3. The monks live in houses built of teak wood. In every village you can
see a monk's house standing in a grove of palm trees. In these houses
the monks keep school.

4. Every Burmese boy lives for some time in one of the monks' houses.
Here he learns to read and write, and is taught to be a good man.

5. I went to see the most beautiful of all the monks' houses. It is in a
city far up in the country. The building is of dark-brown teak wood, and
has many roofs, one above the other. It is covered with carving, and
here and there it is gilded.

6. Many boys in yellow robes were playing beneath the trees. They were
the scholars of the school. One of the boys told me that he was never
going to leave the place. When he was old enough he meant to be a monk.

[Illustration: {Burmese boy in robes}]

7. In the city I saw the palace of the king from whom we took Burma. It
stands inside a large space, with high walls all round it. Outside the
wall is a broad ditch full of water. When I saw the ditch it was
overgrown with water-plants covered with pink blossoms.

8. Many buildings, something like the monks' houses, form the king's
palace. Some of the buildings are very richly carved, and are covered
with gold leaf. Inside one of them I saw great teak pillars, also
covered with gold.

9. The chief building ends in a very lofty spire, with a beautiful metal