Once upon a time, a dilapidated bamboo hut stood at the junction of Upper and Lower Burma, not far from the village cemetery. And a monk and a servant lived in that hut.
The monk diligently studied the commandments, and this activity took up so much of his time that he did not have time to do anything else. And the servant collected alms for him. The villagers were very unhappy that the monk never preached sermons, and decided to punish him for this. One day a servant went to the village for alms, and returned from there with nothing.
However, the monk was so absorbed in his commandments that he did not pay the slightest attention to this.
One day the monk saw an amazing dream: he dreamed that if he folded two bamboo trays and attached wings to them, he could fly through the air on them. And he also dreamed that any disease could be cured by insect droppings.
The monk told the servant about these dreams, and he exclaimed in joy:
- Finally, we are lucky!
- How lucky? – the monk was surprised.
But the cunning servant did not answer anything and immediately got down to business. He began to scrape insect droppings from the walls of the hut, and then, when there was quite a lot of droppings, he put it into bottles, poured water, and added paint to some bottles, and finally stuck a label with the name of the medicine on each of them.
One day a servant came to the village for alms and began to praise his monk that he had the gift of healing from any disease.
Just at that time, a man was dying of a serious illness in one house. People gathered, apparently and invisibly. The village doctor helplessly threw up his hands, and there was nowhere to wait for salvation.
Suddenly the servant’s voice was heard:
“Our monk has been quite successful in treating various diseases. Go to him, ask nicely, and he will give you medicine that will immediately make the patient better.
At first no one paid attention to his chatter, but then one of those who stood not far from the patient and whose face was especially sorrowful finally heeded the words of the servant:
“Are you saying your monk can help?” Maun Cain! Go to the monk and bring some medicine.
Maun Kain went to the monk. He told him about the patient’s condition, and the monk asked:
- Maun Cain, who treated the patient?
“He was treated by the abbot of the northern monastery, U Bo Ta. The abbot of the eastern monastery, U Tai, treated him. Others were treated, but to no avail. Maybe something will work out for you?
The monk gave Maun Cain three bottles. medications and explained how to manage them. On the way back, Maung Kain met the abbot of the monastery, U Bo Tha.
-Where are you coming from? – asked the abbot.
“Yes, I went to the monk for new medicines,” answered the embarrassed Maun Cain.
“If I haven’t cured the patient, then Tijamin himself won’t cure him!” - U Bo Ta said. However, Maun Cain pretended not to hear the reproach and continued on.
[Tijamin is the king of Nats.]
Maun Kain brought medicine, they began to give it to the patient, and by morning the patient felt better. And after a few days the patient completely recovered.
Soon the fame of the miracle cure spread throughout the area. The sick flocked to the monk-doctor. The once abandoned monastery was now always full of people. Whole families came here. And the monk and his servant no longer felt hungry - the monastery courtyard became small for offerings.
But the servant had more to do. He was literally knocked off his feet: the parishioners needed so much medicine.
One day the famous monastery was visited by the monk U Bo Ta. He wanted to try his witchcraft power and send spirits and ghosts to the monastery. But the monk and the servant read prayers all night long, and the evil spirits became afraid.
The next day in the evening the servant cooked thamene. He spread out the longja, smeared it with thamene and stuck the fluff from the pillow to it. Having then dressed himself in this strange robe, he went to the U Bo Ta monastery. He, seeing the approaching monster, in fear began to read all the prayers he knew, but not one of them helped him. The monster boldly approached U Bo Ta and treated him to a juicy slap on the face. “Apparently, I really am no good,” U Bo Ta reasoned, rubbing his cheek.
[Thamene is the national dish.]
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru