The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1914-07-26

before him; he was the sun Of the East
the Incompatible moon of the race OF
kaundinya; the vessel in which were
stored all the virtues; the sheen or HE
enulgency served him for a parasol
and his capital city needed no other
lght than his mighty arm; the most
mighty OF Kings worshipped him as the
sun Is the object OF the alteration OF
holy men and dancers and heavenly
musicians"
Yet at no time in the history Of the
country, and at one time II was the
dominant sovereignty of the whole
lndo-Chinese peninsula, was all this
glorified majesty, dominion and power
erective- The King Of the Khmer was
a spark OF the divine upon earth. He
was the protector OF the Gods in con-
tact with the defllement OF the earth,
the priest king. as In made clear by the
fact that in the name OF every King
was Incorporated the Sanskrlt word
varman, or protector. down to the revo-
| luton OF the fourteenth century. His
was all the honor and all the glory,
| his were the sacred emblems OF royalty
without which none might be King, his
were the high umbrellas and his were
the white elephants But Leclere has
established as a fact that the King was
! only an ornamental overload over Gov
ernors OF the provinces. who exercised
each in his own province a power
which the King did not possess. These
provinces appear to have been based
upon gentle rather than on geo
graphical considerations; they seem to
be the remnants OF minor kingdoms.
whose rulers had recognized the dam
ger which always was a menace to any
small realm, but which might be obvi-
ated by cohesion within the form OF an
imperial league. This empire was able
through many generations. to hold back
the barbarian tribes on the northern
frontier. then far north Of It's present
delimitation. and in fact to establish
Khmer culture as far as the Chinese
| border. In the same way II was able
to oppose It's full strength against the
equal civilization OF AMMAN on the
east. or Siam on the west, sometimes
against both at once. In peace the
same imperial cohesion was the effect
I've system for assembling huge cor
wees to regulate the rivers. an import
ant concern, since the streams were
rapidly growing TO an elevation above
Niit 10 COrSITuCt the
highways which were necessary to
transportation OF the armies TO the
river valley which might be under at
tack by the national foe. to maintain
ferries, and this was the object Of prime
importance in country which was all
a slough.
II was tho nice balance OF imperial
and regal prerogatives which kept this
Gtns Far
rapidly advancing neighbors. which pre-
served its independence long after It's
hegemony had expired, which has kept
II alive for 1000 years, which still main
tains it despite its ENHANCEMENT in the
nexus of European diplomacy. Yet we
can find nothing viable in the imperial
idea; Its strength lay only in the
strength OF the component States. In
succession. as these States became weak,
they We're suffered to drop out and to
fall into the hands Of the Siamese and
the Annami;es; those which were left
either husbanded their resources for the
recovery of that which was lost. or in
advancing weakness contracted their
limits and from the new frontier op-
posed to the enemy as bold a front as
they yet might.
of the empire was startlngly shown in
the revolution OF the fourteenth CEN
fury After reigning through nearly "A
thousand years the house of the Kings
of Cambodla went tumbling down in
1900 like house Of cards. Yet the
realm remained. for this crash of the
royal house scarcely affected the COM
ponent States. the provinces which re-
manned erect under their own Cover
nors. This episode in Cambodlan his
tory has been recorded az the Plot of
the Keeper OF the Garden OF Savory
Cucumbers' Cneay trasak paem). an item
of history than which mono could more
smack OF the East.
A flood, so violent that Il was COM
monty considered a righteous visitation
in consequence OF the murder Of the son
OF n Brahman-pu by the Kings
orders, overwhelmed Cambodia. The
King at Ayuthyea (Siam) sent vessels
to rescue the King OF Camboda, a sa-
cred statue and the sacred books Of the
Tripitaka. AT the same time the Cham
pas, who were waging war upon the
Khmer, found themselves In danger of
being engulfed by the raging waters
and retired into their own kingdom.
The Cambodisn King Senaka died and
was succeeded by his son Preah Sihanu-
reach, who assembled the throne and re-
turned to his own capital OF Intapath.
one OF his daughters WAS named Lotus
Blossom. another became the wife OF
his successor.
There was at that time gardener OF
the name OF Ta-Chay and, according to
a legend not yet lost in the royal family,
by origin Samre. He had earned such
a reputation for growing savOry cucum-
bers that he had received the title of
Keeper OF the Garden OF Savory Gu
cumbers. Every now and then he sent
a present OF these cucumbers 10 the |
King, and the King grew so fond OF
them that he gave orders that they |
should be reserved for his sole use |
The gardener having complained that |
thieves often raided his garden by night |
King Preah Sihanu sent him lance
which to the present day Is preserved |
in the royal palace at Phnom-Penh, and
authorized him to use II to kill any thief |
whom he might find among the cucum-
bers.
Some time later, in the middle OF
gloomy night the King made up his
mind to see IL the gardener were keep
ing a bright lookout and went down
Intn tho garden with no other escort |