Saving Fish from Drowning - Heal Burma

SAVING FISH FROM DROWNING
drink. They were everywhere, as were bad luck and the need to find
reasons for it.
“What does a Nat look like?” Esmé asked.
“Ah, yes. They can be of many forms,” Walter said. “At festivals
that are held for them, you can see statues, large and small, created
to represent them—a figure on a white horse, or a man who looks
like a monk, royal people dressed in the clothing of yesteryear. And
some, like the spirits of nature, are invisible.”
“Are they like ghosts?” Esmé asked.
“There is some similarity,” Walter replied. “You might see them,
you might not. But as I understand it, you Americans hire people to
remove ghosts, or ‘bust’ them, as I believe you say. Your ghosts are
only people or possibly animals. And you don’t create shrines or give
offerings to keep them happy. This particular shrine is for this tree.
There were many accidents on the old road, until people realized a
Nat was here. After the shrine was placed here, no accidents have
happened.”
“So they’re everything and everywhere,” Esmé concluded.
Walter tilted his head slightly to indicate it was a possibility.
“So what else do Nats supposedly do when riled?” Vera asked.
“It could be anything,” Walter answered, “some mischief, at the
very least. A valuable object might be broken or snatched. Illness.
And there can be greater calamities, even catastrophes to entire vil­
lages. Whatever the misfortune, people might then believe that they
weren’t dutiful in propitiating a Nat. But please don’t think that all
Nats are bad. If you’ve honored them well, they might be inclined to
help you. One of the tourists I guided last year likened them to your
concept of mothers-in-law.”
“Do you believe in Nats?” Marlena asked.
Walter turned and smiled. “Educated people generally don’t. But
it’s tradition to give an offering. Like presents under your Christmas
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