talked Like an Advocate ................................86 43. The Caravan-Leader Who Bought a Coconut ...................................87 44. Can You Spell “Buffalo”? ..................................................................88 45. The Man from Middle Burma ..........................................................89 46. The Ever-Moving Letter “0” .............................................................90 47. The Writing on the Wall ...................................................................91 48. Yesterday, the Hair-Knot; Today, Shaven-Head .................................93 49. The Monk and the Farmer’s Wife .....................................................95 50. Master Talkative and His Dark-Skinned Wife ..................................98 51. A Forest-Dweller Should Know How To Sing and Dance .................99 52. The Origin of Conical Hats ............................................................101 53. Master Doll Who Journeyed to Rangoon To Sell Tobacco Leaves ...103 54. The Monk Who Hated Music ........................................................105 55. I Ran Because the Other Ran .........................................................106 56. The Mad Abbot and His Confessional ............................................107 57. The Ecclesiastical Censor Who Lost His Self ..................................109 58. Disputations with King Mindon ....................................................111 59. The Great Monk in Despair ...........................................................116 Tales by Other Monks 119 1. How the Pole Star Changed Its Place ................................................121 2. The Quiet Chicken ..........................................................................121