A NIGHT-WATCHMAN,
whose duty was to guard some cattle, sat in his little hut. As the roof of the
hut was full of holes and the sky was dark with rain clouds he feared he would
get soaked to the skin, and grumbled to himself, 'If the Thief comes I can deal
with him. If the Tiger comes, I can deal with him also. But if Daywaw comes, I
shall be ruined, I shall be destroyed.'
Now, unknown to
the Watchman, there was a Thief hiding on the roof of the hut, and a Tiger
hiding underneath the floor. They were hoping that the Watchman would become
drowsy and fall asleep so not know that the Tiger was there, nor did the Tiger
suspect the presence of the Thief. The Thief did not know that 'Daywaw' was
Pali for 'rain', and wondered to himself, 'Who is this mighty Daywaw
that the watchman is afraid of?' The Tiger also did not know and wondered to
himself, 'Who is this mighty Daywaw, that the watchman is afraid of?'
Rain fell down in
torrents with peals of thunder. The Thief jumped down from the roof in fear,
and the Tiger rushed out from underneath the floor. And it happened that the
Thief fell astride the Tiger's back. The Thief thought that the Tiger was
Daywaw, who was now carrying him to his den to be eaten, and the Tiger thought
that it was Daywaw who was astride his back. In fear the Tiger gripped the neck
of the Tiger, and the Tiger ran on and on, thinking that Daywaw was trying to
break his neck. The whole night the Tiger ran round and round the forest with
the Thief on his back. When the first streak of light appeared, the Thief
realized that he was on the back of a Tiger. Seeing a tree with a hollow trunk
the Thief jumped off from the Tiger's back, and after climbing the tree he slid
into the hollow trunk.
The Tiger ran on
, shouting at the top of his voice 'Roughrider Daywaw is here! Roughrider
Daywaw is here!' He ran on, until he was stopped by the Monkey.
'What ails you,
friend?' asked the Monkey, and the Tiger narrated his adventure. The Monkey,
however, did not believe that there was any Roughrider Daywaw, and requested
the Tiger to take him to the tree where Daywaw was supposed to be hiding. So
the Monkey went with the Tiger to the tree, and sniffed round it. He admitted
that there was someone in the tree-trunk, and proposed to wait, for, he pointed
out, that someone would have to come out sooner or later for food. The Tiger
became a little bolder, and agreed to keep the Monkey company. So the two
friends sat down with their backs against the tree. Now there were two small
holes in the tree-trunk, and through them the Thief put out his hands. With one
hand he gave a pull at the Monkey's tail, and with the other he gave a poke at
the Tiger's back. The two animals jumped up in fright,
'Roughrider-Daywaw-Pull-a-Tail-and-Poke-a-Back is here! 'Roughrider-Daywaw-Pull-a-Tail-and-Poke-a-Back
is here!' 
They ran on,
until they were stopped by the Rabbit, who, after listening to their story,
asked to be taken to the tree, as he did not believe that there was any
Roughrider-Daywaw-Pull-a-Tail-and-Poke-a-Back. So the three animals went back
to the tree. In the meantime, the Thief had come out of the trunk, and was
standing right at the top of the tree, for he wanted to have a good view of the
surrounding country to find out his bearings. When he saw the Tiger and the
Monkey and the Rabbit underneath him, he thought that the wise Rabbit had come
back to eat him up. So he trembled and shook with fear and, losing his balance,
he fell down right on top of the animals. The Thief ran away in one direction,
and the three animals in another shouting at the top of their voices,
'Roughrider-Daywaw-Pull-a-Tail-and-Poke-a-Jumper-on-our-Heads
is here! 'Roughrider-Daywaw-Pull-a-Tail-and-Poke-a-Jumper-on-our-Heads is here!
(I
tell some stories to the Grade 6, 7 and 8 students when they are bored. I get
three results telling the stories. First I have to read, second they improve
their listening skill and increase new vocabulary for them. I often take the
stories from Maung Htin Aung's Burmese Folk Tales.)
