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48 MÆT LANKA

allows the reader to follow the progress of the narrative and to be immersed in the

Buddhist philosophy as understood and practised by the people of Keng Tung.

A. Sources

The Mæt Lanka, which we translated by « Pilgrimage to Lanka », is recorded in a
mulberry manuscript (Corypha umbraculifera) folded in an accordion-shape. Measu-
ring 15 x 38 cm, it contains several texts, as is the case for most of the voluminous
manuscripts. Ours, which comes first, adds up to 64 pages and each of them comprises
7 lines of writing noted in large characters, that facilitates the reading.
In the introduction, Noi Bunyao ( oh«[^ipk…), a well-known poet in Keng Tung,
mentions that at the request of an officer of the palace who served as guide for the

pilgrims travelling to Lanka, he reconstructed a poem to be read at religious feasts. He
th
also specifies that he began to rewrite the text on the 11 day of the waning moon of
nd
the 2 month, year 1300 of the Culla era, the date corresponding with September 11,
1938 : « It was just after the dinner, a quiet moment when everyone was getting ready to
sleep. From a poem in So I put into Mæt verse, so my family and my children could read
1
or hear it during the chanting. Sen Thiem Khek ( clømhπ,c-j∂) is the author and, for my
part, I am only assuring the transcription, to the best of my abilities. » At the end of the
st
poem, we can read : « Completed on the morning of the 1 day of the waning moon of
th
the 12 month, year 1300 of the Culla era (October 10, 1938). Now, I am going to
2
3
observe the Five Precepts and participate in the meeting on the Vessantara sermon ».
This short note indicates that the poet took one month to complete the work which had
been commended to him.
If we look at the details given in the manuscript, the original poem in So was
composed during or shortly after the pilgrimage to Lanka, which took place between
December 1929 and June 1930. Sen Thiem Khek, who was the author, gave its text to
Noi Bunyao, to be put in Mæt verse, only in 1938, ten years later. Meanwhile things had

1
Sen Thiem Khek is the title given to Jai Seng by the ruling prince of Keng Tung. The particle Sen,
which means “ one hundred thousand ”, is a mandarin title, superior to Muen, “ then thousand ”, or Pan,
“ one thousand ”. Thye highest title is Pya. In the Lao and Tai literature, Sen and Muen are the measures of
weight. Returning to Sen Thiem Khek, he appeared as a man of the seraglio, seemingly knowing all the
detours. He would be relatively old, because in the story he is sometimes called Pº, or “ Grandfather ”,
by pilgrims.
2
The Five Precepts, or Pañcas‚la, are : 1. To abstain from taking what has not been given ; 2. to
abstain from taking the life of all beings ; 3. to abstain from all illicit carnal acts, 4. to abstain from all
deceitful words ; 5. to abstain from taking all intoxicating substances.
3
The Vessantara, or Vessantara-Jætaka, is an account of the penultimate life of the Buddha. In this
Jætaka, the Bodhisatta Vessantara achieves the Supreme Donation (Dænapæram‚) by giving his wife and
children to Brahmins (E.B. Cowell, 1995 : V & VI, 247-305).