Chapter - 20 - Sandwich with random ingredients
"Trainees!!! Gather in groups. You have 3 hours to worship and look around. You need to come back and gather here after 3 hours. Monitors!!! Lead your own class.."
Just like PE teacher's command, Wine gathered Class A in a group and went into the pagoda to worship the Buddha statues enshrined in the hall.
Like every other pagodas and temples, the upper part of the walls were covered with murals. The murals in this pagoda were about the "Sixteen dreams of a King", which involved the prophecies of the future in the Buddha's Era.
The four bulls rushed to fight but turned back without fighting, the saplings full of flowers and fruits, the cows drank the milk from the calves, the bulls were not allowed to pull the carts but the calves were tied to pull the carts…..etc..
It showed the demise of the future in the way of riddles. The first dream meant that if the incompetent leader/ tyrant was not guided strictly or punished properly, the country would be ridden by famish and drought which could cause the grains to destroy.
The second dream was about the people being lustful, the youngsters getting married and having children earlier and earlier..
The third dream… the parents and grandparents had to rely on their children for livelihood. Fourth dream… The competent and experienced adults were not given the positions they deserved but the immature youngsters were given high positions and power.
The paintings got him fascinated. If you were visiting the temples and pagodas often, you would get bored easily since the murals were all about two kinds of paintings, ten great stories before Buddha and sixteen dreams of a King.
"It's sixteen dreams of a King mural. Sometimes, it's more interesting than ten great stories."
"It's only a small group of people. Most people like ten great stories, just like Chinese people never get tired of journeys to the west. It showed the charm of the BB Era, though I dislike some facts about it."
Most of the trainees were Buddhists but a small group was Christians. Not many, just a handful.. They looked around with curiosity.
"By the way, what is the BB Era? Never heard of it.."
"What is new? Didn't you Christians have BC also known as before Christ. BB Era means before Buddha.."
Christian and Buddhist rivalry always exists in the country. Christians said their god created the world. Buddhists said their father god was a disciple of Buddha. Their evidence was that Buddhism appeared earlier than Christian.
According to the records, after the Buddha era was already over 2500 years while after Christ account to only over 2000. A rare Hindu said their religion was earlier than both and he believed Buddha was Hindu before he established his own religion. Class A group was filled with laughter.
"What are the facts you dislike?"
"Hmm?"
Anawar's question puzzled him. Looking at his serious face, Wine felt nothing because it was not rare. He always had a serious face except for sometimes he smiled at him.
"I don't want to talk about this in front of a bunch of Buddhists, okay? I can even get beaten up if I were heard by a pious person."
Wine replied in a low voice. Not all Buddhists learnt about their own religion meticulously or they didn't dare to have treacherous thoughts about Buddha and monks. They were afraid of the 8 layers of hell. Questioning Buddha could sentence you to the Avici hell, just like the ex-father in law of Buddha being swallowed by the ground because he didn't move out of the way when Buddha went out with his follower monks.
This old king, the ex-father in law, did nothing except block the way. For Wine, he was just an angry old father. He gave his beloved daughter, the princess, to his nephew, the talented prince of an equally strong neighbouring country expecting the best for her.
But she was left by her husband on the night she gave birth to a son to search for freedom from the 31 realms and his destiny. As a father and grandfather, he was full of anger when he returned not as a Prince and husband but as a Buddha which the believers worshipped. So, he decided to block the road and then… swallowed by the ground and landed in Avici hell.
It was said that he was still punished in Avici hell to this day. In the modern era, this was not a crime worthy of punishment but well, the one the old king offended was not a human or his nephew and son in law. Buddha was a being freed from the shackles of 31 realms. Questioning or insulting this kind of being was equivalent to buying a ticket to Avici hell.
So … even if their beliefs in the modern era such as equality and personal choices collided with some facts from the records, Buddhists won't say that's not what I thought in my mind.
After worshipping the Buddha and looking around, his watch showed exactly 10:30 am. They arrived at a little over 9:00 am. So, they still have more than 90 minutes to squander.Wine led Class A towards the shade formed by a group of big trees.
"Children!!! Turn on the picnic mode. We will eat our lunch here. If you want to play something exciting, play yourselves. Let dad rest for a while. I am leading you all the time. Now dad just wants to rest."
Wine shouted towards the Class A group. He was thirsty and hungry at the same time. He needs some personal time away from his classmates.
Anawar led him towards the shade putting some distance between other human beings and them.
"Tired?"
"Not much. I just don't want to talk. My throat hurts every time I talk for more than 15 minutes."
Anawar was distressed. He rubbed Wine's neck to relieve the pain. But Wine stopped him and started to prepare their lunch.
"Isn't the pork and chicken a little big to sandwich between the bread slices? Let's tear them with the forks first. I will tear the pork, you do the chicken.."
If it was bun shaped bread, it wouldn't be a problem but they bought the bread slices thinner than the hamburger bread. To contain the meat in between the thin slices was indeed hard. They tore the meat and spreaded on the bread, and put the fried cabbage on it. The gravy was acting as a substitute for mayo. Ta..da.. got a sandwich made with random ingredients.
The taste was really good. Anawar gave him a thumbs up.
"What a pity!!!"
Wine smacked his mouth and said with regret.
"What do you mean 'what a pity' ?"
"It would taste better if we can get some mayo, tomato, cucumber and ketchup.."
"Wine, that's the whole set."