P.Morning - Vatthupadesa No. (10)

Father's enemy

When the town official, Maung Aung Hla, saw the village from a distance of about half a mile, he, with a lively and proud spirit and a strong body, went up and gave the horse a whip with his heel.

The great king is not dead yet. If Thin dies, Thin will continue to rule. I will have to bow my head at the feet of the city king. My father was wronged and humiliated by Thin's son and daughter, and his business was ruined, and he even died. Right under my eyes, my father was unjustly tried and brought down to the top. I will not be able to do anything to the entire Thin family. I will remove the special power. I will have to ask Thin's son and daughter to respect me, etc., and he smiled to himself with satisfaction.

Aung Hla was a native of Thayet Kone village. His father was honest and upright, and by applying his diligence and intelligence to his blacksmithing, he elevated even a small blacksmithing business to great glory. His sword and sickle were used throughout the area, and he became a respected and wealthy man.

Even though he was rich, he continued to work without abandoning his students. At that time, Aung Hla was no more than a child. However, seeing clearly what he had been subjected to in the house of his father, the great Shwe Lone, and the suffering he had suffered because of the great Shwe Lone's evil intentions, he remained contented and alone, thinking of the best way to take revenge.

The story goes that a chieftain came to that village and received an order from the chief that he should be transported by cart from that village to another village at night. At that, the master blacksmith, with his original pride, refused and continued to do his work.

Then the king called him to his house. When he called him, the blacksmith said, "I have done nothing wrong. I have avoided everything that would not be punished by the king, so that I could be free from the insults and abuses of the king's servants." He thought, "Why should I go?" and did not go.

So, a few months later, the chief magistrate not only accused the blacksmith of forging coins, but also had him handcuffed and kicked in the city in front of an audience. The blacksmith was left penniless and penniless in the process, but fortunately he escaped without being punished.

Then, the father and son left the bad neighborhood with a sense of regret and went to Yangon. In Yangon, Aung Hla studied hard and studied hard, but now he has come to the land of his birth to take revenge on the position of a city official. Aung Hla had to work hard to become a city official in that village.

The great father, however, established a monastery in the foothills of Yangon, usually seeking refuge with a rosary in a monastery near the Shwedagon Pagoda.

As he was going with the intention of revenge, he remembered his daughter, Sein Phyu, who was playing with him. Before his father's misfortune and ruin, the two of them used to play together in the backyard of the elder's house. Since they had been in poverty and had moved to another area, they had never met. Is Sein Phyu still there? If she was, what would the husbands do? If she were not, then it would have nothing to do with me. Thinking that Thin would be as wicked as Thin's father, he erased even the childish face he had imagined and threw it away.

When he arrived at the village, he saw faces he had seen since he was a child. However, no one seemed to recognize him. Some of the people his own age and those a little older than him, however, looked at him as if they recognized him. Aung Hla recognized those older than him very well. However, he did not greet them. He did not greet them for any other reason. It was because he was a very close friend.

There is no blame on him for not recognizing and greeting those who are older than him, whom he has known and known, because he has come to him in a humble manner. There is a belief that has been imprinted in his mind. That belief is not the same. To initiate greetings on the road shows a lowly spirit. Or, it is the belief that he initiates greetings because he wants to boast.

Of these two beliefs, the first is true when it is true. There are also times when it is false. The second is that when those who have come from poverty greet those who have been equally poor, they want to show off, to show off their improved status.

A heart that is kind is more powerful than a heart that is honest. For example, a poor person who comes by car may have the same desire to greet his poor acquaintances on foot with a smile.

Therefore, Aung Hla left without greeting anyone who knew him or didn't know him. Therefore, the one who knew the truth about Aung Hla was that Aung Hla. It was true. Their father and mother fled to Yangon and now I don't know what happened. What kind of position did they get? They said, "You don't even know us."

Someone has become the city's owner. They say the city's owner is U Aung Hla. I didn't think about our little Aung Hla when I went there. Now that you mention it, I remember. Aye... Yes, hey. Team. The little guy hasn't disappeared. This guy doesn't seem to have come on a mission. It's like he's visiting alone, said one of them.

Soon, news spread that Aung Hla Kaley had become the owner of the city.

Aung Hla dismounted from her horse in front of a house, temporarily left her horse behind, and walked alone along the long village road.

In that village, when a child comes, I usually look at him more than he does.

Aung Hla, however, went without paying attention. He did not greet those he knew first. The others he knew did not greet him boldly either. It seemed as if they were wondering whether or not to say yes.

The village had changed a lot. There were more new faces than old ones.

They found another hut where their father and son had lived. The tamarind tree, which was a blacksmith's, had green leaves.

He looked at the place for a moment and went in. He asked for a glass of water and drank it.

A very beautiful young woman came with a bowl of water and when Aung Hla's hand touched hers, they looked at each other's faces. As she looked at him, the young woman seemed to be thinking. Then her face changed quickly and she became sad, and then she sat down on the bamboo floor, her legs crossed, and her feet together.

The house was a walled house. There was a short staircase leading from the lower level to the upper level and the living room. In front of the lower level was a shelf that connected to the eaves of the roof. Under the shelf was a small stall selling tobacco, cigarettes, tea, rice porridge, and snacks. Next to the stall, you could see a cigar rolling stand and a medicine cabinet, with prescriptions on the other side.

At home, the traces of a woman's work, modest and pure, can be found in the altar, in the upper room, in the drinking water jar with its green rice seedlings, and in the sewing machine.

"Is the elder U Shwe Lone still there?" Aung Hla began to ask.

When the young woman heard that question, her face turned pale and she left.

"There is no such thing as a great man. There is only one now. What city is Maung Gyi from?"

"I came from Yangon. I used to live here."

“I’ve never seen it before, so how long did it take you to get to Yangon?”

"I went there when I was a little girl, about ten years old. This is where my father and I live. That's the tamarind tree."

"Below is the blacksmith's place. When I arrived at my birthplace, it was a kind of a circle."

Aung Hla's mind caught a glimpse of the young woman's face flushed and her eyes hazy. For a long time the young woman remained silent. Her expression of thought was quite clear.

“Yes. I heard that a master blacksmith used to live here. You two. What jobs do you do in Yangon now?”

“I came to this area for a city job. I came to my village and wanted to know what was going on,” he said.

"As you can see. It's not the same as before. The village is ruined. None of the old nobles are there. There are only a few descendants, who have moved from other places. Some have gone to other villages like you. Some have died and disappeared, and the search is still going on."

"Are you also from this area?"

The young woman lowered her head, feeling embarrassed as if she had to answer.

"We moved from above"

"Do you have parents?"

"I have a father and a brother. My brother is married and has another job. Here we are, father and son. My father is old, so I sell tobacco and market things and take care of my old father."

"Sadhu, Sadhu. I'm not married yet because I have to support my old father."