A Burmese tale

Jealousy knows no rules...

Retold by Amal HEWAVISSENTI

The feelings of jealousy have had a critically negative impact on social relations throughout the human history. Burmese folklore is profusely scattered with simple tales illustrative of how jealousy directs and controls a person's actions and emotions in his dealings with others. This funny episode is said to have occurred during the reign of a Shan King of Burma.

In the kingdom, there was a rich potter and a poor washerman who remained friendly neighbours from the youth. The washerman out of sheer poverty, often turned to the potter for every possible support and benefit to keep his head above water. The potter too frequently took pleasure in getting his friend under his thumb and indirectly displaying to others, his superiority over his friend.

Meanwhile, the washerman had got special washing in the royal palace and this virtually brought him a large amount of money. His humiliation impelled him to rise above his status and the washerman manifested signs of becoming wealthy and powerful much to the grudge of the potter. The overbearing potter painfully marked the sudden flowering of his friend and secretly planned to wreak havoc on his success.

The potter knew well that the King was feeble minded and had an unusual taste for flattery. Therefore, the next day he lay in waiting for the King who used to come on his elephant on his way to the royal gardens, somewhat far from the city. As the King was riding by the potter spoke out sharply.

"What a shame for our king to ride a black elephant. The master washerman can wash the elephant clean and white. Then our king will be riding a beautiful white elephant".

Coaxed with these honeyed words, the foolish king stopped the elephant and asked the potter "Man! What you said is very important. I have a problem though. Where can I find a master washerman who can turn a black elephant into a white one by washing it?".

Then the potter replied, "Your Majest! the master washerman has secret kinds soap and soda. With the use of these special kinds of soap and soda, the master washerman will be able to bleach the royal elephant. He knows this art unusually well. I personally know a master washerman who can do this work for you. He is my best friend and the very neighbour of mine".

The King was so much obsessed with the idea of having a white elephant that, he at once gave the potter a ruby ring as a gift for the valuable information. Back at the Palace, the King immediately sent royal guards to bring the washerman before his presence and when the washerman made his appearance in the Palace, the King said "You are a wonderful man. I have never known that you have such powers with you. You have never announced that you can wash a back elephant into a white elephant. So, take this elephant home. Wash it white using whatever chemical you have. Bring the elephant to the Place after eight days. You'll be highly rewarded."

The sharp witted washerman saw through the riddle implicit in the King's words and immediately concluded that it was a fatal trick played on him by his neighbour, the King grew impatient and restless as the washerman kept on casting blank looks on him and the King threatened."Hey man, would you carry out my order or lose your head?" The washerman fully realising the danger he was in, quickly hit on a plan of actions to counterbalance the potter's trickery.

"O! My Lord, it is a great honour for me to wash your elephant white. But the problem is the big pot. As you know, after the clothes are washed, they're kept in a big pot for steaming in order to make them white. In the same way, the royal elephant too should be kept in a pot. In short, I need a jumbo pot big enough to hold the elephant".The foolish king having agreed with the washerman, urgently demanded the potter to appear before him and issued orders to make a large pot to hold the elephant for steaming.

The potter went through a bitter tribulation for seven days making the big pot which cracked and broke off and on, before its final shape came to finish. Finally the pot was ready and the washerman, after washing the elephant sent the animal into the pot. The elephant was too much for the pot and to the potter's extreme disappointment, it was smashed for bits under the elephant's weight. "Make it thicker next time" roared the King in anger. However, as the next pot too was shattered into pieces when the elephant stepped into it, the King kept on ordering the potter to build pots one after the other. This went on and on until the potter was too late to realise the harsh repercussions of his jealousy.