The Journal of the Siam Society Vol. LXXI, Part 1-2, 1983 - Khamkoo

198 .Anthony Jt:Walkl'r · ... ~
6. Ha I You who hold in your hands eternal merit, three times in one day, three
times in one night, once again search [for merit to bestow upon us], oh you who
search for, you who· cr~ate and you who bestow [merit upon us] •.
. : •• •. • . . • : • . • • - •. ., ; : ~--. c: \:.. 1- • .-; ~ _:
7_.
You up there;: the aU.;.true, the all-powerful Divine Father; [t~rant us that] within
the four corners of th~s village there be no troubled thoughts, (gtilnt that l every
person, the big and the smal~, may enjoy good health and_-prosperity, untroubled
thOught~·~ · · · -:: ·' · .. ·· .. · ·
9. Concluding Comment
···'Against the ethnographic background ofthe Lahu hill people, and particularly
·of the Lahu Nyi, or Red Lahu, division of this ethnic group, my paper has recor4ed the
process by, which a Lahu Nyi village community :reJocat~s. · ,. ·. · . . _
Since it has been my primary purpose to preserve and ·~:nake available to other
researchers the texts of prayers related to this process, a quick _review of. these texts
inay be in order here ... They were :
I .. to. the locality spirit, requesting permission to use its JlrOperty fo;r ~ new. village
.• . ' • t .. .
II. to the guardian spirit of the old village, telling it about the intended move
III, IV. to the locality spirit, requesting approval for the choice of house site
v. to the house spirit, inviting it to move into the new house
... . . .
VI. to G'lii~ sha, the supreme supernatural being, dedicating the village temple.
Besides contributing a little to the ethnography of village settlement . in liigh]and
Southeast· Asia, I hope this paper has also given the reader a sense of the' content and
style of Lahu Nyi ritual poetry.
-.. . .......... ·--· ......... :"" ... .
I shall be glad to hear from anyone who has comments or corrections to offer
on any of the material (descriptive, interpretive or linguistic) ,which appears. in this
paper.