Tale of Two Brothers

Bata served his elder brother Anubis like a son. Bata had prodigious strength and the power to understand
animals. One day as they were plowing, Anubis sent Bata back to the house for more seed.
The wife was smitten with mighty Bata and tried to seduce him, only to be rejected:
"You are like a mother to me and your husband like a father...".
Virtuous to a fault, he promised not to tell her shame.
But she faked a beating (swallowing rancid fat to induce vomiting) and when Anubis returned she told
him
that Bata had raped her.
So Anubis waits in ambush in the stable. But the lead cow warns Bata and he flees.
Re-Harakhti intervenes and draws a river full of crocodiles between Bata and his pursuer.
From the far side of the river Bata protests his innocence. And to prove his claim he calls Re to witness
and
castrates himself (penis and all) casting the genitals into the river.
Anubis is thus convinced of his innocence.
Thereupon Bata weakens and seems to depart this life, journeying to the Valley of the Pine (?),
telling his brother that he must come to resurrect him when a sign appears. When Anubis finds that beer
ferments in his cup, he will know that Bata has perished and he must go to save him.
For Bata will take out his heart and lodge it in the pine flower (?) at the top of the tree.
When the sign comes to him, Anubis must go and find the heart and restore it to life in a basin of water.
Anubis returns home, kills his wife and gives her carcase to the dogs.
Bata in the Valley of the Pine is blessed by the Ennead. On order of Re, Khnum fashions for Bata a
wife of supreme beauty, "the ichor of every god is in her."
But it is not a happy match, for "she sat in the house while he spent the days hunting desert game."
He warned her not to go outside, "lest the sea snatch you. I cannot rescue you ...
because I am a woman like you...?"
Nonetheless she ventures out, the tide surges around her and captures a tress of her hair
(that snagged on the pine); and the sea then carries the tress back to Egypt. There the fragrance
of the tress so permeates the waters that the clothing of pharoah becomes scented from washing in it.
Pharoah learns from his scribes that this tress belongs to "a daughter of Re-Harakhti in whom is the ichor
of every god." So he sends out envoys to search for her; she is found in the valley of the pine and brought
back to Egypt. There she delights the king and demands that he send soldier to cut down the great pine
(wherein is the heart of Bata)
The next day when Anubis takes his barley beer, it ferments in his cup; he takes wine and it sours.
So, recognizing the sign, he sets out for the Valley of the Pine. There he finds Bata's body and searches
3 years for the heart. When he has nearly given up he finds it, puts in a basin of water.
And as the heart soaks the water, the body of Bata takes life and twitches. Anubis gives him the basin
to drink, and his heart is restored. The two brothers are reunited.

Then by Bata's plan, they journey to Egypt, Bata himself disguised as a great Bull, Anubis riding on
his back. Pharoah is impressed and honors Anubis.
But Bata the Bull reveals himself to the Wife (now wife of Pharoah) and she contrives to have him
slaughtered by tricking pharoah into a promise; she demands, "let me eat the liver of this bull."
At his slaughter two drops of the blood soak into the earth at the doorposts of the palace, and
there two great Persea trees spring up, one on either side.
Again Bata, now in the Persea tree, reveals himself to the treacherous Wife. And again she tricks pharoah
into promising, now to cut down the trees and make furniture for her. But when the trees are felled,
a splinter of the wood flies off and lodges in her mouth, and she becomes pregnant from it.
Pharoah dotes upon the child as his son; he (Bata incarnate) rises to be Crown Prince.
When Pharoah dies, the new Pharoah--Bata triumphant-- condemns the treacherous wife--and mother!
He elevates Anubis to Crown Prince. And after his reign of 30 years, at Bata's death, Anubis succeeds
him.

Sawatdee Hello Beautiful Bangkok

Bangkok known as KrunThep,which is Thai for City of Angels, beckons with its golden roofed temples
and spicily curried cuisine. Seven million visitors come to Thailand each year spending an average of six
to seven days because there is so much to see and to relish in this Exotic Orient as one enamored
traveller dubbed the country.
Our agenda for the first day of our tour started with a tour of Wat Po. One of the 370 temples in Bangkok
alone, it is home to the famous Reclining Buddha, which is said to be 46 meters long. Also world
famous are the golden Buddha at the WatTrinig (wat being Thai for temple) and the dazzling Emerald
Buddha. There are 2100 temples in all of Thailand, where 90 percent of the people are Buddhists.
Our loquacious guide regales us with the colorful history of Bangkok and how it became the imperial city
300 years ago, when the god-king Rama I moved the royal residence to this side of the Chao Phraya
River. Today, a boat excursion takes visitors on a tour of the old city, winding down the klong canals for
a glimpse of the water dwellers and the ancient edifices, remnants of an era when Rama I divided his city
into three sections: for the Thais, the Chinese and the Indians. The best buys of Thai silks, spices and
crafts are still at the riverside markets where one can also produce gold, jade and other precious jewelry.
Not to be missed are the Temple of the Dawn along the Chao Phraya, a showcase of Chinese porcelain
mosaics, and the Temple of the Giant Swing for some of the finest murals. Only for strong knees is the
Temple of the Golden Mount, atop a climb of 300 steps, housing one of the largest bronze buddhas in the
world.
The Reclining Buddha was shipped from China by King Rama I, who also built the Wat Po Temple on a
20-hectare compound adjacent to the Royal Palace, circa 1782, in the 2222-old Chinese section. The King
had also brought with him excellent samples of porcelain, which the court artisans used to decorate
pagodas using their elaborate spires. At the main temple, devotees buy oneinch gold leaf squares which
they stick to smaller buddhas as offering to their god. Everyday, morning ceremonies are held at an

adjacent temple surrounded by four magnificent monuments:the first in red built by Rama I; the second in
yellow, by Rama II; the third in green by Rama III; and the fourth in blue, by Rama IV. Just as fascinating
is the sala tree under which, according to legend, Buddha was born (although in India). Its pink and red
flowers are sweet-smelling, a contrast to the brown gourd which are the fruit of the sala tree.
To cap a hectic first day, we had dinner at the BaaThai Restaurant while watching heavily costumed folk
dancers from the lowland and highland villages, including favorite destinations, like Chiang Mai, the
second largest city up north, from whence one can visit the winter palace of the Royal Family and the
training school for working elephants.
Amazingly, Bangkok is clean, especially the day after Wednesday, which is Clean Up Day according to
our guide. So the sidewalk eateries are relatively sanitary, although foreign visitors are advised to stick to
bottled mineral water or soft drinks. In spite of the colossal traffic jams, no thanks to the ubiquitous
toktok pedicabsthe air smells cleaner and less polluted than in Manila.
Source: English for Secondary Schools
Myrna S. Torres
Adapted from The Manila Bulletin, June 2, 1996.

Makato and the Cowrie Shell Thailand

Once upon a time there was a boy named Makato. He was an orphan, and had no friends or family to take
care of him. Because he had to make his own living he did all kinds of odd jobs: chopping wood, feeding
pigs, clearing and cleaning. He didn't mind to work hard, and despite his small wages he was satisfied
with his life.
He was only 4 when his mother passed away, but he remembered some stories she had told about the
kind-hearted king of Sukhotai. Ever since he was small he wanted to meet this king. One day, when
helping a friend to find food for elephants, he found so many branches that the friend offered him a job to
become the assistant of the King's mahout. He worked hard cleaning elephants sheds and finding food.
One fine morning Makato's patience and hard work got rewarded: he was to accompany the King's
elephant an a parade. As the king mounted the beast, in his splendid, shiny costume, he dropped a tiny
cowrie shell. Makato picked it up and held it out to the king. who told him to keep it.

Image: Susil Sri Creations

At the time the people of Sukhotai used cowrie shells as money, and although one little cowrie had little
value, he wanted to use it wisely. He went to the market to buy seeds, yet quickly realized he could not
even buy the smallest bag of seeds, while he noticed a lettuce seed stall.
"Lady, if I dip my finger into this pile of seeds, can I take those that stick to my finger for one cowrie?",
he asked. "Well why not", replied the sales lady, amused by his suggestion. Makato carefully scraped the
seeds from his finger and planted them, watering the tiny sprouts daily, until the garden was covered in
fresh, green lettuce. Proud as he was, he offered to king his first produce.
"Where did you get these, my boy?" the king asked surprised, and Makato told him the story. He king was
impressed by so much intelligence and industry that he offered him a fixed position at the palace.

THE LEGEND of BANYUWANGI

(a story from east java)
A long time ago, the island of java was ruled by a king. The King had a Loyal Prime Minister whose
name was Sidapaksa. This is a story about the prime minister.
Sidapaksa's wife was beautiful. he loved her very much. But his mother did not like her.
One day,Sidapaksa's mother asked the King to send her son to a faraway place. She though while his son
was away, she had a chance to get rid of his wife. Of course, she did not tell the King about it.
The King agreed with her. So he gave Sidapaksa a task. "Go to Mount Ijen. There grows a flower that can
keep a woman beautiful. Get the flower for the Queen," says the King.

Sidapaksa went home sadly. He told his wife about the task.
"I cannot leave you alone. Soon you will give birth to our child," Sidapaksa answered.
"Don't worry about me. I can take care of my self."
The next day, sidapaksa left for Mount Ijen. It was a long and hard journey.
A few days after Sidapaksa left, his wife gave birth to a handsome baby boy. She was very proud of the
baby.
One day, Sidapaksa's wife went to the spring. The wicked woman took the baby away. She threw the baby
to a river.
Sidapaksa's wife was shocked when she could not find her baby. "Where is my baby?" she cried.
She searched for her son. But she could not find him. Finally she fell sick because she did not eat or
drink. She grew thin and weak day after day.
After two years, Sidapaksa came home. He could not wait to see his wife and child.

His mother saw him at the gate. She said to him,"My son, your wife is wicked woman. She killed her own
baby. She killed your son. She threw you son to the river."
Sidapaksa was very angry to hear it. He dit not believe in anything his wife said. He was very angry that
he would kill his wife.
Sadly his wife said, "I'm very sad because you dont believe me. You
don't have to kill me. Because I will die soon."
Then she ran to a river nearby. Before the current of the river took her
away, she said, " my dear husband, if the fragrant smell comes out of
this river, then I'm innocent."
A miracle happened. From
the river, there came out
some fragrant smell. At the
center of the river came out two beautiful flowers. A big flower
and a small one. The small flower said, "Father, I'm your son.
My mother is innocent. It was grandmother who threw me tothe
river."
Sidapaksa cried loudly. He
regreted what he had done to his wife. But it was too late. His wife
and child turned into two flowers.
The smelly and dirty river turned into clear and sweet smelled one. In
javanese, It's called banyuwangi. It means fragrant river. The land
around the fragrant river is now known as Banyuwangi, a town in
East Java.

Lc Long Qun and u C: The Legend of Ancient Vietnam

Thousands of years ago, during the reign of King Kinh Dng Vng, the Xch Qu kingdom was an unknown
stretch of a vast land on the far East, leaning its back on a range of high mountains while looking out facing the
oceans from a long shoreline. He married princess Long N, the daughter of ng nh Vng - sovereign of the
ng nh Lake. They were then blessed with one child, a boy whom they called Sung Lam, popularly known in the
kingdom as Lc Long Qun, the "Dragon Lord of Lc. Because of Long Ns origin, their son was believed to be a
descendant from the line of the Dragons. And indeed, Lc Long Qun had extraordinary strength and supreme
intelligence. But his succession from his mothers underwater world developed in him a strong fascination for the
ocean, and the young man is often seen along the shorelines enjoying the waves and exploring the many sea
creatures in sight.
Soon, he succeeded his fathers throne and governed the Lac-Viet tribe. Meanwhile, another kingdom rules the
highlands in the north. Their king, Lai, has a beautiful daughter named u C. Wanting to unite his northern tribe
with Lc Long Quns kingdom; he agreed to give his daughters hand for marriage with the young man. And a lavish
feast was prepared as princess u C was wed with Lc Long Qun. The two kingdoms then celebrated their unity.
Time went by, u C gave birth to a pouch filled with one hundred eggs, which soon hatched into one hundred
beautiful children. The children grew up strong and smart like their father, and as kind-hearted and skilful like their
mother. They were taught well how to cultivate their lands and live nobly. But soon after, the couple started to grow
unhappy. Lc Long Qun always finds his heart longing for the coasts while u C constantly yearns for the
highlands.
The couple decided to divide their children, of whom fifty will live with Lc Long Qun along the coasts. u C will
lead the other fifty to dwell with her in the highlands. However, they made a promise that despite the distance and
separation, they must look after each other and always be there to lend a hand should one be in need.
So, Lc Long Qun took fifty children to the coast and divided the areas for them to govern. He taught them the skills
of fishing and the art of tattoos to scare off sea creatures as they dive and hunt for food. He also trained them to plant
and harvest rice, as well as how to cook them in bamboo tubes. u C, who took fifty children to the highlands, also
divided her areas for them to govern. They were taught to live in the jungles and mountains, breed animals and
cultivate the soil to grow fruit trees for food. They learned to build houses raised on bamboo stilts to keep themselves
safe from wild animals.
The children of Lc Long Qun and u C are believed to be the ancestors of Vietnam. Today, Vietnamese people
call themselves the children of the Dragon and the Fairy referring to Lc Long Quns lineage from the world of the
Dragons and u Cs Fairy Clan from the highlands. Therefore, whichever part of the country one hails from, he
belongs to one origin. Just as Lc Long Qun and u C promised to each other, all Vietnamese should love, honor
and protect one another. This legend, then, has become the pride and bond of unity for all Vietnamese.
According to many authors, also from Wikipedia: This legendary story is very important to many Vietnamese people
for numerous reasons. Some interpret the story to imply a strong national unity and cultural tolerance. Other women
and historians interpret the story to mean that matriarchal societies did exist and are equal to patriarchal societies.
Vietnamese women view her as a heroine and as a symbol to fight for their nation and their rights.