88 On the History of the Burma Race. [No. 2, 



will you be pleased to take this horse to Pagan ?' Kwon-tshau re- 

 plied, < Grandfather, I am in a hurry to arrive there to see the Meng- 

 lung, therefore I shall not be able to take your horse with me.' The 

 old man said ' Young man, would you not reach there sooner on horse 

 back than by walking ? Take this jewelled crown and put it on your 

 head ; put these ruby rings on your fingers ; hold the sword and 

 spear in your hands ; if I should be long in coming, go on until you 

 come to the king's plain.' Then Kwon-tshau, after having put the 

 rings on his fingers, wearing the jewelled crown on his head, and 

 holding the Thi-la-wan-tha sword and the A-rein-da-ma spear in his 

 hands, all given by the Tha-gya, rode swiftly to see the Meng-lung 

 at Pugan. The nobles, the ministers and the people, on seeing the 

 Kwon-tshau come riding towards them, in the dress and jewels given 

 by the Tha-gya, in which he shone brightly as the rising sun, fell down 

 and prostrated themselves before him. Then Kwon-tshau thought 

 within himself ' I am the Meng-lung/ and remembering what the 

 Nat of tsdng-gyan tree had said, he rode at once to the palace. King 

 Tsau Rahan stood at the entrance, and said, < Who will dare to enter 

 while I am here ?' But the stone image at the gate pushed him 

 down, and he fell headlong and died. Tsau Rahan had married three 

 sisters The eldest was raised to the rank of the southern queen. 

 The second was called the middle, and the third the northern queen. 

 At the time of king Tsau Rahan's death, Kyi-tso who was afterwards 

 king, had been lor nine months in the womb of the southern queen. 

 Tsuk-ka-te, who also became king afterwards, had been then six 

 months in the womb of the middle queen. When Kwon-tshau be- 

 came king, he took these queens as his own. Anan-ra-hta was 

 brought forth by the northern queen. When Kyi-tso and Tsuk- 

 ka-te were of age, they built a very fine monastery and invited 

 the king Kwon-tshau to join in consecrating it. Kwon-tshau, 

 without any suspicion of danger, went according to their invita- 

 tion. Then Kyi-tso and Tsuk-ka-te seized the king, and forced him 

 to become a Rahan. They spread a report that the king, out of 

 regard to his future welfare had voluntarily taken the vows of a 

 Rahan. Thus king Kwon-tshau Kydng-phyu after a reign of 

 twenty-two years was deposed in the eightieth year of his age." It is 

 stated that he lived to the age of one hundred and fifteen years, 



