Saving Fish from Drowning - Heal Burma

AMY TAN
times, it was a bicycle and a television set, a satellite dish, a bicycle
generator, and car batteries. Food often went missing, especially
spices and fermented fish. But Heinrich never said that Black Spot
could “steal” his satellite phone. And he most certainly never said
that Black Spot and his friends should steal his guests.
Well, looking back, he saw that perhaps he had inadvertently said
this. He recalled the day Black Spot told him with great excitement
that they had found the Younger White Brother. They spoke in
Burmese in front of the guests. See him there? The tall young man
kicking the caneball? Soon, Black Spot predicted, they would reunite
him with his followers up in No Name Place. Heinrich sought to dis­
courage the delusion. The boy was merely an American tourist, he
counseled, not a deity. But he did magic with the cards, Black Spot
said. Back and forth they tussled over Rupert’s qualifications as god
versus tourist. To underscore the futility of getting Rupert to go to No
Name Place, Heinrich remarked: “The only chance of that happening
is if the whole lot of them agrees to come along for the fun of it.”
And now he recalled Black Spot saying, “Thank you for your
wisdom.”
When the tourists didn’t return on Christmas Day, Heinrich tried
not to show that he was concerned. He had to steer the military away
from the truth, as well as he could. If the authorities learned they
were all in cahoots, that would be a death sentence for the tribe and
possibly him. And he had to get that bastard Bailley to stop stirring
up the waters. When Black Spot next came to the resort for supplies,
Heinrich collared him. The white brothers and sisters are fine, Black
Spot assured him. They love their Karen people. They said so on
their movie camera. And they are very, very comfortable, so this is
not a problem at all. They think it is a great adventure to sleep in
trees. At each meal, they praise the unusual food, saying they have
never eaten so many unknown delicacies and tasty insects. Heinrich
was astounded that the tourists believed that cockamamie story
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