Page:The Mythology of All Races Vol 12 (Egyptian and Indo-Chinese).djvu/431

Rh called), which stood above Mandalay on the Irrawaddy River, there lived in that city a blacksmith named Nga Tin Daw, who had a son named Nga Tin Dè, noted as the cleverest blacksmith and the strongest man of his time. He had such great influence in Tagaung that the King was afraid of him and feared that he would raise a rebellion. In order to conciliate the blacksmith the King married Tin Dè's sister, giving her the title of Thiriwunda, but despite all this Tagaung Min, still uneasy in mind, finally told the Queen to summon her brother to the palace to receive an appointment. When Tin Dè came, he was seized by the palace guards, tied to a tree which grew in the palace yard, and burned to death. The Queen begged permission to bid farewell to her brother, went up to the burning pile, sprang into the flames, and perished with him. As she threw herself on the blazing faggots, the body-guard rushed up to scatter the fire, but they were too late. Both brother and sister were dead, and all that remained of them was their heads, which had not been in the least harmed by the flames. Becoming Nāts, Tin Dè and the Queen took up their abode in the sanga-tree, a sort of magnolia, which grew within the palace enclosure; from this they descended every now and again, killing and devouring people, particularly those who came near the tree. After this had gone on for some time, the King had the tree uprooted and thrown into the Irrawaddy; and it floated down with the current as far as Pagān, where it stranded on the river-bank close to one of the city gates. Thinle Gyaung (or Thila Gyaung) was then King of Pagān, and to him the two spirits revealed themselves one night, though not before they had killed and eaten every one who came near the tree. They appeared in spirit form, but with their human heads, telling King Thinle Gyaung of the cruelty of the King of Tagaung. He took pity on them and gave orders that a suitable temple should be built on Pōppā Hill to receive the Mahāgiri Nāts and their arboreal mansion. When it was completed, the tree was conveyed with