..续本文上一页earby, to one side of the sermon seat. After I had given the precepts and delivered a sermon to the people, teaching them to meditate so that they could develop merit and perfect their character, Mother Samawn spoke up in a loud voice, "I don”t want any of that. I want a child. Please give me a child, Luang Phaw."

　　"All right," I told her, "I”ll give you a child." I answered her this way because I remembered a number of events in the scriptures. I then said, as if in jest, "Set your mind on meditating well tonight. I”m going to ask the gods and goddesses to bring you a child."

　　After she had finished meditating, she came and told me, "I feel really content and relaxed. I”ve meditated many times before, but it”s never been like this."

　　"There you are," I told her. "You”ll have your wish."

　　The next morning, I left Ratchaburi, taking the train as far as Prajuab Khirikhan. Khun Thatsanawiphaag went along as my follower. We spent the night in a cemetery near the station in Pranburi. The next morning, Khun That went to buy our tickets, with 120 baht in his pockets. This was right after the war, when they were using bank notes printed in America. The 100 baht bill and the 20 baht bill looked just alike. Khun That came back with the tickets, but without the 100 baht bill. He had mistaken it for the 20 baht bill, and so had given it to the ticket agent. He was all ready to return to the station to ask for the money back, but I stopped him. "I”d be too embarrassed to have you go," I said. He then got so upset that he was going to go back home, so I had to console him.

　　The cemetery where we were staying was on a tall forested slope. They had told us that no one could sleep there because the spirits were fierce, but we spent the night without incident.

　　From there we took the train to Surat Thani and went to stay on the slope of a tall hill near the train station. As night fell, people came to talk with us. I got to meet two characters named Nai Phuang and Nai Phaad. They came together, and Nai Phuang let me in on their secret.

　　"My home is in Nakhorn Pathom province," he said. "I used to be a big-time gangster, and killed a lot of people in my time. The last person was an old grandmother who died on the spot. Someone had told me that she kept 4,000 baht in cash under her pillow, so I snuck up to her room and stabbed her in the neck. But when I looked under her pillow, there was only 40 baht. From that day on, I felt so awful that I decided to give up crime. But even so, I still feel jumpy every time I hear a gunshot. Luang Phaw, could you help find me something to protect me from bullets

　　"

　　I told him, "If you really have sworn off crime, I”ll give you something that”ll make sure you don”t die from a bullet."

　　He swore, "I”ve given it up for good," so I wrote down a gatha for him to repeat over and over to himself.

　　The next day, he came back and told me that his younger brother, along with a group of nine others, were in the process of fighting off the police in one of the outlying districts. Some of the group the police had already captured, but his brother was still on the loose. He was afraid that his name might get dragged into the affair, so what should he do

　　 I told him to go straight to the police and lead them to his brother. He did everything as I told him to, and a few days later the entire group of bandits turned themselves in. Nai Phuang was able to get his brother out on bail. Eventually, when the case reached the courts, the entire group pleaded guilty. The court sentenced them to prison but, since they had admitted their guilt, cut their sentences in half.

　　I didn”t feel very comfortable staying there in Surat because there were always shady characters coming to see me. I was doing nothing but good, but I was afraid that ot…

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