The Coolidge examiner., 1935-09-27

AAA ~ ANAAs 4AAfAt was Al tllAL ANAIiik
n most sacred relic, nothing less
than a tooth of Gautama. Such a
trophy was beyond price and It's
possession by Pagan would sancti-
~ and ennoble the kings name. Ac-
cordlngly. with four trusty captains.
mounted on matchless steeds, Ana
wrata FASTENED to the seashore and
embarked for Ceylon at nlghtfall.
But unseen hands were fighting
on the side of the sovereign of Cey-
Ion and sacred tooth. The ship sped
swiftly on through the night. Yet
when the travellers awoke IL was
to find themselves anchored little
below Paganl
Banled but not defeated. Ana
wrata sent an envoy TO Sangabodhi,
the king, an envoy who bore many
costly presents and who was in
structed to demand the tooth of
Guatama In return.
Gautama Supplied Teeth.
Sangabodhi, unwilling to surren-
der his most precious possession.
yet fearful of arouslng the ire of
so dreadful monarch as the king
of Pagan, was In sore straits. In
his distress he expressed the wish
that he might have two such teeth.
No sooner had he given utterance
to this desire than the tooth pro-
duced a fellow exactly resembling
Itself! In fact, the two were in
dlstinguishable until the original
declared Itself by rising into the
air and performing miracles.
The duplicate was placed in n
casket of gold and delivered to the
envoy who carried 1t back with
great pomp to Pagan.
To solve the difficulty of choos-
Ing n site for the enshrinement of
the prize, the casket was placed on
the back OF white elephant. and
II was announced that wherever the
animal halted there should be the
resting place of the tooth.
Much 10 the disappointment OF
all, the elephant bearing his pre-
cious burden crossed the river and
knelt down near the Tangyl hills.
This was very far from the palace,
and the king expressed his regret
that he also had not two sacred
teeth. Here again the wish was
father to the miracle. Immediate
ly there were two teeth instead Of
one! The duplicate was placed on
the elephants back and the beast
was hidden to move on.
Five times the elephant halted be-
fore reaching the neighborhood of
the palace, and at each place the
tooth was miraculously multiplied,
until at last the site Of the Lokan-
anda was reached and the king pro-
fessed himself satisfied. At each
stop a shrine was built, and at the
last was reared the pile which still
remains as one Of the monuments
to Anawrata's greatness.
Conquered by the Chinese.
For more than two centuries the
successors of Anawrata more or
less worthily maintained the dignity
and prestige of Pagan. But In the
north was developing a power that
was soon to engulf not Pagan only,
but almost the entire continent Of
Asia. Kublai Khan in 1854 con-
quered what Is now Yunnan, and
the Chinese were thus brought into
contact with Burma. To the result
Ing conflict there could be but one
issue. In 1886 Pagan fell before
invaders from the north, never
again to attain historical signlfc-
ance. OF the great battle between
the two armies on the plain of
Vociam, Marco Polo gives a graph
ic and spirited account.
Though under the circumstances,
the fall of Pagan was inevitable,
the last king Of that unfortunate
capital stands in pitiful contrast to
the great Anawrata Known to his
tory as Tayokpyemin, the King Who
Ran Away From the Chinese, he
was utterly unworthy of his noble
office. In the Mingalazedi Is an in
scription which commentaries his
achievements at the table. Here it
is recorded that he never dined Off
fewer than three hundred dishes,
While the Chinese host was yet
a long way from the city, the cow
ardly king fed down the river to
Bassein. When the cooks whom he
had taken with him were able TO
produce only 80 dishes, the full
horror Of his position dawned upon
the unhappy monarch. He burst in
to childish tears and exclaimed,
Now l am poor indeed !"
When the invaders had taken
their toll of Pagan and retired, he.
thought of returning. At Prone,
however, he was met by one Of his
sons, who offered him poisoned
food. For a time the weakling hest
tated. At last, convinced that it was
better to die so than by the sword,
he yielded and met a fate that. as
few writer's have avoided the temp
tation to remark, was singuIarly ap-
propriate to his character.