Thawtar Swe - The Great Mansion

[ 1] 

Third week of April 1956.

Thar Si Station is a railway junction between Upper and Lower Burma and Shan State, and with trains constantly coming and going, it is a busy place at any time.

Now, at around 4 pm on the day of the beginning of this pilgrimage, the Shan State Railway was already loaded with fuel to climb the Shan Yoma.

At that moment, the main character of the novel, Maung Myat Kyaw, was walking along the platform of the Shwe Nyaung train with a porter behind him. As usual, the ordinary carriages were packed with passengers, and once they got on the train and settled in, they would (usually) want the train to leave quickly and be impatient for more people to board.

Some of the people on the train would stare at Maung Myat Kyaw as he walked by, and if they happened to make eye contact, they would stare at him. The women would say, "Here we go again,"

The older ones, who were a little older, would even wave their hands to say, “I’m full.” Only one child, who was only three times as tall as me, smiled at Myat Kyaw and pretended to be a little bit shy about the bread he was eating, saying, “Eat it.” Maung Myat Kyaw realized, “I found a grain of rice in the rat droppings,” and patted the child’s head with his hand, saying, “Thank you, Rob.. Rob.. Son, I’ll buy you another piece of bread.” He gave him a kyat.

In fact, the famous courtier in Yangon, Maung Myat Kyaw, did not want to ride in this ordinary class. He had brought a ticket for the upper class. However, the upper class trains to Shan State did not connect from Tha Si Station. The trains that came from Yangon-Mandalay were changed, so Tha Si Station could not provide the train number and seat number. They contacted Yangon Station and sold tickets based on the number of seats available in the upper class trains to Shan State.

Maung Myat Kyaw is a native of Yangon, but he had to come via Meiktila for some reason on his way to Shan State. When he bought a ticket at Tha Si Station, the ticket seller said, “Yes, I can get it. There are about five seats left.”

In this way, a worker carrying goods was walking towards the upper carriage. While Maung Myat Kyaw was giving the child a snack, the worker who had passed in front of him stopped in front of the first upper carriage he saw and looked inside.

"Teacher, there is a vacancy in this room."

Maung Myat Kyaw looked inside the trailer shown to him by the workers.....

"Oh, you big bearded men. Try another pair. There must be five seats."

So the two of them continued walking and when they looked into the next carriage they saw, the door on the side facing the sun was closed, so they saw a large, dark figure inside. Maung Myat Kyaw said to the worker...

"I'm your own person, what's the big deal?"

"An old man is sleeping, sir."

"Huh... It's not that small. I wonder if the elephants are dressed like humans. He's the only one here. I'll follow from this side."

As soon as he spoke, Maung Myat Kyaw climbed onto the cart, entered the room, had his belongings put down, and when he paid the laborer, he sat down opposite the old man who was sleeping, when the old man suddenly stood up...

“This room has been a resort for me and my son-in-law since Yangon.”

His voice was soft and melodious, not Burmese, and at first glance, it seemed as if he had been carved and carved, so Maung Myat Kyaw, who was naturally a bit of a scoundrel, became very angry.

"Where are you? Now you're my son-in-law."

"I'll go with another partner. He'll come back when he wants to. The speakers are his things."

He looked at the shelf above his bed and saw many boxes and packages. Maung Myat Kyaw...

"Aungmalay... is it unbearable? I can't keep this going. I'll just have to go downstairs."

"Why should they? They are where they are."

"They won't be there when the train leaves. They'll collapse."

“Ha..ha, it’s been like this since Yangon.”

“I think this is the first time you’ve traveled this route in Shan State.”

Maung Myat Kyaw wanted to explain that this Shan State trip is different from the Yangon-Mandalay road, with ups and downs, twists and turns. However, this man, who is arrogant and wants to get off the beaten track, will not let his words reach his ears...

"I'm going, it's none of my business, brother, whether this is the first or the last time."

So Maung Myat Kyaw said in a low voice..

"Huh... I can't say I don't have a job."

"Why still?"

His voice was getting louder and louder. So Maung Myat Kyaw didn't let up...

"Why, if the things above accidentally fall and cause me pain, I will sue you and your mother-in-law and demand compensation."

"You will have to ask. Remember who I am. My name is U Sai Myat Kyaw. There is no one in the world who does not know the name of a Yangon lawyer." Then the old man said...

“Hey... I'm a Dawei tycoon, there's no one in the world who doesn't know. You can compensate for everything you've broken. Remember who I am. I'm U Shwe Do, the Dawei mining tycoon. Please understand.”

Then Maung Myat Kyaw looked up at the items on the bed again...

"That's fine. We'll see who does what after a while. It's too late to talk about it now."

"Oh... I also want to talk to Maung Rin a lot, remember?"

He said, and then he rolled over and went back to sleep.

Soon the train left Tha Si station with three hoots of its horn. The scenery between Tha Si and Shan State was beautiful on this evening. The thorny, resinous plants that are the children of the hot climate in Tha Si, such as the thorny tree, the thorny tree, and the thorny bush, were gradually spreading. In this vast pasture, herds of cattle, goats, and sheep were moving around, and with them, herons and birds, which were eating only insects, were also seen, in black and white.

The train that left Thar Si in the evening entered Shan State just as the sun was setting. The scenery changed and the weather became cooler.

So Maung Myat Kyaw took out a warm blanket from his suitcase, laid down comfortably, and thought about why he had come to Shan State now.

The first letter was from his uncle, U Khun Paing, a chieftain in northern Shan State.

Maung Myat Kyaw was known as a kind-hearted person who always helped others in the field of relatives and friends. His mother was the sister of the aforementioned U Khun Paing, a local chief. After graduating from the 10th grade and continuing his education at Yangon College, Maung Myat Kyaw married his father. His father was an assistant secretary in the license era and lived well on the outskirts of Yangon with a farm and a car. His mother gave birth to this only son, and when Maung Myat Kyaw's father died at a young age, she did not marry again, but with the remaining money from the marriage contract, she opened a market on Phounggyi Street, selling Shan tea and other products from their area, and educating a young son. Maung Myat Kyaw has now become a famous person. However, his mother continues to work at the market. Their mother and son sometimes visit Shan State.

His uncle, U Khun Paing, is now in a period of no return to the old days of feudalism, so he is trying to maintain his position in the mansion he built in the past, with its golden pagoda and magnificent palace. He is not a wealthy man. He has a son and a young daughter. His wife has died, so he is living as a widower.

Especially U Khun Paing is very stingy with his relatives. He wants to take advantage of others. Maung Myat Kyaw smiled faintly when he received the following letter from his uncle, thinking that he would only remember his relatives if they needed any help.