Maung Thaw Ka - Short Stories on Adult Diseases

Adult disease

"Walking, Ko Ba Tin?"

"Yes, Ma Khin May, health is important. Ma Khin May is also well, isn't she?"

“I’m fine. It’s just a joke, Ko Ba Tin. My daughter is a doctor, so it’s good.”

“Well... Ma Khin May, you are welcome. We have a nephew and a younger brother who can help us with this and that. We can’t find him. He’s a young man, so he’s a tough guy. Heh-heh-heh, now let’s continue before the sun rises, Ma Khin May.”

"Okay, Ko Ba Tin, if there's any emergency, I'll send someone to call my daughter. They don't live too far from each other."

"Thank you, Ma Khin Mae. Now... I'll go."

U Ba Tin adjusted his scarf, gently pulled the beret hat on his head with his left hand, and continued walking, swinging his walking stick gracefully. Daw Khin May Lay was picking flowers to put in the garden in front of her house. Her granddaughter followed her, pulling the flower basket, and looking in the direction U Ba Tin was going.

“Bah Bah, is that old man named U Ba Tin a friend of Bah Bah?” he wondered.

"Yes, my dear. We were school friends when we were young."

"I'm sorry, he doesn't have any children. He lives with his nephew. And an old maid."

“I have a son. He is on a foreign ship. Even from the other side of the world, he sent things for his father. A father and a son, ah. His wife, Ma Khin Ei, passed away last year. Ma Khin Ei, and my grandparents were friends from school.”

"What's the use of the stuff, Grandma? Her son is a video player for his father. Their house is so dry and boring. Doesn't he have any grandchildren?"

"His son is not yet married, where will he be? Come on, he is about to be in full bloom, let's go inside."

As Daw Khin May Lay and her granddaughter entered the house, U Ba Tin was walking around, lost in thought. Khin May Lay, Khin May Lay. A famous movie actress from the silent film era, Khin May became famous when Khin May appeared. His name was Maung Ba Tin. The famous movie actor was Maung Ba Tint. Although they were only a river apart, their appearance was similar. When U Ba Tin was young, he was handsome, pure, very honest and calm. He was shy and timid.

Movie star Ba Tint and Khin May Gyi were in a relationship. At that time, high school student Maung Ba Tin and school student Khin May Lay were teased by their classmates. Khin May Lay didn't do anything wrong, but whenever Maung Ba Tin was teased, his whole face would turn red with embarrassment. He was too shy to be a man. His heart rate was a little faster than most people. He was afraid of meeting Khin May Lay face to face. He was too shy, so even if they met face to face, he would turn his face away. Khin May Lay smiled. He didn't talk or interact like this. He thought he was shy when he was old. Daw Khin May Lay smiled every time she thought of Ba Tin when he was young.

The one who couldn't smile was U Ba Tin. He continued walking, wiping away his sweat, but his mind was drawn to the Waso moon.

A small town in the upper reaches. At the beginning of World War II , it was called the Government High School, SHS. My brother Batin and my sister were still in the tenth grade. They were still struggling to continue their education, which had been destroyed during the war.

War after war, exam after exam, student after student, one day before the full moon of Waso, the students and teachers happily went out to pick Waso flowers to install the Buddha image on the full moon of Waso the next day. Not far from the town, there was a place called Myaing Hema, where wild flowers bloom.

A group of students, a group of friends, gathered to pick flowers. Maung Ba Tin had to follow him, but he didn't feel like it. So he sat down in a quiet place, lost in thought. He didn't know how long he had been sitting there, but he heard a girl's voice shouting, "Mom," and he got up from the sound of the sound.

The one I saw was Khin May Lay, and she was alone, and it seemed like she had come from a different group. She was sitting on the ground with her legs crossed, crying out, “Oh, my dear, I’m sorry,” and then she fell down. “Hey, Khin May Lay, what happened?”

Maung Ba Tin, who used to look away when we met at school every day, knelt down next to Khin May Lay and asked, "What's up?" Khin May Lay didn't answer. She just held his left heel with her hand and closed her eyes, rubbing it gently.

Maung Ba Tin looked and saw a large dog about an inch and a half long stuck in the heel of Khin May Lay's left foot.

"Oh, where is the thorn? I'm afraid the tip of the thorn will break. I'll take it off. Oh... is it a big support box?"

"Well... Hmm, it's going to hurt a lot, Ko Ba Tin. I don't dare look at you, Khin May."

"It doesn't hurt much. If you don't dare look, close your eyes. Now... turn that way."

Maung Ba Tin pulled out the thorn that was stuck in her heel, and blood gushed out. Maung Ba Tin, who dared not look a girl in the eyes, dared to look at the blood-stained one. First, he squeezed the blood to drain the poison from the thorn. Khin May Lay only moaned, "Oh... oh," and continued to do whatever Maung Ba Tin did. After the blood had drained out, he wrapped his hand in a scarf.

“Now... get up, Ma Khin May, there are no thorns left. But walk a little. I will accompany you to the group over there. When you get home, take care of the wound a little. The thorns are very poisonous.”

Khin May Lay limped and stood up with Maung Ba Tin's support, her words of gratitude unspoken, but her eyes spoke with full energy. Maung Ba Tin's face was now red and he helped Khin May Lay to his friends. In the remaining years of high school, Maung Ba Tin and Khin May Lay's story of Waso U Su Su became a joke for every student. In the theater era, the theater actor Kyaw Aye and May Win's story of Waso U Thadi Wei Pan Khou was still popular, so the theater song "I will never tell you now" is still popular...

How can they be so good at what they do? But they are not good at all. Not only are they not good at all, they are also old, have their own homes and children, and they have never met again. First, Khin Maylay got married. They met a doctor from a village in a town while they were in college. Maung Ba Tin, on the other hand, was very unlucky. He was old and did not have the elders in his family to support him, so he married a woman from the same town named Ma Khin Ei. His job required him to live in mining towns, so he spent most of his time on the Tanintharyi coast. Ma Khin Maylay's husband, a doctor, had served in Chin State and Kachin State. .

Sometimes I only hear news when I meet old friends and talk to them. There is no correspondence. However, there is a small amount of awareness among my school friends.

Even after reaching the age of forty, the years seem to go by quickly, like a slide. They don't even think that their children are grown up yet, and like mushrooms sprouting in the rain, their grandchildren appear out of nowhere. When Daw Khin Maylay was with her grandchildren, U Ba Tin, who was a single man and a philanderer, had no grandchildren, and the sound of the bells and whistles could not be heard. In a similar way, in the same year that U Ba Tin's wife Khin Ei died of high blood pressure, Daw Khin Maylay also became a widow. When they chose a city to retire, they met in the same city. Daw Khin Maylay had diabetes, U Ba Tin had high blood pressure and heart disease. That was the difference.

That day, U Ba Tin walked a lot. He felt as if a large lump was blocking his heart.

* * *

The sky is cloudy. The weather is cloudy, the moon has been raining for a while, and then the rain has stopped. It is very difficult to sit and wait for the rain. Oh... The clouds have come. When I see the clouds, I feel relieved. Those who are sensitive to sadness are sad. Those who have memories will remember that today is the 14th day of the new moon of Waso. Tomorrow is the full moon of Waso. U Ba Tin has been remembering the date since he left home. When he arrived at Daw Khin May's house, he deliberately chose to coincide with the time when Ma Khin May would come out to cut roses in front of the house. The plan and people are diligent. Oh, I see, Daw Khin May cut flowers with a knife and put them in the basket that her granddaughter held for her. It seems that she is cutting them because tomorrow is the full moon of Waso. .

"Ahem... ahem" "Huh... Ko Ba Tin, are you early?"

“Yes, Ma Khin May, I left a little early today,” U Ba Tin said, leaning his cane on the ground.

“Did you get a letter from your son?” “Yes, Ma Khin May, he will be back in about two weeks. I also bought a car for my father.”

"You are a good son. You are a reliable son. What's more, you have not seen your daughter-in-law yet?" Ma Khin May still had the same boldness in her speech, boldness in her gaze, quickness of speech, and even a quick tongue as before.

“Huh...huh. This is their huh...huh... youth issue.” U Ba Tin seemed embarrassed to even mention the matter of his son marrying a woman.

"How can this be, Koba Tin? I have a rare daughter-in-law, and this is the only one I can have. So, I like it, Mom."

As she was talking, a rose thorn pricked Daw Khin Maylay's hand, which was picking roses, so she said, "Mom."

“Hmm... the sting is gone, is it bleeding?” “It’s nothing, Mi-ne. It’s just a rose sting.” “Come on, Mi-ne, I’ll go get some cotton and a plaster.”

The doctor's granddaughter, the doctor's daughter, ran to the house to get the medicine chest to administer first aid.

"Don't be careless, my dear, because the rose has thorns."

When U Ba Tin's voice came out, Daw Khin May looked up. Their gazes met. It was

"But it's not as poisonous as a stinging nettle."

Daw Khin May Lay's hazy eyes sparkled like starry stars. The bloodstain on her fingertip was still as red as the blood from when she had searched her heel. It seemed that her little grandson was looking for the medicine box.

“Ahem... I, uh, I want to ask you something.”

U Ba Tin's voice was unusually dry.

"Ask me, Ko Ba Tin, what do you want to ask?"

Daw Khin Maylay seemed quite taken aback by the unexpected words. But she was always the one who kept her cool.

“Well... Ma Khin May, when I was out picking flowers in Waso, uh... uh, at school. uh... uh... it's been a long time.”

"Why, didn't you say that you were the one who pulled my leg when you were trying to support me?"

"Oh... oh... I forgot about that."

"I haven't forgotten, Koba Tin. Now that I see blood, I think you remember too. Do you want to ask me if I've forgotten?"

"Yes- yes. Well.. no. Not yet. I just want to ask you something else- something else."

U Ba Tin's eyes were fixed on the roses. "What's up, Ko Ba Tin? If you have something to say, say it," Daw Khin Maylay said, giving him a drink.

“Uh-huh- I wonder how your mother would have reacted if I had told you openly that I loved you back then,” he said.

Daw Khin May Lay didn't answer for a long time. She turned to look towards her house. Her granddaughter hadn't come out yet. And then...

“Koba Tin, are you talking with a specific purpose, or are you asking to know about an incident from the past as a test of your past?”

Daw Khin Maylay's voice was so firm that U Ba Tin was startled.

"I don't have any purpose, I just want to know."

"Ah.. I want to know about the lottery in the past."

"Yes, let's say that."

"If you don't mind." "Oh..."

"If only you hadn't pulled it"

"What if there was a lottery?"

"It's a draw, Aung Ba Le. If you don't draw the same number then and want to draw it again now, it will be a blank vote. This little fire took a long time to get a plaster. Now... I'll go into my house. You have a walk to do, so keep walking."

U Ba Tin stared at Daw Khin May Lay for a long time as she walked towards the house. His whole face was flushed and red. As soon as Daw Khin May Lay entered the house, she turned around and continued walking with small steps. The next day

Waso full moon day.

The newspapers published on the full moon day of Waso are full of beauty and beauty. However , only those who are aware will notice that in one place the obituary notice vaguely states that U Ba Tin, aged 62, died of “adult disease”.

No. 62, Pee Phu Laat Magazine

July, 1986.