Maung Thano - Stolen Fruit

Stolen fruit

Dear son, be kind to the little one. The little one was not born of my blood, but was raised by my heart. His mother only brought him into the human world, and my friends, the wild animals, and I were the ones who helped him survive in the world.

In fact, he doesn't even remember his mother. The only mothers he knows are deer and wild boars. When he was a child, he ran and played with their sons and daughters. They seemed to take care of him just like their own sons and daughters. He was no different from those wild children. Oh... I wish I had seen the little boy at that time. A real wild child, a small wild animal, crawling on all fours like them, speechless like them, and afraid like them. That was the age I first saw him.

I used to feed them every evening in the open field in front of my monastery, whatever food I could find. There was no wind, no rain. Drinking water was always provided in a glass basin. In the forest, water was not always available. Only during the rainy season, the ponds, streams, and lakes were full of water, but in the middle of summer, the ponds and streams dried up. At that time, they were thirsty. I stored water in large jars. This is what I shared with the herd in the middle of summer. One evening, at sunset, I first noticed a strange little animal among the deer that had come to drink water. It walked on all fours, but its legs and arms were not like those of a deer. The dark, curly hair on its head, like a scythe, made it different from that of a deer. Its entire body was covered in mud. It looks like a deer, but it only has a pair of round eyes.

He has two arms like a human, but he doesn't use his hands to drink water or eat. He drinks water with his mouth, just like the wild animals he grew up with. He also chews and crushes the fruits, eggs, boiled monkey eggs, and boiled sweet potatoes that are given to him. It's funny to watch him eat.

Don't tell me how scared he is. As his prey has taught him, he is afraid of the world. He is afraid of his surroundings. While eating, he moves his eyes this way and that. He eats without losing his sense of awareness, walks around. If he hears a sudden sound, he becomes a bee and stops eating. If he hears no more sound, he continues eating. When he eats, he looks this way and that way... If the sound continues to sound, if the sound changes shape, he jumps with lightning speed and runs. Don't tell me how fast he is, he is as agile as a deer. In running like that, he runs on all fours at first. Then he raises his front ( yellow ) arms and legs, and then runs on two legs.

Venerable sir, it is a difficult matter to capture a young man. I have been trying to separate him from the wild animals of different castes and to introduce him to the human caste since the day I first met him. He sometimes goes with a herd of deer, and sometimes with a herd of young wild boar. He can only drink water with the deer, and he cannot eat grass and leaves. He eats some leaves, but he does not like them. He throws them back. He sits down and eats fresh leaves and boiled bamboo shoots with the wild boar. When he is well, I also set aside porridge and leftovers for him. He eats them with great relish. He does not accept any food.

But his mothers, the deer and the wild boar, were already tame to me. They were eager to be petted by my hand. So, following the example of the deer and the boar, he soon became tame to me. He did not run away when I approached him. When I stroked his shaggy hair, his eyes widened and he looked up at me, criticizing me.

Oh... I held his hand in mine and didn't let him go when his companions had finished their food. Don't tell me how he struggled. He kicked me with his little feet. He scratched me with his long nails. He shook his head and tried to bite me with his teeth. His mouth started to make a wild animal sound that was not human. I had great difficulty resisting his attacks and dragged him into the dungeon. When we got to the dungeon, I lowered the door and spoke to him in the sweetest possible tone, words of love that he would understand. I tried my best to coax him. He couldn't seem to get through. He tried to break the reed walls that were holding me back. When he couldn't, he sat there, staring at me with wide eyes.

I also placed guava, lime, and banana, which are the fruits that young brides love, in front of him. I sucked the juicy sugarcane juice myself and placed some in front of him. Look at the way I placed it. He didn't even swallow it with his mouth. He just sat there, staring. .

As the night got a little late, it got cold enough that I threw a blanket over her. She started kicking and kicking and throwing it away. Where would a wild animal know how to wrap itself in a blanket?

I gave in to him and, as usual, after meditating and sending my love to the eternal bliss, I lay down to rest for the night.

When I woke up before dawn, the child was gone from the corner of the shrine. The kalā had been thrown down. I lit a beeswax candle and searched everywhere in the shrine, but I couldn't find it. How could this wild creature escape from the shrine without making a sound, without waking me up?

He was not among the herds of wild animals that came to my school in the morning. He was not among the herds of deer, gazelles, and wild boars that I saw while wandering through the forest in search of fruits. He was not among the herds of wild animals that came to drink water at dusk.

The new moon is the full moon, the full moon is the waning moon. The days have passed and the moon has changed, but I have not seen this little girl wandering among the animals. I have gone deep into the forest, searching for fruits and nuts, gathering firewood and water. I have arrived

I climbed the hills and mountains, but I couldn't find any sign of the little girl.

It had been months, so I had almost forgotten about him. One day, after a heavy rain at night, I came to a ravine looking for mushrooms. I saw a deer that was coming towards me in a thicket, and I approached it. It seemed to be guarding something with great concern for the deer. It seemed to be looking at me with a look of trust, as if it were begging me, "Please help me."

When I got to him, I saw the little boy lying unconscious under his feet. I had to remove the deer and carry the little boy's body, which was still hot, to the monk's shoulders. ( Venerable sir. Having lived alone in the forest for many years, I have learned not only about the nutritional value of fresh fruits and vegetables, but also about the medicinal properties of leaves and roots. When I got to the monk's monastery, I boiled hot water and prepared medicinal herbs and plants, and I was able to cure the little boy. Within a few days, his illness began to improve. This time, he understood that I was someone he could rely on. He took the medicine I gave him, and he also accepted the food I gave him to keep him strong. When he was strong, he no longer had the strength to run away.

I started teaching him to eat with his hands instead of leaning his head on his food like animals. He learned to drink water from a coconut shell. When he got healthy, I would bathe him in hot water to clean his body of dirt. I would comb his hair. He would wear only the cotton robe I had. ( I still wear that, as you can see. ) He gradually learned to speak. I started with the easiest word, “Ba.” He started calling me “Ba Ba.”

Raising a monkey might have been a distraction to the hermit's work, but as the little girl grew up, she became a great help to me. She learned to follow me and search for fresh leaves and flowers in the forest. She learned to collect firewood and fetch water. When she was seven years old, she made friends with various monkeys from the nearby Myaing community, and they learned to climb trees and swing on vines. Not only could she pick fruits from the trees, but she also picked rare flowers and orchids from the Wai Thi Myint mountain to put on the altar. I was much relieved from the work of searching for food and water.

When the signs of maturity began to appear, I explained to him the nature of the world and made him live in a separate hut, a small hut that I could only point out and that he had built himself. He grew up. When I grew old, he was already doing the work of finding food, gathering firewood and carrying water.

Oh... Venerable sir, you say I am not very old? I have just turned eighty this month, Venerable sir. I am in the last stages of old age. I am able to remain so healthy and strong because of living in the forest and mountains, because of living in peace and quiet without the heat, and because of the power of virtue. Even though I am dependent on him now, I can still go and find food and water myself. A person who seeks the Dhamma alone cannot rely on himself. Venerable sir, take him away without any help. When I went to fetch water for him, I saw my brother Venerable sir by the riverbank, which was the first time I had seen a man's body except for me. It is because I am worthy of meeting you that I have met you so often. Please treat the person who is worthy of meeting you with kindness and gentleness, Venerable sir.

His mother... Oh, I don't know exactly who his mother was. About a year before I saw him among the wild animals, I saw a woman carrying a child in her arms in the forest. But this woman seemed to be afraid. I don't know what kind of danger she was running from. She seemed to be frightened even by the sight of a hermit like me. When she saw me, she quickly hid and ran away. Although there was no connection between a saint and a nun, I was ready to help a human being in trouble. But she didn't see me, she ran into a deep ravine in the forest. Oh ... I noticed that the food I had put out for the animals was empty in the morning. So I deliberately gave them extra food at night. One night, while I was awake and looking out from the monastery, I saw a pregnant woman who had come in secretly, looked north and south, and was eating fresh fruit and eggs . After not coming back for more than a year, I finally saw the baby among a herd of deer and wild boar.

Since the pregnant woman has not been seen yet, we can assume that she is dead. It is not known where she died, or in which valley. It is not possible to say that she gave birth and ran away somewhere.

What kind of danger she was fleeing from can only be guessed at, my dear. Perhaps she fled from Narathiwat because she was a victim of a crime? Perhaps she fled because her husband was defeated and his enemies would cut down every reed and leave no stumps, even the baby in her womb. Perhaps her husband himself would hunt her down and kill her when he found out she was pregnant with another man. Perhaps she fled because the villagers, who were looking for her, were surrounding her with sticks and swords to kill her, but she escaped in fear ... There are many possibilities.

I can tell you one thing. I don't know his name, but I can guess his lineage by looking at his appearance. He couldn't be from an ordinary poor family. Although his clothes were torn and his body was covered in mud, dirt, and blood, his appearance was beautiful and gentle. He had no rough character. Even when he was running with his weight on his back, his movements carried the grace of a wild goose. Even when he ate quietly, I saw that he ate with grace and dignity. Even if he wasn't from a great family, he must have been the son of a nobleman, the son of a rich man.

If only his daughter had not died, I could have been playing and digging in the school's monastery. How happy he would be if he saw that he had arrived as the consort of a prince who could inherit the throne like a noble son!

Venerable, the young man and the young man have similar fates in life. The young man's mother fled from an unknown danger, whether it was the king's fault or some other enemy, and came to this vast forest, just as the venerable brothers escaped from danger by fleeing on a small bamboo raft down the river, and came to this region. May you both walk together on the path of destiny filled with blessings.

My brother, the venerable son, should love and treat this forest girl as his own sister, not just as his brother's wife or sister-in-law.

Sadhu, Sadhu, it is time to set out on a journey before the sun sets. Daughter, wipe away your tears. Although we may not see each other in person, the love of the hermit will always hover over you. Go, venerable sons, go, dear daughter.

1988