Maung Ne Win - Burmese short stories

The market woman, Ma Phap, was the wife of Ko Sin. Ma Phap used to go to the city to sell her green goods. Every morning, she would take a basket and walk almost a mile to the city. If she had a sale, she would come back early, and if she had a sale, she would come back at sunset. Every time she returned, she would come to the bamboo bridge that crossed the stream and went to the village. Her husband and son would naturally appear.

Ma Pho is a tall, slender man. His hair is red and about a foot long. He has a few teeth. But he is not ugly. Ko Sin is a housewife. Oh. ... he is not just a housewife. He cooks rice at home. He takes care of his sons and daughters. -

Ko Sin, who had lived as a monk for about nine years in his youth, was quite skilled in literature. He had a good disposition. He was always laughing. He was always at the front of the line at charity events and weddings. He was not as tall as his wife. He had good hair. He had a mustache. He had a narrow chest. He had a ringlet that reached his knees.

The two of them struggled until they had a son, and Ma Pho went to the market. He also took care of the elephant. When another son was born, Ma Pho could only go to the market to sell. When another daughter was born, Ma Pho became very tired. When he faced a losing streak, he felt pitiful. But Ma Pho did not complain.

“ I want you to come and listen to the wedding speeches of the men in the eastern wedding hall, my friend. He is very handsome, and he is full of wisdom,” said one of Ma Pho’s female friends. Ma Pho was very happy at that time. In her mind, she could see Lin’s face full of charm. Sometimes, the eldest son, who was fourteen years old, would come to meet her from the bridge and help her carry the baskets and other things. Then Ma Pho felt happy again. “I can trust this little boy because of my brother’s son.”

Once, a drunkard came to the small house and looked at Ma Pho and his mother, who were talking on the front porch, with eyes that wanted to sneer. Then the mother and son ran into the house. Ko Sin, who was inside the house, also came out in a hurry and stood on the porch with his back to the porch. The two eyes that wanted to sneer turned and swayed with his feet. Then Ma Pho, who was looking out from the door of the house, thought again, "If only my brother and son were not here, it would be a disaster."

Ma Pho is now thirty-seven years old. Ko Sin is six years older than Ma Pho.

Ko Sin had never done any work up to this age. When those who did not like him scolded him for “sitting on the edge of the bed,” he would laugh and say, “Even King Vaisantara sat and ate the food prepared by Madi.” He would even go on to say, “Don’t be jealous of your own merit and be short-tempered.” But his heart ached. He felt pain, but he didn’t know why, and he couldn’t speak, so he praised himself.

The people who were not willing to listen to the arguments became more and more unwilling. They questioned him at every opportunity. They mocked him. When Ko Sin grew older, the wounds he had suffered from being questioned and mocked in his youth began to surface in his mind.

So Ko Sin borrowed money from a cousin to sell bamboo. The price of bamboo fell and he lost a lot of money. When the next rains came, Ko Sin went to work on the rented land. The plow hit his leg and he returned home bleeding profusely. The wound took fifteen days to heal.

2

On the day the wound healed, Ko Sin was forty-three years old. The wound on his body had healed well. However, the wound on his mind had begun to grow.

Ma Pho went to the market as usual. Then the eldest son went to the monastery. The middle son and the eldest daughter played under the tamarind tree in front of the house. Ko Sin drank tea on the bench. After a while, the father of six children from the head house left, carrying a carpenter's box. The husband from the foot house, his wife and daughter, took a knife to cut the reeds and crossed to the other side in a boat. Even the old man from the house opposite was already cutting the reeds with his hands.

At first, Ko Sin was happy to see his children playing and drinking tea. However, when he saw his neighbors bustling about, going to work, he couldn't be happy to see his children. He remembered his job, which was to cook rice. He also saw their questioning faces and their disdainful faces.

So he kept his head down without looking at them. He couldn't see them. But he could see his past in his eyes. Ever since the Buddha left the world, he had been walking around in a silk robe, wearing a scarf, being unkempt, losing everything, and having an injury on his leg. He felt sad. He felt ashamed. He didn't want to live like this. He wanted to get out. He thought that it would be good if he became a monk. If he became a monk, he wouldn't have to worry about the food. If he became a monk, he would be able to see Nibbana. His wife, son, and daughter would also benefit from him. It was time for him to leave. He prayed to the Buddha. He was about to become a monk. His thoughts were like this.

Oh... there is still a pot of rice to cook. If he doesn't cook, he will starve today. His son and daughter will cry too. So Ko Sin had to go to the kitchen. At that moment, Ma Pho, who was selling vegetables at the market, was adding more water. If he could carry more weight, he would make more money. Ma Pho was thinking that if he could, he would buy a good cigarette for Ko Sin. .

As an expert, Ko Sin could cook rice well. When it was cooked, he would call the children and eat it with the leftovers from the night before. When they had finished eating, the children would play around as usual. Ko Sin also sat cross-legged on the porch of the house, holding a cigarette in his hand, and thought about his previous thought again. If he were a monk, he would come to Ma Pho's house every morning to receive alms. Ma Pho had not yet gone to the market, so he would see Ma Pho's face. He would also see the faces of his children. Ma Pho was illiterate, uneducated, and if he died, Ma Pho would be ruined. He felt sorry for Ma Pho. He would teach Ma Pho the Dhamma.

While he was thinking like this, he was interrupted by the sound of his son and daughter crying. The younger sister scratched his brother's face, causing him to cry. The brother pulled his sister's hair, causing her to cry again.

“ You are causing me so much trouble. Come inside. You sit on this pole, you sit on that pole, don’t get up,” Ko Sin scolded them and made them sit down. The children wiped their tears and sat down on one pole each. Ko Sin sat back down in his usual position and collected his thoughts. He couldn’t collect them anymore. After a while, he looked at the children. The children were drowsy. Ko Aung also yawned.

“ Don’t go anywhere, just sit on the pole,” he said, then Ko Sin lay down and closed his eyes. As Ko Sin closed his eyes, the children’s eyes widened. They looked at each other’s faces. They looked at Ko Sin, who was closing his eyes. If Ko Sin fell asleep, they would go down and play.

I don't know how long it took, but when Ko Sin woke up, he heard Ma Pho's voice. It was Ma Pho's voice that woke Ko Sin up. Ma Pho looked up at the tamarind tree and...

" Look, that boy, get down, get down quickly, isn't it hard if you fall? Where's my sister?"

" By the shore"

" It's all over. Ko Sin, do you have to abandon the children like this? You're a good father, aren't you?"

At that moment, the daughter ran to her mother with muddy hands. The son also came down from the tamarind tree and stepped on the ground.

Ko Sin looked at the children with a sideways glance. The children were hiding from their mother. “Hey Ko Sin, smoke a cigarette,” Ma Pho said, and led the children to the kitchen. Ko Sin followed her to the kitchen and watched. Ma Pho washed her hands. Then she served the children the rice cakes she had bought. Then she got down on the floor and untied her hair. She bent forward. Then her hair, which was only a hand’s length, fell forward and hung down on her legs. “Try to rub your back, Mom,” he said, so the son bit the rice cake in his mouth and rubbed his back with his elbow. His back was bent under his elbow, and his head, with its long hair, was also shaking. Looking at Ma Pho, it was as if he was being haunted by a ghost.

Ko Sin saw Ma Pho. He sighed and added a new thought to the old one, “I will wear a robe.” However, he did not dare to tell his wife. Only at New Year’s did he dare to tell her, and his plan came true.

3

He said that he would wear the robe for a month, and he did. However, it had been almost three months, and Ko Sin had not yet come out. Ma Pho's younger brother, who had come to stay with him as a companion for the children , was thinking about his daughters. He wanted to return to the village. One day, the younger brother asked, "When will U Pin Sin come out?" U Pin Sin did not answer. He began to chant Pali verses, saying that the robe was cool. The younger brother was angry. The younger brother did not hear that. He thought that he had been invited to the house unjustly, and he was angry in his heart. When U Pin Sin left, the younger brother