168 Dwellings, works of art, laws, &c. of the Karens. [No. 3, 



on between the Toungoo ruler and the king of Ava, the White Lady 

 called out to her husband : " Smite him on the neck with your sword 

 and then hit his head with the hilt, and his head will fall off." 

 Tan-oo Shan was paying no attention to his wife, and did not hear ; 

 but the King of Ava was more attentive and caught the words, and 

 tried the experiment on Tan-oo Shan, when his head fell to the 

 ground, but it still retained life enough after it was cut off to ex- 

 claim : " Toungoo is mine, and when the appointed time arrives, I 

 will return again, and take possession of it with white and black foreig- 



ners. 



What became of the " White Lady" is not clear from the above 

 legend ; but from a single verse that I have met with, it would seem 

 she was neglected and went away, for it is said : 



a Sa-mu-wa, we did not believe her, 



Sa-mu-wa, we did not obey her : 



She returned to her former home. 



And long have we looked for her return." 



Another prose tradition says: " Anciently Tan-oo Shan, and Ava 

 Shan contended with each other and fought. Tan-oo Shan was a good 

 man but Ava Shan was fierce and killed him. Before he died, he 

 promised and gave commands and said : " I do not die for ever." He 

 promised that in seven generations, he would return again to Toungoo 

 and look after the city he had built. And the elders charged their 

 children, generation after generation: "When our Tan-oo Shan died, 

 he said he did not die; he only removed towards the mouth of the 

 river' below j and that when seven generations, seven ages were 

 completed, he would come up again." Hence the elders commanded 

 and said : " If people say the Tan-oo Shan has appeared, and he comes 

 from the east, or the north, or the west, wherever he may be, do not 

 believe him, do not follow him. He is not our Tan-oo Shan. But 

 when people say the man has come from below, from the mouth of the 

 river $ that is indeed our Lord, the Tan-oo Shan risen again and 

 returned When you hear that he comes up with his wife and children 

 and followers of white and black foreigners, that is our Tan-oo Shan. 

 Go look at him. Go to him quickly. And look at his wife, Sa-mu- 

 wa Is she white? If she dresses in red or black, or yellow, or 



