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AUGUST, 1906.] A NATIVE ACCOUNT OF THE THIRTY-SEVEN NATS.
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25 and 26. Shwobyin Naungdaw and Shwobyin Nyidaw Nats.
They were the sons of an Indian runner of Thatôn in the service of Nawratâ. The chief duty of this man was to supply the king with flowers from Mount Pôpâ. On one occasion he met an ogress whom he took to wife. By her he got two sons, whom he placed under the charge of the king. They had to serve the king under the name of the Brothers Shwêbyin, when the king marched to China to demand Buddha's Tooth from the Emperor. The tooth was obtained, and on his way back, the king built a pagoda at Taungbyôn, where they had encamped. By royal mandate every man was eujoined to furnish one brick for erecting it. Presuming on the good services they had rendered to the king, they paid no heed to the Royal command and spent their time in courting a girl of Taungbyôn. When the appointed time had lapsed, they were too late to furnish the required bricks, and were executed for disobedience of orders. On their death they became Nats under the name of Two Brother Nats.
In the festival to these Nats the medium wears a paso, fringed with a border of foreign manufacture, a jacket with broad sleeves, and a white and purple gilt head-dress. Holding sprigs of thebye in the right hand he makes three paces forward and chaunts an ode. Then he changes his jacket for a short one of velvet, his pasô for a scarlet one, and his hat for one of felt and dances. Placing the plantains offered to him on a three-legged tray and arming himself with a sword in the right hand he mimics the hunting of rabbits and rows a boat with his sword. In the ode chaunted by the elder brother he narrates his own story, recounting the services he and his brother and their father (who was, according to the song, a khalasi, sailor) had rendered to the king. In the ode chaunted by the younger brother he recounts the past good services they had rendered to the king, mentioning the heroic exploit they performed in the palace of the Emperor of China, whither they marched to get Buddha's Tooth. He dwells at some length on the meanness of the king in not making suitable offerings to them. After their death they revealed themselves to the king on his return on a raft by stopping the progress of it. At their request the king granted them Taungbyôn and the surrounding suburbs as their home.
27. Mintha Maung Shin Nat.
He was the son of King Minyizaw of Pagân, who founded Kyauk thànbàt and Pûtet. While a novice in a monastery, he died of a fall from a swing and became a Nat.
In the festival to this Nat the medium is dressed in yellow robes as a priest. He chaunts an ode first, in which he narrates his own story, and then dances, playing on a harp in his hand.
28. Tibyusaung Nat.
He was the father of Nawratâ of Pagân, and was deposed by his step-sons Kyîzo and Sôkkade, and compelled to become a Buddhist priest. When his son Nawratâ had wrested the crown from his half-brother Sokkadê, the dignity and rank of a king was conferred on the old priest, who continued to reside in his monastery, surrounded by his harem. On his death, he was deified as a Nat under the name of Tibyûsaung Nat.
In one legend it is said that he resided in a monastery, south of Parainthâ village.
In the festival to this Nat the medium is dressed in yellow robes as a priest. He chaunts an ode, in which he says he taught poetry in his monastery to all learners. Then holding a fan in the right hand and an alms-bowl in the left, he walks as if he were receiving alms.
29. Tibyassung Mêdaw Nat.
She was apparently the queen of King Tânnet [the foregoing Nat], though the legends are silent on this point.
