Nat Nwe - Northern Myanmar

Chapter -(1)

Look at the forest. Look at the mountain. There is also a forest on the mountain. The forest and the mountain are the surface of this region. The forest is adjacent to the mountain, and the plain is just the boundary between one mountain and another.

They would soon reach the edge of the forest. On one side of the forest was a mountain. There was a stream between the forest and the mountain. But they couldn't see it from where they were.

They had been traveling for almost a whole day, going up and down mountains, going down and up mountains. Of all the forests they had crossed today, this one was the widest. Beyond this point, there was no more forest. There were only mountain clearings and lowlands. No problem. This was tomorrow's journey. For today, they would camp at the beginning of the Taw Alo mountain. There were huts at the foot of the mountain where travelers could rest and sleep. That was why they were walking briskly to reach the forest in the sun.

The winter days in this region are shorter. The mountains are dense. The fog is thick. The sun rises from the top of the mountain and sets at the top of the mountain. The fog and white clouds hide in the mountain belts. It is like waiting for the snow. The fog that comes from the ground and the snow that falls from the rain do not want to leave until the sun is high. When the sun goes down, the fog is first on the low mountains. It is parallel to the twilight. Then the snow comes. It is dark and follows.

They were now beginning to climb the hill imperceptibly. The forest was gone. The ground was turning browner.

"Come on, let's reach the forest before the sun sets."

The Kanan man who was walking ahead spoke to the young man who had been left behind by a bamboo stick. But he did not stop and wait. He did not slow down his pace or look back. He put his right hand on the yoke and walked away. However, his ear did the work of his eyes. He noted the footsteps of the person following him. He listened to the sound of footsteps and the volume of them, and knew whether the person behind him was walking slowly or quickly. He knew whether the footsteps were slow or fast, and whether they were walking deliberately or cautiously. People who lived on the ground could see far ahead and did not value their ears. However, people who lived in the forest and mountains relied more on their ears and nose than on their eyes, since enemies could appear nearby at any time.

"What's wrong with your left heel? Why are you walking on tiptoe, Maung Shwewa?"

The Kanan man asked the question without looking back. Then, before the man could answer, he lowered his left heel. However, as if in pain, he suddenly lifted his entire left foot. Then, he gritted his teeth and stomped hard on the flat of his left foot. After two or three steps, the wound disappeared.

"It's a three-pronged sword, so you can walk. Brother Moe, go ahead, I'll follow."

Uncle Moe said nothing and walked towards the setting sun. His body swayed like a wave because of the weight on his shoulders. He rose and fell as he stepped. The smooth, smooth bamboo yoke, which was full of fat, swayed and swayed under the weight of the baskets in front and behind.

If you look at the two baskets, woven with dark bamboo, you would see only the arrows, dry shells, cotton blankets, and clothes on the top, and you would think that they were not that heavy. However, if you knew that the bottom of the basket was full of salt, even a fairly strong person would not dare to undertake this journey with such a load.

However, this old man, who was born and raised in the mountains, had no trouble carrying twenty baskets of salt and traveling for four or five nights. Now, he had already broken two baskets of salt and was only a bamboo stick ahead of a young man.

But he was not a man of great strength. He was a man of great skin and bones. His strength did not come from his muscles, but from his bones and muscles. His whole body was small. Although he was only five feet tall, he did not look like a dwarf. His height and body were in perfect harmony. However, the muscles in his body were terrifying. A thousand muscles seemed to be protruding from the outside of his body. His ear muscles, his neck muscles, his arms muscles, and his legs muscles were all writhing like cobras. He was almost fifty years old, and his forehead was white. However, his eyes were dark. They were like a bowl of rice. He wondered if the whole world would come to his eyes and become a shadow. His body was covered with dark red moles. His skin was thin but moist. It was moist but not fragile. It was rough and cracked. But the face was calm, as if it had not been touched by heat or cold. It was clear, as if it had never been touched by good or evil.

He had indeed lived a rough and tough life. He had traveled to many places, worked in various jobs, and been involved in many events. Now he had been returning to the village after spending a summer and a winter in the lower part of the country. The reason for his return was because he met Maung Shwe Wa in Bhan Mauk. His plan was to turn back to Wan Tho. However, Maung Shwe Wa said he wanted to go to the village, so he had to change his route.

He was very close to Maung Shwe Wa. Maung Shwe Wa’s mother and father were like his brothers and sisters. Maung Shwe Wa’s uncle in Bham Mauk was his salesman. Maung Shwe Wa’s grandfather was his commander during the war against the British during the reign of King Bagan. At that time, he was only seventeen or eighteen years old. After investigating the incident of the commander’s death during a night raid on an enemy outpost, he went to the village of Dung Kyar in Mogaung Township to report that Maung Shwe Wa’s father was only ten years old. However, when he returned from Assam about five years ago, he found that the commander’s wife was no longer there. The commander’s son was already the father of four children. He was surprised to learn that the commander’s son and the woman he had met were his friend’s sisters. So he stayed at the house of U Nwe Mon and Daw Saw Yone for almost a month. But he was still dissatisfied. U Nwe Mon was the son of his commander, but he did not have the blood of a commander. His blood and character were also very few. However, Maung Shwe Wa was different from his father and more like his grandfather. Maung Shwe Wa asked Ba Kyi Moe about his grandfather. He had always had his eyes on this boy. Now he saw the commander’s grandson as a man from Moe Kaung. This boy was brave. This boy was strong. Maung Shwe Wa walked briskly. He walked quickly. Even so, he had not yet caught up with the old man in front. The old man walked without hesitation. He was calm and steady. However, he was able to make progress with his feet and quick feet. He respected the old man. The old man was versatile. Versatile. Versatile. A real soldier. A member of his grandfather’s army. He fought with white faces in the lower villages.

When he arrived in Assam, he joined the ethnic rebels and fought against the British. He also went far into China. Surprisingly, the old man joined the royal army and fought many battles, but he had no desire to serve as a royal servant. The great and young lords

It was not only unpleasant and unsatisfying to be praised, but the old man had also changed the course of his life.

He wanted to take risks. He was proud. He was indomitable. He had been determined to become a great commander like his grandfather since he was a child. At that time, the events he saw inspired his life. The villagers worked hard for their own livelihood. And not only that, but the elders, the rich and the powerful, and the vassals, were also oppressing him. So he went to the Golden City and set out to serve the king. But the old man stopped him. He told him about the sad events of the Golden City, the sad lives of the princes. The old man told him about the purity of their hearts. After staying in the village for a while, the old man said that he had a plan to go to Chindwin, and from there to Naga and Manipur. So he gave up his plan to go to the Golden City and serve the king and decided to go with the old man.

He had much to learn from the old man. He was no match for anyone in single combat, but he had no experience in mass combat. He had only heard a few words about the good and new weapons of the White Faces. Only now, thanks to the old man, did he shoulder an Infield rifle. He wanted to learn from the old man how to shoot and fight.

Even though a person has been placed in this position, and is accepted as being superior to him, he cannot be satisfied with being behind him in a situation where two people are walking side by side. It cannot be said that he is not ahead of the other person in a situation where they are walking side by side. Only he can be ahead.

Maung Shwe Wa's face hardened. Anger was rising. If he wasn't angry at anyone, he must be angry at himself.

The person in front was more than half his age. The old man's age. He was young. He was almost half his age in body. He was also a head taller in height. His stride was equal to the old man's stride. Not only that, the old man was carrying more than twenty kilograms of weight.

He was walking. He only had a rifle and a bundle of clothes on his shoulder. A total of only five pounds. And yet he was still ahead of the old man.

Maung Shwe Wa gritted his teeth and put the cloth bag attached to the rifle stock on his left shoulder. He held the long rifle under his right arm. He walked briskly, swinging the hand holding the gun back and forth as if to gain strength.

As he walked, his attention turned to the gun in his hand. It was a gun that Bagyi Moe had gotten from the Golden City. He hadn’t bought it. He had taken it from a soldier who was abusing a young woman. The gun he had seen in Moe Kaung was heavier than this one. The proportions were also different. The gun was long, but it was light and easy to hold. The bullet size didn’t matter. The guns that came out of their region were used with bullets. Bagyi Moe said that the gun he had seen in Moe Kaung was a gun from Bagyi Taw’s time. The gun that he had seen now had been in use since the time of the Bagan kings. It was said that there was a dispute between the blacks and the whites about this gun. Since the bullet and the bullet were tight, the bullet, which was about two cubits and a hand long, was greased with oil to make the bullet go smoothly. When the bullet was inserted into the bullet, the paper strip at the tip of the bullet had to be torn off with his mouth. Here is the problem. Black people don't eat pork. The stuff in the bullets is lard. He had heard such interesting things from Uncle Moe.

Suddenly, a large shadow fell on his body. His whole body felt cold. Immediately, his vision blurred. Maung Shwe Wa looked around in shock from his place of contemplation. However, he immediately realized that he had not encountered any danger, but had accidentally entered the forest. The sun had suddenly disappeared. He was suddenly dominated by the darkness and shadow of the forest.

Around him were only trunks and branches. Between the branches were vines and branches. Some of the small trees were only as tall as a person. In the eight directions

The forest is so dense that when you look up, you can't see the sky. There are only the leaves of the sycamore, the teak, and the red sycamore. The middle veins of the large teak leaves are starting to turn red. Some of the leaves are already falling off.

As we followed the narrow path into the forest, we soon came to a fork in the road. We could not see Uncle Moe at all. He did not know which way to go.