The 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 Lao-Tsun, honored the god Song-Hyo and the goddess Tsun-Kyan-Kse. Priests and monks dedicated their lives to worshipping the goddess symbolized by a golden statue with sapphire eyes. One hundred pure white cats lived 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-Has was praying before the golden goddess, Thai raiders attacked the temple and the old priest was killed. Immediately, Sinh leapt upon the body of his 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 old priest's beard and its eyes became sapphire blue like thsoe of the goddess. Sinh's face, tail and legs became 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 priests have guarded their secret golden cats believing them to have the souls of priests. The legend ends with this maxim: "Woe to he who brings the end to one of these marvelous beasts, even if he didn't mean to. He will surely suffer the most cruel torments until the soul he upset has been appeased."