Not Out of Hate. Ma Ma Lay
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but they certainly are smart-looking.”
A long while after the furniture had been taken into the house, U Po Thein returned, smiling and shaking his head. He called out, “Daughter! The agent who is coming is Burmese! Not English!” A loud cry of surprise came out of Daw Thet’s throat; Way Way was struck dumb. Open-mouthed and speechless, she stood dazed as U Po Thein continued, “After the steamer docked and the young servant, Maung Mya, came up to me and said, ‘Sir, my thakin5 will not be arriving until tomorrow evening, by motorboat,’ I was still under the impression that he was English and, seeing so much furniture, I asked, ‘Is your master’s “English lady”6 also coming?’ He replied, ‘Oh no, sir, my master is not English; he is Burmese.’” So saying, U Po Thein began to laugh uproariously.
Daw Thet, who had been unable to conceal her utter surprise and disappointment, said abruptly, “Who is he, then?” Way Way, thoroughly taken aback at the news, asked herself in bewilderment, With all those household belongings, what kind of a Burman could he be?
“U Saw Han is his name,” said U Po Thein. “He’s about thirty-seven years of age. It seems we won’t get to see him until tomorrow evening.”
So Way Way wondered all day long about what kind of man was coming to live next door. She had been in houses of high Burmese government officials where the servants had answered “your reverence” to their masters, but never before in her life had she heard one Burman call another thakin. It was all thoroughly confusing and unprecedented.
Due to engine trouble, the agent U Saw Han did not arrive until very late the next night, and Way Way, who had been asleep, learned about it only when Daw Thet informed her the next morning. It took the servants all day to put the house next door in order, and only in the early morning light was Way Way really able to see it properly. So there she stood, looking intently at it from her upstairs window. As she watched, she heard what sounded like a gong from the back room of the house next door. She ran quickly into her aunt’s room, where she could see better, and continued her observations.
1. Maekala is the name of a goddess who saved the embyro Buddha Mahazanaka from drowning.
2. The traditional set of containers for the condiments used in chewing betel.
3. In the British colonial education system, the seventh standard marked the end of middle school.
4. Located in the north near Mandalay, the Sagaing hills area is the site of numerous monasteries, temples, caves, and retreats. Since ancient times it has been known as a center of the Buddhist faith.
5. The word “thakin” means “master,” and was originally used only to refer to Englishmen in colonial Burma. In the 1930s, however, young, Western-educated Burmese nationalists appropriated the term. Using it with a fine sense of irony and pride, they insisted on calling themselves thakin, placed the word as an honorific before their names in order to identify themselves in a particularly dramatic way, and proceeded to build an independence movement around their leadership.
6. That is, an Englishwoman, the (white) wife of an Englishman.
Way Way looked out the window, hidden from view except for her head. She saw Maung Mya, the Burmese servant, standing near a table. He had a red silk gaung-baung7 wrapped over his Western-style haircut, with one end sticking up jauntily a few inches. He wore a stiff-collared shirt with a spotless white cotton jacket over it. Around his waist was a washed dark blue silk longyi, a kind of Burmese sarong, worn short.8 Over one shoulder was a white napkin. Maung Mya’s jacket was fastened with buttons so as not to get in his way while he worked. He stood straight, chest out, legs together, and hands behind him. A gleaming white cloth covered the table, with napkins folded to resemble water lily buds, starched and white like Maung Mya’s jacket.
Way Way looked at the white china teapot, the polished silver cream and sugar bowls, the biscuit tin of crackers imported from England, the jam jar and butter dish, the bananas, eggs and bread. She noted them all, item by item. This morning Way Way had awakened, gone downstairs for a bath, talked with her aunt about U Saw Han’s arrival, and had forgotten to eat her breakfast. Looking at the meal on the neighbor’s table, she started to feel hungry. The food reminded her of the sweets that people offered to monks on special occasions.
In Way Way’s household people did not use a table and chairs but sat on the floor on finely woven mats placed around a low, round table in the kitchen. Maung Mya’s straight stance near the nicely appointed table with chairs in the house next door seemed to enhance its elegance. A silver gong mounted on two elephant tusks on a sideboard made Way Way surmise that the sound she had heard earlier was to announce the meal.
The sound of boots was heard from the upstairs of the house. Way Way started and quickly withdrew her head from the window. She stood, shoulders flat against the wall. Footsteps—now clear, now faint—came down the stairs. Her heart started beating rapidly. Not daring to look out, she concentrated on listening to the sounds. Only when she heard the footsteps stop, a chair being drawn up, and then silence, did she dare peer out again. She could see the back and shoulders of U San Han, who was dark complexioned and well built. His hair was cut short, European style, and he wore a white long-sleeved shirt and khaki shorts. He was sitting up straight in his chair and pouring himself some tea.
As U San Han had his back to her, Way Way could observe him well. She was glad he was not facing her, for now she could study him to her heart’s content. He ate his meal in silence. Standing motionless near the table was the waiting Maung Mya. She noticed that U Saw Han did not speak one word to him all during the meal. Having finished one cup of tea, U Saw Han poured himself another. As she watched him leisurely enjoying his meal, her own hunger seemed to be appeased.
Her initial reaction to the sight of Maung Mya, a Burmese, dressed as a butler and employed by U Saw Han, also a Burmese, made Way Way think, My goodness, U Saw Han certainly is Westernized! She recalled having seen men in red gaung-baungs in Rangoon who had been pointed out to her by her father as chauffeurs hired to drive Europeans’ cars. Now that she observed Maung Mya’s subservient mein and his red gaung-baung, she could only think of his master, U Saw Han, as European and not Burmese.
Having finished his meal, U Saw Han stood up from the table and started talking to Maung Mya, who had suddenly come to life from his statue-like position and was humbly listening to his master, nodding his head in acquiescence. U Saw Han’s form then disappeared from view as he went into another part of the house, and Way Way returned from her aunt’s room to her own.
Everything she had seen this morning had been so different from anything she was accustomed to that she realized that indeed there were two cultures involved, two cultures very different from each other. Way Way looked around her bedroom, and everything that met her eye seemed old and shabby. She felt she would like to live in the manner of the other house, which was worlds apart from her present surroundings. She suddenly felt insecure and full of self-doubt. Feeling awkward and ill at ease, Way Way walked over and stood in front of her dressing table. She had not done a thing since coming back upstairs from her morning bath, and began to worry that her aunt would notice and start scolding. She used a little water to thin her thanaka paste, a fragrant cosmetic made of freshly stone-ground sandalwood, before putting it on her face. Lifting her bangs from her forehead, she stared at herself in the mirror. The face she saw was young, fresh, and innocent, with clear eyes, a nice nose in profile, smiling lips, and a little beauty mark on her right cheek. She possessed a natural dignity and grace. Only when she saw her reflection in the mirror did she feel reassured and like herself again.
She rubbed a thin coating of thanaka paste on her face and pressed some pink Pompeii powder over it with a toba, a type of powder puff made from a piece of old soft fabric, a toiletry item favored by many traditional ladies. Way Way’s toilet was finished very quickly. She did not need much makeup and knew that she looked all right with just a little face powder. With a small brush she brushed her eyebrows, which