Page 189 - A History of Siam

A HISTORT OF SIAM 181

been exposed all day in public, bound hand and foot. He
was forced to an that all the Dutch in
sign undertaking
the Kingdom pledged themselves absolutely to obey all
the orders of the
P'rak'lang.
It may be remarked that the King was drunk on this
occasion. It was, in fact, his usual custom to be under
"
the influence of drink thrice This
daily. drunkenness,"
"
van which occurs and often
says Vliet, very often,
reaches a has caused evils
dangerous limit, many during
his and is the reason innocent blood
reign frequently why
has been shed."
In March 1638 occurred the beginning of the year
1000 of the Chulasakarat Era. King Prasat T'ong be-
came obsessed with the idea that some
frightful calamity
would overwhelm the world to mark the thousandth
year
of the Era. He therefore determined, if possible, to
avert the the name of the The
calamity by altering year.
old Siamese Calendar was run on a triple system ; firstly,
there was the Chulasakarat number of the
year ; secondly,
each bore the name of an
year animal, of which there
were twelve, recurring in regular order; 1 and thirdly,
it was numbered from one to ten. The combined
of twelve animals and ten numbers
cycles completed
themselves when the first animal
every sixty years, (the
coincided with the number One. The 1000
Rat) year
(A.D. 1638-9) was the year of the Tiger, numbered Ten.
The was to " " the
King's plan camouflage year by calling
it the of the while the number Ten.
year Pig, retaining
This meant
leaving out the names of nine of the animals,
and the combined of
thereby disorganising cycles sixty
years.
Delighted with this ingenious scheme, the King wrote
1
1, The Rat ; 2, The Ox ; 3, The Tiger ; 4, The Hare ; 5, The Dragon ;
7, The Horse
6, The Serpent ; ; 8, The Goat ; 9, The Monkey ; 10, The Cock ;
11, The Dog; 12, The Pig (or in northern Siam, the Elephant).