A Burmese Enchantment (Paperback)

Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CHAPTER III. Lu-zo. Maung Lwen was vicious. Everybody knew it. Ali Box, the Indian police constable, knew it because Maung Lwen was rude to him. Young Jones, the D. S. P.1, who was very new and very keen, knew it, because Ali Bux told him so. Aitkin, the S. D. O.2, who was also young and keen, knew it, partly because every one said so and partly because it pleased him to imagine that he knew everything about everybody in his district. Aitkin and Jones occupied the relative positions of King-Emperor and Prime Minister in remote Minmyo, and were consequently above making mistakes. They were, of course, by no means typical officers. But it just happened that both were young, and the zeal of youth is very often misplaced. So when they discussed Maung Lwen over coffee and port and decided that he would come to a bad end, Maung Lwen's fate was already sealed. The luglays3 heard all about it as they handed cigars, and Ali Bux made a point of hearing all that the luglays did. Thus was the tragedy prepared for Maung Lwen in those comparatively innocent days when his crimesconsisted of nothing worse than an independent manner and a slight tendency to an occasional flutter at cards or at races. Ninety-nine out of every hundred young Burmans are no better than Maung Lwen. But, you see, there were forces at work which are irresistible?evil fate and karma inherited ages ago?which no man may escape. i District Superintendent of Police. 4 Snb-divisional Officer. Servant. Certainly Maung Lwen did not realise the direction of the current; nor did he suspect the danger he ran in irritating Ali Bux. On the whole, he was a good lad: lazy perhaps, and too fond of pleasure; but there was no real wickedness in him. He and Ma Chyok his pretty wife, and Maung Po Tin their small son, might o...