Once upon a time, a husband and wife lived in a remote village. They worked from early morning until late at night in the fields, fed and clothed themselves, and had neither the need nor the time to travel to the city. Because of their modest and quiet disposition, their neighbors nicknamed them Maun Shwei Yow and Mae Shwei Yow.
[Sewing Yow – holy simplicity (Burm.)]
All the villagers went on pilgrimage to the pagoda, the abbot of which was one monk. And that monk was a stupid and ignorant man. He completely renounced worldly life and was not interested in anything earthly. He constantly repeated the same prayers for the afterlife. That's why his fellow villagers called him the monk Shwei Yow.
One day Maun Shwei Yow returned home after working in the field and lay down to rest. Mae Shwei Yow got angry with him and began to grumble:
“No sooner had I arrived home than I immediately fell asleep. It would be better if he walked on the water!
There is nothing to do. The husband took a bucket and went to get water. On the way back, he found a fragment of a mirror on the road. He looked in the mirror and exclaimed in surprise:
- But this is a portrait of my grandfather, who died five years ago! I’ll probably take it as a souvenir!
Maun Shwei Yow brought the mirror home and put it in a drawer. He had never seen a mirror before and did not know what it was. From then on, Maun Shwei Yow took out an imaginary portrait of his grandfather from the box every day and admired it for a long time.
The wife noticed that her husband had a secret from her. And then one day, when her husband was in the field, she climbed into his box and found a mirror there. Looking in the mirror, Mae Shwei Yow became indescribably furious:
- Oh, that’s what he is like! Well, nothing! When he comes home, I'll show him! I'm a slow-witted simpleton! Why didn’t I think to look at what he kept here earlier! This is no other way than a portrait of his beloved!
In the evening, as soon as Maun Shwei Yow crossed the threshold of the house, his wife grabbed his hand and dragged him to the box. Taking out the mirror and pointing her finger at her image, she screamed at the top of her lungs:
- So this is what you are hiding from me! This is your beloved!
Maun Shwei Yow was very surprised. Snatched the mirror from his wife:
- How can a beloved have a mustache? This is my grandfather!
And the angry Mae Shwei Yow, having taken the mirror from her husband and trying to find a portrait in it, foamed at the mouth and argued:
“Grandfather is a good guy with a comb in his hair!”
The husband and wife argued for a long time. Everyone tried to prove they were right. Finally they decided to go to the monk - let him judge them.
“What brings you to me at such an inopportune hour, laymen?” - asked the monk, seeing the newcomers,
Having given the monk the due honors, Maung Shwei Yow told him about his dispute with his wife and asked him to judge them with honor and justice.
“You alone, teacher, are our hope.” You alone can decide who is depicted here – the grandfather or the girl,” Maung Shwei Yow concluded his story.
“Show me this image,” the monk said importantly.
He looked at the mirror, which he had never seen before, and in a tone that did not allow for objections, he said:
“This is not your grandfather and not your beloved, Maung Shwei Yow, this is the late abbot of the monastery.”
The delighted husband and wife thanked the monk and went home.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru