Dagon Khin Khin Lay - Love and Women

After the school bell rang, all the students, young and old, gathered in the school hall. The headmaster, U Bo Lwin, with a grim expression on his face, as if it were about to rain, walked into the main room where the students had gathered, with heavy footsteps.

The students, from the old bachelor to the four-year-old boy, who were standing in the room, were trembling and searching for their place, knowing that there was something to blame for each student just by looking at their teacher's face. They were listening with trembling ears as if they were about to hear the first words of the teacher.

Teacher U Bo Lwin, who had the appearance of a schoolmaster, looked over his glasses with his large, sharp eyes, and in an instant, the students who were being watched were so scared that they could see their own intestines burst open, and they were so scared that they could not breathe. The room, which was originally quiet, became even quieter, so quiet that even the sound of a small child being hit by a small child was heard.

The master looked intently at his students, then in a majestic, triumphant voice,

"There is a student among you who is tarnishing the reputation of our school. The police came to report me last night. So, we must arrest the person who is tarnishing the reputation of the school."

When he said this, the students, who were originally scared, became like cats and dogs in fear. Even Nituk and Ngaqwo, who were standing in the back row and were silent, looked around uneasily. The teacher continued.

"I won't go into detail about the incident that the police reported, because it would be embarrassing. I'll just keep it short, everyone, listen."

He said again. The students were afraid and wanted to hear what he was going to say. The teacher continued...

“The local people know that this guy meets a girl who lives in a boarding school between this school and the other girls’ school at night. Knowing this, last night, two school guards ambushed and caught her. When they caught her, she resisted and ran away. They chased her and eventually ran into the school compound and disappeared. When the teachers questioned the girl who had met her, the girl refused to reveal the guy’s name. So, if she disappeared in the school compound, it must be one of these students, and this guy must be here. One of the guards was seriously injured, but the other one was seriously injured. The police said they would not take any action, but I have a duty to discipline this guy…”

Saying this, the teacher looked into the audience of students with sharp eyes.

The students were so scared that they couldn't even breathe normally. The teacher continued again.

“That would be better if you just confessed and said it was me from the beginning. If you don’t confess and keep quiet about your sin, it will be like the one who committed the sin twice. I’m not asking this because I don’t know. The dormitory manager already reported to me who went out last night, so I already know who committed this sin. However, if you confess now, there’s still time.”

The students were silent and listened intently. They prayed inwardly that the guilty person would confess, each one of them wanting to be relieved of his responsibility. The teacher waited patiently for the guilty person to confess, and for a long time, no one moved, and he became very angry.

"Hey... did you hear me? Come out and confess, or I'll be embarrassed if I have to name you myself."

Then, it was no different. The students were just staring at each other, their faces unknowingly. The teacher's face was already red with anger. He looked from the large table into the group of students with wide eyes and...

"Thun Shwe"

"He called out in a loud, triumphant voice, and the students in the entire room were quite surprised. Because Tun Shwe was the best, kindest, most honest student in the school, the school janitor, the school cook, and every assistant teacher, and a friend and a great person of Master U Bo Lwin, they were surprised and could not help but be surprised that the unexpected vote had been cast.

Everyone was staring at the eighteen-year-old tenth grader, Tun Shwe, with sad faces. Tun Shwe, however, did not show any unusual signs of agitation, but approached the teacher with a calm face. The teacher looked at Tun Shwe from head to toe with a stern face...

“What else do you want to say?” Tun Shwe didn’t answer, but the teacher became even angrier.

"Hey... didn't you hear me asking? You were really out between nine and ten at night, right?"

"Yes, of course." "So you're the one who went to talk to the student."

Tun Shwe did not answer, and the teacher looked at him with annoyance.

"Hey.. didn't you hear me asking? Tell me if yes, yes, if no, no..."

"Master, I'm not the only one who's attached to you, so can you refuse me?"

When Master U Bo Lwin heard the angry and harsh words spoken by the boy, he became furious and grabbed the stick from the table and swung it at Tun Shwe fourteen or fifteen times, hitting him hard.

Tun Shwe held his chest tightly and clenched his teeth. Tun Shwe's strong, muscular body was about half the size of the teacher, so the students were anxiously waiting for Tun Shwe to return the favor. However, Tun Shwe seemed to control his anger and sighed heavily, making the anxious people calm down. Then the teacher looked at Tun Shwe with a contemptuous face and said,

"Go...go...go to your room..."

", he shouted with authority, and Tun Shwe walked out of the room with heavy steps, his head bowed. The teacher also allowed the remaining students to go to their respective classrooms, and the students left in silence, saying to each other.