Words of a master storyteller--my translation of foreword to U Win Tin's What's That? A Human Hell!

My translation of Foreword to U Win Tin's What's That? A Human Hell.
Copyright U Win Tin.
Translation Copyright Kyi May Kaung (U Win Tin gave me formal permission to translate his work)
Those of you who have read the Burmese version, see if you like this:

The quietly whispered forward that roars and echoes loudly, of the author who has just returned from the human hell of prison.
Today is March 12, 2010.
Today I reached the age of eighty, bya.
The age of eighty is rather too old. From where I am, I can see the crematorium at the cemetery.
It is not far away.
When I say “it’s not far away”don’t come asking me if the end of this last journey is getting any closer. Don’t come telling me that the end is still far away.
I know the end of my journey is near.
I know the funeral pyre is close at hand.
I know the time left for me to live is less and less.
I know death closes in.
But beyond the realization of all this is the realization that I still have a lot of work to do. That is the main point of what I want to say here.
Why do I have so much that I want to do?
Well, of course I have a lot to do, bya.
Who wouldn’t?
The military power-holders imprisoned many people, including old people on the brink of death like me, young people who could have given the nation new blood, new ideas, new strengths—for ten years, ten monsoons; twenty years, twenty monsoons; sixty years, sixty monsoons; a hundred years, a hundred monsoons.
All these years we were in a nightmare kingdom, an evil world, a hell created by other human beings.
So, of course, young, middle-aged and old people still have a vast number of things to do. Will it be necessary to ask if that is so strange, byar?
So for this reason I must still continue on my long life’s journey.
(end of 2 page sample)
For that reason we keep walking along this long road. We still have to struggle. We still have to aim high. We still have to carry out our duties.
If I have to say it concisely in the way I understand it in my own words: I have to bear the burden of the ages and travel the path of eons.
It’s very far, further than one can see, or hear a shout and the road is a very rough road, byo!
I have an enormous burden to bear, it makes my chest heave and my brain weary, it takes so long to travel the way.
Actually, it’s the entire population of the country which has to bear this burden of the ages. As the entire population has been incarcerated in one way or the other, of course there’s a whole humongous pile of things that people need to do.
So you think maybe the entire public has been numbed out hpyone tone tone by just the thought of hearing about prison.
But that’s not true. The public is not afraid. Not numb. Not at all! What has happened is they’ve heard so much of the “be afraid of prison” sermons preached by those who are so afraid they’ve run away, that now they sort of believe what they’ve heard, and feel as if they’re too afraid, to make a fist, to stick up a thumb, to raise an arm, to show their true strength.
The fearful runaways (exiles or émigrés), the fear mongers, the kyauk pwe sarr or fear brokers, the fear blackmailers, don’t do the sort of politics that will land them in prison. They keep preaching the fear of jail, saying it’s not worth it to do political activism that will put one in prison.
They preach that getting oneself arrested will be of no benefit to anyone.
This sort of talk is the same as denigrating or demeaning those who have been imprisoned for political reasons through the ages; those arrested for their beliefs, for working for the good of all, for rising up, for attempting to overthrow dictators, for revolutions, for mass activism.
This sort of “fear of prison” talk makes fun of heroes such as Sayadaw U Wizara , Galon U Saw , Bogyoke Aung San , Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, U Khun Htun Oo and Min Ko Naing , who have died in prison, starved in prison, come to the end of their days in prison.
This kind of law of the fear of prison is the same as bottling up and constraining generations of political activists such as veterans of the 1300 Revolution of 1938, survivors of the massacre of 7th July 1962 , and the 8-8-88 Revolution .

Translator's notes: I put in end notes, but the copy and paste does not take them.