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PILGRIMAGE TO LANKA 57

Pilgrimage to Lanka

Text in English

The poem begins with the evocation of the advent of Buddhist Lent, which
lasts three months, a period when the monks are required to stay in monasteries and the
faithful immerse themselves in the teaching of the Lord Buddha by listening to sermons.
As for market days, they move from one place to another, following a specific timetable.

The beginning of Lent occurs in four days, O you !
It is the second day of the waning moon, the day of the Keng Tung market, which
sells all manner of things. (Verse 1)

As with most of the inhabitants of the region, the versifier is a simple peasant
who made his living on farm work, which gives him little time for leisure, particularly
during the Lent, which corresponds with the arrival of the monsoons.

Late at night, I began to write the verses in Mæt, relying on the text
That Sen Thiem Khek has entrusted to me, Noi Bunyao, long time ago,
But I could not find the time, delayed by numerous tasks.
I am unfortunately a simple farmer, bound to rice cultivation. (Verse 2)

Working the land is laborious. In the eighth month begins the ploughing,
At the onset of Lent, the effort is focused on sowing and transplanting.
Buffaloes are taken to the rice field with harness and plough,

Clumps of seedlings are thrown here and there, [to be replanted]. (Verse 3)
Finally, field work is drawing to a close and the narrator finds enough time to
dedicate himself to the drafting out of his poem.

« I feel better now, no longer having to worry about the paddy field,
The idea came to me in versifying the Khün text in Mæt,
So that future generations can read it.
My wife and children will know that their father made a distant journey. »
(Verse 4)