Saving Fish from Drowning - Heal Burma

SAVING FISH FROM DROWNING
ment my friends stepped off the bus, a cloud of mosquitoes followed
and feasted on promised flesh.
Throughout the night, the tribe walked past Rupert and listened
to his nonsense pleas for help. They were doubly concerned. How
could the Younger White Brother be so sick? How could he make
them invulnerable to death when he was now slipping from the edges
of life? Before they could carry on with more of this talk, the grand­
mother of Loot and Bootie scolded the doubters and disbelievers.
Don’t you remember what happened to us, when Loot and Bootie
and I swam the River of Death? Through trial with death, you dis­
cover your power. Through trial, you shed your mortal flesh, layer af­
ter layer, until you become who you are supposed to be. If you die,
you were mortal all along. But if you survive, you are a god. So don’t
go speaking your doubts so loudly. This god might waken and arise,
and if he hears your fickle and fomenting talk, he’ll put you in a place
with no pretty maidens, just barren rice fields. When all of us are
ready to leave, he’ll make you stay right here in No Name Place.
Two women brought jugs of cool water and soaked cloths in
them. They placed these on the crown of Younger White Brother’s
head and under his neck where the hot pulse runs. And then the
twins’ grandmother tried to feed him a tonic, but Vera ordered her
to stop. She examined the bowl and sniffed the strong odor of bitter
herbs and alcohol.
The twins’ grandmother made everything perfectly clear. It is very
good, all pure, I cooked and fermented it myself. This tea comes from
the leaves of a bush that grows in the forest. The first time we ate
those leaves it was only because we had no food. And do you know
what? Those who were sick grew well. And those who were well never
got sick.
Of course, Vera understood not a word. She shook her head and
put the bowl out of reach. The women tried to persuade her, but she
stood firm. “No voodoo medicine.” And so the ladies of the jungle
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