Sagaing U Bo Thin - Enjoy the sea

When the British government established the military state in Upper Burma, it encouraged and established schools in the ethnic languages ​​to provide support in the administration. Since monks could play an important role in the establishment of such schools to teach literature, they gave special encouragement to the schools. U Thila Sara Thaw became very famous as the principal of the seventh grade of Shwe Taung U Maw Kyaung in Sagaing. Many of his students were clerks, town administrators, and other high and low officials. As it was a very popular school in Sagaing, U Thila Sara Thaw received a certificate of honor and a silk robe from the government. The school has not been destroyed and has remained as U Toe's high school to this day.

U Thila Sara himself preferred charity over selfishness, and was a place of worship for orphaned children and young people from far-off towns and villages, and he taught literature to at least 50 students every year, even at their own expense. Among such orphaned students of U Thila Sara, two students named Maung Tonta and Maung Nampein, who had no parents and no obvious talent, were the beginning of this story.

Maung Tonta and Maung Nampein were educated at that school with the support of U Thila Sara, and when they passed the fourth grade, they were over 15 years old, so they entered the Shin Samane Baung. At that time, Maung Tonta and Maung Nampein did not have enough food and clothing in the Shin Samane Baung, so they changed into ordinary clothes and left Shwe Taung U Maw Kyaung quietly so that the Sayadaw Buddha would not know.

Maung Hwa Bein left the school and separated from Maung Ton Ta and went to the lower regions where there was plenty of work. He came to Mawlamyine alone as a lone traveler. At that time, Mawlamyine was a big city with a very good rice and timber market, and was full of rich people. Maung Nam Bein was looking for work in a monastery there, as was the custom of the educated, when he met a big woodcutter. The big woodcutter, seeing Maung Nam Bein's strength and appearance, took him in as a servant to do hard work, providing him with food and clothing.

Maung Nampein worked honestly and without any pretense for the chief, so after about two months he gained the chief's trust and went with him to the forest as usual. At that time, Maung Nampein received five kyats a month as his salary, but he only ate the rice and snacks provided by the chief, wore only the clothes provided by the chief, and returned his salary to the chief. However, Maung Nampein worked faithfully and honestly as the chief asked him to, so the chief gradually turned his back on his work and gave him opportunities to work. Sometimes, Maung Nampein was sent out to pay the workers and cut down the trees, so Maung Nampein became the chief's agent. In this way, after about 10 years, Maung Nampein earned 80 kyats a month, and with the help of the chief of the woodcutter and by lending money to the woodcutters at a low interest rate, he became a wealthy young man of about 5,000 kyats. Although Maung Nampein was such a wealthy young man, he was a young man who did not understand pleasure, was free from gambling, and did not associate with Chinese restaurants. In addition, he lived with his master, the chief of the woodcutter, and received maintenance and allowances, and he entrusted his money to the chief of the woodcutter.

The old man was very impressed with Maung Nampein's food habits and work habits, and he was very honest and upright, kind and considerate to his subordinates, and loyal to young women. However, he did not yet know Maung Nampein's talents and the qualities of a good man. Once, in the summer, when he was busy with work, he went to Ceylon to study the local knowledge and to visit the Buddha's tomb. Then, when Maung Nampein met Englishmen and other foreigners, he saw that he could speak English fluently, and Maung Nampein always remained in the heart of the old man.

When Maung Nampein was traveling with the Thithakaws in Ceylon, the Thithakaws asked Maung Nampein why he had learned these languages, since they were the only languages ​​spoken by the Thithakaws in Magadha, Sinhala, and English. Maung Nampein replied, "I do not waste my time in vain. Whenever I have free time, I study Sinhala, Magadha, and English by heart from the Norman schoolmaster Mahabila. Mahabila was a very modest man, but a very high-minded person, and he taught me, as I wanted to learn, the Thithakaws, and the other subjects I wanted to learn." He went back to his secret education and said, "I will teach you everything you need to know, starting with the Thithakaws."

When the chieftain had returned from Ceylon to his own country about five years ago, he and his wife, Daw Kon Ma, were old and weak, and after consulting with his wife, he arranged for his daughter, Amar, who was as dear to him as his own life, to be married to Maung Nam Pein, who was a single man and had few relatives. Maung Nam Pein refused, saying that it would not be appropriate for him to love Amar as a younger sister, but the chieftain did not want his daughter to be separated from Maung Nam Pein, and he constantly urged Maung Nam Pein, who was a man of integrity and uprightness, to show him the way of righteousness. Moreover, since Amar also loved Maung Nam Pein, Maung Nam Pein had to listen to his teacher.

In this way, after giving Maung Nampein and Amara a home, after a long time, the wives of the chiefs of the forest and the chiefs of the forest passed away without violating the principles of morality. Maung Nampein continued to work as a carpenter, and because of his diligence, honesty, and diligence, he was able to receive good karma and became a wealthy man in the forest industry. The rich man U Nampein and Daw Amara also had a daughter, Thithi, born to him. When she reached adulthood, U Nampein taught his daughter English literature in their own town, and when she finished her studies in their town, he sent her to Ceylon to study.

U Nam Pein and his family also entered into contracts with foreign merchants and started working in the timber industry, so the business was particularly profitable, so they had to build a large sailing ship to transport timber from the island. At that time, the World War I suddenly broke out like a heavy rain, destroying the business world, but U Nam Pein and his family... in line with the saying that one person is better than another, and the reasons for this were as follows. In Europe, the war was especially intense, so all jobs were destroyed, and the timber industry was also severely damaged. Therefore, large quantities of timber had to be shipped to England to be packed. These timbers had to be shipped to other allied countries in Europe. Since large ships did not dare to go to Ceylon and Singapore, the shipping lanes were very narrow, so U Nam Bein's sailing ship was used as a merchant ship and when he saw the opportunity to travel to Ceylon and Singapore, he even had to build another sailing ship. At that time, U Nam Bein's business was very straightforward, so he did not believe in the words "poor" and "unsuitable" and took advantage of the opportunity.

U Nampein's friend U Ton Ta is also wealthy in Mandalay, so we will learn about him in the future. So, starting with these two very hard-working and poor friends, we base the novel Sea Life on them.

Thithi's ability

Thithi was studying at the university in Ceylon, and her academic achievements were as commendable as any other woman's, so there is no need to mention her. Thithi's unique skills were that she was very skilled in household management, such as cooking and serving, and she was also very skilled in driving a petrol train (motorcar). In addition, she was also very fond of going out to sea and learning to row, row, sail, and swim in the sea, and was especially skilled in this, so she was given the title of Mae Sinraw by her fellow students.