Journal 12

December 4 - No crowd of dáyakas today. Took dána at 10:30 from the building at the arañña entrance, where it's presented, and went to the mossy rock by the stream; sat beneath a low and shady branch - it is, however, a cloudy day and the branch was, therefore, no more than decorative - and, with my feet in the water, I ate my rice with a few not-too-highly-spiced vegetables. I suppose I was meant to go to the dining hall and eat with the others, where I would have been given fruits, curds, and the other necessities of the village monk’s life - but I gladly exchanged them for the stream. So far no complaints.