[sample translations]lee eun, looking for doctor u lynn khant eng by LTI Korea Library

Sample Translations

Eun Lee Looking for Doctor U Lynn Khant E ng l i s h

Book Information

Looking for Doctor U Lynn Khant (우린칸 박사를 찾아서) Goznuk Publishing corp. / 2013 / 22 p. / ISBN 9788968850011 For further information, please visit: http://library.klti.or.kr/node/772

This sample translation was produced with support from LTI Korea. Please contact the LTI Korea Library for further information. library@klti.or.kr

Looking for Doctor U Lynn Khant Written by Lee Eun

1. Nge Poe Is Sad These Days Nge Poe lives in Myanmar. Myanmar is a country in East Asia. The biggest city in Myanmar is Yangon. Nge Poe’s house is in a quiet, small village that is far north of Yangon. The village is called San Kayin Su. *San Kayin Su means the Karen people who live by the stream. There are about fifty families who live in the village of San Kayin Su, which is surrounded by palm trees. Everyone in the village is like family. They know who lives where. And they know when things happen to their neighbors. If someone becomes sick, they pay a visit and take care of the sick neighbor. If something good happens, they all get together to celebrate. Nge Poe has no time to be bored. He sees his friends every day in the village. The children in the village do not need a playground. Wherever they meet and play is their playground. But the best place to have fun is on the trees with bent branches. Nge Poe’s house is by the village entrance. He lives with his dad, who is a truck driver, his mom, grandparents, and brother, Poe Kwa Gyi, who is in his fourth year at Kimalin Middle School. *In Myanmar, students attend five years of elementary school (including preschool), four years of middle school, and two years of high school. When they go to college, they study for either two or four years. Oh, no. We shouldn’t forget to introduce Yote Soe. He is Nge Poe’s dog. He sometimes brings his friends to the yard and makes a mess, but he protects Nge Poe’s house like a policeman. And there is one more person who is as important as Nge Poe’s family. It is his

friend next door, Tha Tha. * Yote Soe means “fool” in the Burmese language. Tha Tha and Nge Poe are best friends. They have been in the same class ever since they were first graders at Kimalin Chawung Elementary School. Tha Tha’s nickname is Myaunt because he can climb trees well like a monkey. After school, Nge Poe used to run to the forest with Tha Tha to climb trees, wrestle, play hide-and-seek, and to see who can run faster. When Nge Poe wants to play or is having a snack, Tha Tha is the first person Nge Poe thinks of. Tha Tha always used to be with Nge Poe when he went to school and came back home from school. Nge Poe is sad these days because of Tha Tha. Nge Poe can’t see Tha Tha because he has had a fever for a month now. At first, Nge Poe thought Tha Tha would get better fast. Nge Poe thought that after Tha Tha took the medication from the village clinic, he would get better, as if he had never been sick, and he would come back to school. But one week passed and another, and Tha Tha still hasn’t come back to school. For one month Nge Poe has been alone when he goes to school and comes back home. *Myaunt means monkey in Burmese. Even when Nge Poe is with his friends, he feels lonely, as if he is alone. Tha Tha’s fever hasn’t gotten better. Instead it got worse, so he had to go to a clinic in the town of Phyu Sin to get treated. Tha Tha passed out about ten days ago, which scared his family. They worry that Tha Tha might not wake up again. When Nge Poe hears about it, he is also scared. And one day Nge Poe overhears his parents’ conversation, and he becomes very worried. His mother quietly asks his father, “I’m afraid Tha Tha won’t make it.” “They missed the timing to get him treated. They should’ve taken him to the hospital earlier.” “I feel so terrible for Tha Tha’s mother. She worked so hard to raise him. What if they take him to a hospital in the city?”

“They can’t. It will cost too much. Even if everyone in the village were to chip in, it wouldn’t be enough money. And there is no guarantee that Tha Tha will get better.” Nge Poe’s parents whisper, but he overhears everything. He wishes he didn’t because he knows what his mother meant by “Tha Tha won’t make it.” It means that Tha Tha will die. Tha Tha is only ten years old. Nge Poe can’t believe God would take away someone as young as Tha Tha. And Nge Poe can’t imagine living in a world without Tha Tha. Nge Poe suddenly stands up from his desk and thinks, “I’m sure Tha Tha wants to see me.” Nge Poe feels his heart beating a little faster. It is because he wants to do something for Tha Tha. But Nge Poe doesn’t know what. He just feels an itching all over to do something. Nge Poe thinks about ways to save Tha Tha, but there is no way except to take him to the hospital. But he remembers what his dad said. “They can’t. It will cost too much. Even if everyone in the village were to chip in, it wouldn’t be enough money. And there is no guarantee Tha Tha will get better.” Nge Poe thinks about hospitals, with their high walls and fences. He thinks maybe a scary giant is guarding the place. The giant stands in front of the hospital gate, counting the money that people give him, and if it isn’t enough, he won’t let them in no matter how sick they are. “What should I do?” Nge Poe says the same thing once, twice, no three times. What should I do? What should I do? What should I do? He thinks that if it were a magic spell, it would make his wish come true. But no matter how many times he repeats it, he can’t think of a way to help his friend. And he remembers how Tha Tha looked as he lay sick in bed. Nge Poe didn’t know how difficult every day would be without Tha Tha. He can’t study. Nothing is fun. And nothing tastes delicious. He thinks he is the only one who is like that, but everyone in the village looks down. Children don’t play in the empty lot anymore, and he

can’t hear people chatting and laughing anymore. Even Yoke Soe doesn’t bring his friends to the house anymore. Nge Poe puts his head on his hands and looks at Tha Tha’s house through the window. Tha Tha’s house is locked because Tha Tha is away at his grandmother’s house. Tha Tha’s parents work from morning until night, so there is no one to take care of Tha Tha except for his grandmother. Nge Poe feels so sad. Tha Tha’s empty house looks sad, too. Big rain drops start to fall all of a sudden, and soon it turns into a shower. They have showers like that these days. It is November, the end of the rainy season and the start of the dry season. His teacher says that it has been raining because of the climatic changes that have been happening everywhere in the world. But Nge Poe thinks differently. He thinks that it has been raining because heaven is sad. Heaven is crying because Tha Tha is sick. And Nge Poe wants to cry, too. 2. Only Doctor U Lynn Khant Can Save Him On his way to school, Nge Poe stops by his great-aunt’s house. Whenever his great-aunt sees him, she always frowns at him. Tight-lipped, she squints and stares at him. It makes Nge Poe shrink, and like a mouse in front of a cat, he lowers his head and tiptoes around. Then his great-aunt clicks her tongue and scolds him. “Why are you such a weakling when your father is so strong?” There is a reason why Nge Poe goes to his great-aunt’s house. Her house is the only place where he can watch television. She is the only one who has a television in the village. Before Tha Tha became sick, he always went to her house with him. When he went with Tha Tha, Nge Poe wasn’t so scared. Tha Tha was very brave, and he didn’t get scared even when Nge Poe’s great-aunt stared at him. So sitting at his great-aunt’s house now, Nge Poe misses Tha Tha more than ever. On television, he sees a hospital. Nge Poe’s dream is to become a doctor, so every time he

sees a hospital or a doctor on television, his heart beats a little faster. The hospital on television is the biggest one that he has ever seen. And the doctors and nurses in their white gowns all look very smart. Some doctors look old. Now the TV program shows only one doctor. He must be the person that the program wants to introduce. The doctor doesn’t look very smart, but he looks very kind. He looks like he would listen to everyone’s problems. When Nge Poe listens carefully to the program, he finds out that the doctor is someone very important. “The most famous doctor at Pun Hlaing Hospital is Doctor U Lynn Khant. He is the best doctor in Myanmar, and the world expert on dengue fever. He is the three-time recipient of the Angel Award from the Association of Medical Doctors in Asia, and has been nominated for the Nobel Prize for medicine next year.” Watching the TV program, Nge Poe doesn’t move a muscle, as if he is mesmerized. And an idea flashes in his head. You know, like when you turn on the light switch in a dark room. The light switch is Doctor U Lynn Khant. The television said he was the best doctor in Myanmar. He is an expert on dengue fever, and he might win the Nobel Prize next year. Nge Poe picks up his bag and tiptoes past his great-aunt. And he starts to run. He hears her scolding him again. “He left without saying goodbye. The boy has no manners!” But Nge Poe doesn’t care what his great-aunt says. He can save Tha Tha now. Nge Poe runs all the way home without stopping. He feels happy, as if Tha Tha has become all better already. The tree where he and Tha Tha used to play looks as if it is smiling at him. Sitting at the dinner table, Nge Poe says to his dad, “Dad! How about we tell Tha Tha’s parents to take him to Doctor U Lynn Khant?” “Doctor U Lynn Khant? I’ve heard that name before.” “You know… what did it say…? Ah! He’s a doctor who works at Pun Hlaing Hospital. The

television said he is the best doctor in Myanmar. It said he can cure anyone with dengue fever. And he might win the Nobel Prize next year.” Nge Poe’s father seems to remember him now, but that is it. He doesn’t say anything, he just keeps eating. So does Nge Poe’s mother. His brother also does not seem interested. Even though Nge Poe has found a way to save Tha Tha, his family doesn’t say anything. “Mom, why don’t you tell Tha Tha’s mother to take him to see Doctor U Lynn Khant?” Acting as if they have earplugs in their ears, Nge Poe’s parents don’t say anything over dinner. Nge Poe is so hurt that he holds his head low and stops eating. His father puts his bowl down on the table and says to Nge Poe, “Son, I understand how worried you are about Tha Tha. But Tha Tha’s family has no money, so they couldn’t even take him to a hospital nearby. Do you know what kind of hospital Pun Hlaing Hospital is? It is the most expensive hospital in Yangon. You can’t go to that hospital unless you have a lot of money. Doctor Khant might be able to cure Tha Tha, but it is impossible for Tha Tha to get treated there.” “But he is a doctor! A doctor has to treat sick people because he is a doctor!” yells Nge Poe out of anger. He becomes very upset. He isn’t upset at his parents, but he is so upset that his fists shake. Nge Poe pleads with his mother. “Mom, please go tell Tha Tha’s mother about taking him to the hospital. Doctor Khant must be a kind person, so he might treat Tha Tha for free.” His mother shakes her head. “In this world, there are so many people who are sick like Tha Tha. Doctors cannot treat all the sick people without getting paid just because they are sick.” “Why not? Doctors have to look after sick people!” “Yes, but Doctor Khant works at the hospital. Hospitals have to make money so that they can pay doctors to look after sick patients and to develop new drugs. That way they can save

more people.” Nge Poe stops talking. He knows his mother is right. But he can’t help getting angry. “Still, it’s not right!” He bangs his fist on the table and stands up. He leaves without finishing his dinner. That night, Nge Poe can’t fall asleep. He thinks about scary things these days. He even has a nightmare that Tha Tha is in a coffin and is being buried. When he thinks about how stuffy it would be to lie in a coffin, he thinks there can’t be anything scarier than that. The only person who can save Tha Tha from it is Doctor Khant. Nge Poe knows his mother is right. But he believes that Doctor Khant will treat Tha Tha without money and save his friend. Nge Poe gets up from his bed. He thinks, “Doctor Khant is the only person who can save my friend.” And Nge Poe thinks about what he should do. He feels like he is trying to find a way out of a maze. Doctor Khant is at Pun Hlaing Hospital, which is in Yangon, but Tha Tha is here… Finally Nge Poe makes a decision! “I’ll go and tell Doctor Khant about Tha Tha. When I tell him about Tha Tha and how poor his family is, I’m sure he will come to our village and cure Tha Tha!” Nge Poe’s heart starts to beat really fast. He feels as if he has already made an appointment with Doctor Khant. “Yes, I’m going to go and see Doctor Khant!” Finally Nge Poe’s eyelids feel heavy, and he begins to fall asleep.

3. One Tolergi, Two Different Buses, and One Cycar The next day Nge Poe decides to go to Pun Hlaing Hospital. He is lucky because the next day is Saturday, so he doesn’t have to go to school. But he has to tell his parents something. Since he will be out all day, he has to come up with some kind of excuse to tell his mother. If he

tells his mother that he is going to see Doctor Khant, she won’t let him out of the house. Nge Poe decides to tell his mother that he is going to study at Sar Mu Taw’s house. Yes, it is a lie. As he is about to lie to his mother, he feels as if he has terrible stomachache. And he thinks of his dad. His dad hates lies more than anything. But Nge Poe believes that his father will forgive him once he brings Doctor Khant to the village. Nge Poe washes his face and makes sure he looks clean. He even takes out his favorite yellow shirt and pants. The yellow shirt was a birthday present from his aunt. He likes the yellow shirt so much that he has never worn it until today. Putting on the shirt, he thinks, “If I am dressed in this shirt, nobody will think I’m from a small village.” Yangon, where Pun Hlaing Hospital is in, is the biggest city in Myanmar. He doesn’t think he should look like a boy from a small village when he gets to Yangon. From his desk drawer, he takes out all the money he has saved and puts it in his pockets. It it one thousand kyats. His mother is working in the kitchen, so he says in a loud voice, “I’m going to study at Sar Mu Taw’s house!” His mother looks slightly taken back when she sees him in the yellow shirt. She knows that he likes the shirt so much that never wears it. When his mother doesn’t say anything, Nge Poe becomes worried. He thinks she knows that something is up. “All right. Don’t be late, though!” Luckily, his mother tells him to go. When Nge Poe finally leaves the house, he takes a long breath. He realizes that he stopped breathing in front of his mother. But it isn’t over yet. He still needs to figure out how to get to Pun Hlaing Hospital. Nge Poe decides to go to Phyu Sin Clinic in the town of Tarsone first. He has been to the clinic before, and he thinks that Doctor Momo at the clinic must know how to get to Pun Hlaing Hospital.

*One thousand kyats is about one dollar and thirty cents. To get to the town, he has to ride on a tolergi. He can get a ride in front of his house, but he walks to the center of the village to make sure that his mother won’t see him getting on a tolergi. It is Nge Poe’s first time going to the town by himself. He has been on a tolergi with his mother, and has been to the town with his dad on his truck. He sees a tolergi coming his way. When he raises his arm, it stops in front of him. Nge Poe quickly gets on. He tells the driver that he is going to Tarsone and pays one hundred kyat. There are five women on the tolergi. All of them must be from different villages because he has never seen them before. He gets off at Tarsone and runs to Phyu Sin Clinic. “Doctor Momo!” As soon as he opens the clinic door, he yells. Fortunately, Doctor Momo is there. He is a little older than Nge Poe’s grandfather. “Nge Poe! What brings you here? You’re not sick, are you?” “No, Doctor!” Nge Poe lies again. “My mom told me to ask you how to get to Pun Hlaing Hospital in Yangon.” “Pun Hlaing Hospital?” “Yes! You know where it is, don’t you?” “Of course I do. But why…” Doctor Momo looks at Nge Poe for a while, squinting the way Nge Poe’s great-aunt does. Nge Poe’s heart starts to beat a little faster again, and he worries that Doctor Momo will guess what he is up to. Doctor Momo takes out a piece of paper from his desk drawer. After writing down the directions to the hospital, he asks, “Why does your mother want to know how to get to the

hospital?” “I don’t know.” “Does she need to go to the hospital?” Nge Poe shakes his head. Doctor Momo speaks in a low voice, as if he is speaking to himself. “It’s not a hospital that people like us can go to.” Nge Poe takes the paper and walks out of the clinic. As soon as he is outside, he lets out the breath that he was holding. He thinks he might not able to breathe again if he keeps lying to everyone. Nge Poe unfolds the paper. The way to get to Pun Hlaing Hospital. Take Bus 48 and get off at Thamine. Cross the road and take Bus 333. Get off at the bus stop for Pun Hlaing Hospital. It will be easier if you take a cycar from there to the hospital. “I have to take two different buses and a cycar, too!” Nge Poe becomes worried because the way to Pun Hlaing Hospital seems very complicated. And he is scared about going to Yangon alone. He has never been to a city that big before. It is a place that a child cannot go alone to, a place that a child should not go alone to. He thinks that if Tha Tha were next to him, he wouldn’t be so scared. Nge Poe imagines that his friend Tha Tha is next to him, and he isn’t as scared as before. Nge Poe takes out all the money from his pocket. He has 900 kyats. The bus fare is 300 kyats, but since he has to take two different buses, he needs 600 kyats. The cycar fare is also about 300 kyats, so altogether he needs 900 kyats. He has enough to get to Pun Hlaing Hospital. The problem is getting back home. He needs a thousand kyats more to get back home. “What should I do?” Nge Poe thinks that if he meets Doctor Khant, he won’t have to worry about getting back home. Doctor Khant must have a car, and he will drive to the village with Nge Poe. Once Nge Poe comes back to the village with Doctor Khant, everyone will think that he did a great job.

His family and Doctor Momo will forgive him for lying to them, and they will praise him. So he has to find Doctor Khant no matter what. Nge Poe heads to the Tarsone bus stop to take Bus 48. The bus stop is close to the clinic, and Nge Poe quickly starts his journey.

4. Hey, Kid! Go Sit in the Back! There are a lot of people waiting for the bus at the bus stop. They are all grown-ups, and the only boy at the bus stop is Nge Poe. Bus 48 is heading toward the bus stop. Nge Poe is worried about whether he will be able to get on the bus by himself without a problem. He knows that he has to move fast when he gets on and gets off the bus. If you are slow, the bus might take off even though you are still trying to get on it. When the bus door opens, the man who works to guide the passengers says something really loudly. The man speaks so fast that Nge Poe cannot understand what he is saying, but it sounds like names of places. Nge Poe tries to get on the steps of the bus, but he is pushed back by the other people trying to get on. Maybe they don’t see Nge Poe because he is so small, or they are in such a hurry that they cut in front of him. Nge Poe becomes nervous, so he decides to run up the steps. The steps are higher than he thinks, so he has to use his hands to walk up them. Even before Nge Poe takes a seat, the bus starts, and he almost falls backward. He runs to a seat in the front and finally sits down. Whew! He did it! Nge Poe is on the bus. There are two men who work as bus guides on the bus, and the other man comes to ask Nge Poe a question. “Hey, kid! Are you on this bus alone?”

“Yes.” “Where are you going?” “To Thamine.” “Thamine? It’s far from here. Go sit in the back. The front seats are for passengers who have to get off soon.” The man speaks curtly to Nge Poe. “No, I can’t because I don’t know where Thamine is. You have to tell me when to get off.” “I will tell you when to get off, so don’t worry and go sit in the back.” “You have to tell me when we get there.” “I will!” He sounds irritated as he answers Nge Poe’s questions. Nge Poe is chased away from the front seat to the back. The bus is much faster than a tolergi. Because the road is not paved well, the bus ride is very bumpy. The passengers constantly move up and down, and up and down. And the driver seems to be in such a hurry that the bus swerves to the right and to the left to overtake the bus in front of it. When the bus swerves, Nge Poe is thrown to the right and to the left. And that isn’t all. Sometimes the bus makes a sudden stop, and Nge Poe bumps his head on the seat in front of him. Nge Poe feels so disconcerted. He didn’t know that it would be this difficult to be on the bus. But the other people on the bus look indifferent, as if they are used to it. One of the bus guides starts taking the bus fare from the passengers. Nge Poe gives him 300 kyats and asks him one more time. “You have to let me know when the bus gets to Thamine.” The bus guide doesn’t even answer, as if he didn’t hear Nge Poe. Whenever the bus stops, more people get on it. There are no more empty seats on the bus, and people start to stand in the bus aisle. Nge Poe is worried that the bus guide will forget

what he asked him. Fortunately, the bus starts to slow down. Nge Poe thinks that the bus is slowing down because it has become too heavy with so many passengers onboard. But Nge Poe soon finds out why the bus has slowed down. The bus is now in the city, and with so many cars on the road, the bus can’t go as fast as before. The streets that he sees through the bus window look very different from the streets in his village, San Kayin Su, and the town. He feels like he is suddenly in a country of giants. He thinks that soon the ground will shake when a giant walks up to the bus and looks inside the bus window. The people on the street look small for some reason. There are shops all along the street, and people are selling strange things. He has seen this before on TV, but now that he is seeing it for real, it all looks very strange. Nge Poe looks out the window for a long time, and during that time, the bus has been making stops in Yangon City. Nge Poe doesn’t know how long he has been looking out the window when he finally remembers that he has to get off at Thamine! He wants to call out to the bus guide, but it is noisy on the bus and full of people. So he asks the lady sitting next to him. “Ma’am, how far is Thamine from here?” “Thamine? We passed Thamine a long time ago.” “Really?” The lady looks as startled as Nge Poe. “You had to get off at Thamine?” “Yes, the bus guide was supposed to tell me when to get off.” “How could he when he’s so busy.” “Then where are we now?” “We are at Shwedagon Pagoda. Look!” The lady points to the window. Nge Poe sees Shwedagon Pagoda out of the window!

Nge Poe learned about Shwedagon Pagoda in class. His teacher said Shwedagon Pagoda was a pagoda in the center of Yangon City. It means that Nge Poe is now in the middle of Yangon City. “Is your mother waiting for you at Thamine?” asks the lady. “No. I have to take a different bus and get to Pun Hlaing Hospital.” Nge Poe takes out the paper that Doctor Momo gave him, and shows it to the lady. “Bus 333. How far is Thamine from here?” “You have to go back at least 30 minutes. Wait…” The lady looks left and right out of the window and says, “You can take Bus 333 from here, too. That bus will take you to Pun Hlaing Hospital.” “Really?” Nge Poe’s face finally brightens up. “Yes. Get off at the bus stop for Shwedagon Pagoda and ask people. They will tell you.” “Thank you so much.” “But will you be able to get there alone?” The lady is worried because Nge Poe is alone. “Yes!” Nge Poe answers in a confident voice. “But you have to be careful. There are some bad adults. This is the stop for Shwedagon Pagoda. You should get off here. You should hurry!” Nge Poe stands up right away and walks to the bus door. There are a lot of people in front of him, but he wiggles his way away from them and makes it to the door. When the bus door opens, people start to get off the bus, but Nge Poe can’t go without giving the bus guide a piece of his mind. “Sir, why didn’t you tell me to get off at Thamine?”

“What?” “I asked you to let me know when the bus got to Thamine!” “I don’t know what you’re talking about. Just get off the bus, would you?” Instead of apologizing to Nge Poe, he actually yells at him. Nge Poe yells back. “What you did was not right!” “What’s wrong with this kid?” He grabs Nge Poe by his arm and pulls him off of the bus. Nge Poe wants to tell the guide what he thinks about him, but the bus door closes and it leaves the stop. As if the bus is running away, it is soon out of Nge Poe’s sight. When the bus disappears, Nge Poe starts to hear all the noises of the city. The cars whizzing by and honking, and people talking and yelling. They are the sounds of the city. Nge Poe realizes now that he is standing in the middle of the city.

5. That Is Pun Hlaing Hospital Some buildings look familiar to Nge Poe. He has seen Yangon City Hall and Emmanuelle Church on television before. There is a building being constructed, but he doesn’t know what kind of building it is. However, the most noticeable building is Shwedagon Pagoda. Nge Poe’s teacher said that Yangon was a planned city that was built around Shwedagon Pagoda. Nge Poe decides to go see the pagoda. To do that, he has to cross the road, but he doesn’t know how. There are too many cars on the road, and he doesn’t know when to cross it. The road is so wide that he is afraid that he will get stuck in the middle of it. But he can’t stand on the street forever. He decides that the safest way to cross the road is to follow an adult when he or she crosses it. Nge Poe stays close to a man who starts to cross the road and follows him. When he finally gets to the opposite side of the road, he heads toward Shwedagon Pagoda. The pagoda is crowded with people. Nge Poe thinks that Shwedagon

Pagoda must be the most crowded place in Yangon. But the strange thing is that people there all look the same. They all look very busy and look as if they are angry, too! They look as if they would not say hi even if you said hi to them first. There are a lot of things to see on the street other than people. Nge Poe browses for a long time in the shops selling musical instruments and in the shops selling watches and clocks. For the first time he sees a person from the West, something he has only seen on TV. He sees people getting ready for a Buddhist festival, too. Nge Poe walks around Shwedagon Pagoda and comes back to the place where he started. He feels as if he is floating, but he realizes he has no time for sightseeing. He has to ask people where the nearest bus stop for Bus 333 is. Nge Poe ses a young man who looks very kind and had round eyes. Nge Poe thinks that he must know the neighborhood well. So he walks to the young man and asks, “Do you know where the nearby bus stop for Bus 333 is?” The young man squints and stares down at Nge Poe. “Where are you from?” “From San Kayin Su Village. It’s far from here.” “You’re from a small village.” “Yes.” “Did you come by yourself?” “I did.” Nge Poe doesn’t know whether he finds it funny that Nge Poe has come alone or that he is from a small village, but the young man keeps laughing to himself. Nge Poe shows him the memo that Doctor Momo gave him. “I have to get to Pun Hlaing Hospital.” The young man snatches the paper from Nge Poe’s hand and chuckles again.

“I guess he doesn’t know because he is a doctor from the countryside. You don’t have to take the bus. Pun Hlaing Hospital is just around the corner. It moved here last year.” “Really?” “Come here, and I will show you.” He puts his arm around Nge Poe’s shoulder as if he is Nge Poe’s brother, and he points to a tall building around the corner. “You see those two tall buildings over there? The one on the left is Pun Hlaing Hospital.” Nge Poe screams for joy. He is so happy to find the hospital that easily. And he thinks the hospital must be the biggest one in Myanmar. “It’s so big!” “Of course it is! It is the best hospital in Yangon. Now just go straight on this street and you will get to the hospital.” “Thank you so much!” Nge Poe crosses the road again. This time he looks left and right and crosses the road by himself. On the street, there are a lot of shops selling food. It is nearly lunch time, and looking at the food, his mouth begins to water. The people selling the food also look very happy. Nge Poe feels like he is walking on air. “No, I should get to the hospital as soon as I can!” Nge Poe thinks he should not look around the street. People with huge baskets on their shoulders filled with flowers and fruit whizz by him, and Nge Poe realizes that he can get hurt if he doesn’t pay attention to where he was going. He could bump into people on the street and fall. He crosses the road again, and this time he sees something more interesting. The street is filled with shops selling knickknacks. Nge Poe stops in front of a CD shop. He wants to see if they have a Banny Phyo or Myint Myant CD. But there are too many CDs in the shop, and he

can’t find what he wants. Finally, Pun Hlaing Hospital is in front of him. Nge Poe’s heart starts to beat fast. He is going to meet Doctor Khant soon. And he thinks of Tha Tha. “Tha Tha, hang in there just a little more!”

6. This Is Not a Hospital Pun Hlaing Hospital is really tall. In Nge Poe’s village and even in the town, nothing is more than three stories high. Looking at how high Pun Hlaing Hospital is, Nge Poe thinks he might fall backward. He thinks it is a mystery how such a tall building can stand straight. Nge Poe walks up to a man who is dressed very nicely by the building door. He smiles brightly at Nge Poe. Nge Poe thinks that he must know why Nge Poe has come all the way to the hospital, and that he will answer any question that Nge Poe has. “Sir, I came to see Doctor U Lynn Khant. Do you know where he is?” “Doctor U Lynn Khant? Do you know which hotel room he is staying at?” “No, I don’t. But he works here.” “He works here?” This time the man looks puzzled. He looks as if he doesn’t know what to tell Nge Poe, but he is still smiling. “You know the doctor who was on television. He treats sick patients.” The man is still smiling. “Look, do you think this is a hospital?” “Isn’t this place Pun Hlaing Hospital?” “Pun Hlaing Hospital? No, this is a hotel. This is a place where tourists stay.” “What?” Nge Poe is surprised. “He told me this was Pun Hlaing Hospital.”

“Who told you?” “A young man at Shwedagon Pagoda.” The man nods as if he understands what is going on. “He must have played a joke on you. A terrible thing to do to a boy.” “This building here really isn’t Pun Hlaing Hospital?” Nge Poe can’t believe it. The young man lied to him! Nge Poe becomes very angry. He thought the young man looked nice, but he played this awful joke on him. When Nge Poe finds out that he has been lied to, he doesn’t like Yangon City anymore. He also thinks that maybe he is being punished for lying to his mother. Maybe grown-ups know a lying boy when they see one. Maybe that is why the bus guide was mean to him and the young man lied to him. The man at the door asks Nge Poe again. “Do you have to go to Pun Hlaing Hospital?” Nge Poe shows him Doctor Momo’s paper. “This is right. These are the right directions.” “Then how can I get to the bus stop for Bus 333?” “When you go to the back of this building, there is an alleyway. Just go straight down the alley, and at the end of it, you will see a bus stop. You can take Bus 333 at the bus stop there.” “Really?” Nge Poe asks him as if he wants to make sure he isn’t been lied to again. “I work at this hotel, and I do not lie.” The man smiles, and Nge Poe thinks that he really would never lie to anyone. “But why are you trying to get to that hospital? It’s pretty far from here. Is it because you want to meet the doctor that you mentioned?” “My friend is dying of dengue fever, and there is no one who can cure my friend except

Doctor Khant. I am going to meet him and bring him to my village.” “You have a heart of gold. But are you alone?” “Yes.” “You have to be careful of people. And you have to ask for directions.” “Yes.” Nge Poe puts the paper back into his pocket. When he walks out of the hotel building, his legs start to shake, and he feels like he has no strength left. All he wants to do now is to go back home. He thinks that he will never get to Pun Hlaing Hospital, and he feels as if he is lost in a vast sea. He misses home terribly. Nge Poe thinks he can hear his grandfather playing the flute. When he turns the corner, he thinks that his grandmother might jump out and hug him. He thinks that his father might be waiting for him somewhere nearby. His mother might also be next to his father and so might his brother. All he wants is to run into his mother’s arms. And he thinks of Tha Tha. Nge Poe thinks how wonderful it would be if Tha Tha were next to him now. Then he wouldn’t be so scared or lonely. They would have so much fun sightseeing on the street. Again, Nge Poe realizes what a wonderful friend Tha Tha is to him. Finally, Nge Poe gets to the alley at the back of the hotel, the one that the man by the hotel door told him about. But Nge Poe stops dead in his tracks when he sees the alley. There are old and run-down buildings on both sides of the street. The buildings look much shorter than the hotel building, and the street looks very dirty. It is cluttered with building signs and laundry lines, and there are so many tangled-up electric lines hanging between the buildings. The buildings look old and dirty. There are old buildings in Nge Poe’s village, but the buildings in the alley look as if they became old overnight. Nge Poe becomes very scared. He knows that he has to walk through the alleyway, but it looks very eerie.

“Did the hotel man also want to play a joke on me?” Nge Poe thinks about it, but then he shakes his head. When he sees a cat stretching in one corner of the street, he literally jumps to the side of the wall. Even a cat looks like a scary beast now. And someone roars at him from behind. “Hey, get out of the way!” A man carrying a heavy box on his shoulder is right behind Nge Poe. Nge Poe walks into the street as he jumped out of the way of the man carrying the box. The back alley of the city is very different from the main street. It is narrow, complicated, and dirty with littered trash. What makes it worse is the stench. Nge Poe walks while holding his nose with his fingers. The people look scary, too. They all look like they are glaring at Nge Poe. Nge Poe scurries at first, but soon he starts to run. He thinks that if he doesn’t get away from the alley, something awful could happen to him. This time a truck honks at him. “Honk! Honk! Honk!” The truck wants him to move out of the way. Nge Poe runs over to the building wall, and the truck goes past him, leaving behind black smoke. Nge Poe coughs and rubs his itchy eyes. He even has tears in his eyes. Nge Poe starts to run again, but he stops suddenly when he sees a movie poster on the wall. He feels as if his feet have become glued to the ground. There are scary-looking men on the poster. Nge Poe can’t move because to him, the poster is a sign saying there will be scary people on the street. All he wants to do is run away from the alley, but his feet won’t listen to him. When he looks around, he realizes there is another poster with a man covered in blood! “Ahhhh!” Nge Poe screams, and this time his body jumps like a spring, and he starts to run. He really wants to go back to his village. He misses his family and the village people. But soon he sees an open road, a bus stop, and people. And Nge Poe disappears into the crowd.