Dagon Shwe Ya - Spirit World

A burning candle

In 1970, a publisher came to me and said that he wanted to publish a collection of novels, like the "Ta Po Pyin Novels" written by U Kha, a publisher of the Myanmar Book Publishing House. He said that they should not be stories, but stories told by people who had seen them firsthand, and that they should contain strange stories. If they were not ghost stories, then they should contain mysterious and mysterious themes related to ghosts. I accepted the job and traveled all over Burma.

One day, after arriving in Burma, I returned to Yangon by train. On the train, I met a man named U Tin Maung, who was a military officer, and from him I received a biography of my own experience, which I will now write about below. The above-mentioned publisher, who had traveled all over Burma and investigated, found very secret biographies, strange ghost stories, and my novels, but did not publish them for no reason. I have kept the novels that I have kept for the past twenty years without giving them to any newspaper, journal, or library, and have only now given them to the authorities when it is appropriate.

If the time and circumstances allow, I will continue to write the stories I have collected in these magazines.

Author

1-3 -51

In early January 1927, I had the opportunity to go to Rangoon. At that time, the railways were not the same as today, but were peaceful and comfortable, with no other inconveniences than the need to show valid tickets. If I could get a second-class ticket, it would have been very comfortable. The journey, with a cigarette in my pocket, reading a newspaper in the evening, and feeling the breeze blowing from the fields, was a pleasant one, not to mention for occasional travelers, but even for regular travelers.

The bar exam will be held at the end of March or early April, but I planned to go about 3 months in advance so that I could take the exam in English and attend the final month-long course where legal experts gather to ask questions, and so that I could rent a small room in a quiet place in Yangon and study the papers in peace.

So I bought a second-class ticket on the night train and went to Yangon. I arrived in Yangon at 6 am and hired a horse-drawn carriage to stay at a friend’s house on Merchant Street. The carriage drove along Pansodan and turned left at the corner of “Romania”. The friend’s house where I was staying was only 3-4 blocks away from the “Shumania” hotel.

After arriving at a building and looking at the number, I went upstairs. I saw that the sign that was previously hung at the door of the second floor was no longer there, but only a sign for a rice broker company, so I was disappointed and left. I asked the clerk and learned that a lawyer had previously lived in this room, and he had moved to another place about a month ago, which made me very disappointed. However, even if I met my lawyer friend and allowed him to stay, it was not a place where I could study well. Because my friend had 5 children, 2 sisters-in-law, and 1 mother-in-law in front of him, living with such a large family in a small room was not a suitable place for a person who was about to enter the Sama Festival.

So, I got off the train in frustration, and while I was drinking breakfast tea, I had the horse-drawn carriage turn around and drive to the "Shumenia" Hotel to make up my mind. It was only 6:30 in the morning and the hotel had just opened, so I ordered "Tashtahazari".

Sitting at a table, sipping tea, I was thinking about where to stay. I had a friend in the monastery. But he was a poor man, so I didn't think it was appropriate for me to stay there. Besides, it was too far from the city, where there were festivals and festivities, so I didn't want to stay there.

At that moment, a man sitting across the table from me got up and came up to me and asked for a lighter. When I gave him one, he lit his cigarette and walked out of the hotel. He was wearing a gray blazer, a gray Bangkok shirt, and a pair of second-hand closed-toe shoes.

After the white boy, his face also had a look of pity, which made me pay attention.

While the boy was pouring tea into my teapot and a little milk into the milk jug, the boy was so agile that I

"Boy... isn't there an empty apartment near your hotel?"

"Can I have it... will you stay forever?"

"I'm not staying here, I'm afraid. I'll stay for a month or two."

“We have a room on the top floor of a three-story building, separate from the hotel, sir. The room is spacious, clean, and well-ventilated. There is a safe, there is a flashlight, and there is water, sir.”

"Oh, good boy.. do you know the striker?"

"I know, Sab. It's not far from the battlefield. If Sab wants to see it, I'll show you."

At that time, there were so many vacant rooms that the landlords would not only inform brokers but also hotel staff to find people to rent them. In this way, the tenants were lured and the price was reasonable, and the brokers who offered them a reasonable commission. I learned about this later.

I put a kyat in the boy's hand and let him go. The boy asked his father for permission and quickly left. After about 15 minutes, he returned and I paid the tea bill and followed the boy to the barracks. Since it was not far, we walked on foot, but we had to leave the things in the horse-drawn carriage with the hotel manager.

The vacant building was a large three-story building with four rooms per floor. The ground floor was home to banks, silk and cloth shops, shoe shops, and luxury goods shops, all of which were quite neat and tidy. The second floors were also home to workshops and offices, all of which were very neat and tidy. The third floors also seemed to be home to wealthy families.

We climbed the stairs, which were paved with a mat and had iron railings. There were flashlights at every turn of the stairs, and the adjoining rooms were also equipped with iron folding doors. When we arrived, the large room on the left was locked, so the boy opened it with the key he had in his bag. Inside the room, there was a large living room at the front of the house, a bedroom at the head, and a bedroom at the foot. Walking from the main bedroom to the back, there is a dining room, a maid’s room, a bathroom behind the main bedroom, and a fireplace. In the front living room, there is a large square table and 4 chairs, in the bedroom there is a double bed, a mirror, and a bureau, in the dining room there is a table and 6 chairs, in the maid’s room there is a sofa, a chair, and an old table. There are 4 flashlights, 2 water taps, and a toilet. It is a large room measuring 30 feet wide and 50 feet long, and in this day and age, the rent per month is not less than 200 kyats.

"What's up, Sue, you like the room, don't you?"

"Aye Kwe... I like it. How much does it cost to rent?"

"Not much, sir. It's very cheap. It's sixty a month. For using a flashlight, you have to pay whatever the meter says."

"Okay, I understand."

"Let's talk directly to the landlady... let's go to the pier."

The landlord was a Jewish woman, and he lived in the same building and two buildings above it. The landlord took me to him and introduced me. The rent was not reduced by G8/- as the landlord had said, and the flat had been rented for 73/- before, but he had reduced the price because he was short of money. He said that the electricity and water were fully supplied, and that the electricity would be charged as per the meter, and that the tables, chairs, and desks could be used as they were during the tenancy, and that the rent would have to be paid in advance for a month. Although the Merchant Street was sometimes noisy with horns and people, but there were many shops and offices, so it was as quiet at night as it was during the day, and it would be the most suitable place for me. In addition, the “Romanian” Hotel was nearby, so it would be easy to get food. So I agreed with the landlord and paid 68/- for a month.

After breakfast that day at the “Romania” Hotel, I hired a coolie, a young man named Chai, to clean the room and tidy up the things I had brought with me, such as the bedroll, the iron box, the clothes, the books, etc., into a proper place. In this way, I was now as dignified as a permanent tenant.

I had inherited a large amount of property after my parents died, and the idea of ​​taking the bar exam was just for fun, and whether I passed or failed the exam was not important to me. So I thought that after spending an extra month or two in Yangon, I would take the exam with a clear mind.

That afternoon I went to the market and the main road and bought a small chair and some food, some fruit and bread, some chocolates, a box of matches and some other necessities. When I got back to the apartment, I spread out the chair and sat down, lit my cigarette and drank, and felt tired of being alone in such a large room. If I had arranged with the hotel manager for the food, he would have brought it to the apartment on time, but I needed a boy to beg for it. If I had hired a servant, Burmese children were usually arrogant and very few were honest. Therefore, I wanted to hire only young boys who were modest and respectful of work, money, and their masters.

So I agreed to arrange this with my friend Tween Kala and I would do it the next day. That evening, when the sun was setting, I carefully looked around the house before going out. As I had said, the living room was ready with a large square table and four chairs. My bedroom had a double bed, with my mattress, pillow, and mosquito net on it. My hair, lotion, and perfume bottles were all in their places on the dressing table. The bathroom had a tub full of water, and on the shelf were soap, a toothbrush, and toothpaste. In the bathroom, there was a glass of water and a roll of “bromope” paper. When I entered the dining room, I saw the dinner plate, napkins, tea sets, and jam that I had brought. There was a box with a spoon, knife, fork, and two large dinner plates. Then I...

When we entered the servants' bedroom at the back, the girls * did not seem to have entered the room and prepared it. Because there were thick pictures on the wooden floor, and the same was true on the small round table and chairs. On the old round table, there was a "candlestick" made of bronze, which was lit by candles. In the candlestick was a brand-new candle. Nearby, there were 10 candles and a wooden match full of matches.

There was no light in the servant's room, and it was getting dark, so I accidentally lit a candle on the "candlestick" with a wooden match. Then, by candlelight, I walked around the room. It had been a long time since anyone had lived there, and there was nothing unusual except for the soot on the ceiling and the cobwebs in the corners of the room. So I was about to go out, so I extinguished the candle.

Then everyone turned off their lights and I locked the door of my room from the outside and went downstairs. - After dinner at the “Romania” Hotel, I was too lazy to stay alone in my apartment so I went to the “Globe” cinema and watched a 6:30 movie and returned after the show. When I got to the top of the stairs, all the lights on the stairs were turned off, so I

I had to climb up with a match from my bag. However, I had smoked a lot of cigarettes in the cinema and had only two matches left. When I reached the third flight of stairs, the last match was gone, so I had to try the staircase. - As soon as the main door opened, I was amazed. Because I saw a light coming from the window of the servant's room. I stood there for about two minutes before I could turn on the light switch in the front living room. If my mind had not deceived me, I had carefully blown out the candle before going down. Who could have come and lit this light?

So I took out the dagger from my belt and went to the servants' room. When I got inside, I was surprised to find that the candlestick was burning, almost reaching the hole in the wall. I searched the rooms, but found no one there, and my belongings were intact.

One thought, the landlord, or someone sent by the landlord, might enter the room in my absence and light a candle that is easily found in the servant's room, and then forget about it. I myself had lit that candle and left it unextinguished. Because people are sometimes careless and mistakenly think that they are doing their job. I was satisfied with this thought that I had not been able to put out the fire myself, and after spending the night in bed, I went to bed. I slept well at night without any disturbance.