A Burmese wonderland; a tale of travel in Lower and ... - Khamkoo

148 A BURMESE WONDERLAND.
enquired of a returned ambassador how Mandalay
compared with London-myo and Paris-myo, the diplomat
wisely replied: — "Your Majesty, those ^illages
have not one single tamarind " —M^ji hin ta bin ma
shi
bu.
Another typical story is told of ]\Iindon's Court.
The King saw the French Ambassador pass the palace
and asked " Who is that man?" A Minister repUed
" It isn't a man, it is a foreigner." Lu ma hoat bu.
Kala be.
Mindon, however, is a pleasant figure to look back
upon. The arrogance of his predecessors, with the
exception perhaps of Alaungpra, was incredible ; and
the ambition of the dynasty as a whole resulted not
only in utter ruin, but produced much misery amongst
the people. The record of savage deeds is forgotten
with amazing swiftness. Bodaw Paya suppressed a
palace plot by burning alive the
entire population of a
perfectly innocent village. " Every inhabitant of
Poungha was dragged from his home. Young and old,
women and priests, were assembled and burnt alive in
one vast holocaust."^ Those wretched people in their
agony could scarcely have imagined that a century hence
theirs' would be remembered as a ' Golden Age.'
Father Sangermano, an Italian priest, gives us an
independent picture of Bodaw Paya's time. " Bodaw
Paya," he says, " founded a new capital and gave it
the
name of Araarapura. He ordered all the inhabitants
^ Fytche. Burma Past and Present. Page 75.