You write a figure on the board and wipe it out.
What's the use? Speak up, Asia, but don't recommend no more curry.'
'Hi! Hi!' says Fu Shan, the little yeller idjit! 'My got blother have
joss house by Langoon. All light. He tlade. You go lun joss house by
Langoon. Vely good ploperty.' That's what he said. Why not? That's
the way I looked at it."
He paused and blew smoke. Maya Dala and Irish were gone. I asked,
"Are you learning Burmese off Maya Dala?" and he nodded.
"Now," I says, "what I don't see is this temple business. Where was
the profit? Don't temples belong to the priests?"
"Seems not always," he says. "They're a kind of monks, anyway. It's
where old Lo Tsin Shan was original to begin with and mysterious
afterward. Suppose a Siamese prince brings a pound of gold leaf to
gild things with, and some Ceylon pilgrims leave a few dozen little
bronze images with a ruby in each eye. They've 'acquired merit,' so
they say. It goes to their credit on some celestial record. Their
next existence will be the better to that extent anyway, now. Suppose
the temple's gilded all over, and lumber rooms packed to the roof
with bronze images already. Do they care what becomes of these
things? Don't seem to.
Pages:
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122