PHILIPPINE LITERATURE

SANDAANG DAMIT

Fanny Garcia

May isang batang mahirap. Nag-aaral siya. Sa paaralan ay kapansin-pansin ang

kaniyang pagiging walang-imik. Malimit siyang nag-iisa. Laging nasa isang sulok. Kapag

nakaupo na’y tila ipinagkit. Laging nakayuko, mailap ang mga mata, sasagot lamang

kapag tinatawag ng guro. Halos paanas pa kung magsalita.

Naging mahiyain siya sapagkat maaga niyang natuklasang kaiba ang kaniyang

kalagayan sa mga kaklase. Ipinakita at ipinabatid nila iyon sa kaniya. Mayayaman

sila. Magaganda at iba-iba ang kanilang damit na pamasok sa paaralan. Malimit nila

siyang tuksuhin sapagkat ang kaniyang damit, kahit nga malinis, ay halatang luma na,

palibhasa’y kupasin at punung-puno ng sulsi.

Ilarawan ang pisikal at emosyunal na kalagayan ng batang babae.

Kapag oras na ng kainan at labasan na ng kani-kanilang pagkain, halos ayaw niyang

ilitaw ang kaniyang baon. Itatago niya sa kandungan ang kaniyang pagkain, pipiraso ng

pakonti-konti, tuloy subo sa bibig, mabilis upang hindi malaman ng mga kaklase ang

kaniyang dalang pagkain. Sa sulok ng kaniyang mata ay masusulyapan niya ang mga

pagkaing nakadispley sa ibabaw ng pupitre ng mga kaklase: mansanas, sandwiches,

kending may iba-ibang hugis at kulay na pambalot na palara.

Ang panunukso ng mga kaklase ay hindi nagwawakas sa kaniyang mga damit.

Tatangkain nilang silipin kung ano ang kaniyang pagkain at sila’y magtatawanan kapag

nakita nilang ang kaniyang baon ay isa lamang pirasong tinapay na karaniwa’y walang

palaman.

Kaya lumayo siya sa kanila. Naging walang kibo. Mapag-isa.

Ang nangyayaring ito’y hindi naman lingid sa kaniyang ina. Sa bahay ay di minsan

o makalawa siyang umuuwing umiiyak dahil sa panunukso ng mga kaklase, at siya’y

magsusumbong. Mapapakagat-labi ang kaniyang ina, matagal itong hindi makakakibo,

at sabay haplos nito sa kaniyang buhok at paalong sasabihin sa kaniya, hayaan mo

sila anak, huwag mo silang pansinin, hamo, kapag nakakuha ng maraming pera ang

iyong ama, makakapagbaon ka na rin ng masasarap na pagkain, mabibili na rin kita ng

maraming damit.

At lumipas pa ang maraming araw. Ngunit ang ama’y hindi pa rin nakapag-uwi ng

maraming pera kaya ganoon pa rin ang kanilang buhay. Ngunit ang bata’y unti-unting
nakaunawa sa kanilang kalagayan. Natutuhan niyang makibahagi sa malaking suliranin

ng kanilang pamilya. Natutuhan niyang sarilinin ang pagdaramdam sa panunukso ng mga

kaklase. Hindi na siya umuuwing umiiyak. Hindi na siya nagsusumbong sa kaniyang ina.

Sa kaniyang pagiging tahimik ay ipinalalagay ng kaniyang mga kaklase na siya’y

kanilang talun-talunan kaya lalong sumidhi ang kanilang pambubuska. Lumang damit. Di

masarap na pagkain. Mahirap. Isinalaksak nila sa kaniyang isip.

Hanggang isang araw ay natuto siyang lumaban.

Sa buong pagtataka nila’y bigla na lamang nagkatinig ang mahirap na batang

babaeng laging kupasin, puno ng sulsi, at luma ang damit, ang batang laging kakaunti

ang baong pagkain. Yao’y isa na naman sanang pagkakataong walang magawa ang

kaniyang mga kaklase at siya na naman ang kanilang tinutukso.

“Alam n’yo,” aniya sa malakas at nagmamalaking tinig, “ako’y may sandaang damit sa
bahay.”

Nagkatinginan ang kaniyang mga kaklase, hindi sila makapaniwala.

“Kung totoo ya’y ba’t lagi na lang luma ang suot mo?”

Mabilis ang naging tugon niya, “Dahil iniingatan ko ang aking sandaang damit.

Ayokong maluma agad.”

“Sinungaling ka! Ipakita mo muna sa’min para kami maniwala!” Iisang tinig na sabi

nila sa batang mahirap.

“Hindi ko madadala rito. Baka makagalitan ako ni Nanay. Kung gusto n’yo’y sasabihin

ko na lang kung ano ang tabas, kung ano ang tela, kung ano ang kulay, kung may laso o

bulaklak.”

At nagsimula na nga siyang maglarawan ng kaniyang mga damit. Ayon sa kaniya’y

may damit siya para sa iba-ibang okasyon. May damit siyang pambahay, pantulog,

pampaaralan, pansimbahan, at iba pa.

Naging mahaba ang kaniyang pagkukuwento. Paano’y inilarawan niya hanggang

kaliit-liitang detalye ang bawat isa sa kaniyang sandaang damit. Tulad halimbawa ng

isang damit na pandalo niya sa pagtitipon. Makintab na rosas ang tela nito na sinabugan ng
pinaggupit-gupit na mumunting bulaklak at makikislap na rosas at puting abaloryo.

Bolga ang manggas. May tig-isang malaking laso sa magkabilang balikat. Hanggang

sakong ang haba ng damit.

O kaya’y ang kaniyang dilaw na pantulog na may prutas sa kuwelyo, manggas, at

laylayan. O ang kaniyang puting pansimba na may malapad na sinturon at malalaking

bulsa.

Mula noo’y naging kaibigan niya ang mga kaklase. Ngayo’y siya ang naging

tagapagsalita at sila naman ang kaniyang tagapakinig. Lahat sila’y natutuwa sa kaniyang

kuwento tungkol sa sandaang damit. Nawala ang kaniyang pagkamahiyain. Naging

masayahin siya bagaman patuloy pa rin ang kaniyang pamamayat kahit ngayo’y

nabibigyan nila siya ng kapiraso ng kanilang baong mansanas o sandwich, isa o dalawang

kendi.

Ngunit isang araw ay hindi pumasok sa klase ang mahirap na batang babaeng may

sandaang damit. Saka ng sumunod na araw. At nang sumunod pa. At pagkaraan ng isang

linggong hindi niya pagpasok ay nabahala ang kaniyang mga kaklase at guro.

Isang araw ay nagpasya silang dalawin ang batang matagal na lumiban sa klase. Ang

natagpuan nilang bahay ay sira-sira at nakagiray na sa kalumaan.

Sumungaw ang isang babaeng payat, iyon ang ina ng batang mahirap. Pinatuloy

sila at nakita nila ang maliit na kabuuan ng kabahayan na salat na salat sa anumang

marangyang kasangkapan. At sa isang sulok ay isang lumang teheras at doon nakaratay

ang batang babaeng may sakit pala. Ngunit sa mga dumalaw ay di agad ang maysakit

ang napagtuunang-pansin kundi ang mga papel na maayos na maayos na nakahanay

at nakadikit sa dingding na kinasasandigan ng teheras. Lumapit sila sa sulok na yaon

at nakita nilang ang mga papel na nakadikit sa dingding ay ang drowing ng bawat isa

sa kaniyang sandaang damit. Magaganda, makukulay. Naroong lahat ang kaniyang

naikuwento. Totoo’t naroon ang sinasabi niyang rosas na damit na pandalo sa pagtitipon.

Naroon din ang drowing ng kaniyang pantulog, ang kaniyang pansimba, ang sinasabi

niyang pamasok sa paaralan na kailanma’y hindi nasilayan ng mga kaklase dahil ayon sa

kaniya’y nakatago’t iniingatan niya sa bahay.

Sandaang damit na pawang iginuhit lamang.

KALUPI NG PUSO
 Jose Corazon de Jesus

Talaan ng aking mga dinaramdam,

Kasangguning lihim ng nais tandaan,

bawat dahon niya ay kinalalagyan

ng isang gunitang pagkamahal-mahal

Kaluping maliit sa tapat ng puso

ang bawat talata’y puno ng pagsuyo,

ang takip ay bughaw, dito nakatago

ang lihim ng aking ligaya’t siphayo.

Nang buwan ng Mayo kami nagkilala

at tila Mayo rin nang magkalayo na;

sa kaluping ito nababasa-basa

ang lahat ng aking mga alaala.

Nakatala rito ang buwan at araw

ng aking ligaya at kapighatian…

isang dapithapo’y nagugunam-gunam

sa mga mata ko ang luha’y umapaw…

Anupa’t kung ako’y tila nalulungkot

binabasa-basa ang nagdaang lugod;

ang alaala ko’y dito nagagamot,

sa munting kaluping puno ng himutok.

 Matandang kalupi ng aking sinapit

dala mo nang lahat ang tuwa ko’t hapis;

kung binubuksan ka’y parang lumalapit

ang lahat ng aking nabigong pag-ibig.

Sa dilaw mong dahong ngayon ay kupas na

ang lumang pagsuyo’y naaalaala,

O, kaluping bughaw, kung kita’y mabasa

masayang malungkot na hinahagkan ka…

May ilang bulaklak at dahong natuyo

na sa iyo’y lihim na nangakatago,

tuwi kong mamasdan, luha’y tumutulo

tuwi kong hahagkan, puso’y nagdurugo.

 HEBREW LITERATURE

The Story of Joseph

Isaac and Rebekah made the mistake of playing favorites with their two sons Isaac
favored the hunter Esau, while Rebekah favored the quiet Jacob (25), Jacob (Israel) did the
same thing in his treatment of Joseph which aroused murderous jealousy in his other sons
When Jacob presented his dreamer-son Joseph with a beautiful, ornate robe, his 10 brothers
sold Joseph into slavery, telling their father that Joseph was dead with the bloody robe as proof
(37) Joseph was sold to Potiphar, a high official in Egypt, who favored Joseph greatly until
Potiphar's seductive wife accused Joseph of trying to take advantage of her (39) Potiphar threw
Joseph in prison, where eventually Joseph earned a reputation as a dream interpreter (40)
Years passed until Pharaoh, bothered by two dreams, heard of Joseph's abilities. Pharaoh
summoned Joseph, who successfully interpreted the dreams, warning Pharaoh that a famine
would strike Egypt after seven years. Impressed, Pharaoh elected Joseph to be his highest
official, and Joseph lead a campaign throughout Egypt to set aside food in preparation for the
famine (41) Before long, a famine provoked Josephs's brothers to go to Egypt to seek food. The
ten men bowed down before Joseph, who recognized them immediately but refrained from
revealing his identity. Joseph seems to have wanted to make sure his brothers had changed for
the better and that they would do nothing similar to his little brother, Benjamin So he put his
brothers' good-will to the test, by throwing them in jail and then sending them back to Canaan
to retrieve their youngest brother, Benjamin (42) When they returned with the boy (43), Joseph
continued to test them by putting a silver cup in the Benjamin's satchel (44). When Judah
offered his own life in exchange for Benjamin's (44), Joseph finally seemed convinced of their
sincere repentance and revealed his identity with a tearful reunion (45). Joseph persuaded his
brothers to return to Egypt with Jacob, who, overjoyed, moved to Egypt with his family of
seventy (46) Pharaoh was so impressed with Joseph that be financed the move of Joseph's
entire family to one of the prime real estate sites in Egypt-an area called Goshen As Jacob
approached death, he promised Joseph that the covenant would pass on through Joseph and
his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim (48) Jacob then gave a final blessing on each of his boys
(49) and died soon thereafter Accompanied by Egyptians, Joseph buried his father in Canaan.
They returned to Egypt, where Jacob's descendants, the Israelite people, grew rapidly. Joseph
eventually died, and instructed his family to return one day to the land God had promised to
give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (50).
 The Book of Ruth

It was in the days when the Judges ruled in Israel. The children of Israel had become lax
in their observances of the Torah, and had called G-d's punishment down upon themselves. A
great famine reigned in the Land of Israel. There was a certain man in Judah named Elimelech.
He was a wealthy merchant who was not used to hunger and poverty, and so he thought he
could escape from the misery by moving elsewhere. He therefore took his wife, Naomi, and
their two sons, and went to live in Moab Ruth became friendly with this Jewish family. She
learned to admire their laws and customs The dissatisfaction which she had already felt at the
meaningless idol-worship of her own people now turned to positive objection. And so, when
one of the sons asked her to marry him, she was happy and proud to accept. She did not feel
any pangs of regret at what she was giving up: her life of luxury at the palace, her royal title, her
prospects of wealth and honor in the future. All she saw was the selfishness and mercilessness
of her own people, and the difference of the Jews to whom she now had attached herself
Elimelech and his two sons died, and Naomi was left, a poor widow, not knowing what to do or
whither to turn. She therefore said to Ruth and to her other daughter-in-law, Orpah (also a
Moabite). "My daughters, I must go away, and I have decided to return to my hometown, to
Beth-lechem. Things cannot be too good there, and there is no reason why you should suffer
too. Take my advice, therefore, and go back to your parents' homes. Your husbands are dead,
and perhaps if you remain in your own country, you may find other men to marry you I have
lost my sons forever, but you are young, you can get other husbands."Orpah looked sad, kissed
her mother-in-law, and bade her goodbye. But Ruth clung tearfully to Naomi and begged her to
allow her to go with her. With these touching words she implored her, saying: "Entreat me not
to leave thee, and to return from following after thee, for whither thou goes, I will go, and
where thou lodges, I will lodge; thy people shall be my people, and thy G-d my G-d, where thou
dies will I die, and there will I be buried, the L-rd do so to me, and more also, if aught but death
part thee and me. "Ruth knew full well what she was doing. Naomi had reminded her of the
difficulties which confronted the Jew at all times, yet Ruth was adamant in her determination to
follow her mother-in-law, and to cling to the faith of her adoption, which had become so dear
to her. The future was to prove that Ruth would be justly rewarded for her high resolve, but
even in her poverty, Ruth had no regrets It was harvest time as Ruth and Naomi came to the
land of Judah They were both worn out from their journey, and Ruth prevailed upon Naomi to
rest, while she herself would go out into the fields of Beth-Lechem and see what she could find
to sustain them from hunger. Ruth entered a field where many men were busy cutting barley,
others were binding it into sheaves, while others were piling them onto wagons and carting
them away A little hesitatingly, but spurred on by her hunger and by the thought that she must
get something for her dear mother-in-law, Ruth went into the field and sat down for a while to
rest and to see what luck she might have here. Suddenly she was startled to hear a voice saying
to her, kindly and gently "G-d be with you, stranger! Come along into the field. Do not be
bashful. Gather some ears of corn, and satisfy your hunger!"It was Boaz himself, the owner of
the field, who thus addressed Ruth Ruth thanked him and plucked some ears of grain. She then
was going to depart, when the same kind voice urged her to stay awhile and gather pe'ah.
"What is pe 'ah?"asked Ruth. "Our Torah tells us that when the owner of a field has his grain
cut, he is not to cut the corners of the field, but to leave them for the poor, the needy and the
stranger to come and reap for themselves,"answered Boaz. "How wonderful!"exclaimed Ruth.
And so she stayed and cut the corn from a corner of the field, and was then again about to go
away. "You do not need to go yet,"urged Boaz. "Why not stay and benefit from leker
(gleanings)?""What does leket mean?"again asked Ruth. "According to our law, if a reaper
misses some grain with his scythe, or drops some, he is not allowed to go back to gather that
grain, and this must be left for the poor and the stranger,"explained Boaz patiently to Ruth. He
was finding her more and more attractive, and thought he had never seen such a noble-looking
lady. Ruth said nothing, but saw no reason for refusing to take advantage of the laws of the
Torah, which she herself had so gladly embraced. When she gathered a whole basketful, she
went up to Boaz, thanked him very sincerely for his kindness, and got ready to depart. "There is
no need for you to go yet,"coaxed Boaz. "There is still shikchah (forgotten sheaves) which you
can take". "The Torah is indeed limitless in its care ofto see her great-grandson David, who
became the Lord's anointed and beloved king of all the Jewish people. For Ruth and Boaz had a
son named Obed, who became the father of Jesse And David, as you know, was the youngest
son of Jesse.
 JAPANESE LITERATURE
Tale of Genji
Chapter 1: The Paulownia Court

The emperor's favourite lady, Kiritsubo, has no strong family backing at court and
suffers greatly from the insults of jealous competitors. She bears the emperor a beautiful son,
which makes matters worse as he may one day be a rival to the future
crown prince, the emperor's eldest son. Kiritsubo falls ill and dies, so the child is taken in by his
grandmother The emperor is distraught and asks for the boy to be sent back Eventually he
returns to the palace and the grandmother dies shortly afterwards Korean ambassadors arrive
in the capital and predict a brilliant future for the six-year-old boy Although of royal blood, the
boy has no maternal relatives to support him as a prince at court and is instead made a
member of the non-royal Genji clan, henceforth being known as "Genji "The emperor's eldest
son by Lady Kokiden is made crown prince and the emperor subsequently finds a new
concubine, Fujitsubo, who resembles Kiritsubo but has better family connections. By the end of
the chapter, Genji is married off to the daughter of the Minister of the Left, Princess Aoi.

Chapter 2: The Broom Tree

The first part of this chapter is the famous "Appraisal of Women on a Rainy Night"scene
Genji and his brother-in-law To-no-Chujo meet at Genji's palace and compare notes about
women. They are joined by a guards officer and other friends. The guardsman casually suggests
there may be a beautiful unknown woman hidden away somewhere because her family has
fallen upon hard times. Genji then falls asleep as his companions discuss several types of
women, all of whom he will meet later in the Tale After Genji wakes, Chujo tells the story of a
lover who is later revealed to be Yugao who bore his daughter but was discarded because of
her meek and forgiving nature. Shikibu, a young man from the Ministry of Rites, tells the
gathering of a lady who was too scholarly, preferring the rather masculine Chinese language to
Japanese, and whose breath on one occasion had smelled of garlic. The friends decide that the
perfect woman should be loyal and cultured, but passive and willing to feign ignorance when
the situation requires.
The scene then shifts to Sanjo, where Genji is visiting his wife Aoi, but he finds her
distant and cold. Since his home lies in an unlucky direction, Genji is invited to Kii-no-kami's
house. Kii-no-kami's father has married a young lady, and Genji overhears her apparently
discussing himself. Genji also meets an attractive young boy, her brother, and Kii-no-kami's
stepuncle. When everyone is asleep, Genji breaks into the lady's 22 apartment and carries her
off to his room. Leaving the next day, Genji employs the boy as a page and has him deliver
messages to his sister, but the lady discourages any further relationship. Genji manages to visit
her once more but is rebuffed, leaving him to write a poem about the inhospitable broom tree
and sleep with her young brother instead.
 Chapter 3 The Shell of the Locust

Hurt by the rejection, Genji is unwilling to give up his pursuit of Utsusemi ("the lady of
the locust shell"). Her young brother sympathizes and resolves to help him try again Wearing
plain clothes, Genji sneaks into her rooms and spies her playing Go with a lively companion,
Nokiba-no-ogi After the game, Genji prepares to surprise Utsusemi but she catches the
distinctive scent of his robes and flees, leaving one of her own outer robes behind Genji
mistakenly breaks in on her companion and is forced to improvise. He then returns home
sulking and pens a poem comparing Utsusemi's robe to a cast-off cicada shell.
Chapter 4; Evening Faces

On his way to visit Lady Rokujo, Genji learns that his old nursemaid, who has since
become a Buddhist nun, is sick and may be near death, so he goes to visit her with her natural
son, Koremitsu. At a nearby house, they are admiring the beautiful flowers called yugao
("evening faces"), when a little girl comes out with a scented white fan for Genji to take a
flower on They then go in to visit the nun, and she shows an even greater attachment to Genji
than to her own son. On his way out, Genji's curiosity is aroused by whoever might be in the
house of yugao, so he sends Koremitsu to investigate, who reports back that To no-Chujo had
been there and that a lady evidently resided within. Genji cannot resist, so he disguises himself
and arranges a secret meeting through her maid, Ukon Yugao is a very frail, submissive beauty,
and Genji is reminded of To-no Chujo's rainy night story. Unlike To-no-Chujo, however, Genji is
attracted by this gentility, and resolves to take her away. Unable to resist, and very frightened,
Yugao is rushed off with Ukon to a deserted mansion. That night, Genji dreams of a jealous lady
resembling Lady Rokujo, and when he wakes he sees an apparition by Yugao's pillow.
He tries to wake her, but she is no longer breathing. Genji panics, wakes Ukon and
Koremitsu, but it is too late, she is dead. Koremitsu sends Genji back to his palace at Nijo and
takes her body to a nunnery in the eastern hills for funeral rites.
At Nijo, Genji is unsettled by recent events and cannot appear at court. He sets out on
horseback with Koremitsu to see Yugao's body, but on the return journey he feels ill and falls
off his horse. The illness lasts for quite some time, and when he recovers he confirms with Ukon
that Yugao was in fact To-no-Chujo's mistress Genji retains Ukon and asks her to find Yugao's
daughter, intending to raise her himself. The chapter end with a final poetic exchange with
Utsusemi, whom Genji also loses
Chapter 5: Waka Murasaki

Genji is sick and decides to seek help from a holy man living in a cave in the northern
hills. He goes there and receives treatment from the recluse. While recovering. his attendants
tell him the story of a Governor of Akashi who became a lay priest and retired there with his
daughter, for whom he had great expectations. During his convalesence in the hills, Genji
wanders to a nearby house and catches a glimse of a beautiful 10-year-old girl, who reminds
him of Fujitsubo, the favourite concubine of his father, the emperor. The priest at the villa
invites Genji to visit, during the course of which he discovers that the child Murasaki is in fact
Fujitsubo's niece. Genji - already smitten with Fujitsubo-seeks to adopt the child but is not
taken seriously When fully recovered from his illness, Genji asks again about adopting
Murasaki, but is again refused. To-no-Chujo and some friends from court arrive to escort him
back. Back at court, Genji's father-in-law arrives and takes him to meet Aoi, who turns out to be
cold and unreceptive. Genji sleeps and dreams of the little girl. The next day he renews his
request to adopt Murasaki, this time by letter, but without success. Fujitsubo leaves court due
to an illness and, through her maid Omyobu, Genji arranges a secret visit and stays the night.
Fujitsubo becomes pregnant, but the emperor is unaware of Genji's role in this. Meanwhile, the
little girl is made available for adoption because her grandmother, the nun, has died. However,
Murasaki's father,
Prince Hyobu, decides to take charge of her and Genji is forced to kidnap her before he does so
Back at his Nijo palace, Genji begins her education.

The Thief Who Became a Disciple

One evening as Shichiri Kojun was reciting sutras a thief with a sharp sword entered,
demanding either his money or his life, Shichiri told him "Do not disturb me You an find the
money in that drawer."Then he resumed his recitation A little while afterwards he stopped and
called: "Don't take it all I need some to pay taxes with tomorrow "The intruder gathered up
most of the money and started to leave. "Thank a person when you receive a gift. Shichiri
added. The man thanked him and made off A few days afterwards the fellow was caught and
confessed, among others, the offence against Shichiri When Shichiri was called as a witness he
said. "This man is no thief, at least as far as I am concerned I gave him the money and he
thanked me for it."After he had finished his prison term, the man went to Shichiri and became
his disciple.
 KOREAN LITERATURE

Jindallae Flower

Once I am shaped as the reason of your disgust, pushing

you toward somewhere not here, there

will be no words, my letting-go enduring graciously.

On a hill where herbs grow in Yongbyon province

Jindallae flowers are blossoming, and here

I have brought an armful I plucked to scatter them before you

as you take those steps away from here, and for each you take

a flower will need to be crushed, so take care to tread

lightly as you leave me be

in the shape of who I am that disgusts you so, pushing

you toward somewhere not here, though

this may be my death, no, tears won’t flow where I am.

 The Zen Monks and The Governor

In South Korea there is a famous mountain called Ji Ri Sahn Mountain, and on this
mountain there is an ancient Zen temple, called Chon Un Sah Temple. It has been there for
many hundreds of years, and was built even before Zen was a great movement in Korea. For
centuries, the temple was supported by the devoted lay Buddhist people in the area, and also
by the region's governor, who was a devout Buddhist himself.

One year, a new governor was appointed to that region. He was a Confucian so he didn't like
Buddhism at all. Buddhism had been a national religion in Korea for many centuries when
Confucians took power during the Chosun Dynasty (1492-1910), and Buddhism was often
repressed by different kings and local officials Buddhist monks in particular had a very difficult
situation.

So in those times it was quite usual for the new governor to make trouble for the people
who had anything to do with the temples in his district. One day, he summoned the temple's
abbot When the monk arrived at the regional office, the governor didn't say a word, and simply
hit him on the top of his head very hard. "Why did you hit me?"the abbot asked. "You're very
bad,"the governor replied. "Your students don't do any work. They only sit in that meditation
room all day, doing nothing for hours on end. I see all these hardworking people give them
food, and the monks only eat, lie down, and sleep. I don't like that! They're all a bunch of rice
thieves' Everyone in this world has to work, but not these monks of yours. So now you must pay
higher taxes to the government."Then he hit the abbot a few more times "OK, we will of course
pay these new taxes,"the abbot said, even though his temple was small and very poor, and had
never had to pay taxes before. He left the governor's office and went back to the temple When
he arrived, the kitchen master saw the abbot's face. He saw that he was very sad.

"What happened with the governor?"he asked, and the abbot told him everything that had
befallen him at the governor's office When the abbot had finished. the monks fell into a long
silence together. After a few minutes, the kitchen master's face suddenly brightened up "Waah,
I have a good idea! We'll invite the governor over Tell him how poor we are, and that we have
no money -- but tell him that we have all of these valuable antiques and ancient works of art.
Tell him that if he likes any, he can take one."The kitchen master knew that the governor was
very, very corrupt, and that these things were better than money for him "That's a wonderful
plan. But there is only one problem,"the abbot said. "We don't have any antiques. We don't
have any priceless works of art How are we supposed to give him such things if we don't even
have them ourselves? Are you crazy?"He looked very confused. "Don't worry, don't worry,"the
kitchen master said. "You just get him to come over I'll take care of the rest""OK."the abbot
said, squinting narrowly at his crafty kitchen master. He had known this young monk since he
had entered the temple. The kitchen master practiced meditation very hard, so maybe he had
some special plan.
 The kitchen master prepared lots of good food and drink. He sent several monks to the garden
to collect the freshest vegetables Special rice cakes were rolled out, sliced, and dusted with
pine-nut powder. They baked and fried the most delicious temple delicacies, things eaten only
on special days, like Buddha's Birthday. Everyone was very excited! They were also very curious
about the kitchen master's plan. After a short while, the abbot returned, with the governor
right behind him. The governor rubbed his hands, and his eyes glanced nervously from side to
side. The monks put all of the delicious food out for him, and invited him to eat But the
governor did not seem to be interested in food at all. He was only interested in seeing where
the beautiful antiques were, and what he could choose for himself As the monks tried to make
him comfortable, he grew impatient. "Abbot, I want to see those antiques! Where are
they?"The abbot called out, "Kitchen Master!""Yes, sir?""It's time to bring out the
antiques!""Yes, sir! Coming right out!"the kitchen master yelled back, and went into the kitchen
for a minute. All that was heard was the sound of various objects being tossed hither and
thither, an empty jar falling down, a glass bottle breaking. Everybody was very nervous! When
he finally came out, he was carrying only a broom! Bowing deeply at the waist, with a grand
gesture he offered it up to the governor. The governor got very angry "You stupid monk! Who
do you think I am? That's just a broom! That can't be more than a month old!.

The kitchen master looked genuinely surprised. "But that's not true, Your Excellency!
This is a very valuable and powerful treasure "The governor exploded into rage "Do you take
me for a fool? I am governor of this whole area! Who do you think you're talking to?"All the
other monks trembled in fear, because this man was very, very powerful. But the kitchen
master wasn't afraid at all. With his eyes closed and chin out slightly, he had a broad, confident
smile on his face. "This broom is very, very old. It was made many thousands of years ago. If
you ride this broom even once, you can fly through the sky!""Fly?"The governor looked at him
"Is that true?""Yes, Your Excellency. That's true ""OK,"the governor said. "Then you try it
first.""No problem. I'll go first But you must not think anything about what you see. Don't think
good and bad Only keep a clear mind!""OK,"the governor replied. So the kitchen master put the
broom between his legs and ppssheewww!! flew off into the sky! He circled the temple once
and landed in front of the governor. The governor couldn't believe his eyes -the monk had
really flown through the air! The governor rubbed his hands together and said, "Ahhhh, I must
have this broom!"But the kitchen master only looked at him, "Your Excellency!""Yes?"he
replied, very afraid now of this monk "It's your turn. Try it once""Is it possible?""If your mind is
good, then riding this broom is possible. If your mind is bad, then it will be impossible to move
even one inch""But my mind is not bad!"the governor said. "We know that, we know that,"the
kitchen master said, smiling. "But this broom understands your mind. So try for yourself".

The governor put the broom between his legs, squeezed his eyes tight, and jumped And
jumped. And jumped. But he didn't go anywhere!"You're no good, Your Excellency,"the kitchen
master said. "You're always doing many bad actions, so you cannot fly anywhere on the broom.
Everybody else can fly except for you. I am only the kitchen master at this temple, and even I
can fly it. The abbot flies on it all the time."The governor was speechless, completely stuck.
Then the kitchen master pointed in the direction of the main meditation hall. "There are many
monks over there, and they have special energy They can just point at you, and boom! they can
give you an electric shock! All they do all day is meditate Anytime you do some bad action, no
matter how small, they can perceive it. Sometimes they wake up if they sense you doing
something wrong, and they can send electricity over to shock you So you must keep a clear
mind. Do you want to see inside the meditation hall?""Yes, sir. Yes, sir,"the governor said.
"Then come on over. We can't open the door. But just wet your finger and push it through the
rice-paper window, like this, and look inside."When they peered into the room, they saw the
monks sitting in many different positions. Some sat slumped forward, their chins resting against
their chests, some sat with their heads tilted way back and to the side, while another sat
slumped over to the left. They sat all different kinds of ways. The governor asked, "Those
people sitting slumped forward -- what kind of meditation is this?""That's perceive-the-ground
meditation,"the kitchen master replied. "And what kind of meditation is this, the ones with
their heads falling backward with their mouths wide open?""That's perceive-the-ceiling
meditation.""And that guy slumped over to the left?""That's dancing meditation.""Oh "the
governor said, "How wonderful! There really are many kinds of meditation!""Of course!"the
kitchen master replied "These great monk's use any kind of meditation only to help this world.
When they finish one kind of meditation, they go on to an-other kind. My style is only broom-
riding meditation. I don't use anything to do this the body disappears and becomes smoke, and
can come and go anywhere with no hindrance. When you return home, if you do some bad
action, these meditation monks' bodies can also change. become smoke, and go into your room
and kill you""OK"OK!"the governor shouted "No taxes for this temple! Before. I didn't
understand these people, but now I'll only support you! I'll do anything I can, anything at all."So
the governor left and went back to his palace. He never bothered the meditating monks of
Chon Un Sah Temple ever again.
 VIETNAMESE LITERATURE

The Tailor and The Mandarin

In the capital of Vietnam there was once a certain tailor who was renowned for his skill. Every
garment that left his shop had to fit the client perfectly, regardless of the latter’s weight, build,
age, or bearing.

One day a high mandarin sent for the tailor and ordered a ceremonial robe.

After taking the necessary measurements, the tailor respectfully asked the mandarin how
long he had been in the service. “What does that have to do with the cut of my robe?” asked
the mandarin good-naturedly.

“It is of great importance, sire,” responded die tailor. “You know that a newly appointed
mandarin, impressed with his own importance, carries his head high and his chest out. We must
take this into consideration and cut the rear lappet shorter than the front.

‘‘Later, little by little we lengthen the rear lappet and shorten the front one; the lappets are cut
exactly the same length when the mandarin reaches the halfway point of his career.

“Finally, when bent over with the fatigue of long years of service and the burden of age, he
aspires only to join his ancestors in heaven, the robe must be made longer in the back than in
the front. “Thus you see, sire, that a tailor who does not know the seniority of the mandarins
cannot fit them correctly.”
 The Great Black Heron

Since I stroll in the woods more often than on this frequented path, it's usually

trees I observe; but among fellow humansbwhat I like best is to see an old woman

fishing alone at the end of a jetty,bhours on end, plainly content.

The Russians mushroom-hunting after a rain trail after themselves a world of red sarafans,

nightingales, samovars, stoves to sleep on (though without doubt those are not what they can
remember).

Vietnamese families fishing or simply sitting as close as they can to the water, make me recall that lake
in

the amber light, our first, jet-lagged evening, peace in the war we had come to witness.

This woman engaged in her pleasure evokes an entire culture, tenacious field-flower

growing itself among the rows of cotton in red-earth country, under the feet

of mules and masters. I see her a barefoot child by a muddy river learning her skill with the pole.

What battles has she survived, what labors?

She's gathered up all the time in the world

--nothing else--and waits for scanty trophies,

complete in herself as a heron.

 INDIAN LITERATURE
MAHABHARATA

The Mahabharata is an ancient Indian epic where the main story revolves around two
branches of a family - the Pandavas and Kauravas - who, in the Kurukshetra War, battle for the
throne of Hastinapura. Interwoven into this narrative are several smaller stories about people
dead or living, and philosophical discourses. Krishna-Dwaipayan Vyasa, himself a character in
the epic, composed it; as, according to tradition, he dictated the verses and Ganesha wrote
them down. At 100,000 verses, it is the longest epic poem ever written, generally thought to
have been composed in the 4th century BCE or earlier. The events in the epic play out in the
Indian subcontinent and surrounding areas. It was first narrated by a student of Vyasa at a
snake-sacrifice of the great-grandson of one of the major characters of the story. Including
within it the Bhagavad Gita, the Mahabharata is one of the most important texts of ancient
Indian, indeed world, literature.

The Story of the Mahābhārata

The Mahabharata This is an excerpt from The Mahabharata, told in Eng1973lish prose
by William Buck TheMahabharata is an ancient epic story from India. It is the story of Krishna
and the Pandavabrothers and their battle with the prince who stole their kingdom. It is
beautiful prose,extraordinary warfare, eternal friendship, and royal intrigue. Translated by
William Buck, introduction by B. A. Van Nooten Copyright (c) 1973 by the University of
California Reprinted with permission. This excerpt is from the middle of the story. The Pandavas
are traveling through the forest and Krishna visits them in the evening. It was growing dark
when Yudhishthira, Arjuna, and Bhima returned to their forest home Draupadi and the twins
were sitting around a fire, and they joined them there and toldthem what had happened with
Jayadratha. Then there was a movement at the edge of thefirelight, and an old man, shaggy and
dark, walked noiselessly up to them and sat down. "Welcome, Vyasa,"said Yudhishthira "It has
been many years. Will you have dinner withus? We've had nothing to eat since morning "Vyasa
smiled and Draupadi went inside her kitchen. She lit the cooking fire from the tiny flame that
burned for the household gods. Then she realized that they had no food. She frowned, and
thought, "Oh, Krishna, What will I do?"

The innermost narrative kernel of the Mahābhārata tells the story of two sets of

paternal first cousins—the five sons of the deceased king Pāṇḍu [pronounced PAAN-doo] (the
five Pāṇḍavas [said as PAAN-da-va-s]) and the one hundred sons of blind King Dhṛtarāṣṭra [Dhri-
ta-RAASH-tra] (the 100 hundred Dhārtarāṣṭras [Dhaar-ta-RAASH-tras])—who became bitter
rivals, and opposed each other in war for possession of the ancestral Bharata [BHAR-a-ta]
kingdom with its capital in the "City of the Elephant,"Hāstinapura [HAAS-ti-na-pu-ra], on the
Gaṅgā river in north central India. What is dramatically interesting within this simple opposition
is the large number of individual agendas the many characters pursue, and the numerous
personal conflicts, ethical puzzles, subplots, and plot twists that give the story a strikingly
powerful development.
The five sons of Pāṇḍu were actually fathered by five Gods (sex was mortally dangerous for
Pāṇḍu, because of a curse) and these heroes were assisted throughout the story by various
Gods, seers, and brahmins, including the seer Kṛṣṇa Dvaipāyana Vyāsa [VYAA-sa] (who later
became the author of the epic poem telling the whole of this story), who was also their actual
grandfather (he had engendered Pāṇḍu and the blind Dhṛtarāṣṭra upon their nominal father's
widows in order to preserve the lineage). The one hundred Dhārtarāṣṭras, on the other hand,
had a grotesque, demonic birth, and are said more than once in the text to be human
incarnations of the demons who are the perpetual enemies of the Gods. The most dramatic
figure of the entire Mahābhārata, however, is Kṛṣṇa, son of Vasudeva of the tribe of Andhaka
Vṛṣṇis, located in the city of Dvārakā in the far west, near the ocean. His name is, thus Kṛṣṇa
Vāsudeva [Vaa-su-DAY-va]. But he also a human instantiation of the supreme God Vāsudeva-
Nārāyaṇa-Viṣṇu descended to earth in human form to rescue Law, Good Deeds, Right, Virtue
and Justice (all of these words refer to different facets of "dharma," the firm-holdingbetween
the ethical quality of an action and the quality of its future fruits for the doer). Kṛṣṇa Vāsudeva
was also a cousin to both Bhārata phratries, but he was a friend and advisor to the Pāṇḍavas,
became the brother-in-law of Arjuna [AR-ju-na] Pāṇḍava, and served as Arjuna's mentor and
charioteer in the great war. Kṛṣṇa Vāsudeva is portrayed several times as eager to see the
purgative war occur, and in many ways the Pāṇḍavas were his human instruments for fulfilling
that end.

The Dhārtarāṣṭra party behaved viciously and brutally toward the Pāṇḍavas in many ways, from
the time of their early youth onward. Their malice displayed itself most dramatically when they
took advantage of the eldest Pāṇḍava, Yudhiṣṭhira [Yu-DHISH-thir-a] (who had by now become
the universal ruler of the land) in a game of dice: The Dhārtarāṣṭras 'won' all his brothers,
himself, and even the Pāṇḍavas' common wife Draupadī [DRAO-pa-dee] (who was an
incarnation of the richness and productivity of the Goddess "Earthly-and-Royal Splendor,"Śrī
[Shree]); they humiliated all the Pāṇḍavas and physically abused Draupadī; they drove the
Pāṇḍava party into the wilderness for twelve years, and the twelve years had to be followed by
the Pāṇḍavas' living somewhere in society, in disguise, without being discovered, for one more
year.

The Pāṇḍavas fulfilled their part of that bargain, but the villainous leader of the Dhārtarāṣṭra
party, Duryodhana [Dur-YODH-ana], was unwilling to restore the Pāṇḍavas to their half of the
kingdom when the thirteen years had expired. Both sides then called upon their many allies and
two large armies arrayed themselves on 'Kuru's Field' (Kuru was one of the eponymous
ancestors of the clan), eleven divisions in the army of Duryodhana against seven divisions for
Yudhiṣṭhira. Much of the action in the Mahābhārata is accompanied by discussion and debate
among various interested parties, and the most famous sermon of all time, Kṛṣṇa Vāsudeva's
ethical lecture accompanied by a demonstration of his divinity to his charge Arjuna (the justly
famous Bhagavad Gītā [BHU-gu-vud GEE-taa]) occurred in the Mahābhārata just prior to the
commencement of the hostilities of the war. Several of the important ethical and theological
themes of the Mahābhārata are tied together in this sermon, and this "Song of the Blessed
One"has exerted much the same sort of powerful and far-reaching influence in Indian
Civilization that the New Testament has in Christendom. The Pāṇḍavas won the eighteen day
battle, but it was a victory that deeply troubled all except those who were able to understand
things on the divine level (chiefly Kṛṣṇa, Vyāsa, and Bhīṣma [BHEESH-ma], the Bharata patriarch
who was emblematic of the virtues of the era now passing away). The Pāṇḍavas' five sons by
Draupadī, as well as Bhīmasena [BHEE-ma-SAY-na] Pāṇḍava's and Arjuna Pāṇḍava's two sons by
two other mothers (respectively, the young warriors Ghaṭotkaca [Ghat-OT-ka-cha] and
Abhimanyu [Uh-bhi-MUN-you ("mun"rhymes with "nun")]), were all tragic victims in the war.
Worse perhaps, the Pāṇḍava victory was won by the Pāṇḍavas slaying, in succession, four men
who were quasi-fathers to them: Bhīṣma, their teacher Droṇa [DROE-na], Karṇa [KAR-na] (who
was, though none of the Pāṇḍavas knew it, the first born, pre-marital, son of their mother), and
their maternal uncle Śalya (all four of these men were, in succession, 'supreme commander' of
Duryodhana's army during the war). Equally troubling was the fact that the killing of the first
three of these 'fathers,' and of some other enemy warriors as well, was accomplished only
through 'crooked stratagems' (jihmopāyas), most of which were suggested by Kṛṣṇa Vāsudeva
as absolutely required by the circumstances.

The ethical gaps were not resolved to anyone's satisfaction on the surface of the narrative and
the aftermath of the war was dominated by a sense of horror and malaise. Yudhiṣṭhira alone
was terribly troubled, but his sense of the war's wrongfulness persisted to the end of the text,
in spite of the fact that everyone else, from his wife to Kṛṣṇa Vāsudeva, told him the war was
right and good; in spite of the fact that the dying patriarch Bhīṣma lectured him at length on all
aspects of the Good Law (the Duties and Responsibilities of Kings, which have rightful violence
at their center; the ambiguities of Righteousness in abnormal circumstances; and the absolute
perspective of a beatitude that ultimately transcends the oppositions of good versus bad, right
versus wrong, pleasant versus unpleasant, etc.); in spite of the fact that he performed a grand
Horse Sacrifice as expiation for the putative wrong of the war. These debates and instructions
and the account of this Horse Sacrifice are told at some length after the massive and grotesque
narrative of the battle; they form a deliberate tale of pacification (praśamana, śānti) that aims
to neutralize the inevitable miasma of the war.

In the years that follow the war Dhṛtarāṣṭra and his queen Gāndhārī [Gaan-DHAAR-ee], and
Kuntī [Koon-tee], the mother of the Pāṇḍavas, lived a life of asceticism in a forest retreat and
died with yogic calm in a forest fire. Kṛṣṇa Vāsudeva and his always unruly clan slaughtered
each other in a drunken brawl thirty-six years after the war, and Kṛṣṇa's soul dissolved back into
the Supreme God Viṣṇu (Kṛṣṇa had been born when a part of Nārāyaṇa-Viṣṇu took birth in the
womb of Kṛṣṇa's mother). When they learned of this, the Pāṇḍavas believed it time for them to
leave this world too and they embarked upon the 'Great Journey,' which involved walking north
toward the polar mountain, that is toward the heavenly worlds, until one's body dropped dead.
One by one Draupadī and the younger Pāṇḍavas died along the way until Yudhiṣṭhira was left
alone with a dog that had followed him all the way. Yudhiṣṭhira made it to the gate of heaven
and there refused the order to drive the dog back, at which point the dog was revealed to be an
incarnate form of the God Dharma (also known as Yama, the Lord of the Dead, the God who
was Yudhiṣṭhira's actual, physical father), who was there to test the quality of Yudhiṣṭhira's
virtue before admitting him to heaven. Once in heaven Yudhiṣṭhira faced one final test of his
virtue: He saw only the Dhārtarāṣṭras in heaven, and he was told that his brothers were in hell.
He insisted on joining his brothers in hell, if that be the case. It was then revealed that they
were really in heaven, that this illusion had been one final test for him. So ends
the Mahābhārata!

The Panchatantra (The Talkative Tortoise)

Once upon a time, two geese by the names of Sankata and Vikata and a tortoise by the name
of Kambugriva lived near a river. They were good friends. Once, due to drought in the region, all
the rivers, lakes and ponds went dry. There was not a drop of water to drink for the birds and
animals. They began to die of thirst The three friends talked among themselves to find a
solution to this problem and go out in search of water. But despite their best efforts they could
not find water anywhere around Having no alternative the three friends decided to go to some
distant lake, full of water, to settle down there forever. But there was a problem in shifting to
so distant a place While it was casy for the geese to fly, it was difficult for the tortoise to cover
that distance on foot So the tortoise put up a bright idea. He said, "Why not bring a strong
stick"I will hold the stick in the middle with my teeth and you two hold both the ends of the
stick in your beaks. In this manner. I can also travel with you."Hearing the suggestion of the
tortoise, the geese cautioned him. "It's a very good idea. We will do as you say. But you will
have to be very careful The problem with you is that you are very talkative. And if you open
your mouth to say something, while we are flying, it will definitely prove to be detrimental to
you. So, don't talk while you are dangling by the stick, otherwise you will lose your hold and go
crashing down on the ground and die "The tortoise understood the logic and promised not to
open his mouth during the entire journey. So the geese held the stick ends in their beaks and
the tortoise held the stick in the middle with his teeth and thus, they began their long journey.
They flew over hills, valleys, villages, forests and finally came over a town While they were
flying over the town, men, women and children came out of their houses to see this strange
sight. The children began shouting and clapping. The foolish tortoise forgot that he was hanging
precariously. He became so curious to know the reason behind these clappings that he opened
his mouth to ask his friends-"Friends,what is this all about?"But as soon as he opened his,
mouth to utter these words, he loosened his hold on the stick and fell down on the ground and
died instantaneously. The Mahabharata and Ramayana The Ramayana One day when King
Rama was sitting on his throne, his ring fell off. When it touched theearth, it made a hole in the
ground and disappeared into it. It was gone He friend Hanuman was nearby. Rama said, Look,
my ring is lost."Dear friend, "Help me find it please."Hanuman was a powerful Vanara, a
monkey-god, with the power to change shape and sizeand enter any hole, no matter how tiny.
He had the power to become the smallest of thesmall and larger than the largest thing. So he
took on a tiny form and went down the hole He went and went and suddenly fell into the
underworld There were women down there "Look, a tiny monkey It's fallen from above,"one
woman said. Then they caught him and placed him on a platter (in India, a thali). The King of
Spirits who lives in the underworldlikes to eat animals. So Hanuman was sent to him as part of
his dinner, along with a plate of vegetables. Hanuman sat on the platter, not sure what to do
Rama, meanwhile, was sitting on his throne above. The sage Vasistha and the god Brahmacame
to see him. They said they needed to talk privately, where no one else could hear Rama agreed
He was told to lay down a rule prior to this special meeting "If anyone comesin during the
discussion the intruder's head must be cut off"said Vasistha. "It will be done,"agreed Rama
Who would be the most trustworthy person to guard the door? Hanuman was gonefetching the
ring Rama trusted no one more than Laksmana, so he asked his half-brother to guard the door
"Don't allow anyone to enter,"he was told. Laksmana was standing at the door when a sage
named Visvamitra approached and said he needed to see Rama at once. "It's urgent. Where is
Rama?""Don't go in now, said Laksmana. "He is talking to some people. It's very
important""What is there that Rama would hide from me,"said the sage "I will go in
now."Laksmana said he would have to first ask permission "Go in and ask then.""I can't until
Rama comes out. You will wait.""If you don't go in and announce my presence, I'll burn the
entire kingdom of Ayodhya witha curse,"said the sage Laksmana thought, "If I go in now I will
die. If I don't go, this man will burn down the entirekingdom. All the subjects, all things living in
it, will die. It's better that I alone should die."So he went in. "What's the matter,"asked Rama
"Vsvmitra is here""Send him in then."So Visvamtra went in. The private talk had already come
to an end. It seems that god Brahma and Vasistha hadcome to tell Rama, "Your work in the
world of human beings is over Your incarnation asRama must now be given up. Leave this body,
come up, and rejoin the gods."That was what they had come to say to Rama Laskmana said to
Rama. "Brother, you should cut off my head."Rama replied, "Why? We had nothing more to say
Nothing was left. So why should I cut off your head?""You can't let me off just because I'm your
brother. It will cause a blot on Rama's gloriousname. You didn't spare your wife You sent her to
the jungle to preserve dharma I must bepunished I will leave right away"Laksmana was an
avatar of Sesa, the serpent on whom Vishnu sleeps His time was up too. He went to the river
and disappeared in the flowing waters. When Laksmana relinquished his body, Rama
summoned all his followers and arranged forthe coronation of his twin sons, Lava and Kusa.
Then Rama, too, entered the river. All this time Hanuman was still in the underworld looking for
the lost ring When he was finally taken to the King of Spirits, he kept repeating the name of
Rama. The King of Spirits asked, "Who are you?""Hanuman.""Why have you come
here?""Rama's ring fell into a hole, and I came to fetch it "The king looked around and found a
platter, which he held up for Hanuman to see. On it were thousands of rings All of them were
Rama's rings. The King of Spirits set it down and said, "pick out your ring and take it."They were
all exactly the same. "I don't know which one it is,"said Hanuman The King of Spirits said.
"There have been as many Ramas as there are rings on this platter When you return to earth,
you will not find Rama. This incarnation of Rama is now over Whenever an incarnation of Rama
is about to be over, his ring falls down. I collect them and keep them. Now you can go Perhaps
here is where the work lies. It is our human work to extend consciousness something that only
we humans are capable of Nothing else in the universe can bring clarity and differentiation as
the human mind. This is our unique contribution to the unfolding of the divine plan However, at
one point in The Ramayana there is a passage in which Rama is told if he does not pursue his
individuation properly God will abandon him to an intellectual search which goes nowhere and
is only more illusion. It is Hanuman, the instinctive monkey-God who is key to the development
of this story This seems to promise that your salvation will come from inside, from your
instinctive nature It will come from what we are taught are the dark or unreliable places. It is a
big shift for a Westerner to learn that it is the sensation and feeling world, one's instinctive
world, that is the necessary intermediary on the path to wholeness.
AFRICAN LITERATURE

IF WE MUST WE DIE

If we must die, let it not be like hogs

Hunted and penned in an inglorious spot,

While round us bark the mad and hungry dogs,

Making their mock at our accursèd lot.

If we must die, O let us nobly die,

So that our precious blood may not be shed

In vain; then even the monsters we defy

Shall be constrained to honor us though dead!

O kinsmen! we must meet the common foe!

Though far outnumbered let us show us brave,

And for their thousand blows deal one death-blow!

What though before us lies the open grave?

Like men we’ll face the murderous, cowardly pack,

Pressed to the wall, dying, but fighting back!

I was born in the congo

I walked to the fertile crescent and built

the sphinx

I designed a pyramid so tough that a star

that only glows every one hundred years falls

into the center giving divine perfect light

I am bad

I sat on the throne

drinking nectar with allah

I got hot and sent an ice age to europe

to cool my thirst

My oldest daughter is nefertiti

the tears from my birth pains

created the nile

I am a beautiful woman

I gazed on the forest and burned

out the sahara desert

with a packet of goat's meat

and a change of clothes

I crossed it in two hours

I am a gazelle so swift

so swift you can't catch me

For a birthday present when he was three

I gave my son hannibal an elephant

He gave me rome for mother's day

 My strength flows ever on

My son noah built new/ark and

I stood proudly at the helm

as we sailed on a soft summer day

I turned myself into myself and was

jesus

men intone my loving name

EGO TRIPPING
All praises All praises

I am the one who would save

I sowed diamonds in my back yard

My bowels deliver uranium

the filings from my fingernails are

semi-precious jewels

On a trip north

I caught a cold and blew

My nose giving oil to the arab world

I am so hip even my errors are correct

I sailed west to reach east and had to round off

 the earth as I went

The hair from my head thinned and gold was laid

across three continents

I am so perfect so divine so ethereal so surreal

I cannot be comprehended

except by my permission

I mean . . . I . . . can fly

like a bird in the sky . . .

 PERSIAN LITERATURE

Hell and Heaven

A man spoke with the God about heaven and hell. The God said to the man, "Come, I
will show you hell"They entered a room where a group of people sat around a huge pot of
stew. Everyone was famished, desperate and starving. Each held a spoon that reached the pot,
but each spoon had a handle so much longer than their own arm that it could not be used to
get the stew into their own mouths. The suffering was terrible. "Come, now I will show you
heaven,"the God said after a while. They entered another room, identical to the first -- the pot
of stew, the group of people, the same long handled spoons. But there everyone was happy
and well-nourished. "I don't understand,"said the man. "Why are they happy here when they
were miserable in the other room and everything was the same? "The God smiled, "Ah, it is
simple."he said. "Here they have learned to feed each other "

The Captive Gets a Wife

When Betty Guard steps ashore in Sydney, in 1834, she meets with a heroine's welcome
Her survival during a four-month kidnapping ordeal amongst Taranaki Maori is hailed as
nothing short of a miracle. But questions about what really happened slowly surface within the
elite governing circles of the raw new town of Sydney Jacky Guard, ex-convict turned whaler,
had taken Betty as his wife to his New Zealand whaling station when she was fourteen. After
several years and two children, the family is returning from a visit to Sydney when their barque
is wrecked near Mount Taranaki. A battle with local Maori follows, and Betty and her children
are captured Her husband goes to seek a ransom, but instead, England engages in its first
armed conflict with New Zealand Maori when he is persuaded to return with two naval ships.
After her violent rescue, Betty's life amongst the tribe comes under intense scrutiny Based on
real events, this is a compelling story of a marriage, of love and duty, and the quest for freedom
in a pioneering age.
 ARABIAN LITERATURE
THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ADAM

A young man walks a scorching Cairo street. At the entrance to the city’s pivotal main square,
he notices a succulent girl. Ineluctably drawn into her magnetic field, and the swirling,
palpitating square ahead, he starts to fantasize about how he would talk to her, seduce her,
rape her, love her, abandon her, cherish her were he, for example, a Brazen Rake, a Brutal
Bohemian, a Sensitive Painter, or a Bald Mechanic, jumping from persona to persona as his
imaginings become more and more feverish, while in his mind the girl goes through a similar
series of transformations. These characters—a circus parade of Egypt’s contemporary human
menagerie—are not, however, mere dress-up costumes to be donned and discarded at their
author’s whim. They, and others who emerge from the side alleys of his mind, strut their stuff,
accost one another, argue, and shout until eventually they leave him, on a scorching Cairo
street, peering after an infinite succession of receding, parallel clamorous worlds, from whose
possibilities he must draw his own conclusions.

THE ABANDONED VILLAGE

“Wait here. we’ll get in touch with you later. don’t go beyond the confines of the village.”

The village seemed to have been abandoned, although there were still goats roaming here and
there. I didn’t know how long I would have to wait. To pass the time I wandered in and out of
the abandoned houses. I felt tired, but I wasn’t sure whether sleeping had a place in my new
life. I went up on the roof of one of the houses and looked out over the neighborhood. The
smoke of battle was rising from the nearby towns, and two military helicopters were skimming
along the horizon. Fields of cotton surrounded the village on all sides. I had never before had a
chance to see cotton flowers. Or maybe I’d seen them in documentaries and other films; I don’t
exactly remember. I had spent my life working in a bakery, then as a taxi driver, and finally as a
prison guard. When the revolution broke out, I joined the resistance. I fought to my last breath.
The cotton flowers looked like snowflakes, but they would have had to be artificial or else the
fierce rays of the sun would have melted them all.

I noticed a girl sitting on the roof of another house. She definitely couldn’t see me. She was
sitting on a small wooden bench and running a green comb through her long hair. Her skin was
burned from the sun. A woman called out from the courtyard below. “Stay in the sun—don’t
move from where you are,” she said.
 LEBANESE LITERATURE
THE SAYINGS OF THE BROOK

I walked in the Valley as the rising dawn spoke the secret

of eternity,

And there a brook, on its course, was singing, calling and

saying

Life is not only a merriment,

Life is Desire and Determination

Wisdom is not in words;

Wisdom is Meaning within words

Greatness is not in exalted position,

Greatness is for he who refuses position

A man is not noble through ancestory.

How many noblemen are descendants of murderers?

Not everyone in chains is subdued,

At times, a chain is greater than a necklace.

Paradise is not in repentance,

Paradise is in the Pure Heart.

Hell is not in torture,

Hell is in an Empty Heart.

Riches are not in money alone,

How many Wanderers were the richest of all men?.

Not all the poor are scorned,

The wealth of the world is in a loaf of bread and a cloak.

Beauty is not in the face;

Beauty is a light in the heart

Perfection is not for the pure of soul,

There may be virtue in sin.

This is what the brook said to the tree upon its banks,

Perhaps what the brook sang was of some of the secrets of the seA.

Simon Who Was Called Peter When he and his brother were called I was on the shore of the
Lake of Galilee when I first beheld Jesus my Lord and my Master. My brother Andrew was with
me and we were casting out net into the waters. The waves were rough and high and we
caught but few fish. And our hearts were heavy.

Suddenly Jesus stood near us, as if he had taken form that very moment, for we had not
seen him approaching. He called us by our names, and He said, "If you will follow me I will lead
you to an inlet where the fishes are swarming".

And as I looked at his face the net fell from my hands, for a flame kindled within me and I
recognized him. And my brother Andrew spoke and said, "We know all the inlets upon these
shores, and we know also that on a windy day like this the fish seek a depth beyond our nets"
And Jesus answered, "Follow me to the shores of a greater sea. I shall make you fishers of men.
And your net shall never be empty " And we abandoned our boat and our net and followed
him. I myself was drawn by a power, viewless, that walked beside his person. I walked near him,
breathless and full of wonder, and my brother Andrew was behind us, bewildered and amazed.
And as we walked on the sand I made bold and said unto him, "Sir, I and my brother will follow
your footsteps, and where you go we too will go. But if it please you to come to our house this
night, we shall be graced by your visit. Our house is not large and our ceiling not high, and you
will sit at but a frugal meal. Yet if you will abide in our hovel it will be to us a palace And would
you break bread with us, we in your presence were to be envied by the princes of the land" And
he said, "Yea, I will be your guest this night." And I rejoiced in my heart. And we walked behind
him in silence until we reached our house. And as we stood at the threshold Jesus said, "Peace
be to this house, and to those who dwell in it." Then he entered and we followed him.

My wife and my wife's mother and my daughter stood before him and they worshipped him,
then they knelt before him and kissed the hem of His sleeve They were astonished that he, the
chosen and the well beloved, had come to be our guest; for they had already seen him by the
River Jordan when John the Baptist had proclaimed him before the people. And straightway my
wife and my wife's mother began to prepare the supper. My brother Andrew was a shy man,
but his faith in Jesus was deeper than my faith. And my daughter, who was then but twelve
years old, stood by him and held his garment as if she were in fear he would leave us and go out
again into the night she clung to him like a lost sheep that has found its shepherd. Then we sat
at the board, and he broke the bread and poured the wine, and he turned to us saying. "My
friends, grace me now in sharing this food with me, even as the father has graced us in giving it
unto us." These words he said ere he touched a morsel, for he wished to follow an ancient
custom that the honored guest becomes the host. And as we sat with him around the board we
felt as if we were sitting at the feast of the great King. My daughter Petronelah, who was young
and unknowing, gazed at his face and followed the movements of his hands. And I saw a veil of
tears in her eyes.

When He left the board we followed Him and sat about Him in the vine arbour. And He spoke to
us and we listened, and our hearts fluttered within us like birds. He spoke of the second birth of
man, and of the opening of the gates of the heavens, and of angels descending and bringing
peace and good cheer to all men, and of angels ascending to the throne bearing the longings of
men to the Lord God. Then He looked into my eyes and gazed into the depths of my heart. And
He said, "I have chosen you and your brother, and you must needs come with me. You have
laboured and you have been heavy-laden. Now I shall give you rest. Take up my yoke and learn
of me, for in my heart is peace, and your soul shall find abundance and a home-coming" When
He spoke thus I and my brother stood up before Him, and I said to Him, "Master, we will follow
you to the ends of the earth. And if our burden were as heavy as the mountain we would bear it
with you in gladness. And should we fall by the wayside we shall know that we have fallen on
the way to heaven, and we shall be satisfied. "And my brother Andrew spoke and said, "Master,
we would be threads between your hands and your loom.
 Weave us into the cloth if you will, for we would be in the raiment of the most high" And my
wife raised her face, and the tears were upon her cheeks and she spoke with joy, and she said,
"Blessed are you who come in the name of the Lord. Blessed is the womb that carried you, and
the breast that gave you milk" And my daughter, who was but twelve years old, sat at His feet
and she nestled close to Him. And the mother of my wife, who sat at the threshold, said no
word She only wept in silence and her shawl was wet with her tears. Then Jesus walked over to
her and He raised her face to His face and He said to her, "You are the mother of all these. You
weep for joy, and I will keep your tears in my memory." And now the old moon rose above the
horizon And Jesus gazed upon it for a moment, and then He turned to us and said, "It is late.
Seek your beds, and may God visit your repose. I will be here in this arbor until dawn I have cast
my net this day and I have caught two men. I am satisfied, and now I bid you good-night." Then
my wife's mother said, "But we have laid your bed in the house, I pray you enter and rest." And
He answered her saying. "I would indeed rest, but not under a roof Suffer me to lie this night
under the canopy of the grapes and the stars." And she made haste and brought out the
mattress and the pillows and the coverings. And He smiled at her and He said, "Behold, I shall
lie down upon a bed twice made".

Then we left him and entered in the house, and my daughter was the last one to enter. And her
eyes were upon Him until I had closed the door. Thus, for the first time I knew my Lord and
Master And though it was many years ago, it still seems but of today.
CHINESE LITERATURE

LI SHEN

锄禾日当午，

(chú hé rì dāng wǔ,)

Cultivating grains at noon,

汗滴禾下土。

(hàn dī hé xià tǔ.)

Sweat dripping into the earth beneath.

谁知盘中餐，

(shuí zhī pán zhōng cān,)

Who would have thought the food on your plate,

粒粒皆辛苦。

(lì lì jiē xīn kǔ.)

each and every grain, came from hard work?

 The Dream of the Red Chamber

One day, Pao-yu has a midday nap in the delightfully perfumed and furnished room of his
young relative Ko-ching In his dream he encounters the Goddess of Disenchantment, who tells
him that she is in charge of settling the debts between maidens and youths unhappily in love
with one another. Moreover, she instructs him to keep the family of his honorable ancestors
from descending into ruin. Then she leads him into a luxurious chamber, where he finds a
young girl that resembles his beautiful cousin Precious Virtue in appearance and Black Jade in
demeanor. With her he indulges for the first time in the delights of "the sport of cloud and
rain."When he awakens from the dream, his maid Hsi-jen is with him. She grasps what
happened and offers to initiate him to the game in the real world. A little later he realizes that
Precious Virtue wears a golden medallion with a saying that complements the one on his jade
stone.

Since Pao-yu's dream, Ko-ching has been gravely ill. The night of her death she appears
to her girlfriend Phoenix, imploring her to invest parts of the family fortune into a foundation.
True, she concedes, the Chia clan is still strong and powerful. But in good times they should
provide for the bad times that are inevitably coming, just like blossoming is followed by decay.
The foundation is meant to ensure the continuation of the family school and the quarterly
sacrifices to the ancestors. But Phoenix ignores her dream. She couldn't care less about
establishing a family foundation..

Instead, Phoenix engages in shady deals to enrich herself. After the pompous mourning
ceremonies, the family is informed that Pao-yu's sister, Beginning of Spring, has been raised to
the position of a "noble and virtuous"Imperial wife of the first rank. Soon thereafter the
Emperor issues a decree that allows all his first and secondary wives to visit their families. He
wants to reinforce the children's piety and devotion toward their parents. Construction begins
at once, so that Beginning of Spring can be provided with worthy accommodation.

The Thai Ramakien

The first part begins with the story of Phra Narai in the form of a boar vanquishing the
demon Hiranyak. This is followed by an account of the origins of the ancestors of Thotsakan
According to Ramakien, Phra Isuan grants his servant Nonthok a boon which enables him to
change his finger into a diamond and destroy anyone at whom he poin ts it. As Nonthok begins
to abuse this power, Phra Narai assumes the form of a charming woman who dances in front of
Nonthok, who tries to imitate the movement of her hands. At one moment, he points the
diamond finger towards himself and instantly dies. Nonthok is later reborn as Thotsakan. He
also has four brothers and a sister, as well as half-siblings. Thotsakan first marries Kala Akhi, the
daughter of Kala Nakha of the underworld, and later receives Nang Montho as a gift from Phra
Isuan Thotsakan and Nang Montho have a son with the first name Ronapak, after his victory
over Indra, he is called Intharachit.

The text then explains the origins of the simian characters Phali and Sukhrip They are born to
Kala Acana, the wife of king Khodam, as result of her adultery with Phra In and Phra Athit.
When king Khodam immerses them in a lake to test their legitimacy, they turn into monkeys
and vanish into the forest. Phra Isuan grants Phali a magic trident which will transfer to Phali
half the strength of anyone fighting him. Sukhrip is rewarded with a beautiful young maiden
Dara, but Phali takes her for himself, Later, Phali also seizes Thotsakan's consort Nang Montho
and they have a son named Ongkhot before she is returned to Thotsakan Finally, Phali banishes
Sukhrip to the forest where he meets Hanuman.

Hanuman is said to be born after Phra Isuan places his celestial weapons in the mouth of
Sawaha, the daughter of Kala Acana Hanuman at first stays with Phali and Sukhrip, but later
decides to join Sukhrip in his banishment in the forest Rama, known in the Ramakien as Phra
Ram, has ancestors tracing back to Phra Narai through King Thotsarot. Phra Ram himself is a
reincarnation of Phra Narai, and his brothers Phra Lak, Phra Phrot and Phra Satarut are
manifestations of Phra Narai's emblems the serpent, the discus, and the mace, respectively.
Phra Ram's consort Nang Sida is a reincarnation of Phra Narai's consort Laksami, but she is born
as the daughter of Thotsakan in Lanka and adopted by king Chonok of Mithila.

Part two deals with the main drama of the story Phra Ram and Nang Sida fall in love at
first sight before an archery contest. A hunchback named Kucci instigates the queen to ask for
the banishment of Phra Ram He sets off to live in the forest with Nang Sida and his brother Phra
Lak, where they meet Sammanakha who took on the form of a beautiful maiden. She tries to
seduce the two brothers, but they resist and punish her. As revenge, Thotsakan abducts Nang
Sida to his palace in Lanka.

Phra Ram and Phra Lak meet Hanuman, Sukhrip and another monkey. Chomphuphan,
and ask them to help find Nang Sida. When Hanuman locates Nang Sida in Lanka, he identifies
himself by showing her ring and kerchief and retelling the secret of her first meeting with Phra
Ram Hanuman is then caught by Thotsakan's son Intharachit, but escapes while setting Lanka
on fire On returning to Phra Ram, Hanuman helps build a causeway connecting Lanka to the
mainland and the war with Thotsakan begins. After a lot of fighting and attempts of treachery
by Thotsakan's allies, Phra Ram manages to kill Thotsakan and Intharachit and free Nang Sida.
After she passes a fire ordeal to test her faithfulness, Phra Ram takes her with him to Ayutthaya

After Nang Sida draws a picture of Thotsakan on a slate, Phra Ram orders Phra Lak to take her
to the forest and kill her Instead of doing as commanded, he brings to Phra Ram the heart of a
doe to trick him into believing that Nang Sida is dead. In the forest, Nang Sida finds refuge with
a hermit named Wachamarik, and she gives birth to two sons: Phra Monkut and Phra Loph.
Phra Ram decides to take her back to Ayutthaya, but she refuses and disappears into the
Underworld Finally. Phra Isuan brings Phra Ram and Nang Sida together again.
 MY DREAMSONG

My dreamsong floated in deep waters

dolphins and grey beluga whales
echoed an underwater symphony
a long sojourn ocean road
leading me here

Under Orion's southward flight,

mermaids and seahorses crisscross
channels of cerulean twilight
I hear pirate ships sinking
junkets fading under Shanghai sunset

Dance under silver rose moon

say sacred oracles out loud
weave a feather blanket shroud
mermaids and sea nymphs follow,
close blue eyes in cavern shrines

Princesses, goddesses surround you

china, Indonesia, Bangkok, Thailand
drift into venetian island harbors,
my cameo face and lips on the sea
sail lovely roads leading you to me
SINGAPOREAN LITERATURE
The Housewife

A well to be filled

Of crystal cut glasses and stainless steel knives

A washing machine turning

A cooker hob burning

Ceramic pots of boiling soup

Mud-stained rugby shorts in the soak

Painting school shoes white

Stroke by stroke

Waiting in the car

For another lesson to be over

Thick toffee stirring a wooden spoon

One more song to play

It’s the same everyday

And dreams?

Buried in hardened earth

In letters wrapped in pandan leaves.

In a parched field
 I stretch open my arms

But here Amputated

Fingers given Hands gone Singular

A torso on bow legs Resting on broad feet.

The Old Man, His Son, And Their Bike

Ibrahim (Singapore)

There was once a poor old Malay,

One you have never seen the like.
Who sadly told his son one day,
"Son, we have to sell our bike"

So to the nearest town they went,

The old man on the bike astride:
His son, very soon feeling spent.
Walked slowly on his side

They passed two men on their way.

Two old buddies having a talk,
One was heard to distinctly say.
"He makes the young fellow walk."

On hearing this old man said.

"I think, my son, they do not like
To see me riding. I'm afraid,
You had better ride the bike.

"Two more men later they met,

They both seemed at the boy to gawk
Said one. "See that strong, selfish lad,

He makes the old man walk"

The old man then said with a frown,
"Whatever we do, my son, seems wrong,
So let both of us walk to town;
We can push the bike along."