. The Mythology of all races .. . ached us to his person and called us Shwe Pyin Naungdaw[the elder] and Shwe Pyin Nyidaw [the younger]. We wentwith him on his journey to China, and it was through our ef-forts that he brought back the relics of the Buddha which heobtained from the Udibwa. When he came back he ordered apagoda to be built at Taung-byon, and this was to be erected byall the persons of his court. Nawrahta, the King, went to viewit and found two spaces lacking the bricks which we brothershad not put in. Then the King was wroth and sent us to ourdeath, and thus we became Nats, and t
. The Mythology of all races .. . ached us to his person and called us Shwe Pyin Naungdaw[the elder] and Shwe Pyin Nyidaw [the younger]. We wentwith him on his journey to China, and it was through our ef-forts that he brought back the relics of the Buddha which heobtained from the Udibwa. When he came back he ordered apagoda to be built at Taung-byon, and this was to be erected byall the persons of his court. Nawrahta, the King, went to viewit and found two spaces lacking the bricks which we brothershad not put in. Then the King was wroth and sent us to ourdeath, and thus we became Nats, and the pretty maidens havesighed for us from that day. The chant for the younger brother is shorter: I am the younger brother of Shwe Pyin-gyi, who is the chiefNat of yonder Taung-byon. The true servant of King NawrahtaMinzaw was I, and time and again my brother and I served PLATE XX The Guardian of the Lake The image of Hpaung-daw-u is here shown richlycovered with gold-leaf by the piety of worshippersduring many years. Cf. Plate THE THIRTY-SEVEN NATS 353 him at the risk of our lives. But he slew us because he foundnot the two bricks, the share of work allotted to us while wewere away. On our death we forthwith became Nats, butthere was no place where we might stay. Therefore we clungto the Royal barge and checked it in its course. Then didthe King grant to us the sovereignty of all the country thatlies by Taung-byon. Now, all ye pretty maidens, love ye us asye were wont to do while yet we were alive. The suggestion of Adonis and of his counterparts, Tammuzand Osiris, is obvious, and there is also a hint of phallic wor-ship in the method of death. One may recall the lines ofMilton on Tammuz, Whose annual wound to Lebanon alluredThe Syrian damsels to lament his fateIn amorous ditties all a summers day. None of the Nats has a particularly creditable history. Itis the old story: the good may be neglected because they areeasy-going and harmless; the vigorous, and especially thevic
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, booksubjectmythology, bookyear19
