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DECEMBER, 1890.)
FOLKLORE IN BURMA.
437
FOLKLORE IN BURMA.
BY TAW SEIN KO.
No. 2.- The Two Blind Princes. Being childless at the time of his aocession to the throne of Tagaung, King Thadonâganaing' adopted prince Labaduha, brother of his queen Kên nayide wi, as his hoir.
One day it was reported to the king that a huge wild boar, 18 feet high, was devastating the land, and the Enyemin, as the prince was now called, was ordered to stop its ravages. The prince tarched out with an armed force, and the boar fled southwards and sought refuge in the Shan country, and to this day the place of its entry is known as Wetwin. The chase was continued, and the animal crossed the Irrawaddy (Airavati) at a place called Wetmasut without Fetting itself, and was not overtaken till it reached an island above Prome now called Wettôgyun, where it met its death. The prince afterwards proceeded southwards, and the lake where he washed his dagger after killing the wild boar, came to be known as Wetth wese-in, now corrupted into Wetohe-in.7
After accomplishing his mission, Labaduha bethought himself that, in case a son and heir had been born to the King of Tagaung during his prolonged absence, his return thither would only complicate matters. The distance he would have to traverse was great and beset with much danger, and he was not free from apprehension that his return would give rise to intrigues, and perhaps civil commotion, as was the case with most of the neighbouring countries. Besides, he was of an advanced age and would prefer ending his days in peace. He, therefore, resolved to take up his permanent residence in the country of the Pyus, and acquire merit by leading the austere life of an ascetic hermit.
One day the religious meditations of the hermit-prince were disturbed by the cries of an infant near his hermitage, and on repairing to the spot whence the soand proceeded, he saw to his great surprise that a doe had miraculously given birth to a female child. The doe being frightened by human intrusion ran oft, and the hermit-prince could do nothing but take possession of the child and carry it to his lonely abode. Fortunately for the sustenance of the child, abundant milk miraculously flowed from both the fore-fingers of the hermit, who had constituted himself its foster father. In due course the child grew into a beautifui damsel, and was named Bedâyi. When she was seventeen years of age, she was sent daily to fetch water and directed not to return home till after sunset. This injunction was given, because it was considered that the presence of a female was detrimental to the spiritual progress of a recluse.
In the same year that prince Labaduha set out on his perilons chase, queen Kennayidênt gave birth to two male twins who were born blind. The king was ashamed of owning them as his children, and ordered them to be done away with. But the queen, with the motberly affection natural to her sex, hid them away and saved their lives. When they were nineteen years old, however, the king discovered that his behest had not been obeyed, and he peremptorily commanded that effect should be given to his previous order. The queen could no longer stave off the fatal moment, and therefore bringing her feminine wit into requisition, she devised a scheme for obeying the royal order and yet at the same time for saving the lives of
1 See onte, Vol. XVIII. page 275, footnote 2.
? Kennayide wi Kinnardért, • Enyemin or Enshemin literally means lord of the eastern house, and corresponds to the Yuvardja in macient Hinds kingdoms; vide Phayre's History of Burma, page 9.
• Wetwin means 'boar-entry.' It is in the Shan State of Thônze, which is to the north-west of Mandalay. . Wotmaaut means boar-not-wet.' It is situated in the Myingyan district. • Wettőgyun means 'boar-strike-island.'
Wetche-in ; quarter of the town of Prome is still known by this name. • The Pyus are an extinct tribe whose habitat was the Prome district. • Bodkyt; this appears to be word of the Pyu language, about which nothing is at present known.
