The Birman Legend
The striking and majestic coloring of the Birman is the subject of a fascinating legend
set in Burma. Long before the time of Buddha, the Khmer people built beautiful temples in
remote mountain retreats. One of these, the Temple of Loa-Tsun, honored the god Song-Hyo
and the goddess Tsun-Kyan-Kyse. Priests and monks dedicated their lives to worshipping the
goddess symbolized by a golden statue with sapphire. One hundred pure white cats live with
the priests. It was believed that after death, a priest returned to the temple as one of
the white cats. These cats, therefore, were honored and beloved guests. One of the cats,
Sinh, was the devoted companion of a very old priest, Mun-Ha, whose golden beard was said
to have been braided by the god Song-Hyo himself.
One night when Mun-Ha was praying before the golden goddess, Tai raiders attacked the
temple and the old priest was killed. Immediately Sinh leapt upon the body of this master,
faced the statue, gazed into the sapphire eyes, and silently appealed to the goddess who
governed the transmutation of souls. As the priest's soul entered Sinh, the white hair of
the cat's body became golden like the priest's bear and its eyes became sapphire blue like
those of the goddess. Sinh's face, tail and legs turned brown like the earth except where
the feet rested on the slain priest, there they remained white, denoting purity. Sinh's
transformation inspired the other priests to drive the raiders away. Seven days, later,
Sinh died and carried into paradise the soul of Mun-Ha. The next morning all the other
white temple cats had undergone the same transformation as Sinh. Since then the priest
have guarded their golden cats believing them to have custody of the souls of priests.
The legend ends with this maxim: "Woe to he who brings the end of one of these
marvelous beats, even if he didn't mean to. He will surely suffer the most cruel torments
until the soul he upset has been appeased."
