Burmese Sketches - Khamkoo

BURMESE SKETCHES.
^^g
Po was quite a different specimen of the English-speaking
class. Sober, affectionate, and kind, she said her lover was a
pious Buddhist, and a respecter of traditions, who took off his
shoes as a mark of respect, and held in reverence the pagodas,
pSngyiSi and his parents. He was a model of a young
man, and him she must have by hook or by crook, otherwise
she threatened she would put an end to her life by *' swallowing
opium, taking arsenic, or strangling herself. " Of course, poor
old U Pi had to give in, and Ma Me welcomed her lover.
Maung Po had read somewhere about-
A perfect woman nobly planned,
To warn, to comfort, and to command,
and he seemed to have found in Ma Me an embodiment of this
sentiment. Tall, graceful, with finely-cut lips, bright flashing
eyes, long dark lashes, a lofty and spacious brow, and possessing
an unblemished character, he thought he had found his
' queen ' in her—a being to be loved, cherished, and adored.
He, therefore, set about to woo her and gain her love, if he
could.
Unhappily, at first, his amatory tactics were all frustrated
by the intervention of U Pi. He wrote some letters to his
lady-love ; but they were all intercepted by the old father.
(iV.Z?.—-Cranky fathers generally have good daughters). He
tried to visit Ma Me in person ; but his visits were forbidden.
Maung Po knew no other way of gaining access to the person
he had set his heart upon, and he was brooding and brooding
over his ill-fate and disappointments, when he received an
announcement from Ma Me herself that her house was open to
receive him though it might be closed to other suitors. Need
we say that Maung Po's joy knew no bounds on hearing this
happy news ?
The consent of Maung Po's parents to the proposed match
having been previously obtained, it was arranged that the Luhyo
should visit the Apyo every Saturday and remain at her house
till 12 o'clock in the night. From this arrangement, our
readers will perceive the mathematical precision and punctuality
of the visits of Maung Po— the result of his Western education.
We might here give the raison d'etre of this arrangement by
saying parenthetically, that our hero was at the time helping
his father in his business of trade and managing his landed
estates, and that, European-like, he set aside every Sunday as a
rest-day for the rest of his mind and body.
And now as to the modus operandi of Burmese courtship.
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