JOURNAL 



OF 



THE ASIATIC SOCIETY 



No. 91.— JULY, 1839- 



Art. I. — Specimen of the Burmese Drama, translated by J. Smith, 

 Esq, communicated by C. A. Blundell, Esq. Commissioner, fyc, 

 Moulmein. 



My Dear Sir, — I have the pleasure to send you a translation of a 

 play, which notwithstanding its trifling vein, may attract the notice 

 of the curious, as exemplifying the popular tone of the Burman 

 drama. The Ramadzat, (Ramahyana) and other ancient fabulous 

 histories, form the groundwork of nearly all the favourite plays, the 

 outline of the story being merely preserved, while the language of the 

 play depends as much upon the fancy of the performer as the taste 

 of the audience. Each company is presided over by a teacher or 

 manager, who drills the actors in their tasks from rough notes which 

 contain only the songs and the substance of the parts assigned to each 

 performer. In every play, without perhaps a single exception, the 

 following characters are represented — a King, a Queen, a Princess, a 

 Minister of State, a Huntsman, and some kind of Monster. The 

 female characters are usually personated by men, it being considered 

 indecorous in a woman to appear as an actress. I have to plead as an 

 apology for the unpolished style of this translation, the acknowledged 

 difficulty of turning the dialogue of a play into a foreign dress ; more- 

 over the original, which was written from the mouth of an actor, was 

 imperfect and ill-written. I believe there are books in the palace 

 at Umerapooree, containing the proper reading of all the approved 

 plays and the costumes of the characters, which are placed near the 



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