Читать книгу The Karen People of Burma: A Study in Anthropology and Ethnology - Harry Ignatius Marshall - Страница 11

Table of Contents

THE SEASONS AND THE MONTHS

The seasons in Burma are clearly distinguished, the year being divided into two parts by the monsoon, which is the periodic wind of the Southern Asiatic tropics that for six months, between April and November, blows from the southwest off the Indian Ocean, bringing clouds and moisture which produce the never-failing rainy season, as the Karen name for it, "ta su hka," signifies. In November the monsoon shifts to the opposite quarter and the dry season or "ta yaw hka" follows, being again six months in duration. This latter period is subdivided into the cool season or "ta hku hka," from the middle of November to the first of February, and the hot season or "ta ko hka," during which the sun is waxing hotter and hotter until the beginning of the rains in May. The rainy season has a fairly even temperature with a mean of about eighty degrees, Fahrenheit, while the dry season is marked by variations ranging from about fifty to over one hundred degrees.

The Karen term for year is "ni" and for a generation, their longest unit of time, it is "so." Eternity is designated by reduplicating the root "so," for example, "so so," or, with this couplet, "so so xa xa."

According to Karen reckoning, the year is divided into twelve lunar months, a month of twenty-nine days alternating with one of thirty. Thus, they have six months of twenty-nine days each which total one hundred and seventy-four days, while the six intervening months of thirty days each total one hundred and eighty days. These two totals added together give but three hundred and fifty-four days. This arrangement of the calendar necessitated the addition every three year of an extra or intercalary month to make the reckoning of time correct But the calendar was so poorly kept that confusion arose, and the people do not agree among themselves as to the proper order of the months, or the beginning of the year, or even as to the correct interpretation of the names of the months in all cases.[7-1] However, the names in the commonly accepted order are as follows:

1. Th' le, the searching month, when the villagers hunt for a new village site. It corresponds to the Burmese month, Pyatho, and to the moon of January.

2 Hte ku, the cutting month, when the Karen cut the jungle preparatory to cultivation. It is equivalent to the Burmese Tabodwe and to the moon of February.

3. Thwe kaw, the brewing month, when the women prepare the mash for brewing liquor. By some it is said to signify the month of burnings, for at this time they burn over the ground that was cut in the previous month. It is equivalent to the Burmese Tabaung and to the moon of March.

4. La hkli, the month of yams, because at this season the people were often reduced to the necessity of eating the tubers of the wild yam. It is equivalent to the Burmese Tagu and to the moon of April.

5. De nya, the lily month, when the wild lilies bloom. Equivalent to Kasone of the Burmese and to the moon of May.

6. La nwi, the seventh month, corresponds to the Burmese Nayone and to the moon of June.[7-2]

7. La xo, the eighth month, is equivalent to the Burmese Waso and to the moon of July.

8. La hku, the shut-in month, when it is difficult to go about on account of the heavy rains. It corresponds to the Burmese Wagaung and to the moon of August.

9. Hsi mu, the month of a little sunshine, when after the heaviest rain there is a little fair weather. It corresponds to the Burmese Tawthelin and the moon of September.

10. Hsi hsa, the month of a little starlight, when the stars being to show themselves occasionally. It corresponds to the Burmese Thadingyut and to the moon of October.

11. La naw, the month of the "naw," when from the seeds of this small plant is extracted an oil much like sessimum oil. It is equivalent to the Burmese Tezaungmon and to the moon of November.

12. La plu, the month of eclipses, when the moon dies and hence the month for funeral ceremonies. It corresponds to the Burmese Nadaw and to the moon of December.

It will be noticed that in the list as given above the seventh and eighth month are number 6 and 7, respectively. Two suggestions have been made to explain this incongruity. One of these is Dr. Mason's suggestion to the effect that originally the first month was La plu (December), which would not only correct the incongruity, but also make the Karen calendar correspond to that of Tibet, which begins with December.[7-3] The other explanation was given to me by a Karen teacher, who says that the month of La hkli (April) is the one that is repeated every three years in order to correct the calendar, and that the periodic interposition of this extra month is responsible for the names of the seventh and eighth months and the disagreement of those names with their serial numbers in the list. To me this explanation seems very dubious. One Karen writer attempts to correct the incongruity between the seventh and eighth months and their serial numbers by proposing to transfer La hku (August) from its generally accepted position in the list to a place before the seventh month, but, of course, this is not a feasible change. As many Karens associate the month for funeral ceremonies (La plu) with the end of the year, they do not think it should be shifted into first place in the calendar.

THE DAYS OF THE WEEK

Few of the Karen people can tell the days of the week, except according to Burmese or Christian nomenclature. Severl old men have given me names for the days, which, they say, were in use a long time ago. There are seven of these, as may be seen in the following tabulation:

ENGLISH KAREN TRANSLATION Sunday Li naw The eagle's beak Monday Htaw meh The long tooth Tuesday To mu The slanting sun Wednesday To kyaw The leaning oil tree Thursday Thi thwa The big comb Friday Mu daw hpa The divided sun day Saturday Mu htaw k'hpu The pig's stomach day

I have found no traditions or other information relating to these names.

The Karen divide the day into the following seven parts or sub-divisions:

(1) mu hse wah taw, dawn; (2) mu heh htaw, sunrise; (3) mu heh htaw hpa htaw, the sun is high; (4) mu htu, noon; (5) mu xe law, the sun declines; (6) mu haw law, evening; and (7) mu law nu, sunset.

The night also has its divisions, such as mu yaw ma, meaning that the sun is deep down; hpa hpaw mu, midnight or literally midway between the suns, and hsaw o, cock crow or early morning, of which they distinguish three stages. In conversation a Karen indicates the time of day or night by pointing to the sun's position as it was at the time to which he is referring, pointing upward or downward as the occasion requires. More than once in the narration of some story I have heard the different members of a group dispute about the exact angle at which the sun stood when the incident occurred, the difference between the angles indicated being not more than a degree.

MEASUREMENT OF SPACE

When a Karen speaks of some object, he is likely to indicate its size by comparing it with some part of his person. For example, he will describe a bamboo as being as large around as his arm, or the limb of a tree as being the size of his thigh. Applying the same principle, he has devised a system of rough units of measurement, such as the length of the forefinger, called t' su mu; the distance between the end of the thumb and the end of the forefinger, t' hpi; the distance between the end of the thumb and the knuckle of the little finger when the fist is doubled up, t'so; the interval between the end of the thumb and the end of the middle finger, t' hta; the cubit or the distance from the elbow to the tip of the middle finger, t' pla, and the reach of the outstretched arm, t' hkli. Inasmuch as all of these units of measurement vary with the size and proportions of the individual, allowance is generally made for such variations. The cubit is commonly employed in all building operations, and men with long arms make the proper correction by measuring from the elbow to the first joint instead of to the tip of the middle finger. Contrariwise, small men add to their cubit the width of a finger or more to bring it to the standard length of a half-yard, which it is nowadays made to equal.

Two Sgaw Karen Maidens {One from Tharrawaddy and the other from Tavoy District. The Tavoy girl (on the right) is wearing a smock made of black velvet purchased in a bazaar and trimmed with embroidery of colored yarns. She also has on a head-band such as is worn in that district.}

Measurements for longer or shorter distances are specified in relative terms, borrowed from one form or another of physical exertion. Such measurements are: the pace, t'hka; the stone's throw, t' kwi leu; a call (that is, as far as one can hear a shout), t' kaw. An indefinite distance of a mile or two, which one might walk without stopping, is a stage, t' taw leh; a half-day's journey, t' mu htu leh; a day's journey, t' ni leh, and so on. The Karen may on occasion speak of a month's or a year's journey to very distant places. Another method of designating distances by intervals of time during which physical effort is required is to specify the number of betel chews or quids that would be consumed during the trip. For instance, a Karen is apt to inform one that a certain village is three or four betel chews distant. As it requires from fifteen to twenty minutes to dispose of a quid of betel, the village in question may be estimated as being three or four miles away.

THE KAREN'S KNOWLEDGE OF ASTRONOMY

It often happens that the Karen find their way through the jungle at night by means of the stars. The more brilliant constellations, called hsa t' so, are well known and have their particular names. Of these, the Great Bear (Hsa k' htaw, literary the Elephant) and the Southern Cross (Meh la ka) are referred to the most frequently, because they signify north and south, respectively. These two constellations were supposed, according to an old legend, to have been brothers, being thought to resemble each other in appearance; but on account of a quarrel they separated and went to the opposite ends of the heavens. Orion is known by the name of the Stealthily Shooting Stars (Hsa kwa hka). A legend relating to the three stars of Orion's belt, which are named Hsa yo ma (stars that seized wives), recounts that these stars kidnapped the daughters of the Pleiades, which are regarded as the great ones of the heavens. Later the three culprits were caught and reduced to the degraded position of servants to their parents-in-law. The Archer --Sagittarius of the ancients--is called the Bow-head Star (Hsa hkli hko, literally, the head of the bow where it is joined to the barrel of the crossbow). The Pleiades are named Hsa deu mu, a term signifying a collection of people closely related to one another; while three stars just east of the Pleiades, which look as though they had broken away from the original group, are called Deu mu law hpa (those separated from the company). Three stars south of the Pleiades, which form a triangle, bear the name of the Loom (Hsa hta hko), because the geometrical figure indicated by their positions suggests that enclosed by the floor, which forms the base; the wall, the vertical side; and the inclined warp, the hypotenuse, of the loom in the living-room of a Karen home. It ought to be added that the rising of the morning star, Hsa tu ghaw, marks the time for the Karen to get up in the morning; while the appearance of the evening star, Hsa tu ha, informs him that the end of the day's work has come and with it the time for going home.

The Karen take note of shooting stars, which they speak of sometimes as Hsa yu or flying stars and sometimes as Hsa hpo tha, youthful stars. Catching sight of them, people say that they are going to visit the maidens. They give to comets the obvious name of tailed stars, Hsa meh htaw, and are not different from other superstitious races in believing that their coming brings calamity. The planets have impressed them as "wandering stars," while they leave the fixed stars without names, except the Pole Star, which they call the Mouse, and a star near the moon, which they describe as the star that draws the moon, Hsa mo la. The Milky Way reminds the Karen of their flowering fields of paddy and receives the poetic name of the paddy flower stars, Hsa bu hpaw.

Like the Chinese and other Oriental peoples, the Karen attribute the eclipse of the sun or moon to some monster that devours the luminary. The Karen, however, do not discover this monster in the dragon, but believe that dogs do the devouring. According to the legend, a certain personage, who possess the elixir of life, had four dogs. On one occasion when he was absent from home, the moon descended to earth and stole his wondrous cordial. On his return, finding the elixir had vanished, he constructed a ladder of rice-straw and mounted aloft with his dogs. But just as he was stepping upon the moon his ladder broke, causing him and one of his faithful beasts to fall to earth and lose their lives. The other three dogs were so fortunate as to find secure footing on the firmament. Now and again they become enraged at the recollection of the umtimely fate of their master, attack and swallow the moon, and thereby produce the eclipse. One of these faithful dogs is black, and for some unknown reason is unable to swallow the moon entire and so causes only a partial eclipse; but the yellow one devours it completely, and it can be seen shining through his hide, which accounts for the color of the luminary during a total eclipse. On escaping through the animals' bowels, the moon regains its former brightness.[7-4]

The Gateway of aoA Village Stockade {This is a protection not only against bad characters, but also against wild animals.}