The Life or Legend of Gaudama, the Buddha of the Burmese (Volume I)Bigandet, Paul Ambroise
Religion
The Life or Legend of Gaudama, the Buddha of the Burmese (Volume I)
Bigandet, Paul Ambroise
Buddhism -- Burma; Burma -- Religion; Gautama Buddha
At that very moment a chief Thagia was quietly enjoying a delicious and
refreshing rest on the famous stone table called Pantoo Kambala. On a
sudden, he felt his seat as it were getting hot. "Lo! what does this
mean?" said the astonished Thagia; "am I doomed to lose my happy state?"
Having recollected himself, and reflected a while on the cause of such a
wonderful occurrence, he soon knew that Phralaong was preparing to put
on for the last time his princely dress. He called to him the son of a
Nat, named Withakioon, and said to him, "On this day, at midnight,
Prince Theiddat is to leave his palace and withdraw into solitude. Now
he is in his garden, preparing to put on his richest attire for the last
time. Go, therefore, without a moment's delay, to the place where he is
sitting, surrounded by his attendants, and perform to him all the
required services." Bowing respectfully to the chief of Thagias,
Withakioon obeyed, and by the power inherent in the nature of Nats, he
was in an instant carried to the presence of Phralaong. He assumed the
figure of his barber, and immediately set to work to arrange the turban
with as much taste as art round his head. Phralaong soon found out that
the skilful hand which disposed the folds of his head-dress was not that
of a man, but of a Nat. One fold of the turban appeared like one
thousand, and ten folds like ten thousand folds, offering the magical
_coup-d'oeil_ of as many different pieces of cloth, arranged with the
most consummate skill. The extremity of the turban, which crossed
vertically the whole breadth of the countless folds, appeared covered
with a profusion of shining rubies. The head of Phralaong was small, but
the folds of the turban seemed numberless. How could that be so? It is a
wonder surpassing our understanding; it would be rashness and temerity
to allow our minds to dwell too much upon it.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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