Thein Pe Myint (29)

The following text and translation covers page 29 of Thein Pe Myint's short story "ငွေစိန် လှေလှော်ရင်း တက်ကျိုးခြင်း", which I have scanned from page 357 of "ဝတ္ထုတိုပေါင်းချုပ်သစ်" [A new collection of short stories].

Vocabulary:

ငေးမှိုင် ။ to mope, to look vacantly in dejection
အမှန်အတိုင်း ။ truth
ဖောက်ပြား ။ be guilty of adultery
လော်လည် ။ unsteady, wanton
ဉာဉ် ။ propensity; bent (of mind); habit; nature
ညား ။ to get married, meet
ရာဂ ။ strong passion, lust, strong desire
လွန်ကဲ ။ exceed
အစစ အရာရာ ။ everything
ပဓာန ။ essential, fundamental
လိုရင်း ။ primary object or consideration; essence
မဟုတ်တယုတ် ။ nonsense, not correct
ခွ ။ similar to ခွကျ to be between [?]

Translation:

I have deposited some shoes and a tray with my mother. As for me since it is like now, do not be shy to ask my mother. I am most embarrassed [towards] elder brother and great teacher.

Ngwe Sein

I read the letter and let out a deep exhale. As for Htun Khin he just moped.

“Don’t have a mind [don’t be angry], Htun Khin. I want to ask one thing. I ask because I have always wanted to know the truth about Ngwe Sein.”

“Ask the question, sir.”

“Does Ngwe Sein have the type of mind that is able to wantonly commit adultery?”

“She does not, sir. Since the time that she was a young maiden, she has not had [that kind of mind]. Since she got married with me she has not at all had [that kind of mind].”

“Could one say that she has a lustful heart?”

“One could not at all say that, sir. I know the most.”

“Eh, as for me I think that it is this way. Please stay, in your case do you know with what strategy Ngwe Sein acted to hire a lawyer to take on your case, to get a pledge, and to make everything okay?“

Because of my question Htun Khin became quite toughtful. After some time, [he said]

“I don't know [what she did, but] I know that [she did something] to sort it out, sir. If Ngwe Sein did something, she could do it in whatever way. I asked. The question was 'In what way did Ngwe Sein [you] [get a lawyer to take on the case]?’. Therefore, Ngwe Sein said ‘Elder brother, however it was done, what is essential is that it is done, is it not? Don’t ask.’ I am still worried in my mind that she did it in a way that was not proper. However, I did not dare to ask more than this. According to being worried, if it was the case, [there would be difficulty]. And if it was not the case, [I would be] split [?]. Therefore, I have to live just in this way. And looking back at the present situation, having succeeded in the matters of our husband and wife [relationship] is what is essential. Whatever means whatever way is not important.“