Dr. Tin Win - Stories that will make you happy and educated

Pot of gold (1)

I want to tell my grandchildren stories. Listening to the stories with my ears is a kind of pleasure. I will try to write them down so that my children and grandchildren who are already reading this book can listen to them without losing their taste. I want my grandchildren to read the book attentively and think deeply. This is a progressive era, and we should not use the method of taking everything as it is given. I do not want them to be bored by reading them casually, thinking that it is just stories. The way my grandmother will tell the stories will make the stories told by the Buddha easy for the young generation to understand, and will remind them to think where they need to think. It is necessary to develop not only the memory, but also the desire to explore and study the information extensively. In order for our grandchildren to be better than them, they need to think, analyze, disseminate and experiment.

What I will tell you now is the first of five hundred and fifty stories. Long ago,

There was a king named Brahmadatta who ruled in the land of Varanasi. As you continue reading, you will come across stories that begin with the words “long ago.” The person who ruled the country will also be referred to as Brahmadatta. Although we are not talking about one person, the fact that such names are used is because they are very old and distant in time.

I will continue to tell you. Thus, during the reign of King Brahmadatta in Varanasi, the Buddha was born into a family of cart merchants. When he reached the age of maturity, he traveled around with five hundred carts and sold goods. The cart merchants sometimes went from east to west and traded. Sometimes they went from west to east.

When we read stories about people trading with carts, we often think that they are just stories. In ancient times, animals that could carry goods from one country to another, such as donkeys and camels, were used to transport various goods. In ancient times, they were popular. They are still used in some countries of the world. Especially people living in desert countries travel through the desert and trade. In the eastern countries, they also organized groups of goods and sold them. Although they were not aware of it, it is known from literature. For example, in China, the main trade route was silk, but other goods were also transported and traded, which was called the Silk Road. There was also a Silk Road that passed through Myanmar. It is a trade route that has existed for thousands of years.

I want to make sure that the events in the Bwa Bwa story really happened in the real world, so I include those events.

Now let's continue the story.

Like the Buddha, there was another merchant who led a large caravan and traded. That merchant was not very intelligent. In other words, he often did things without thinking.

When the season for trade arrived, the Buddha was preparing to travel after purchasing valuable goods from Varanasi. At that time, the Buddha heard that the merchant mentioned earlier was also preparing everything to sell his goods.

That is what the Buddha thought. “If he and I travel together, the road will be narrow and difficult for a thousand wagons to travel. It will be difficult for the people to get drinking water. There may not be enough firewood to cook rice. It will be difficult to get enough water for the cows to drink and grass to eat. It would be better if he and I could travel together.”

Then he called the cart merchant on the other side and explained the reason. After explaining this, he said, “You and I cannot travel at the same time. Therefore, you can go first if you want to go early, and you can go later if you want to go late.” Checheche means to speak politely and calmly.

The Buddha cart merchant said, "If I go faster, I will make more money. I will be able to go on a new road that many carts have not traveled before. The cows will eat the grass that has not been eaten. The cartmen will pick the vegetables that no one else has picked. The water will be clear because there are no competitors and I will be able to set the price as I wish." Then he said, "Friend, I will go faster."

The Buddha accepted with pleasure. The cart merchant who was going to go first and the Buddha thought differently. They thought the same thing. The Buddha thought, "The one who goes first will clear the road and make a ditch so that they can walk on it. We will go on the road that is so smooth. The cows who go first will eat the hard, rough grass because the new leaves have not yet sprouted. When their cows finish eating, the new leaves will sprout, so our cows will eat the soft, tender grass."

I will go later and sell it at the agreed price.” I thought to myself. I think that since people are different, it is obvious that people have different opinions. The Buddha agreed with the cart seller who said that I would go first.

The cart merchant who left quickly passed the villages and entered the desert. There were monsters in that desert. There was no water. The cartmen filled large pots with water and carried them away.

When they reached the middle of the desert, the cannibals saw a caravan led by a cart merchant. It was easier to kill people who were starving and thirsty than to kill people who had plenty of water in the desert. As the cannibals had repeatedly lured weak people, those who thought only of the short term and not of the long term, they created water so that their entire body was wet from the hair down to the tips of their hair. They tied lotus flowers to their ears and made them look like they were wearing them. They also bit the lotus roots and fangs and ate them. Such water and lotus flowers were not real. They were created by the cannibals, they were fake.

The giant king came, sitting on a cart with a lotus flower on his head and his whole body covered in water. When the carts met, they passed each other, talking. The giant started talking and asked what goods the last cart that came with a big load of water was carrying, and the uneducated cart merchant answered that it was water pots. The giant said that water was needed. But if you go further, there are lakes, ponds, and water. Look at us, the young men have started to pick the lotus flowers. The lotus ponds are so full of water that there are many broken lotus roots. If you carry water pots, the cart will only be too heavy and the oxen will be tired.

Then, after avoiding each other, the cart said that they would continue on their way, and the monster disappeared from sight and returned to their village. The foolish cart merchant ordered his men to break open the water pots that were loaded with one cart and pour out the water.

The foolish and inconsiderate cart driver and his cart driver continued their journey. The longer they traveled in the desert, the more thirsty they became. The temperature was high. Although they were thirsty, they reached the places where the giants had indicated that there were lakes and ponds, and they did not find any lakes or ponds until they had passed through them. They believed the giants' trick. After a long time without water, the people and the cattle became so hungry that they could not move. They camped and slept. When night came, the giants killed and ate the exhausted people and cattle.

The unwise cart merchant believed in the deception of others, and so the cart and its oxen became food for the giants. The place where they had camped was littered with human and oxen bones. The carts were left full of goods.