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ARTICLE 3
The Legend
Many versions of the
legend of the sacred cat of Burma are in circulation, however this
one has been well known since 1926, it is taken from a the work of
Marcel Reney pseudonym of Marcel Boudoin-Crevoisier: This is the
story as it had been told to him, by The famous Marcelle Adams, the
first known breeder of Birman cats.
Once upon a time, in a
temple built on the side of Lugh Mountain, lived in prayer, the very
venerable Kittah Mun-Ha, the Grand Lama precious amongst the
precious. The very one for whom the god Song-Hio himself had plaited
a golden beard.
There was not one
minute, no one look, no one thought, in his existence, which was not
devoted to worshipping, to gazing upon, or in the pious service of
Tsun-Kyankse. She was the goddess with sapphire eyes, who watched
over the transmutation of souls, that allowed the Kittahs to live
again in the sacred animal for the duration of their animal life,
before reclaiming a body hallowed with complete perfection and
blessed amongst great priests. Near him meditated Sinh, his dear
oracle, a cat completely white, with yellow eyes, which reflected
the golden beard of his master and the bronzed body of the goddess
with the sky-blue eyes. Sinh the cat councillor, whose ears, nose,
tail and tips of his limbs had the tanned colour of the sun, marked
with the stain of impurity of all those who touch or are able to
touch the earth.
One evening, the
malevolent moon allowed the cursed Phoums, abhorred by Siam, to gain
entrance. As they dew near to the sacred enclosure, the High Priest
Mun-Ha, never ceasing his prayers against the cruel destinies,
painlessly entered death, his divine cat by his side and before the
despair in the eyes of all his Kittahs, who were overwhelmed.
It was then that the
miracle occurred, the unique miracle of immediate transmutation: in
a bound, Sinh who was on the golden throne perched upon the head of
his collapsed master. He pressed up against his head, weighted down
with the years and which for the first time no longer looked upon
his goddess. As he remained in his turn rooted to the spot in front
of the eternal statue, the bristling white hairs on his spine
suddenly turned golden yellow. His golden eyes became blue, like the
eyes of the goddess and as he turned his head towards the south
gate, his four paws, which had touched the venerable head, became a
clear white. His fur became silky like the silk of the sacred
vestments. As his eyes turned away from the south gate, the Kittahs,
obedient to this demanding gaze charged with strength and light,
moved even more quickly to close the heavy bronze gates against the
first invasion. The temple was saved from desecration and pillage.
Sin however, did not
leave the throne and on the seventh day, after not moving at all, he
turned to the goddess. And looking directly into her eyes, he
mysteriously died, carrying to Tsun-Kyankase the spirit of Mun-Ha,
too perfect from that moment, for earth.
Seven days later, as
the priests gathered to consult with each other in front of the
statue to decide upon a successor of Mun-Ha, all the temple cats
rushed in. They were all robed in gold and gloved in white and all
their yellow eyes had become a surreal sapphire blue colour. In
silence they all surrounded the youngest of the Kittahs and in the
same way they had indicated the ancestors who had been reincarnated
by the will of the goddess.
Now the storyteller
will clarify that what killed a sacred cat in the temple of Lao-Tsun
was the spirit of a Kittah, which regained forever his place in
heaven with Song-Hio, the god of gold. She concludes that there will
also be misfortune for the man who hastens the death of one of those
marvellous animals, even if it is unintentional. He will suffer the
most-cruel torments until he assuages the spirit with the punishment
that had perturbed it.
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