ရွှေဥဒေါင်း - မျှော်လင့်လင့်

Hope and expectation

( Me) "Shoot, sir."

(Man) "Where do you live? Point your finger."

I pointed to our little village, about a mile away, with its thick trees. The old man stared at me for a moment, then grabbed my legs and turned me upside down, emptying the contents of his bag. A small piece of bread fell out of my bag, and the old man placed me on a gravestone, picked it up, and ate it greedily.

(Man) "Your cheeks are so swollen, I wish I could eat them."

(Me) “Don’t eat, sir.”

(Man) “Hey... boy, look here, what about your mother?”

(Me) "There you are, sir." The old man was startled and suddenly ran away, then stood there watching.

(Me) "That's your wife over there" is my mother.

(Man) (walking back) “So the map that is facing your mother is your father.”

(Me) "You're right."

(Man) “So who do you live with?”

(Me) “I live with my mother, blacksmith Joe Gar.”

"Gary's wife, Mrs. Garry."

( Man) “Hey.. the blacksmith’s wife... right?”

The old man looked down at the shackles on his leg. Then he placed his hands on both of my shoulders and stared into my face...

(Man) “Hey, boy, look here, do you know how to use a sickle?”

(Me) "I know, sir."

(Man) “Do you know what to eat?”

(Me) "I know, sir."

(Man) “Okay, bring me a sickle and some food. If you don’t, I’ll take your heart out and eat it, you hear? You have to bring it early tomorrow morning. Don’t tell anyone that you met me, or I’ll take your heart out and roast it. Do you think I’m the only one? No, there’s another young man. That guy is a very bad guy. Compared to him, I’m a good guy, but that guy is really bad. He’s heard everything I’ve said, understand? That guy is a good guy, he took out your heart and ate it. He’s eaten a lot of kids like you. He can go into the room and hide behind a blanket, but he can find you and eat your heart. Even now, he wants to eat you, I’m sorry. What do you want to say?”

Then I promised to bring him the things he needed and food early in the morning.

( Man) “Okay.. fine, if you don’t take it, I’ll let the guy go.”

(Me) "I'll take it, sir."

(Man) "Okay... come back, don't forget, that's all."

*