Saving Fish from Drowning - Heal Burma

AMY TAN
plenty of ferns, young bamboo shoots, more of the medicinal sweet
wormwood, and the lemon-scented leaves of a bush that, when
ground into a powder, helped deter the creepy-crawlies from coming
into their tree huts. They placed their haul in the woven rattan bas­
kets they had brought along, and returned to camp with a sense of
dual accomplishment. The children ran toward them, shouting wel­
come, tugging on their hands to lead them to a plank by the cook
fire, where they set the morning’s haul.
Black Spot’s daughter picked up the red penile-looking plant. The
women who did the cooking quickly took the plant from her. One
of the old ladies called out to Black Spot, who in turn yelled for Grease
and Salt.
“You’ve seen this before?” Moff asked Black Spot.
“Yes, yes,” he said. “Many times. Very good plant.”
Moff was disappointed. It seemed the plant was not undiscovered
after all.
But in fact, the plant was not officially known to the rest of the
world. The tribe had found it just a few years earlier, and in taste-
testing it, they discovered that its shape was good advertising for its
potency. It was an aphrodisiac, and quite an effective one. A sliver of
the plant, chewed slowly, could endow a man with the prowess of a
twenty-year-old. It also resolved any prostate plumbing problems.
And it had a similar arousal effect on women, though this was not
supposed to be discussed, for fear of an outbreak of lascivious ladies
running amok.
Black Spot, Grease, and Salt would regularly make forays into the
jungle. Whenever they found even one of these rare plants, they
raised the bridge, scurried down the mountain with their treasure,
and went into Nyaung Shwe, where they turned to a trusty network
of sympathetic Karen and a man who was experienced in discretion
and turning a huge profit.
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