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Title: Village Folk-Tales of Ceylon (Volume 3 of 3)
Author: H. Parker
Release Date: February 14, 2019 [EBook #58889]
Language: English
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VILLAGE FOLK-TALES OF CEYLON
Vol. III
Collected and Translated by
H. PARKER
Late of the Irrigation Department, Ceylon
LONDON
LUZAC & CO.
Publishers to the India Office
1914
CONTENTS
STORIES OF THE CULTIVATING CASTE
NO. PAGE
178 Concerning the Friendship of the Hare and
the Parrot 3
179 The Deer and its Friends 5
The Deer, the Jackal, and the Crow
(Variant a) 8
The Rat and the Turtle that kept the
Precepts (Variant b) 9
180 The Foolish Bird 13
181 The Golden Oriole 16
182 The Story of the Vira Tree Fish-Owls 18
183 The Lion and the Bull's trust in him 22
184 The Lizard and the Iguana 24
185 The Cobra and the Polanga 26
The Widow and the Mungus 27
185A The Crab and the Frog 29
186 A Louse and a Bug 30
STORIES OF THE LOWER CASTES
STORIES OF THE POTTERS
187 The Three Yakas 35
188 The Time of Scholars 38
STORIES OF THE WASHERMEN
189 The Thief called Harantika 41
The Dexterous Thief and his Son (Variant) 43
190 The Story of the Four-fold Trap 48
191 The Foolish Prince 52
192 The Jackal and the Gamarala 54
STORIES OF THE TOM-TOM BEATERS
193 The Story of Batmasura 57
194 The Story of Ayiwanda 62
195 The Gamarala's Son-in-law 71
196 The Story of the Gamarala's Son 78
197 The Manner in which the Gamarala buried
his Sons 84
198 The Story of the Wooden Peacock 89
199 The Wicked Step-mother 94
200 The Woman who ate by stealth 99
201 The Story of the Bitch 102
202 The Elephant Guard 106
203 The Elephant-Fool 110
204 The Girl who took Gruel 112
205 The Boy who went to learn the Sciences 115
206 The Prince and the Ascetics 117
207 The Turtle Prince 121
208 The Gem-set Ring 127
209 The Story of the Brahmana 136
210 The Story of a Siwurala 141
211 How the Poor Man became Wealthy 144
212 The Story of Madampe-rala 146
213 Æwariyakka 149
214 The Horikadaya Story 152
215 The Story of Bahu-Bhutaya 155
216 The Story of Golu-Bayiya 158
217 The Yaka of the Akaragane Jungle 161
218 The Four Rakshasas 166
219 The Story of the Rakshasa 173
220 The Thief and the Rakshasas 176
221 King Gaja-Bahu and the Crow 183
222 The Assistance which the Snake gave 185
223 The Leveret, or the Story of the Seven
Women 187
224 The Greedy Palm-cat 189
STORIES OF THE WESTERN PROVINCE AND SOUTHERN INDIA
NO. PAGE
225 The Wax Horse 193
226 The Three-cornered Hatter 200
227 The Gamarala who went to the God-World 207
The Tusk Elephant of the Divine World
(Variant) 209
228 The Gamarala who ate Black Fowls' Flesh 212
229 How the Gamarala drove away the Lion 217
230 The Son who was Blind at Night 220
231 The Son and the Mother 223
The Wicked Daughter-in-law (Variant) 228
232 Concerning the Hetti Man's Son 230
233 The Fortunate Boy 234
234 How the Daughter-in-law got the Masuran 240
235 The Monkey and the Beggar 243
236 How the Beggar and the King gambled 249
237 The Story of the King 253
238 The King who learnt the Speech of Animals 258
239 The Mad King 261
The Kahawana sowing (Variant) 262
240 Concerning the Prince with his Life in
his Sword 265
241 The Royal Prince and the Hettirala 272
242 Prince Sokka 285
243 The Affectionate Prince 293
244 The Prince who received the Turtle Shell 300
245 Concerning a Prince and a Kinnara Woman 304
246 The Way in which the Prince traded 310
247 A Princess and a Prince 313
248 Concerning a Royal Princess and Two
Thieves 321
249 How the Nagaya became the Princess 325
250 The Story of the Cobra's Bite 328
251 How they killed the Great-bellied Tambi 336
252 How Maraya was put in the Bottle 339
253 The Woman Pre-eminent in Cunning 343
254 Matalana 347
255 The Five Lies quite like Truth 352
256 The Three Truths 354
257 The False Tale 355
258 The Story of Kota 359
The Flower-Garden Story (Variant) 361
259 The Story of Sokka 367
260 The Giant and his Two Friends 373
261 How they formerly Ate and Drank 380
262 The Gourd Fruit Devil-Dance 384
263 The Ascetic and the Jackal 386
SOUTH INDIAN STORIES
264 Concerning the Blind-Eyed Man 388
265 The Destiny Prince 392
266 The Teacher and his Pupil 400
The Teacher and the Bull (Variant a) 405
The Brahmana and the Scholar (Variant b) 407
SINHALESE TEXTS OF STORIES
Introductory Remarks 413
81 Concerning a Royal Prince and a Princess 419
126 The Story of the Seven Wicked Women 423
134 The Story of the Rakshasa and the
Princess 424
207 The Turtle Prince 426
216 The Story of Golu-Bayiya 429
225 The Wax Horse 430
APPENDIX
ADDITIONAL NOTES, AND CORRECTIONS
Omitted Incidents 457
Index 459
STORIES OF THE CULTIVATING CASTE
NO. 178
CONCERNING THE FRIENDSHIP OF THE HARE AND THE PARROT
In a certain country there are a Hare, and a Mouse-deer, and a Parrot
near a river, it is said. The three every day come to the river to
drink water.
One day the Parrot said to the Hare, "Friend."
Then the Hare having said, "What? We two are friends indeed. From
our friendship what will be the profit? Should you find and give
me a mate we should indeed be friends," afterwards the Parrot said,
"If so, stay there until the time when I come [after] finding a mate
for you," and the Parrot drank water and went away.
On the following day, when the Parrot came he met with a
Mouse-deer. Having seen the Parrot the Mouse-deer says, "Friend,
where is your friend?"
The Parrot says, "My friend has not come to-day."
Then the Mouse-deer says, "What friendship with those Hares! If you
become friendly with us what things cannot we do!"
Then the Parrot says, "Friend, he is [my] former first friend; now
then, I cannot abandon him."
At that the Mouse-deer having become a little angry went away. Having
so gone, the Mouse-deer, seeking the Hare, says to [1] the Hare,
"Friend, with that Parrot what friendship! The food which that one
eats is different, the place where that one lies down is different,
that one is an animal which flies [in the air] above. Are we so? We
lie down in one place, we eat one food. Because of it, give up [your]
friendship with that one." At that the Hare became a little angry.
After that, the Mouse-deer, having gone near the Parrot, says,
"Take you [to heart] the things that I say, O Parrot-youngster."
Thereupon the Parrot said, "What, friend?"
The Mouse-deer says, "The sort called Hares at any place whatever
are not trusted."
Then the Parrot asked, "Well then, what are you telling me to do?"
Then the Mouse-deer says, "On account of it, give up your friendship
with the Hare." To that the Parrot did not consent.
After that, the Mouse-deer, having gone near the Hare, said, "Friend,
we having been in the midst of this forest, except that there is
convenience through the water, through the food there is none. Because
of it, let us go into the midst of the villages."
The Hare also being pleased at this, and having said, "Ha; let us
go," the two together went into the midst of the villages. Having
gone there, the two crept into a bush.
A man saw that this Hare and Mouse-deer crept into the bush. Having
seen it, the man spoke to yet [other] men, and having brought nets
they fixed them. When they had thus fixed them the Hare bounded away;
the Mouse-deer was caught.
The Hare having bounded away from there, went to the spot where it
formerly stayed at first. After that, it met with the Parrot. Then
the Parrot asked the Hare, [2] "Where, friend, is the Mouse-deer?"
The Hare said, "Friend, men seized the one who tried to break the
friendship of us two."
Then the Parrot says, "Friend, through his going to break our
friendship that we [have had] for a long time, danger befel that very
one." Having said it, the friendship of the two was in the very same
manner [as before],
Anun nahanda yanakota tamumma nahinawa.
While they are going to kill others they die themselves.
North-western Province.
NO. 179
THE DEER AND ITS FRIENDS
At a certain time there were three years without rain. Because there
was no rain, water everywhere was wanting. In the wilderness in the
midst of the forest there was water at a single rock-hole. There a
Deer drank water.
At the time when the Deer, having eaten and eaten food in the
jungle, was going, he met with a Crow. The Crow said, "Friend, you
are in health, as though without any want of food or water. For us
there is not a drop of water for bathing or drinking. Ane! Merit
will be attained. [3] Please tell me also the place where you drink
water." Thereupon he told the Crow the path to the rock-hole in which
there is water.
At the time when the two are coming thus and drinking the water,
the Woodpecker met them. "Friends, where do you drink water? Merit
will be attained; tell me also," the Woodpecker said. Afterwards they
told the Woodpecker the path.
At the time when the three were drinking the water, a Turtle met
them. The Turtle also asked, "Friend, where do you drink water? We
indeed are going (lit. making) to die. Merit will be attained. Tell
us, too, the place where you drink water." They showed the path to
the Turtle also.
Well then, at the time when the four were drinking the water, a Jackal
met them. The Jackal says, "Friend, where do you drink water? There is
no want of food and water for you, indeed. Ane! Merit will be attained;
tell me also."
[The animals] having shown the path to the Jackal also, while the
five were drinking the water there, a Vaedda having gone hunting
also saw the water-hole. He saw that a Deer had drunk water at the
water-hole. Having seen it, the Vaedda thought, "I must catch this
Deer." He set a deer-hide noose there to catch the Deer. Well then,
when the Deer was going [there] to drink water, the Deer was caught
in that Vaedda's deer-hide noose.
The Turtle, and the Crow, and the Woodpecker, and the Jackal, these
four friends, having come to drink water, when they looked the Deer
had been caught.
Well then, the four having said, "Ane! Our friend who showed us the
road to drink water to-day has been caught for killing," the other
three said to the Jackal, "Ane! Friend, you indeed are able to bite
this fold of deer-hide."
The Jackal, thinking, "To-day a good eating has been hung up for me,"
said, "Ane! Friend, I am indeed unable to bite the deer-hide fold. My
teeth are shaking about."
Then those three said, "Ane! Friend, don't tell those lies; you can
indeed somehow or other bite it."
Having said, "Ane! I cannot," the Jackal lay down at the edge of
the jungle. In [every] possible way the three told the Jackal. The
Jackal did not bite it at all. Having said [to himself], "I shall
obtain the stomach," he remained silent.
The Turtle was biting and biting [the cord] as much as he could,
during that day night-time. On the following day, as it became light,
the Crow said to the Woodpecker, "Friend, you go, and when the Vaedda
is preparing to come, make an evil omen (bada)."
At dawn, the Vaedda having arisen says to the Vaedi woman (his wife),
"Cook a packet of rice, and give me it. I have set a noose. In order
to go to look at it."
At that time the Woodpecker cried out. Then the Vaedda says, "Bolan,
there is a bad omen. Having waited a little time, cook." [4]
Afterwards, having waited a little time the woman arose. At that time,
also, the Woodpecker cried out. When she was taking the rice also,
the Woodpecker cried out, yet the woman having cooked the packet of
rice gave it to the Vaedda.
The Vaedda taking the axe and taking the packet of cooked rice,
at the time when the Vaedda is going, the Woodpecker having come
flying above tells the other friends, "Ane! Friend, now then indeed,
we cannot save him. I made evil omens as much as possible; without
hearkening to them the Vaedda is coming."
Afterwards, the three beseeched the Jackal, and told it [to bite
the cord]. Yet the Jackal did not bite it. Having said [to himself],
"I shall obtain the stomach," without speaking he remained lying down.
Then the Vaedda having come, and seen that the Deer has been caught,
hung the packet of cooked rice on a tree, and taking the axe came near
the Deer. As he was coming, the Crow tore open the packet of cooked
rice. Then when the Vaedda is coming near the packet of cooked rice,
the Crow goes away.
When the Vaedda is going back near the Deer, again the Crow tears the
packet of cooked rice. The Vaedda, having become angry at it, threw the
axe to strike the Crow. The Crow flew away. The axe having struck the
Jackal, the Jackal died. Then the Deer, breaking the deer-hide cord,
bounded off. Well then, the friends having joined together went away.
The Vaedda saying and saying, "Ane! Was it the Deer that I got,
or the packet of cooked rice I got?" [5] went away.
P. B. Madahapola, Ratemahatmaya, North-western Province.
THE DEER, THE JACKAL, AND THE CROW. (Variant a.)
In a certain country, when a Deer and a Crow were friends while a
long time was going, one day the Deer met with a Jackal. The Jackal,
having seen the Deer, says, "I also should be pleased to be friendly
with you. Because of it, are you willing or not?" he asked.
Then the Deer says, "I indeed am willing. I don't know if the Crow
which has become my friend is willing or not."
Then the Jackal asked the Crow. The Crow says, "I am not willing,
but if the Deer is willing, remain," he said. After that the whole
three were friendly. The Crow's dwelling was in a tree; the dwelling
of the other two was under the tree.
One day when the Jackal is going to seek food, having seen a rice
field and come back, he says to the Deer, "Friend, let us two go for
food. I have seen a good rice field to-day. You eat the rice there;
I will eat crabs there," he said.
The Deer says, "I will not. It is not good to go there; should we go
there we shall come into danger," he said.
The Jackal, on the following day having gone [there] and come back,
says to the Deer, "Nothing having been done [to me] there, let us
very two go to-morrow." This Jackal says thus with the intention that
having killed the Deer he may eat the flesh.
The Deer, trusting the word of the Jackal, went. Having gone, when
he looked there is a paddy field. Having seen it and eaten the paddy
(growing rice) that day, he came back. On the following day, too,
the Jackal said, "Let us go." And because the Deer could not break
the Jackal's word, on that day, also, he went.
That day, the man whose field it is, the owner of the field, having
come, when he looked saw that deer had eaten it; and having come home,
and gone back taking a noose which was twisted from hides, he set it
at the gap [in the fence] through which the Deer came.
Thereupon, in order to eat the paddy the Jackal and Deer came to the
field. While they were coming [through the fence] the Deer was caught
in the noose which had been set. Then the Deer says, "Friend, to-day
having come they will kill me. Because of it bite this noose," he said.
Thereupon the Jackal says, "I cannot. This is Sunday; [6] how shall
I bite hides to-day?" Having said this, the Jackal got hid and waited.
The Crow, also, having seen that the Deer does not come for a long
time, the Crow also came to seek the Deer. Having come, when he
looked he saw that the Deer had been caught in the noose, and asked,
"Friend, what is [the reason of] it?"
And the Deer says, "This indeed is the Jackal's contrivance. To-day
how shall I get free?" he asked the Crow.
The Crow says, "I will tell you a stratagem. At the time when the
rice-field owner is coming I will peck at your eye [as though you
were dead]. I will caw at a [certain] time. At that time spring up
and run away," he said.
Thereupon the rice-field owner came, taking a cudgel. Having come,
when he looked he saw that the Deer, having been caught in the noose,
is dead. Then he began the folding up of the noose. When the Crow
was cawing the Deer sprang up and ran away.
Having seen the running Deer and thrown the cudgel that was in his
hand, [it struck the Jackal, and] at the blow which was struck the
Jackal died.
(This is the story as it is found in the Hitopadesa, with an antelope
in place of the deer.)
North-western Province.
THE RAT AND THE TURTLE THAT KEPT THE PRECEPTS. (Variant b.)
In a certain country there is a river. At the river there is a Rat;
in that river there is a Turtle. Every day when this Turtle rises to
the surface this Rat is here. The Turtle said, "Friend, what are you
[doing] there?" he said.
"I am keeping the Precepts" (of Buddha).
"Is it good for me also to come?" the Turtle said.
This Rat said, "It is very good." After that the Turtle came.
At the time when these two are keeping the Precepts a Deer came to
the river for drinking water. Having seen these two here, "What,
friends, are you [doing] there?" [he said].
"We are keeping the Precepts."
"Is it good for me to come?"
"Ane! It is very good," they said. After that, the Deer came.
At the time when these three are keeping the Precepts a Crow came
flying. The Crow said, "What, friends, are you [doing] there?"
"We three are keeping the Precepts."
"Would it be good for me to come, too?" he said.
"You [Crows] are not trustworthy."
"It is true, friend, [regarding the others]; nevertheless there is
trustworthiness in me," he said. Thereupon they said, "Come." The
Crow came.
At the time when these four are keeping the Precepts a Jackal
came. Having seen these four the Jackal said, "What, friends, are you
[doing] there?"
"We are keeping the Precepts."
"Would it be good for me to come, too?" he said.
"Your kind are not trustworthy," they said.
"Yes, it is true [regarding the others]; nevertheless I am
trustworthy," he said.
"If so, come," they said. Afterwards the Jackal came.
At the time when the five are keeping the Precepts, when the Jackal
went for food and went to the Gamarala's chena, he saw that there is
good corn there, and he said to the Deer, "Friend, there is a good
food for you in the Gamarala's chena," he said.
The Deer said, "[For you] to tell me the road let us go together,"
he said. The Jackal and Deer, both, having gone, the Deer ate food
and filling his belly returned.
On the following day, when the Jackal was going alone to the Gamarala's
chena the Gamarala was [there].
This Jackal said, "Doesn't the corn disappear in this chena? The Deer,
indeed, has eaten it. You can't find the gap [by which he came];
shall I find and show (lit., give) you it?"
The Gamarala said "Ha."
"Here, look; the gap. Having made the noose, and seized and killed it,
you must give me meat," he said. The Gamarala made the noose.
On the following day, when the Deer went to eat food on the high
ground, he was tied in the noose. When the Jackal went he had been
tied. The Jackal went near the Gamarala [and told him].
The Crow said, "Our friend went for food; why has he not come?" When
he went to look, having seen that he had been tied in the noose,
he said to the Rat, "Friend, that friend of ours went to eat food;
having been tied in the noose he is unable to come."
After that, the Rat having gone cut the noose. He said to this Deer,
"Remain lying down in the grass field," he said. (To make it appear
to be dead the Crow perched on the body of the Deer.)
When [he saw that] this Crow had perched on the back of the Deer,
that Gamarala says to the Jackal, "To-day indeed he has died."
When this Gamarala was going near the Deer, the Deer, having said
"Hu," bounded away. Then the Gamarala struck the Jackal [with his
axe]. The Jackal says, "Not being obedient [to the Precepts], an
axe-thunderbolt struck me," [and died].
Tom-tom Beater. North-western Province.
In The Jataka, No. 16 (vol. i, p. 49), a deer that was snared is
described as shamming death [7] as in the second of these tales,
and escaping when the hunter unfastened the noose.
In the Jataka tale No. 216 (vol. ii, p. 106), when an antelope, a
woodpecker, and a tortoise (turtle) lived near a lake, a hunter caught
the antelope in a leather noose. While the tortoise endeavoured to gnaw
through the leather, the woodpecker went off to make evil omens and
delay the hunter in the early morning. It did this by uttering a cry,
flapping its wings, and striking him in the face as he opened the front
door of his hut. He thought "Some bird of evil omen has struck me,"
so he turned back and lay down for a short time. By repeating this at
the back-door the bird made the man remain at home till sunrise. When
at last he approached the antelope the tortoise had gnawed through
all but one thong; the antelope burst this and escaped. The jackal
is not introduced into this version, which being illustrated in the
early Bharahat reliefs is of earlier date than 250 B.C.
In Le Pantcha-Tantra of the Abbé Dubois, a crow, a rat, a turtle,
and a gazelle formed a friendship together. When the gazelle was
caught the rat brought others and gnawed through the nets and saved
it. Afterwards when the rat and turtle were likely to be seized, the
gazelle led the hunters away, and its friends escaped. The jackal is
not mentioned.
In the Hitopadesa a crow, a rat, a turtle, and an antelope were
friends; a hunter caught the turtle and tied it to his bow in order
to take it home. By the rat's advice the antelope feigned death,
the crow perched on it, and while the hunter went with his knife to
the antelope the rat gnawed in two the string that held the turtle,
which at once plunged into the water; the antelope then ran off. In
the Katha Sarit Sagara (Tawney), vol. ii, p. 52, a mouse takes the
place of the rat.
NO. 180
THE FOOLISH BIRD [8]
In a certain country a hen bird laid eggs on a rock; when she was there
a considerable time young ones were hatched from the eggs. While the
young ones are on the rock, the bird having come [after] seeking food,
gives it to the young ones.
One day, when the bird was going seeking and seeking food, there
was a Mi tree [9] in the jungle. The Mi flowers of that Mi tree had
fallen on the ground. The bird, gathering the flowers, and having
come and spread them out on the rock on which were the young ones,
said to the young ones, "Children, until the time when I come [after]
seeking food for you, look after these."
Afterwards the young ones, having said "Ha," stayed looking in the
very direction of the Mi flowers. The bird went to seek food.
The sun's heat having fallen on them, [through their] drying and
drying up the Mi flowers became extremely less; when one looked the
Mi flowers were not even to be seen.
The bird seeking food and having come, when she looked there were no
Mi flowers. Having said, "The young birds ate them, indeed," she asked
the young ones about it. The young birds said, "We did not eat them."
The bird having become angry and said, "If ye did not eat them,
who ate them?" struck all the young birds on the rock and killed them.
Then the white lotus throne of Sakra, the Divine King, having become
hot, he rained a rain. When it was thus raining it soaked those Mi
flowers that had dried up, and [as they expanded again] the rock was
filled with them in the same manner as before.
The bird having been looking on, said, "Ane! My foolishness in killing
my children!" and called her children. She called them in the manner
of verse:--
They dried and dried until they shrank; my children on the rock
I've slain.
King Sakra's eyes divine beheld; he rainèd down a flowery rain.
Then in the very form they had, a rock was filled with flowers again;
But crying, "Son! My callow ones!" your mother called to you in vain.
That indeed. Now also, those birds saying "Kuturun, Son, Son!" [10]
call them.
North-western Province.
The text of the verse is:--
Weli weli adu-wena turu, daruwan gale gaesuwa.
Saek rajune diwas bala, mal waessak waessa.
Etakota mal tibunu lesama galen ekak piruna.
"Pubborun, pute," kiya, amma anda-gaesuwa.
In a variant by a Tom-tom Beater the verse is:--
Blossoms of jungle tree I saw and brought, and on the rock I strew.
They dried and dried until they shrank; my children then I beat
and slew.
Now, crying, "Kuturu, Son, ku!" your mother vainly calls to you.
Kaele gase pub daekala, gale genat waenuwa.
Weli weli adu-wena turu, daruwan gasala maeruwa.
"Kuturu, pute, ku,"[10] kiya, amma a[n]da-gasati.
In Cinq Cents Contes et Apologues (Chavannes), vol. ii, p. 228, two
pigeons collected ripe fruits and filled their nest with them. During
drought which followed they shrank considerably; the male pigeon
charged the female with eating them alone, and although she denied
it he said, "If it were not that you have eaten them alone how could
they have decreased?" and pecked her to death. When rain which fell
afterwards caused the fruits to enlarge to their former size, the
bird saw it, and felt remorse, and "then began to call his female
with plaintive cries."
In the Arabian Nights (Lady Burton's ed., vol. iv, p. 117) there is a
similar story. A pair of pigeons collected a store of wheat and barley
during winter, but when summer came it was shrivelled with the heat,
and shrank. The male pigeon charged the hen with eating it; when she
denied it he beat and pecked her till he killed her. In the next cold
season the grain swelled out again as at first; and the male pigeon,
seeing that the hen was innocent, mourned over her, refused food,
and died of grief. Sir R. Burton refers also to a variant in the Book
of Sindibad, and Kalilah and Damnah.
In the last line of the text of the verse on the preceding page,
if Kuturu be corrected to Kuturu, and if the bird's cry is to be
interpreted, the meaning might be, "[my] falsehood is great, O Son,
[and my] guilt."
NO. 181
THE GOLDEN ORIOLE
At a certain time, a Golden Oriole having perched on a tree, while it
was [there] reflected, "On account of my [golden] colour when shall
I obtain a food [suitable] for me?"
At the time when he was thinking thus, he saw that a fruit on a
Jak-tree had ripened. Then a crow having come, dug into that very
Jak-fruit. Thereupon the Golden Oriole, being pleased, laughed. Then
after the crow flew away the Golden Oriole went near the Jak-fruit,
and taking a section from it flew away.
Putting away somewhere the food possessing the [golden] colour equal
to his colour, he sang songs.
He saw near there a King-Coconut tree, and thinking, "The fruit
and flowers on the King-Coconut tree, and I, and my food are of one
[golden] colour," he was pleased.
Having perched on the King-Coconut tree, while he was eating the
section of Jak a Crested Eagle, flying above, seizing the Golden Oriole
for the purpose of the Crested Eagle's food, flew aloft [with him].
While it was flying [away with him] the Golden Oriole says, "For the
fault that I committed (i.e., the pride in his personal appearance),
taking me let us go flying still higher," he said to the Crested
Eagle. Thereupon the Crested Eagle having killed the Golden Oriole
ate him.
North-central Province.
This story reminds me of a little tragedy that I witnessed many
years ago at Anuradhapura. While I was sitting in the veranda of
the Rest-house, my attention was attracted by a friendly Black Robin
(Thamnobia fulicata), a bird in habits much like the common Robin of
Europe and with the same trustful confidence in man. After picking up
insects on the ground close to the veranda it flew up, and perching
in the shade on the lower branch of a tree a few feet distant from
me, in the full enjoyment of its innocent life uttered a happy little
song. Suddenly, in the midst of its notes there was a downward rush of
a dark bird from behind, and in an instant the hapless Robin was being
carried away in the merciless claws of a Sparrowhawk which must have
been hidden in another part of the tree. The hawk was merely fulfilling
the Law of Nature; the strong always devours the weak, without pity.
In A. von Schiefner's Tibetan Tales (Ralston), p. 355, a crow which
uttered agreeable (that is, auspicious) sounds when a woman's husband
was absent on a journey, was promised a golden cap by her if he
returned safe and sound. When he came back in health and the crow
repeated the agreeable sounds, she gave it the cap, and the crow
put it on and flew about proudly with it. A falcon, seeing the cap,
then tore off the crow's head on account of it (apparently because
it coveted the gold).
NO. 182
THE STORY OF THE VIRA TREE FISH-OWLS [11]
There was a certain Bakarawata City. At the same city seven Fish-Owls
who were friends dwelt at one place. Out of them the name of one
was Rawana-Face; [the names of the others were] Great-Fisher,
Long-Boned-One, Dumb-One, Trap-Setter, Noisy-Drummer, Big-Fool. [12]
While they are in friendship in this way, without a marriage, one day,
having called the others, [one of them] said thus:--"The whole of us
are beings possessing much dignity. Because of it, let us summon a
woman [as wife] for the whole seven of us."
Having [thus] talked, for the purpose of asking for the daughter of
King Motanis [in marriage] the two called Noisy-Drummer and Trap-Setter
having gone to Kurupiti City, and perched on the portico (torana)
near the palace of King Motanis, cried with the sound, "Um, Um." [13]
At that time the King having come out, and perceiving, because he knows
the Fish-Owl language, the matter for which they called out [to him],
the King asks them, "What is the business that ye do? Your livelihood
being of a different sort, how is it?" he asked Noisy-Drummer.
Thereupon he says, "O King, Your Majesty, it is I indeed whom in
Bakarawata City they call Noisy-Drummer. In the same city the Minister
of King Kuru am I."
Then the Fish-Owl called Trap-Setter says, "I am the son of King
Motaba, who is near the same city," he said.
Thereupon the King says, "Unless King Motaba will give marriage to you,
we are unable [to do] so." Having said, "Ye are of the lower animals"
(tirisannu), he abused them, and drove them away.
After that Noisy-Drummer and Trap-Setter came to Bakarawata City,
[and told the others of the failure of their mission]. While they
were there, to Noisy-Drummer the other five say, "Ye fools! When
ye asked for marriage in that way will they give it?" Having said
[this], they quarrelled [with them]. What was that for? Because King
Motaba is not an overlord of lineage, [14] if they had asked for the
marriage from an overlord of lineage it would be good. Having said
[this], they five quarrelled with them.
After that, the two Fish-Owls called Great-Fisher and Long-Bones went
to Sulambawati City in order to ask for [marriage with] the Nadakara
Kumari, [15] the daughter of King Attapala.
While they were there, sitting upon the porch of the palace of King
Attapala, Long-Bones called out, "King Attapala!"
After that the King having come, when he asked, "What is it?" as
they were sitting upon the porch Long-Bones spoke to the King,
"We came to ask for a marriage."
At that time, King Attapala asks Great-Fisher, "Is this one thy
brother, or thy friend?"
Thereupon Great-Fisher says, "O Lord, this is our Long-Bones; he is
my eldest brother. He is a person of the royal race. Just now, as
we got cold in the head many days ago, our faces have become heavy
[looking]," he said.
After that, when the King asked them, "How do you get a living?" they
say, "Aniccan dukkhan! [16] When Your Majesty is ruling you obtain all
things, and get a subsistence [in that way]. We are not thus. For us
seven brothers, at one place there are rice-fields [extending] over
sixty yalas. [17] At yet [another] place there are nine amunas. The
others indeed I am unable to mention separately. The whole [of the
cultivators] of these rice-fields having come near us, after having
asked [permission from] us work [in them], and bring and give the
paddy at our very house." He wove and told a great many [such] lies.
Having said, "It is good; I will give my Princess to thee. Come thou
into the palace to look if she is beautiful," the King went inside
the palace. At that time they also went.
When he was threatening them,--"Now then, I will give ye a good
marriage now!" becoming afraid, and having said, "There is no need
of this marriage for us," they sprang off; and having gone even to
Bakarawata City, they say to the others, "The King of that city is
an extremely wicked one (wasa napurek). He abused and disgraced us
in many ways," they said.
Thereupon, Big-Fool says, "Ye are fools! If you went to a place where
there is [good] lineage, and asked for a marriage, they will give
it. By asking for a marriage from persons without lineage, will they
give it?"
Having said this, these two called Rawana-Face and Dumb-One also went
for the purpose of finding the marriage. While they were journeying
thus, they arrived near the Sun, the Divine King. While they were
there, having seen the Sun they say thus, "O Lord, we came to ask
to take in marriage for us Your Majesty's daughter, that is, Paduma
Kumari," they said.
Thereupon the Sun asked, "Of what lineage are ye, Fish-Owls?"
"We are of Brahmana race," they said.
Thereupon the Sun, the Divine King, having become angry, scolded them
and drove them away.
Then, having turned back and come to their own house, they say
falsely in this way to the others, that is, "There is indeed a
marriage. Because [our] country is far away he says he cannot give it,"
they said.
After that, Big-Fool says, "No one of you is able to bring a [bride
in] marriage. I must go."
Tying up a package of cooked rice, and having gone quite alone to
Totagamu City, and seen the King of the city, he got hid; and firstly
having gone near the Fish-Owls of that city, he inquired, "How many
daughters of the King are there?" Having looked, he ascertained that
there are seven.
Thereafter having gone near their palace, he cried out for the King
to hear, "Will you give the youngest of the seven, Princess Sunumalli?"
Princess Sunumalli having heard the voice, came outside and
looked. Thereupon desire for the Fish-Owl having stirred her mind,
secretly calling him near her they conversed; and he having been
there many days, and thereafter having got hid, these two went to
Bakarawata City.
While there, this Princess was [the wife] in common for the whole
seven; but because they were of the lower animals no children were
born to her. To get medical treatment for it one of them went away, and
when he asked the Vedarala (doctor) of Kukkapitiya, the Vedarala said,
"Taking Black Cummin seed and White Cummin seed at the rate of four
lahas (one-tenth of an amuna, of about six bushels), and having ground
it, [you are] to give it to her to drink with human urine," he said.
He having come home, in that manner the whole seven together made
the medicine in the very way the Veda said, and gave it to her to
drink. Thereupon, through the [quantity of the] four lahas, she burst
open and died.
After that, these seven having become very sorrowful, Long-Bones being
unconscious, and Rawana-Face splitting his head, and Great-Fisher
having jumped into the well, and Noisy-Drummer having jumped into
the sea, and Dumb-One having cut his throat (neck), and Big-Fool
having fallen from the top of a tree, [all these] died, Trap-Setter
alone being left over. He, taking afresh a female Fish-Owl [as his
wife], lived.
North-western Province.
This story is an evident satire, making fun of people who go about
endeavouring to contract unsuitable marriages with the members of
families much higher than their own in descent or position. The
village medical practitioner is also parodied.
NO. 183
THE LION AND THE BULL'S TRUST IN HIM
A Jackal having seen that a Lion and a Bull are friendly, the Jackal
went and asked the Bull, "Friend, how am I also to be friendly with
you two?" Concerning it the Bull said, "You cannot."
The Jackal being angry with the Bull because of it, thinking, "I must
break the friendship of the Bull and the Lion," went one day, and
said to the Lion, "O Lord, Your Majesty, your friend the Bull said
at my hand regarding you, 'However much ability of that Lion there
should be to do things, [after] taking and sifting out my share of it,
should it be taken away the Lion will be destroyed.'"
After that, the Jackal, having gone again near the Bull, said,
"Ane! Friend, the Lion says of you, 'However much prowess and might
of that one's there should be, should I once make the Lion's roar
the other animals die, putting that one [out of consideration].'"
Thereupon the Bull having said, "When we have remained on good terms
such a time, if he says that of me I also am willing to fight with
him."
Having come near the Lion he said, "We two remained on good terms
such a time. Because of [what you have said], to-day we must die."
When he was fighting with the Lion the Lion made the Lion's roar. When
he was making the Lion's roar the Bull came and gored him. In this
way, on account of the Lion's roar the Bull died, [18] and the Bull
having gored him the Lion died.
After that, having said these false slanders and pushed the quarrel,
the Jackal who had caused them to be killed having come after these
two died, and having said, "He was unable through haughtiness to take
me as his friend; how about it now?" ate the mouth from that one and
the mouth from this one. While eating them, having summoned still
[other] Jackals, and said, "I did such a clever deed; what did ye?" he
laughed. "If ye also want, eat ye," he said.
Central Province.
In the Jataka story No. 349 (vol. iii, p. 100), a jackal in order
to taste their flesh, set a friendly lion and bull at variance. "He
said, 'This is the way he speaks of you,' and thus dividing them one
from another, he soon brought about a quarrel and reduced them to a
dying condition." When a King came to see them, "the jackal highly
delighted was eating, now the flesh of the lion, and now that of the
bull." This story, being included in the Bharahat carvings must be
of earlier date than 250 B.C.
In the Hitopadesa, as the lion was afraid of the bellowing of a bull
that was abandoned on a journey, two jackals persuaded the bull to
appear before the lion, which became friendly with it. Afterwards the
jackals, determining to get the bull destroyed as it induced the lion
to curtail their supply of meat, informed both the lion and bull that
the other intended to kill it. When the bull approached the lion they
had a long fight in which the lion was victorious. The same story
is given in the Katha Sarit Sagara (Tawney), vol. ii, p. 27. In Le
Pantcha-Tantra of the Abbé Dubois, p. 30, the story is nearly the same.
In Sagas from the Far East, p. 192, a lioness before dying advised her
cub and a calf she had reared to live together in peace. A fox which
became jealous of the calf told it and the young lion false tales of
their mutual intentions, and when they met they killed each other.
In A. von Schiefner's Tibetan Tales (Ralston), p. 325, the calumniator
was a jackal. In the same work, p. 328, there is a variant in which
the friendly animals were a lion and tiger which a jackal set at
variance. When about to attack each other they spoke, ascertained
that the whole quarrel was due to the jackal's falsehoods, and the
lion thereupon killed it. This story is given in Cinq Cents Contes
et Apologues (Chavannes), vol. ii, pp. 233 and 425; in the latter
example a lion and bull killed each other.
In Fables and Folk-Tales from an Eastern Forest (Skeat), p. 30, a
mouse-deer in the same way induced two bulls to fight, and when one
was killed the deer feasted on the flesh, after frightening away a
tiger that wanted to share it with him.
NO. 184
THE LIZARD AND THE IGUANA
At a certain time a small Lizard [19] and an Iguana [20] became friends
it is said. In this state they remained for much time. During the
time while they were thus, these two quarrelled; having quarrelled,
both struck each other with their tails. When they were striking
each other the small Lizard lost. The Lizard, having sprung aside,
was panting and panting. There was an ant-hill there; the Iguana
crept into the ant-hill.
A Vaedda from a distant place when walking about for hunting, not
meeting with game is coming away. While he is coming, this panting
Lizard asked, "Friend, where are you going?"
Then the Vaedda said, "Friend, I went hunting, and did not meet
with game."
After that, the Lizard says, "Friend, an Iguana having dropped into
this ant-hill is staying in it. Break it open, and take it."
Then the Vaedda, having gone to his village and brought a digging hoe,
goes breaking and breaking open the ant-hill. Thereupon the Iguana
also, digging and digging, goes on in front [of him]. The Vaedda,
a half-day having passed [in this way], took much trouble over this.
When he had been digging for a great distance he did not meet with the
Iguana. Thereupon, anger on account of [getting] no game, and anger
on account of the trouble [he had taken uselessly] having seized the
Vaedda, and having become angry also at the Lizard, he struck the
Lizard with the digging hoe that was in the hand of the Vaedda. The
Lizard rolled over and died.
Owing to the injustice through which he went to kill his friend,
he himself died.
North-western Province.
In the Jataka story No. 141 (vol. i, p. 303), a chameleon induced
an iguana-trapper to kill a number of iguanas by digging out their
burrows because he found his friendship with one of them troublesome.
NO. 185
THE COBRA AND THE POLANGA
At the time of a drought there was not even a little water for a Cobra
to drink, it is said. Well then, when the Cobra went to a village,
a little child at a house was playing with the water in a large
bowl. The child's mother was not at home.
The Cobra having gone there, while it is drinking the water the child
throws water out of the coconut shell on the Cobra's head, and strikes
it with hand and foot. On account of it nothing angry is aroused in
the Cobra; having drunk its belly full of water it goes away.
Thus, in that manner, when the Cobra was going drinking and drinking
the water for two or three days, one day it met with a Polanga. [21]
The Polanga asked, "Where, friend, do you drink water?"
The Cobra said, "I drink it nowhere whatever. In this drought where
is there water for anyone to drink?"
Again the Polanga said, "Friend, do not you say so; you have
drunk. Tell me also the quarter where you drink."
After the Cobra had continued not telling it, it afterwards said, "At
such and such a house a little child is playing and playing with the
water in the bowl. Having gone there, as I drink the water the child
throws water on my head with the coconut shell, and strikes me with
hand and foot. Not becoming angry at all, I drink and come away. You,
indeed, will be unable [to restrain yourself]. If you can [remain]
without doing anything [to the child], go and drink, and come away."
The Cobra having sent the Polanga, went behind, and having got
hid, while it remained looking on [the child] throws water on the
[Polanga's] head with the coconut shell, and strikes it with hand and
foot. Until the time when the Polanga drinks its belly full, it remains
doing nothing [to the child]. After it drank it bit the crown of the
child's head. At the blow the child fell into the bowl as though dead.
The Cobra having come running, sucked the poison from the crown of
the child's head, and having made it conscious pursued after the
Polanga. Having joined the Polanga it bit and killed it.
From that day the Cobra and Polanga are opposed.
North-western Province.
THE WIDOW AND THE MUNGUS
I have not met with this tale as a true village folk-story, but it was
related as one of the episodes in the series of tales included under
the title of "The Four Panditayas," in which various stories were
told in order to induce a King not to execute the youngest Panditaya
for wiping off the Queen's body a drop of blood which fell on her at
night when he cut in two a cobra that was about to bite the King. The
whole story is an Indian one.
The account given to me is as follows:--[The Panditaya said,] "O
Lord, Your Majesty, I myself will tell you a story, be pleased to
hear it." Having said this he began thus:--"At a time, at a city a
widow-mother reared a Mungus. The widow-mother alone takes firewood and
water home. One day the woman having placed her child in the house,
while the Mungus stays there she went for firewood. Having gone
for firewood, when she was returning, the Mungus, [22] having blood
smeared on its body and head, came in front of the widow-woman. The
woman thought that having indeed bitten her child it came here. At
the time when through anger at it she struck the Mungus with the
firewood sticks that were in her hand, causing it to fall, it died.
"When she came home, having seen that the Mungus had bitten in pieces
a Polanga which came to bite (lit., eat) the child, she said, 'Ane! If
not for my Mungus the Polanga would have bitten my child. Now, not
making inquiry I killed the Mungus, the Mungus!' and having become
grieved she died. After her death the child also died."
P. B. Madahapola, Ratemahatmaya, North-western Province.
In The Orientalist, vol. i, p. 213, Mr. H. A. Pieris gave this story,
the widow killing the Mungus with the rice pestle, and in the end
committing suicide.
In the Hitopadesa and Cinq Cents Contes et Apologues (Chavannes),
vol. ii, p. 300, the story is similar, the owner of the animal being
a Brahmana, who was overwhelmed with grief when he realised what he
had done.
Regarding the supposed enmity between the Cobra and Polanga,
Capt. R. Knox wrote, "if the Polonga and the Noya meet together,
they cease not fighting till one hath kill'd the other." (Hist. Rel.,
p. 29.) In my own experience I have seen nothing to support this
belief; but as both snakes live on similar food it is probable that on
their casually meeting when in search of it the stronger or fiercer one
will drive the other away, and occasionally this may result in a fight.
NO. 185A
THE CRAB AND THE FROG
At a certain time for a certain Frog food became deficient. Having
gone near a certain Crab he brought paddy. He having brought the
paddy, after not much time had gone the Crab asked the Frog for the
[repayment of the] paddy debt. Then the Frog said, "I will afterwards
give [you] the debt."
For the Frog's getting two from the naeliya [23] that holds four patas,
the Crab falsely asked for seven.
So the Frog in this fashion swears:--"By Karagama Devi, by the one
daughter of mine, out of the naeliya of four patas [it was], two,
two, two, two." [24]
Then the Turtle, being there, says from a side, "If [you] got them,
give; if [you] got them, give." [25]
Notwithstanding this, the Frog did not give them.
North-western Province.
NO. 186
A LOUSE AND A BUG
In a certain country, at a King's palace there is a delightful bed
for reclining on. There was a female Louse which dwelt among the
exceedingly white sheets spread on the bed. And that female Louse,
drinking blood on the body of the King, passed the time in happiness.
At that time, one day a certain Bug walking anywhere came to the
bed. At that time the White Louse said with a displeased countenance,
"Emba! O meritorious Bug, because of what camest thou to this
place? Before anyone gets to know about it go thou quickly from here."
At that time the Bug said, "Emba! O meritorious female, although
[addressed even] to a wicked person who came to the house, speech
like this is not proper. Whether of acrid taste, bitter taste, or
sour taste, the fault of [requiring] food being the cause, various
kinds of blood of several low men were sucked and drunk by me. By
me at any time a sweet blood was not drunk. On that account, sitting
down, if thou art willing, [the desire of] very sweet food being the
cause, by sucking for myself thus, betimes, the blood--any blood,
be it inferior--on the body of this King, to-day I shall dwell in
happiness. Therefore, to me who, not having obtained food, came to
the house, may you be pleased to give this very food. The drinking
this King's blood solitarily, by thee only, is not proper," he said.
Having heard that, the Louse said, "O meritorious Bug, I suck and drink
the blood of this very King who has gone to sleep. If thou swiftly
shouldst be drinking the blood with me, thou wilt drink much blood."
Having heard that, the Bug said, "O meritorious female, I will not
do in that way; while thou drinkest the blood I will not drink. In
the presence of this excellent King I will do it till full."
While both of them were talking in this way they approached the
King's bed. Thereupon the Bug having arrived at great greediness,
bit the King.
At that time the King having arisen from the bed and gone, said,
"There are bugs in the bed; wipe it down to clean it."
The servants having come there, and at the time when they looked
having seen the White Louse, killed it. The Bug crept into a corner
of the bed [and escaped].
Uva Province.
STORIES OF THE LOWER CASTES
STORIES OF THE POTTERS
NO. 187
THE THREE YAKAS
In a spacious great city three Yakas were born. Well then, the three
Yakas spoke together: "Let us three Yakas go to the school of the
Chief of the Yaka forces (Yaksa Senadipotiya), [26] to learn letters."
After they learnt letters the three spoke together: "Let us go to
learn the sciences." The three having walked along the path came to the
travellers' shed at the place where there are again three paths. The
three spoke together. One said, "I will learn the science of killing a
man." One said, "I will learn the science of causing [re-]birth." The
other said, "I will learn to do magic." In the hand of one Yaka [was]
the sword; in the hand of one Yaka, the betel-cutter; in the hand of
one Yaka, the axe.
Those three Yakas said, "You go on that path; I will go on this
path." Then the three Yakas go on the three paths. Before they went
they said, "When any matter of sickness has happened to a person out
of us three, how shall we get to know?"
Then one said, "I will plant a lime tree"; one said, "I will plant a
flower tree"; one said, "I will make a flower pool." [27] Well then,
saying that should any accident occur to the Yakas the fruit will fall
from the lime tree, or the flowers on the flower tree will fade, or the
water of the pool will become muddy, [28] they went on the three paths.
Having gone on the three paths, when they came to three countries
the three summoned three wives, ordinary women (nikan gaenu). The
Yakas taking human appearance, putting on good clothes like men,
putting aside the teeth of Yakas (Yak-dat), taking good teeth, the
women do not know that the three are Yakas.
After a long time, a man died in the village of the Yaka who planted
the lime tree. That Yaka having taken the corpse after they buried it,
and having drawn it to the surface, ate it. [29]
An old thief saw it. Having seen it, on seeing that woman he told her,
"In this manner, the man who is in your house in this way eats human
flesh," having seen that woman, he told that. Owing to it, that woman
that day got to know that said Yaka is a Yaka. After that she prepared
to kill him.
The Yaka's wife asked, "Where is your life?"
The Yaka said, "In my stomach."
"No, you are telling lies."
The Yaka said, "In my breast."
"That also is false," she says. "Tell me the truth."
The Yaka said, "In my neck."
"It is not there, also," she says.
At last the Yaka said, "My life is in [the brightness of] my sword."
Afterwards, placing the sword near his head, he went to sleep. Then
this woman having gone, collected a bon-fire (gini godak), and quietly
taking the sword put it into the hearth. Well then, the woman having
come back, when she looked that Yaka was dead.
That eldest Yaka having arisen, when he looked [saw that] the flowers
and fruit had all fallen from the lime tree. The Yaka said, "Ane! Bola,
there will have been some accident; I must go to look." Well then,
the eldest Yaka having tied up the lime fruits, and come to that
Yaka's country, taking them, when he looked his younger brother was
dead. When he sought for that sword it was not [there].
Afterwards, when he looked at the fire heap that sword was in the
heap. Well then, taking the limes and having cut them, when he was
thoroughly polishing it with the limes that dead Yaka revived (lit.,
was born). Then the elder Yaka, calling the revived Yaka, came to his
[own] house [with him].
A pestilence having stricken the second Yaka, one morning when those
two looked the flowers on that planted tree had fallen. Well then,
having said, "Appa! Bolan, some accident will have stricken our Yaka,"
putting together those flowers also, they went away.
Having gone, and having offered the flowers to the Gods of that
country, the disease was cured; and calling that Yaka also, they came
to that eldest Yaka's house.
Having come [there], that eldest Yaka said to one Yaka, "You do loading
work, and having loaded cattle get your living." To the other Yaka
he said, "You trade and get your living. I will cultivate," he said.
Well then, the three taking human appearance, all remained at the city
where that eldest Yaka was. That Yaka who loaded sacks [with produce
with which he went on trading journeys] was ruined by that very thing,
and died.
Then [in the case of] the Yaka who traded [at a shop], an old thief
stole all the goods [obtained] by his trading. Out of grief on that
account that Yaka died.
That eldest Yaka, doing cultivation and having become abundantly
wealthy, stayed at that very city, and abandoned the Yaka appearance.
Potter. North-western Province.
NO. 188
THE TIME OF SCHOLARS
In a certain country there is, it is said, a [man called] Dikpitiya. A
[married woman called] Diktaladi is rearing an [adopted] child. While
it was [there] no long time, a [female] child was born; to Diktaladi
a child was born. On the boy, the [adopted] boy she reared, she put
a cloth for ploughing (that is, he grew old enough to plough). After
the [female] child grew great and big, [the parents] gave her [in
marriage] to that youth whom Diktaladi reared, [and they went to live
in another village].
The boy she reared, after no long time went by, seeking oil, honey,
flour, and cooking a bag of cakes, and giving them to that woman [his
wife, set off with her] in order to go to look at that mother-in-law
and father-in-law.
At the time when the two are going together, having seen that much
water is going in the river [which it was necessary to cross], both
of them became much afraid in mind. Thereupon, when they are staying
[there], these two persons, having seen that the one called Dikpitiya
was on the opposite bank fishing and fishing, said, "Ane! It is a
great hindrance that has occurred to us. Ane! In our hand there is
not a thing for us to eat, not a place to sit down at. Should you
take us two [across] to that side, it will be charity"; and those
two persons make obeisance to Dikpitiya.
Afterwards Dikpitiya, having left his bait creeper [30] (fishing-line),
came swimming to this side. Having come, "Where are ye two going?" he
asked.
"Ane! We are going to look at our mother-in-law and father-in-law."
Dikpitiya placed the bag of cakes on one shoulder, and placed the
woman on the [other] shoulder. Afterwards he crossed, swimming,
to that [far] side.
After having crossed to that side [he said to the woman], "What a
man that man is! The scare-crow tied in the paddy field! We two are
of one sort; let us two go [off together]."
Afterwards, unfastening the bag of cakes [they counted them, and he]
having given [some] to the woman, the inferior ones, eating and eating
the cakes both of them began to go away.
After that, [when her husband came across and claimed her], Dippitiya
having cried out, and dragged her, and obstructed her going with
feet and hands, he said, "Having snatched away my wife canst thou
strike blows? Come and go [with me]"; and they went for the trial
[regarding their rival claims to be the woman's husband].
Having gone near the King, [and laid a complaint regarding it],
the King [finding that both men claimed her], says, "Imprison ye the
three of them in three houses."
Afterwards the King asks at the hand of Dippitiya, "What is the name
of thy mother?"
"Our mother's name is Sarasayu-wiri." [31]
"Secondly, how many is the number of the cakes?"
"Three less than three hundred."
Having caused Diktaladi's daughter to be brought, he asks, "What is
thy mother's name?"
"Kamaloli" (Love-desiring).
"How many is the number of the cakes?"
"Three less than three hundred."
After that, [as both agreed regarding the number] he handed over the
wife [to him]. Both of them, making and making obeisance, went away.
Potter. North-western Province.
With the exception of the ending, this is the sixth test case which
was settled by the wise Mahosadha, in The Jataka, No. 546 (vol. vi,
p. 163); [32] but the variations show that, like some other Sinhalese
folk-tales, it is not taken over directly from the Jataka story,
which appears to be one of the latest in that collection.
There was a village, apparently of Vaeddas, called Dippitigama, in
the North-western Province [33]; and "the house of the Dippitiyas,
[34] at the village called Kotikapola" is mentioned in the story
numbered 215 in this volume, related by a Tom-tom Beater. This
latter tale apparently contains a large amount of fact, and ends
"the persons who saw these [things said] they are in the form of a
folk-tale." Thus there is a possibility that this part of the Jataka
story is derived from a Sinhalese folk-tale of which the Potter's
story gives the modern version.
STORIES OF THE WASHERMEN
NO. 189
THE THIEF CALLED HARANTIKA
In a certain city there was a thief, Harantikaya by name. The thief,
together with his father, goes to commit robberies. For a long period,
at the time when they are committing robberies at that city not a
single person could seize that thief.
One day, the father and son having spoken about breaking in to the
box of valuables at the foot of the bed [35] of the King of the city,
entered the King's palace. Having entered it, and gone by a window
into the kitchen, and eaten the royal food that was cooked for the
King, he went into the very room and broke into the box at the foot of
the bed; and taking the goods and having come back into the kitchen,
he put [outside] the articles he had brought. It was the father who
went into the house, and put out the articles. The son stayed near
the window, on the outer side.
Well then, the father tries (lit., makes) to come out by the window;
[because of the quantity of food he has eaten] he cannot come. [36]
Thereafter, the father, having put out his neck through the window,
told the son to drag him out.
Well then, the son tried hard to drag him out. Because he also could
not do it the son cut off the father's head. Then the thief called
Harantika (the son), taking the head and the articles stolen out of
the box at the foot of the bed, came home.
Thereafter, having come home he says at the hand of his mother,
"Mother, our father was unable to come [out by the window at which
he entered the kitchen at the palace]. He endeavoured as much as
possible. Because father was unable to come, cutting father's neck
with the knife that was in my hand, [I brought away his head and]
I returned here. The theft will come to light. Now then, to-morrow,
during the day, having said, 'Whose is the corpse?' they will bring
it along these four streets. Don't you either cry out, or lament,
or tell about us." These matters he told his mother.
On the morning of the following day, fixing a noose to the two feet
of the dead body, the King ordered the Ministers to take it, and walk
[dragging the corpse] along the four streets. Next, he gave orders to
the city that everyone, not going anywhere, must remain to observe
whose was this dead body. Thereafter, when the Ministers were going
along dragging the corpse, the men [and women of the city] remained
looking on.
At the time when the wife of the dead man, [on seeing the body] is
crying out, "O my husband!" the thief called Harantika, having been
in a Murunga tree [in front of the doorway], broke a Murunga branch,
and fell to the ground.
Well then, these city people having said, "Who is this who cried
out?" at the time when they hear it a part say, "A boy fell from a
tree; on that account she is crying out." Well then, that she cried
out on account of this corpse nobody knows. That thief called Harantika
was saved by that.
It is owing to that, indeed, they say, "The stratagems which the
thief has, even the God Ganesa (the God of Wisdom) does not possess."
Washerman. North-western Province.
THE DEXTEROUS THIEF AND HIS SON. (Variant.)
In a certain country there was a very dexterous thief, it is said. This
thief had a son and two daughters. These two daughters were wealthy,
wearing better silver and golden sorts of things than the women-folk
of the other important families of the village.
Well then, because this principal thief's son was a person possessing
divine skill (sura-nuwana), ascertaining that they had become wealthy
because of the dexterous character of his father's robbery, he got
into his mind [the notion] to earn the very same livelihood as his
father, having become a dexterous thief to the same degree.
When this principal thief was going for robbery it was a custom [of
his] to go [after] tying two pairs of small bells on both feet. When
the thief's son asked his mother, "What is the motive for going for
robbery, tying on the bells?" she said thus: "Why, son? As though
they are not hearing the noise of your father's pair of little bells,
he goes [after] tying on the pair of little bells, having put them on
the foot by way of ingenuity, for the purpose of remembering to commit
[only] theft."
Well then, one day, when the father had started to go for robbery,
the son also asked his mother [for permission] to go with him. At that
time his mother said thus: "Son, because of [your not possessing]
your father's dexterity, at no time are you able, indeed, to get
a bare subsistence by doing that for a livelihood. Because of that
don't you try to go."
On the following day, when the father was going for robbery this son
also went without concealing himself, just behind his father. [The
father] having dug into a house, when he was becoming ready to enter
the house, this son went behind quietly, and cutting off the two
pairs of little bells that were on his father's two feet, came home.
The father, also, perceiving, before entering the house, that some
one had cut both pairs of little bells off his two feet, having
dropped the doing house-robbery, and having gone running home, from
that day remained lying down, without eating, without drinking. When
this thief's wife asked, "Why are you doing that?" the thief says,
"After he cut off my two pairs of little bells, which, from the day
I was born, for so much time were committing robbery more cleverly
than all, well, I shall not go for robbery, and shall not eat, and
shall not drink," he said.
Because the thief's wife had ascertained that his son had cut off
his father's two pairs of little bells, having said to the thief,
"Don't be grieved," she told him that his own son cut off the two
pairs of little bells. Thereupon the thief was extremely satisfied
regarding his son.
Again one day, on the day when there was a feast at the King's house,
the principal thief was ready to go to commit robbery in the royal
house. His son also said that he was wishful to go. Thereupon the
father said, "Because thou also art a dexterous thief of my own
quality, come." They two having gone, and having dug into the royal
palace, while the son remained outside the father went into the house,
and having brought gold, silver, pearls, gems, various other things,
gave them to his son.
From the time when the father, having dug into the house, entered
it, the son said, "Father, however sweet the royal food should be,
don't eat even a little, indeed." But as soon as the father's nose
perceived the sweet odour of the tasty sorts of food, the father
began to eat the royal provisions to the possible extent. Having
thus eaten, and having finished, taking also a quantity of goods,
when, having filled his belly, [he was] coming to give them to his
son, his belly having been filled and having become enlarged, he was
unable to creep out by the place which he first dug; and he stuck fast.
Thereupon the son, having gone running to the house, taking also the
goods, informed his mother about this; and again having gone to the
King's house, taking a sword also, and having seen that the father
having been stuck fast was dead, cutting the father's neck with the
sword he brought home only the head.
On the following day, in the morning having perceived that the goods
at the royal house have been stolen, and having caused soothsayers
to be brought to find the thief, when [the King] asked the sooth
the soothsayers said, "The thief has entered on such and such a side
of such and such a store-house, having dug a long tunnel. The thief
indeed can be found; the things cannot be found." Thereupon the King,
having made inquiry and when he looked having seen that in the end
of the tunnel a man without the head part had become stuck fast,
for the purpose of finding who are the relatives whom the man has,
and his friends, commanded that during the whole of three days [they
were] to walk, bringing the corpse, everywhere in the city.
Well then, as this corpse--the above-mentioned corpse--was coming to
pass in front of the house of its owners, the above-mentioned son said
to his mother and sisters, "They are now taking our father's corpse
[and are about to pass] in front of our house. Having seen it, don't
anyone of you lament." This word the mother and sisters accepted. But
because this son thinks there is uncertainty if they will lament,
having ascended a Murunga tree that was in front of the doorway he
remained [there].
At the time when he is thus, as they are taking the corpse in front
of the said house, that mother and the sisters, unable to go on
restraining their grief, cried out, "Ane! O our father!" [37] There
and then, the son who was in the Murunga tree, breaking a branch also
from the tree jumped down, and was as though dead.
At that time that mother and the sisters, calling out, "Ane! O my
son! Ane! O our elder brother!" and having come running, and gone,
taking the son, into the house, gave him medicine and began to attend
to him. Thereupon the people who were carrying that corpse thought,
"They are crying owing to that woman's son's having died," and
went away.
By this means the people of the thief's family, not tasting (lit.,
eating) death from the King, escaped.
Western Province.
In The Orientalist, vol. i, p. 59, Mr. W. Goonetilleke gave the story
as it was related in the Supplement to the Ceylon Observer. The
thief passed through a small pre-existing tunnel into the King's
palace, and after feasting inside stuck fast in it on his way back,
and ordered his son to cut off his head and escape with it. The
youth acted accordingly and threw it in a weighted basket into the
river. The rest of the story agrees with those given above.
In the story related by Herodotus (Euterpe, 121, 1) of the robbery
of the treasury of King Rhampsinitus, the thief entered by removing a
loose stone, laid for the purpose by his father when he was building
the treasury. He did not feast inside the palace nor stick fast on his
way out, but was caught in a trap laid for him in the treasury. His
brother entered, and at his own request cut off his head to save
the family reputation. The King hung the body from the wall, and
stationed sentinels who were commanded to arrest anyone who wept on
seeing it. The brother made them drunk and carried off the corpse
by his mother's orders. After vainly making use of his daughter as
a bait for the thief, in the end the King forgave him on account of
his cleverness and married his daughter to him.
In the Katha Sarit Sagara (Tawney), vol. ii, p. 93, Karpara, one of
two thieves, broke through the wall of the palace and entered the room
of the Princess. She fell in love with him, but he remained too long,
and was arrested and hanged; while being led away he signalled to
his friend to carry off the Princess. The friend, Ghata, at night
dug a tunnel into the palace, found the Princess in fetters, and
brought her away. The King set guards near Karpara's body to arrest
anyone who came to burn the corpse and perform the funeral rites,
but Ghata tricked them, lamented over the body, burned it, and threw
the remains of the bones into the Ganges. Although the King offered
half his kingdom if the thief would reveal himself, Ghata left the
country with the Princess. The translator mentioned European and
other parallels (pp. 93 and 100).
In A. von Schiefner's Tibetan Tales (Ralston), p. 39, a weaver went
with a clever nephew to break into a house. As he was passing feet
foremost through the hole they made, the people inside seized his feet
and began to drag him through, so the boy cut off his head and decamped
with it. The King ordered the trunk to be exposed at the cross-roads
in the main street, in order to arrest anyone who wailed over it. The
youth, personating various people, wailed over it as a madman, burned
it, presented cakes, and threw the bones into the Ganges. The King
then set his daughter at the river bank as a bait, and left a guard
near. After sending down a number of floating water vessels the thief
covered his head with one, and swam to the Princess, who afterwards
had a son by means of whom the King identified the thief, to whom he
formally gave the Princess and half the kingdom. In Cinq Cents Contes
et Apologues (Chavannes), vol. ii, p. 380, the story is similar.
NO. 190
THE STORY OF THE FOUR-FOLD TRAP [38]
In a certain country there was a Gamarala. The Gamarala having tried
for seven years caught a White Rat-snake. A Devatawa having come
by dream told the Gamarala that when he had eaten the Rat-snake's
head he would obtain the kingship. Having told the Gamarala's wife
to cook the White Rat-snake the Gamarala went to wash his head (to
purify himself). [39]
After that, a Tom-tom Beater (Naekatiyek), weaving a cloth, came to
the Gamarala's house [with it]. The Gama-Mahage (the Gamarala's wife)
through stinginess [unwilling] to give meat, gave the Tom-tom Beater
rice and that White Rat-snake's head, not knowing [its property].
The Gamarala having come [after] washing his head, asked the
Gama-Mahage for the White Rat-snake's head. Then the woman said,
"I gave it to eat, to the Tom-tom Beater (Berawaya) who came [after]
weaving the cloth." Thereupon the Gamarala said, "Thou gavest it to
thy man! Why? When seven years have gone by from this time he will
obtain the sovereignty."
After the seven years went by, it was commanded to give the kingship
to the Tom-tom Beater. But the people of the city said they could
not give him the kingship, because he was a Tom-tom Beater. Because,
through the act of his eating the White Rat-snake's head they were
unable to avoid giving (nodi) him the kingship, they said, "Let us give
him the sovereignty for one paeya (twenty-four minutes). A strong man
having shot an arrow aloft, let us give the kingship until it falls
to the ground." Having promised this he shot it.
For thirty years that arrow did not fall to the ground; Sakra held
it. After thirty years had gone, the arrow afterwards fell to the
ground. The kingship of that King Mota-Tissa having been changed
that day, again a Prince of the royal line, suitable for the city,
obtained the kingship.
After that, on account of the Tom-tom Beaters who were in this Lankawa
(Ceylon) claiming, "We, too, are of the royal line," the King and
the other people, also, having become angry, say, "Can anyone,
indeed, construct a Four-fold Trap?" they asked. A smith who knows
various expedients (upa-waeda), having said, "I can," constructed a
Four-fold Trap.
Inside the Four-fold Trap having placed cakes and milk-rice, the
King said, "To the Tom-tom Beaters who are in Ceylon the King will
give an eating (feast)." He sent letters to the Tom-tom Beaters to
come. They call that one with one mouth (entrance) like the Habaka
(a snare-trap) the Four-fold Trap (Hatara-maha Lula).
Well then, after all the Tom-tom Beaters came, the King says, "All
of you go at one time into that house," [40] he said. After that,
all the Tom-tom Beaters at one time entered the house. Afterwards
the King struck off (gaesuwaya) the Four-fold Trap. Well then, all
the Tom-tom Beaters died.
Because one pregnant woman, only, was at the corner (or end, asse),
the woman's neck having been caught she died. As ten months had fully
gone, the infant was brought forth outside. Thereafter, at the time
when the Gamarala, and the King of the city, and the Washerman who
washes the clothes are going near the Four-fold Trap, an infant was
crying and crying. Afterwards the Gamarala and the Washerman (Rada
miniha) having gone away carrying the infant, reared it.
After not much time, the King having died another Prince obtained
the kingship. For the purpose of making [his accession to] the
sovereignty public to the world, he told them to beat on the double
kettle-drum. Although all the people of the country beat on the double
kettle-drum the sound did not spread. The King asked, "Who must beat
it for the sound of this to spread?"
Then the people say, "Should a Tom-tom Beater beat, indeed, the sound
of this will spread."
Thereupon the King asks, "Are there not Tom-tom Beaters in this city?"
Then the people say, "In the time of such and such a King, having
constructed the Four-fold Trap he killed all the Tom-tom Beaters."
The King asked, "Because of what circumstance did he kill them in
that way?"
Well then, these people [said], "Previously one of them called
Mota-Tissa was a King. Well then, because of their arrogance, the King
who next obtained the sovereignty, having prepared a Four-fold Trap,
killed them all." They told the King all the matters that occurred.
After that, the King made public that he will give gold [amounting]
to a tusk elephant's load to a person who should find and give him
a Tom-tom Beater.
Then the Gamarala [and Washerman] having spoken to the King:--"We will
give a Tom-tom Beater," gave him that youth whom they had reared. Well
then, the King having caused the youth to dress well, having decorated
a tusk elephant, and placed the youth on the back of the tusk elephant,
caused the proclamation tom-tom to be beaten by means of the youth.
The youth does not know anything whatever of beating. The Gamarala and
the Washerman who reared the youth taught him, "Beat thou the tom-tom
(bere) thus: 'Thy mother [was] Tangi, thy father [was] Tongi; Tangi
and Tongi.'" [41] When the youth beat in that manner the proclamation
by beat of tom-toms (anda-bera) was published in the city.
Well then, because there was not much weaving (bo wimak) by him (owing
to his household work), the King says, "Out of this city, by any method
thou wantest, take any woman thou wantest," he said to the youth.
Subsequently, the Gamarala and that Washerman said to the youth,
"Because the Smiths who constructed the Four-fold Trap killed
thy family, on account of it go thou and bring a Smith (caste)
woman." After that, the youth, having brought a Smith (caste) woman,
married her.
The King having given many offices to the youth, he lived in happiness
at the city.
Washerman. North-western Province.
In A. von Schiefner's Tibetan Tales derived from Indian Sources
(Ralston), p. 129, the widow of a son of the King of Videha, who had a
son called Bahvannapana, was given in marriage by the King of Pañcala,
her father, to his Purohita or spiritual adviser. The Purohita one day
heard a Brahmana predict when he heard a cock crow near the house, that
the person who ate its flesh would become King. He therefore killed
the cock, told his wife to cook it at once, and went to the palace
on business. During his absence Bahvannapana returned hungry from
school, saw the bird in the pan, cut off its head, and ate it. When
the Purohita came back he heard of this, and ate up the rest of the
fowl. On consulting the Brahmana about it he was informed that he
who ate the head would become King, and that one who killed him and
ate his head in turn would also become King, so he determined to kill
the boy. His mother perceived this and sent the boy away to Videha,
and he lay down to sleep in a park there. The King had just died,
apparently without an heir, and the funeral ceremonies could not be
performed until a new King was chosen. The Ministers, officials,
Brahmanas, etc., went in search of a suitable heir, saw the boy,
aroused him, ascertained that he was the true heir to the throne,
and proclaimed him King.
Messrs. H. B. Andris and Co., of Kandy, have been good enough to
inform me that the Hatara-maha Lula is a large four-sided trap, made
for catching large animals, such as deer and wild pigs. It has four
entrances and four nooses. They state that the Habaka mentioned on
p. 49 is a similar but smaller trap, with one noose, used for catching
hares, mouse-deer, wild cats, etc.
NO. 191
THE FOOLISH PRINCE
At a certain city there were a Prince and a Princess. One day when
the two are staying talking and talking, the Princess says, "Lord,
please tell a story for me to hear," she said.
Then the Prince said, "It is good. I know a story that no one knows;
I will tell you it," and beginning it he told the story.
At the time when he was telling it a Brahmana was listening. The
Brahmana having gone away, said to the Brahmana's wife, "I know a
story." Then the woman said, "If so, tell the story, for me to hear
it." The Brahmana told the story.
The Brahmana's wife also learning it, having come on the following
day told the story to that Princess. The Princess asked the Brahmana's
wife, "Who told you this?" Then the woman said falsely, "I learnt it
[some time] previously."
Well then, this Princess having said [to herself], "My Prince is
indeed associated with this woman. If not, how does this woman know
to-day the story which my Prince told yesterday for me to hear?" and
having become angry with the Prince, the Princess also associated with
another Prince. This Prince, ascertaining this, killed the Princess.
In no long time after that, the thought having occurred to the Prince,
"If my Princess were [here] it would be good for me," having walked
throughout the whole of Lankawa (Ceylon) he looked where the Princess
is now. [42]
One day, this Prince asked another man, "Did you see my Princess?"
At that time the [other] Prince said, "I saw that the Princess
was staying yesterday in the daytime in the midst of such and such
a forest."
Well then, this Prince, asking and asking the way, having gone to
the midst of the forest, at the time when he was walking in it a bear
having bitten the Prince he died.
Washerman. North-western Province.
In the Katha Sarit Sagara (Tawney), vol. i, p. 4, it is stated
that when the God Siva was relating a story to his wife Parvati,
one of his dependants, a Gana named Pushpadanta, entered unseen by
his magic power, and listened to it. Afterwards he related it to his
wife Jaya, who recited it in the presence of Parvati, whereupon the
Goddess lost her temper, reproached Siva for telling her an old story
known by others, and when she heard from him the true explanation,
cursed Pushpadanta and turned him into a mortal.
NO. 192
THE JACKAL AND THE GAMARALA
In a certain country, while a Gamarala, being without cattle to plough,
was going for the purpose of asking for a yoke of cattle after making
a lump of milk-rice, he met two Jackals.
Thereupon the Jackals ask, "Where, Gamarala, are you going?"
"I am going to borrow (lit., ask for) a yoke of cattle to plough."
"What things are on your head?"
"A box of milk-rice."
"Should you give us the box we will plough."
Having said, "Ijaw! Eat ye it," he gave it. Thereupon the Jackals
ate it.
After that, having come dragging the two Jackals and tied the yoke
[on their necks], they tried to draw [the plough]; the Jackals cannot
draw it. After that, having beaten and beaten them he threw them into
the weeds.
On the following day, while he is going [after] cooking a box [of
milk-rice], having met with two Jackals [they said], "Gamarala,
where are you going?"
"I am going to borrow a yoke of cattle to plough."
"What things are on your head?"
"On my head is a box of milk-rice."
"Should you give us the box we will plough."
"Yesterday also, having given milk-rice to a yoke of Jackals I was
foolish."
"They were Jackals of the brinjal (egg-plant) caste; owing to being
in full bloom we are Jackals of the tusk elephant caste," they said.
After that, having said, "Indaw," he gave them it. After they ate
it, having come dragging the two Jackals and tied the yoke [on their
necks], he tried to plough. Thereupon, when they were unable to draw
[the plough] having beaten and beaten them he threw them into the
weeds. At that time they saw that those [former] Jackals are groaning
and groaning. These Jackals also having gone away, lay down.
A Jackal having gone near the Wild Cat, [43] says, "Preceptor,
[tell me] how to eat a little milk-rice from the Gamarala's house?"
"If so, having hidden at the place of the firewood bundles remain
[there]."
After that, the Jackal having gone, remained hidden at the place
of the firewood bundles. Having waited there, at the time when the
Gamarala's wife is going for water the Cat told the Jackal to come
into the house. Thereupon the Jackal having gone into the house got
upon the platform (at the level of the top of the side walls). Then
the Cat having gone, gave him a little milk-rice in a piece of coconut
shell. While he was on the platform with the Cat it became evening.
At that time, in the evening the Jackals having come to the rice
field, howled. Thereupon this Jackal said, "Preceptor, I must bring
to remembrance my religion." [44]
Then the Cat said, "Ane! Appa! Having killed thee they will kill me."
Again the Jackals at midnight having come into the rice field,
howled. Thereupon the Jackal [said], "Preceptor, I must bring to
remembrance my religion; I cannot endure it."
When [the Cat] was saying, "The top of thy head will be split,"
he howled, "Hokkiya!"
Then the Gamarala having awoke, at the time when he looked on the
platform he saw that a Jackal was [there]. Thereupon, having beaten
the Jackal he killed it outright.
Washerman. North-western Province.
In the Tota Kahani (Small), p. 221, after an ass and a stag which
were friends had feasted one night in a garden, the ass became
exhilarated and suggested that they should sing a song together. The
stag endeavoured to prevent this, but the ass would not listen to
it, and began to bray, on which the gardener came with some men,
and caught and crucified both the animals.
In Folk-Tales from Tibet (O'Connor), p. 64, a hare and a fox induced a
wolf to leave a dead horse on which it was feeding, and to accompany
them to a house where there was a wedding feast, at which they could
obtain plenty to eat and drink. They got through a window into
the larder, and after feasting abundantly decided, at the hare's
suggestion, to carry away other provisions, the hare some cheese, the
fox a fowl, and the wolf a jar of wine through the handle of which he
put his head. Then the hare proposed a song before they started, and
after some persuasion the wolf began to sing. When the people heard it
they rushed to the larder. The hare and fox jumped through the window,
but the wolf was stopped by the jar of wine, and was killed by the men.
In A. von Schiefner's Tibetan Tales (Ralston), p. 323, an ass joined
a bull which was accustomed to break through a fence and feed in the
evening in the King's bean-field. After eating, the ass suggested that
it should sing; the bull told it to wait until he had gone and then
do as it pleased. When it began to bray it was seized, its ears were
cut off, a pestle was fastened to its neck, and it was set free. The
same story is given in Cinq Cents Contes et Apologues (Chavannes),
vol. ii, p. 374.
In the former work, p. 337, and in the latter one, vol. ii, p. 417,
it is stated with reference to the jackal's uncontrollable desire to
howl, "it is according to the nature of things that jackals, if they
hear a jackal howl without howling themselves, lose their hair."
STORIES OF THE TOM-TOM BEATERS
NO. 193
THE STORY OF BATMASURA [45]
In a certain country there are a God Îswara (Siva) and a Princess
(Uma), it is said. That God Îswara was a good soothsayer.
News of it having reached another country, a man called Batmasura came
to learn soothsaying. Having come and been there a long time he learnt
soothsaying. That Batmasura who was learning it went to his village.
Having gone and been there a long time, he again came near the God
Îswara. When he came there the God Îswara was not at home; only the
Princess was there. Having soaked the cloth which the Princess wore
she had placed it in the veranda [before washing it].
That Batmasura taking the cloth, and having gone and washed it, as
he was holding it out [to dry] this Princess saw him. Having seen him
she sat silently. Then Batmasura having come [after] drying the cloth,
gave it into the hand of the Princess.
After that, the Princess gave Batmasura the rice which had been cooked
for the God Îswara. As Batmasura, having eaten the cooked rice, was
finishing, the God Îswara came. After he came that Princess set about
making ready food for the God Îswara.
Then the God Îswara asked at the hand of the Princess, "What is the
food so late to-day for?"
After that, the Princess said, "That Batmasura having come, and that
one having washed and brought and given my (mange) cloth, on account
of it I gave him the food. Did you teach that one all soothsaying?" the
Princess asked at the hand of the God Iswara.
The God Iswara said, "I taught him all soothsaying indeed; only the
Iswara incantation (daehaena) I did not teach him."
Then the Princess said, "Teach him that also."
The God Iswara said, "Should I utter to him the Iswara incantation
also, that one will seize me."
The Princess said, "He will not do so; utter it."
After that, the God Iswara told the Princess to call Batmasura
near. The Princess called to Batmasura [to come] near; Batmasura
came near.
Thereupon the God Iswara said to that Batmasura, "When I have uttered
the Iswara incantation to thee, thou wilt seize me, maybe."
Then Batmasura said, "I will not seize thee; be good enough to utter
it, Sir."
After that, the God Iswara said, "Hold thou my hand," to Batmasura;
so Batmasura held his hand. Thereupon the God Iswara uttered it
(maeturuwa).
After that, Batmasura thought to himself, "Having killed the God
Iswara I will go to my village, summoning the Princess [to be my
wife]." Thinking it, Batmasura bounded on the path of the God Iswara.
When the God Iswara was going running, the brother-in-law (Vishnu)
of the God Iswara was rocking and rocking in a golden swing. Having
seen that this God Iswara is running, the brother-in-law of the God
Iswara asked at the hand of the God Iswara, "Where are you running?"
Then the God Iswara said, "At Batmasura's hand I uttered over the
hand the Iswara incantation. That one is [now] coming to seize me."
After that, the brother-in-law of the God Iswara told him to stop
[after] having gone running still a little distance further. So the God
Iswara having gone running a little distance further, stopped there.
Then while the brother-in-law of the God Iswara, creating for himself
the appearance of a woman (Mohini, the Deluder), was rocking and
rocking in the golden swing, Batmasura came running [there].
Batmasura while coming there having seen with delight that woman who
was rocking in the golden swing, his mind went to that woman. His
mind having gone there, the [other] incantations that he had learnt
were forgotten, and the Iswara incantation was forgotten.
Then the woman asked at the hand of Batmasura, "Where are you going?"
Then Batmasura said, "I am going to seek the God Iswara." Having said
that, he asked at the hand of the woman, "What are you here for?"
The woman said, "Nothing. I am simply here" (that is, for no special
purpose).
After that, Batmasura asked, "Can you go with me?"
The woman said, "I can indeed go. Is there your wife?" (that is,
"Have you a wife?"). Batmasura said, "There is."
Then the woman said, "If so, how can I go? I am with child. You go,
and having asked at the hand of your wife about it, come back."
After that, Batmasura came home and asked at the hand of his wife,
"There is a woman at the road, rocking and rocking in a golden
swing. The woman is with child. Shall I summon her to come [as my
wife]?" The woman told him to summon her to come.
Afterwards, when Batmasura was coming again to the place where this
woman was, the woman having borne a child, that one was in her hand,
and again she was with child.
Then Batmasura having come, said, "Let us go," to that woman.
The woman said, "There is [a child] in hand, and again I am with
child. Having asked [about it] come back."
After that, Batmasura went home again and asked at the hand of the
woman, "She is carrying one in the arms, and is again with child. Shall
I summon her to come?"
The woman said, "Summon her and come."
Afterwards as Batmasura was coming again to the place where the woman
was, the woman was carrying two in the arms, and was again with child.
Then Batmasura came, and said to the woman, "Let us go."
The woman said, "How shall I go carrying two in the arms, and again
with child? Go and ask about it, and come back."
Afterwards Batmasura, having gone home, asked at the hand of his wife,
"She is carrying two in the arms, and is again with child." Then the
woman told him to summon her and come.
After that Batmasura having come to the place where this woman stayed,
when he looked there was neither woman nor children. Thereupon that
one went away home.
After that, the God Îswara went away to the house of the God
Îswara. Having gone there, when a long time had passed Batmasura died,
and having come was [re]-born inside the God Îswara.
Afterwards the God Îswara went near another deity and asked, "What
is this? My belly is enlarging!"
That deity said, "Another living being (parana-karayek) has been
caused to come inside your body. On account of it, you must split
open your body, and throw it away."
The God Îswara could not split open his body. Having said, "I shall
die," he came home. Having come there, he ate medicine from another
doctor; that also was no good.
Again he went near that very deity. Having gone there, the God Îswara
asked at the hand of that deity, "What, now then, shall I do for this?"
Then the deity said, "There is nothing else to do; you must split
your body."
Then the God Îswara said, "When I have split my body shall I not
be destroyed?"
The deity said, "You will not be destroyed; your life will remain
over."
Afterwards, the God Îswara told him to split open his body. Having
split the body, when he looked there was a lump of flesh. He seized
it and threw it away. After that, the God Îswara having become well,
went home.
When a Lord (Buddhist monk) was coming with the begging-bowl, that
lump of flesh was on the path. Having gathered it together with his
walking-stick it fell into a hole (wala). [46]
Next day, as he was coming with the begging-bowl, that lump of flesh
sprang at the body of the Lord. Then the Lord having said, "Ci! Wala,
ha!" [47] gathered it together [again] with his walking-stick.
Thence, indeed, was the Bear (walaha).
Tom-tom Beater. North-western Province.
With reference to the last paragraphs, it is strange that a somewhat
similar notion regarding the foetal form of newly born bears was
long current in Europe. In the thirteenth century Encyclopedia of
Bartholomew Anglicus (ed. 1535), cap. cxii, it is stated that "Avicenna
saith that the bear bringeth forth a piece of flesh imperfect and evil
shapen, and the mother licketh the lump, and shapeth the members with
licking.... For the whelp is a piece of flesh little more than a mouse,
having neither eyes nor ears, and having claws some-deal bourgeoning
[sprouting], and so this lump she licketh, and shapeth a whelp with
licking" (Medieval Lore, Steele, p. 137).
This is taken from Pliny, who wrote of bears: "At the first they
seeme to be a lumpe of white flesh without all forme, little bigger
than rattons, without eyes, and wanting hair; onely there is some
shew and appearance of clawes that put forth. This rude lumpe,
with licking they fashion by little and little into some shape"
(Nat. Hist., P. Holland's translation, 1601, p. 215.)
NO. 194
THE STORY OF AYIWANDA
In a certain city there are an elder brother and a younger sister, two
persons, it is said. Of them, the elder brother is a very rich person;
the younger sister has nothing (mokut nae). The younger sister is a
widow woman; there is one boy. The boy himself lodges at his uncle's
watch-huts and the like; the youngster's name is Ayiwanda.
The uncle having scraped a little rice from the bottom of the
cooking-pot, and given him it, says, "Ade! Ayiwanda, be off to the
watch-hut [at the cattle-fold]." The youngster came to the watch-hut.
The uncle having gone and looked, [saw that] one or two calves
were dead in the cattle-fold. Then the uncle having come home scolds
Ayiwanda, "Ayiwanda, at the time when thou wert going to the watch-hut
thou drankest a little milk, and there being no milk for the calves
they are dying."
Afterwards Ayiwanda having gone that day to the watch-hut, and having
said that he must catch the thieves, without sleeping stayed awake
until the time when it became dawn.
Then Gopalu Devatawa, having opened the entrance (kadulla), came
into the cattle-fold. Having come there and placed on the path his
cord and club, [48] he began to drink milk. Afterwards Ayiwanda,
having descended from the watch-hut, very quietly got both the cord
and the club. Taking them he went again to the watch-hut.
Well then, Gopalu Devatawa having drunk milk and the like, when he
looked for both the cord and the club in order to go, they were not
[there]. Afterwards, Gopalu Devatawa having gone near the watch-hut
asked for the cord and club. Ayiwanda taking the two descended from
the watch-hut to the ground.
Then Gopalu Devatawa asked for the rope and cudgel, both, at the
hand of Ayiwanda. Then Ayiwanda said, "I have heard scoldings for so
much time, that as I drank the milk the calves are dying. To-day I
stayed awake and caught the thief. Except that if you will give me
an authority on that account I will give you the rope and cudgel,
I will not otherwise give them."
Then Gopalu Devatawa said to Ayiwanda, "Think in your mind, 'If there
be an authority which Gopalu Devatawa gave, may that hill and this
hill, both, become united into one.'"
Afterwards Ayiwanda thought in that way. Then the two hills became
united into one.
Then Gopalu Devatawa said to Ayiwanda, "Think in your mind, 'If there
be an authority which Gopalu Devatawa gave, these hills are again to
become separated.'"
Afterwards Ayiwanda thought in that manner. The two hills again
became separated.
Gopalu Devatawa said to Ayiwanda, "Think in your mind, 'If there be
an authority which Gopalu Devatawa gave, that tree and this tree are
both to become one.'"
Afterwards Ayiwanda thought in that manner. The two trees became
united into one.
Gopalu Devatawa said again to Ayiwanda, "Think in your mind, 'If
there be an authority which Gopalu Devatawa gave, the two trees are
again to become separate.'"
Ayiwanda thought in that manner. Then the two trees became separate.
Now then, Gopalu Devatawa said, "The authority that Gopalu Devatawa
gave [you] is true." Having said that, and told him that having
gone he was to keep it in mind, he assured him of the fact (satta
dunna). After that, to Gopalu Devatawa Ayiwanda gave both the cord
and the cudgel. Well then, Gopalu Devatawa taking them went away.
Ayiwanda having been [there] until the time when it became light,
came home and said at the hand of Ayiwanda's mother, "Mother, ask
for uncle's girl and come back."
Then Ayiwanda's mother says, "Ane! Son, who will give [marriage]
feasts to us? [We have] not a house to be in; we are in the hollow
of a Tamarind. I will not. You go and ask, and come back," she said.
Afterwards Ayiwanda went and asked. Then Ayiwanda's uncle said,
"Who will give girls to thee?" Having said, "Be off!" [49] he scolded
him. After that, Ayiwanda having come back is silent.
Having come from an outside village, [people] asked for Ayiwanda's
uncle's girl [in marriage]. Then he promised to give her there. He
appointed it to be on such and such a day. The men went away.
Then Ayiwanda's uncle gave betel to shooters who were in
the neighbourhood, [so that they should shoot animals for the
wedding-feast]. Ayiwanda thought in his mind, "Let those shooters not
meet with anything, if there be an authority which Gopalu Devatawa
gave." Afterwards the shooters walked about at the time when they are
saying that the [wedding] feast is to-morrow. They did not meet with
even a thing.
After that, Ayiwanda went to his uncle's house. When he said that the
[wedding] feast would be to-morrow, to-day in the evening he asked,
"Uncle, give me that bow and arrow."
Thereupon his uncle said, "Ansca! [50] Bola, because there is no
hunting-meat have you come to rebuke me? So many shooters were unable
[to do it], and [yet] you will seek hunting-meat!" Having said [this],
he scolded Ayiwanda. "Through being without hunting-meat, my girl,
leaving the house and the like, will not stay, [you think]!" [51]
Afterwards Ayiwanda came home. Then his mother told Ayiwanda to eat
the rice scraped from the cooking-pot which had been brought from his
uncle's house. Ayiwanda having eaten a little of the scraped rice,
gave the other little to Ayiwanda's mother, and thought in his mind,
"Preparing the bow from the rice-pestle and preparing the arrow
from love-grass, I having gone to the watch-hut and ascended into
the watch-hut, if there be an authority which Gopalu Devatawa gave,
may a Sambhar deer with horns come there and remain sleeping as I
arise in the morning." Having said [this] Ayiwanda went to sleep.
Having awoke in the morning, when he looked a Sambhar deer with horns
having come was sleeping in the middle of the cattle-fold. Ayiwanda
having descended from the watch-hut, taking the bow made from the
rice pestle and the arrow made from love-grass, came near the Sambhar
deer, and thought in his mind, "If there be an authority which Gopalu
Devatawa gave, that which is shot at this Sambhar deer from this
side is to be passed out from the other side." Having thought it he
shot. In that very manner the Sambhar deer died.
Ayiwanda having gone to his uncle's house, said, "Uncle, there! I
have shot down a Sambhar deer with horns at the cattle-fold; it is
[there]. Go and cut it up, and come back."
Then his uncle said, "Ansca dukkan! There is no hunting-meat of
thine. I shall not make the feast desolate; somehow or other I shall
indeed give it. Hast thou come to rebuke me?"
After that, Ayiwanda, calling men and having gone, having come back
[after] cutting up the Sambhar deer, put down the meat at his uncle's
house.
Thereafter, just before the feasters came having cooked the meat and
cooked rice, he placed for Ayiwanda a little of the rice scrapings and
two bones from the meat; and having given them to Ayiwanda, he said,
"Eat those, and go thou to the watch-hut."
Ayiwanda having eaten them and gone to the watch-hut, thought, "Now,
at daybreak, may those who take hold of the cloth at the place where
[the bridegroom] gives it to wear, [52] remain in that very way,
if there be an authority which Gopalu Devatawa gave."
In that very way, at daybreak, when he was giving [her] the cloth to
put on they remain in the very position in which the bridegroom held
an end and the bride an end.
Then the palm-sugar maker and the washerman [53] having gone and said,
"What are you doing? Be good enough to take that cloth," those two
also remained in the position in which they took hold at the two ends.
Then the girl's father having gone and said, "What is this, Bola,
that thou hast not yet taken that cloth?" that man also remained
in the very position in which he got hold of an end. The bride, the
bridegroom, the palm-sugar maker, the washerman, the girl's father,
in the position in which they took hold of the cloth, in that very
manner had become [like] stone.
Having seen it, the girl's mother went running in the village, and
having summoned two men made them go on a journey for medicine. The
two men having gone to the Vedarala's house are coming calling the
Vedarala, by the middle of a large grass field.
Then Ayiwanda came after being in the watch-hut, and while he is
at the place where his aunt is, saw the Vedarala and the two men
going. Ayiwanda thought, "If there be an authority which Gopalu
Devatawa gave, may the Vedarala think of sitting down on the bullock's
skull which is in that grass field."
Then the Vedarala sat down on the bullock's skull. From morning until
the time when it became night he pressed on it. Those two men are
calling and calling to the Vedarala to come. The bullock's skull will
not get free. Thus, in that manner until it became night he pressed
against it.
Afterwards Ayiwanda thought, "If there be an authority which Gopalu
Devatawa gave, the bullock's skull having become free, may the Vedarala
succeed in going back again."
After that, the Vedarala's bullock's skull having become free he went
back home. Having said, "Never mind that medical treatment," the two
men who went to summon the Vedarala to come, came to the bride's house.
Then the bride's mother asked, "Where is the Vedarala?"
The two persons say, "Ando! How well the Vedarala came! There was
a bullock's skull in that grass field. From morning the Vedarala
sat on it, and got up and tried to release the bullock's skull [from
himself]. He could not release it, being pressed [against it]. Hardly
releasing himself now he went back home. He has not come; he said
he wouldn't."
Afterwards near Ayiwanda came the bride's mother. Having come there
she said, "Father has consented in this way [you wish]. Now then, let
the girl be for you. If you know [how], do something for this." Having
said [this], the woman came away.
Ayiwanda thought in his mind, "If there be an authority which Gopalu
Devatawa gave, as soon as each one is released may each one go away."
Thereupon the persons who were holding the cloth having been freed,
went away. They did not go summoning the bride; they did not [even]
eat the cooked rice. Having been holding the cloth from morning,
in the evening they went to their villages. Afterwards the aunt and
uncle having gone, came back [after] summoning Ayiwanda, and gave
the bride to Ayiwanda.
Ayiwanda sleeps on the mat on which the girl wipes her feet and
places them. Then he eats what has been left over on the girl's
leaf [plate]. The girl says, "Ade! [54] Ayiwanda, eat thou this
little." When she has told him he eats. The girl sleeps on the bed,
Ayiwanda sleeps under the bed.
Well then, they remained in that way, without the girl's being good
to Ayiwanda. When they had been in that very way for seven or eight
days, a fine young man of the village having died, they buried him.
Ayiwanda having waited until the time when the girl was sleeping,
opened the door and went out; and having brought the corpse, and cut
and cut off a great deal of flesh, he put only the bones under the
bed under which Ayiwanda sleeps; and he shut the door and went away.
On the morning of the following day, Ayiwanda's mother stayed looking
out [for him], having said, "Ayiwanda will come out." He did not come
out. The woman came into the house, and when she looked [for him]
there is a heap of bones under the bed. After that, the woman says,
"Ane! This one ate my son." Having said this she wept; having wept
she went away.
Ayiwanda having gone, joined a Moormen's tavalama [55] and drove cattle
for hire. At the time when he was driving the cattle for three or four
days he said, "Ansca, Bola! Whence is this tavalama for thee? It is
mine, isn't it?"
Then the men said, "Ansca, Bola! Whence is it for thee, for a man
called up for hire?"
Ayiwanda said, "If it be your tavalama, throw up five hundred
dried areka-nuts, and catch them without even one's falling on the
ground." The men tried to catch them; all the dried areka-nuts fell
on the ground.
Then Ayiwanda, after throwing up five hundred dried areka-nuts,
thought, "If there be an authority which Gopalu Devatawa gave, may I be
able to catch the whole of these five hundred dried areka-nuts without
even one's falling on the ground." Having thrown up the five hundred
dried areka-nuts, Ayiwanda caught them without even one's falling
on the ground. After that, the tavalama became secured (hayi-wuna)
[56] to Ayiwanda himself. The Moormen left it and went away.
Afterwards, getting ready hired labourers for Ayiwanda, he went to
Puttalam. Having gone there, loading [sundried] salt fish, [57] now
then, Ayiwanda, having become a very great wealthy person, set off
to come to Ayiwanda's village, taking the tavalama, together with the
hired labourers. Having come, he caused the sacks to be put down under
a Kon tree [58] in the field near the house of his aunt and uncle.
Ayiwanda's mother came to the tank to pluck the leaves of a plant [59]
[to cook as a vegetable]. Having come, through hearing the wooden
cattle-bells of the herd of cattle she came near the tavalama. Having
come [there] she says, "Ane! A son of mine was like the Hettirala. That
son having gone [to be married], at the place where he was made to
stay the woman killed and ate my son." Having said [this] repeatedly
at the very hand of Ayiwanda, she wept.
Then Ayiwanda says, "Don't cry. There is salt fish [here]; take [some]
and cooking it eat. What are you plucking vegetables for [but to eat in
curry]?" Having said [this], he gave rice and salt fish to Ayiwanda's
mother. Thus, in that way he gave them for seven or eight days.
After that, his aunt and uncle came near Ayiwanda for salt fish. Then
Ayiwanda said, "I am not the Hettirala. It is I myself they call
Ayiwanda. Take ye these things, so as to go."
Afterwards he dragged the tavalama and the salt fish to the
house. Summoning that very bride, [60] Ayiwanda having eaten, when
a little [food] is left over on the leaf [plate] he gives it to
her. Ayiwanda [now] sleeps on the bed; Ayiwanda's wife sleeps on
the mat on which Ayiwanda wipes his feet, under the bed on which
Ayiwanda sleeps.
Tom-tom Beater. North-western Province.
In a Tamil story taken from the New Year Supplement to the Ceylon
Observer, 1885, and reproduced in The Orientalist, vol. ii, p. 22,
Katirkaman, a poet who had acquired magical powers, awoke one night
to find that some burglars had broken into the house and were removing
the goods in it. He scratched a spell on a piece of palm-leaf, placed
it under his pillow, and went to sleep again. When he awoke he found
all the robbers silent and motionless in the positions they occupied
when the spell affected them, some with the goods on their heads or
shoulders, others with their hands on keys or door handles. When he
spoke to them they apologised humbly, stated that they had mistaken
the place and person they were to encounter, and promised never to
attempt to rob the house again. He made them put back the goods,
gave them a bath and a good meal, and stated that in future they
should always have the right to eat and drink there.
NO. 195
THE GAMARALA'S SON-IN-LAW
At a city there is a Gamarala. There are two daughters of the
Gamarala's; one is given in diga [marriage] two gawwas (eight miles)
distant, the other is not given. He said he would give her to him
who comes to ask for her. From [the time] when he said it he did not
give her.
Having brought [a man] he caused him to stay. On the following day
morning the father-in-law says, "Child, there is a rice field of mine
of sixty yalas twelve amunas. [61] Having ploughed the rice field in
just one day, and sown paddy there, and chopped the earthen ridges
in it, and on that very day blocked up the gaps [in the fence], and
come back, and given to the twelve dogs twelve haunches of Sambhar
deer, and given leaves to the twelve calves, and poured water on the
twelve betel creepers, and come back [after] cutting the Milla stump,
and warmed water, can you bathe me?" he asks.
Then the son-in-law says, "Aniccan dukkhan! Who can do these
things?" he says.
Then saying, "I shall cut off [your] nose," he cuts off his nose. In
that country they cannot say, "Aniccan dukkhan"; should they say it
he cuts off the nose.
Well then, giving [his daughter] in this fraudulent way, in the
aforesaid manner having told two or three persons [these works],
in the same way he cut off [their] noses, too.
During the time which is going by in that way, there are an elder
brother and a younger brother, two persons. The elder brother's wife
having died, he came in the said manner. When he asked for [the girl],
the Gamarala said he will give her. Then in the aforesaid manner he
cut off his nose.
Having gone away, through shame at going home he remained hidden near
the well. The above-mentioned younger brother's wife having gone
[there], when she looked saw that he was hidden, and having come
running back, on seeing her husband told him. He went, and when he
looked saw that his brother is there.
Having seen him, when he asked, "What is it?" he says, "He cut off
my nose."
When he asked, "Why so?" he told him in the aforesaid manner. After
that, that man says, "Elder brother, you stay [here]; I will
go." Having said [this], and given charge of his wife to the elder
brother, he went.
Having gone, he asked for the above-mentioned marriage. When he asked,
[the Gamarala] said he will give her. Then he asked if he can work
[62] in the above-mentioned manner. He said, "I can."
"If so, go to the rice field," he said. Having said this, and loaded
the paddy [to be sown], he gave it.
The man, taking a plough, a yoke pole, a digging hoe, a water gourd,
the articles for eating betel, and driving the cattle, went to the
rice field.
Having gone [there], and tied the yoke on the unoccupied pair of bulls,
and tied them exactly in the middle [of the field], and tied at both
sides [of the field] the bulls which draw the load, he tore open the
corners of the sacks.
Having torn [them open] and allowed the paddy to fall, he began to
plough. While he was turning two or three times there and here along
the rice field, all the paddy fell down.
After it fell he unfastened the bulls, and taking the digging hoe,
put two or three sods on the earthen ridges (niyara); and having come,
and brought away the plough and the yoke pole, and set the yoke pole
as a stake in the gap [in the fence], and fixed the plough across it
and tied it, and gone away to the house driving the above-mentioned
bulls, and cut up the six bulls, and given [their] twelve haunches
to the twelve dogs, and drawn out two or three betel-creeper plants,
and given them to the twelve calves, and come after cutting the Milla
stump, he began to warm the water.
When it was becoming hot, he took water and poured it on the betel
creepers. Having left the remaining water to thoroughly boil, he
called to his father-in-law, "[Be pleased] to bathe with the water,"
and having cooled a little water, he poured it first on his body.
Secondly, taking [some] of that boiling water he sprinkled it on his
body. Thereupon his body was burnt. The Gamarala, crying out, began
to run about; having checked and checked him he began to sprinkle
[him again]. Thereafter, both of them came home and stayed there.
While they are there the Gamarala, talking to his wife, says,
"This son-in-law is not a good sort of son-in-law. I must kill this
one." Having sought [in vain] for a contrivance to kill him, he says,
"We cannot kill this one. Let us send him near our elder daughter."
Having cooked a kuruniya (one-fortieth of an amuna) of cakes,
and written a letter, and put it in the middle of the cakes, and
given it into the hand of his boy (son), he says to the son-in-law,
"Child, go near my elder (lit., big) daughter [and give her this box
of cakes], and come back." Having said [this] he sent him near the
above-mentioned elder daughter.
These two persons (the little son and the son-in-law) having set off,
while they were going away, when the boy went into the jungle the
son-in-law went [with the box of cakes] to the travellers' shed that
was there; and having unfastened the cake box he began to eat.
While he was going on eating he met with the above-mentioned
letter. Taking it, and when he looked in it having seen that there was
said in it that [the daughter] is to kill him, he tore it up. Then
having thought of the name of the boy who goes with him and written
that she is to kill the boy, he put it in the box, and as soon as he
put it in tied up [the box] and placed [it aside].
The boy having come and taken the box, and said, "Let us go," they
set off.
Having gone to the house, while he is [there] the above-mentioned elder
daughter having cooked and given him to eat, and unfastened the box,
while going on eating the cakes met with this letter. Taking it, and
when she looked having seen that there was said [that she was] to kill
her brother, quite without inquiry she quickly killed him outright.
There was a Bali (evil planetary influence) sending away [63] at the
house in which she was. When the woman was wishing and wishing long
life (that is, responding loudly, Ayibo! Ayibo!) the boy (her son)
said that he wanted to go out. Thereupon, speaking to her sister's
husband, she says, "Conduct this boy to the door."
When she said it, the man, calling the boy, went to the door. There the
man with his knife pricks him. Thereupon the boy in fear comes running
near his mother. After a little time, when he again said he wanted
to go out, his mother says, "Ane! Bolan, split this one's belly." [64]
When she said it, having gone taking the boy he split his belly. Having
come back he asked for a little water to wash the knife. The boy's
mother having come crying, when she looked the boy was killed.
This one bounded off, and came running to the very house of the
above-mentioned Gamarala.
The Gamarala having sent a letter to the elder daughter and told her
to come, after she came says, "Daughter, when you have gone off to
sleep we will put a rope into the house. Put that rope on that one's
neck and fasten it tightly," he said.
Having put the Gamarala's younger son-in-law, and younger daughter and
elder daughter, these very three persons, in one house, and shut the
door, and left them to sleep, he extended a rope from the cat-window
(the space between the top of the outer wall and the roof).
The elder daughter who had been taught the above-mentioned method
[of killing the son-in-law], went to sleep, and stayed so. While this
man was looking about, he saw that the rope is coming [over the wall
into the room].
Taking the rope, he put it on the elder daughter's neck and made it
tight. The Gamarala, who stayed outside, having tied the [other end of
the] rope to the necks of a yoke of buffalo bulls, made them agitated.
When the yoke of cattle had drawn the rope [tight], the Gamarala,
springing and springing upward while clapping his hands, says, "On
other days, indeed, he escaped. To-day, indeed, he is caught," he said.
Thereupon the son-in-law, having stayed in the house, came outside
and said, "It is not [done] to me; it is your elder daughter herself,"
he said.
Thereupon the Gamarala in a perplexity says, "Aniccan dukkhan! It
is the thing which this one has done!" Just as he was saying it
the son-in-law cut off his nose. Having cut it off he went to his
own country.
Because the word which cannot be said was said [by the Gamarala]
he cut off his nose.
Tom-tom Beater. North-western Province.
In The Orientalist, vol. i, p. 131, Mr. W. Goonetilleke gave a story
about a Gamarala who cut off the nose of any servant who used the
words Aniccan dukkhan. A young man took service under him in order
to avenge his brother who had been thus mutilated; but the incidents
differ from those related in the story given by me. The Gamarala was
surprised into saying the forbidden words when the man poured scalding
water over him. The servant immediately cut off his nose, ran home
with it, and kicked his brother, who was squatting at the hearth, so
that he fell with his face against the hearth stone. This reopened
the wound; and when the Gamarala's nose was fitted on and bandaged
there after application of the juice of a plant which heals cuts,
it became firmly attached, and as serviceable as the original nose.
In Indian Nights' Entertainment (Swynnerton), p. 106, there is a story
of a Moghul who engaged servants on the condition that if he or the
servant became angry the other should pull out his eye. A man who had
accepted these terms was ordered to plough six acres daily, fence it,
bring game for the table, grass for the mare, and firewood, and cook
the master's food. He lost his temper when scolded, and his eye was
plucked out. His clever brother determined to avenge him, was engaged
by the Moghul, and given the same tasks. He ploughed once round the
six acres and twelve furrows across the middle, set up a bundle of
brushwood at each corner, tied the bullocks to a tree, and went to
sleep. He played various other tricks on his master, including the
cooking of his favourite dog for his food. When the master was going
for a new wife, the servant, who was sent to notify his coming, said
his master was ill and by his doctor's orders took only common soap
made into a porridge with asafoetida and spices. He was sick in the
night after taking it, and next morning the man refused to remove the
vessel he had used. As the Moghul was carrying it out covered up with
a sheet, the friends being told by the man that he was leaving through
anger at the food they gave him, ran out and seized his arms to draw
him back, and caused him to drop and break the vessel. On their way
home they had a quarrel and a scuffle, the Moghul admitted he was angry
at last, and the man got him down and plucked out his eye. Some of the
incidents are found in the stories numbered 241 and 242 in this volume.
In Folk-Tales of Kashmir (Knowles), 2nd ed., p. 98, there is an
account of a merchant who cut off the nose of any servant who was
angry or abusive. In order to be revenged on him, the brother of
a man who had been thus mutilated took service under the merchant,
irritated him in various ways, was struck in the face, and thereupon
cut off his master's nose.
In Folktales of the Santal Parganas (collected by Rev. Dr. Bodding),
p. 124, a Prince and a merchant's son ran away, and were engaged as
labourers on the condition that if they threw up their work they should
lose one hand and one ear, the master to be similarly mutilated if he
dismissed them while they were willing to work. When the Prince was
ordered to hoe sugar-cane he dug it up, when told to scrape and spin
hemp he cut it into pieces, when sent to wash his master's child he
beat it on a stone as a washerman beats cloths until it was dead. To
get rid of him the master sent him to his father-in-law with a letter
in which it was requested that he should be killed. The Prince read
it, wrote a fresh one requesting that he should be married to the
father-in-law's daughter, and was married accordingly. He killed
his master when about to be killed by him. Some of the incidents are
given in the story numbered 242 in this volume.
In the same work, p. 258, a Prince who had wasted his money, took
service with a farmer on the terms that if he gave it up his little
finger was to be cut off, and if dismissed while working well the
master was to suffer the same penalty. His friend took his place and
over-reached the farmer, who ran away to save himself.
In the Kolhan tales (Bompas) appended to the same volume, p. 497,
there is also a story of a Prince who was accompanied by a barber
when he was exiled. To get a living the Prince took service on the
mutilation terms, the penalty being the loss of a piece of skin a
span long. He worked badly and was mutilated. The barber to avenge him
took his place, and irritated his master until he got an opportunity
of mutilating him in the same way.
NO. 196
THE STORY OF THE GAMARALA'S SON
In a certain country there is a Gamarala; the Gamarala had no
wives. While he was thus, at one time (eka parama) he brought seven
wives; all the seven had no children. Again he brought yet a woman;
that woman also had no children.
After that, when the man was going in order to escort the woman [on
returning her to her parents], they met with a Sannyasi. The Sannyasi
asked, "What is it? Where are you going?"
The man said, "I brought seven wives; all seven had no children. After
that, I brought this woman. Because the woman also had no children
I am going in order to escort her [to her parents again]."
Then the Sannyasi says, "I will perform a protective spell (arakshawa)
for children to be born, if you will give me the lad who is born
first of all." The Gamarala promised, "I will give him."
Afterwards the Gamarala having come back, when a little time had gone
she bore a boy. After the boy became somewhat big he planted a flower
tree. The Gamarala having told the Sannyasi to come gave him the boy;
the Sannyasi having taken him went away. The lad says to the Gamarala,
"Should I die the flowers on the flower tree will fade." Younger than
this lad [the Gamarala's wife] bore yet a boy.
When the Sannyasi was taking the lad he met with a man. This man said
to the lad, "Lad, the Sannyasi will give you a thread. Tie it to a
tree, and having got out of the way remain [there]."
The Sannyasi having gone with the lad near a hidden treasure, gave
a thread into the boy's hand, saying, "Remain holding this." The lad
tied the thread to a tree; having hidden himself he remained [there].
The Sannyasi put "life" into it. [65] Then the Yaka [who guarded the
treasure] having come, asked from the Sannyasi, "Where is the demon
offering (billa)?"
Thereupon the Sannyasi said, "There (an) he is, [at the end of the
thread]." Then when the Yaka looked there was no one. Well then,
the Yaka broke the Sannyasi's neck and drank his blood.
After the Yaka went away the hidden treasure burst open. That lad
having come and taken the things of the hidden treasure (nindane
kalamana), again went to a Gamarala's [66] house. Having gone, and
taken lodgings at the house, while he is there they are preparing
(tanawa) to give that Gamarala's girl in diga (marriage). They will
give her for the manner in which the Cinnamon-peeler's cloth is worn,
and to a person who wore the cloth [most correctly]. Well, anyone of
those who were there was unable to do it. This youth wore it. After
that, the Gamarala gave the girl to the lad.
When the lad was bathing one day the girl saw the beauty of the lad's
figure. After that, the girl having said, "This man's figure is too
beautiful! [67] I don't want him," prepared a contrivance to kill
him. Having got a false illness she lay down.
Afterwards the lad said, "What is the difficulty for you?"
Then the girl [said], "You must bring and give me the milk of the
wild Elephant that is in the jungle; if not, I shall die."
After that, the lad having taken the coconut water-vessel, [68] and
having gone into the jungle, went near the Elephant calves. Then the
Elephant calves [asked], "What have you come for?"
This lad said, "Ane! I came to take a little milk from the Elephant
for medicine for me."
The Elephant calves said, "If so, you remain hidden there; we will
take and give it to you."
The Elephant calves having gone near the female Elephant, one Elephant
calf stayed near the Elephant's trunk; the other one drinks a little
milk, and puts a little into the coconut water-vessel. Having done
thus, and collected milk for that coconut water-vessel, it brought
and gave it to this lad. The lad having brought it, [69] gave it to
the woman, and told her to drink it. Afterwards the woman drank it.
In still a little time, again having said that she had an illness,
she lay down. That lad asked, "What are you again lying down for?"
The girl says, "Bring the milk of the female Bear (walasdena) in the
jungle. Should I drink it this illness of mine will be cured."
Afterwards, this lad, having taken the coconut water-vessel, and
gone to the jungle and gone near a Bear cub, said, "Ane! You must
take and give to me a little Bear's milk for medicine."
Afterwards, the Bear cub having said, "If so, you remain hidden there
until the time when I bring it," took the coconut water-vessel, and
having gone near the female Bear, drinks a little milk, and again
pours a little into the coconut water-vessel. In that way having
collected it, it brought and gave it to that lad. The lad brought
the Bear's milk home, and gave it to the woman to drink.
The girl having drunk it, in still a few days again lay down. The
lad asked, "What are you again lying down for (budi)?"
Then the girl [said], "Having brought for me the milk of the
Giju-lihini [70] which is in the jungle, should I drink it this
illness will be cured."
Afterwards the lad, having taken the coconut water-vessel and gone,
went near the young ones of the Giju-lihini, and said, "Ane! I must
take a little milk of the Giju-lihini for medicine."
Afterwards, those Giju-lihini young ones having told the lad to
remain hidden, in the very same manner as before brought and gave
the milk. The lad brought and gave it to the girl to drink. The girl
having drunk it said that the illness was cured.
Well then, these two persons have a boy (son). Still having said that
she had illness, this girl lay down. The lad asked her [about it]
in the same manner as before.
The girl said, "Having wrestled [71] with the Yaksani who is in the
jungle, should you come back after conquering, indeed, my illness
will be cured."
After the lad went into the jungle he met with the Yaksani. Having
met with her, the Yaksani said, "We two must wrestle to-day; having
wrestled, the fallen person (waeticci kena) will lose."
This lad said, "It is good," and having wrestled the lad fell, and
the Yaksani killed the lad.
Then at that place [where he planted it] the flower also faded. Well
then, the Gamarala sent the other younger youth on horseback to look
[for him]. When the youth was coming he met with the Yaksani who
killed that lad. Having met with her the youth said, "Give me (dila)
my elder brother," he asked.
The Yaksani said, "I don't know [about that]."
Then the youth [said], "Don't say 'No'; you must give him, quickly."
The Yaksani said, "Let you and me wrestle. Having wrestled, should you
fall I shall not give him; should I fall I will give you your elder
brother." Both having agreed to it, they wrestled. Having wrestled,
the Yaksani lost.
After that, the Yaksani having caused that killed lad to come to life,
[72] gave him to that youth. Well then, the elder brother and younger
brother, both of them, having mounted on the back of the horse went
to the very city where the elder brother stayed. The younger brother
again came [home], having caused the elder brother to remain at that
very place.
Well then, that elder brother's boy having said, "Father, there is no
stopping here for us; let us go to another country," the two started,
and at the time when they were going they met with a tank.
The boy asked, "Father, how far (koccara taen) can you swim in
this tank?"
The boy's father said "Let us see," and having swum a little space
(tikak taen) being unable [to swim further] came back.
The boy said, "Father, if you cannot swim, clasping my hand let us go,"
he said. The man was held by the boy's hand.
While swimming, the boy when he was going to the far bank caught a
shark also. Having taken it also and gone to the far bank, he cut up
the shark and divided it into three. Having divided it, and eaten
two heaps of it, and taken the other heap, [73] they go away to
another country.
Having gone there they arrived (eli-baessa) at the palace (vimane)
of a Rakshasa. When they went two Rakshasa lads were [there]. The
Rakshasa and Rakshasi went to eat human flesh. The two Rakshasa lads
said, "Ane! What have you come to this place for? Should our mother
and father come they will eat you up (kala damayi)."
Then these two having said, "Ane! Don't say so; to-day you must
somehow or other (kohomawat) save us and send us away," those two
Rakshasa lads hid them.
The Rakshasa and Rakshasi came. Having come there, "What is this
smell of dead bodies?" they asked.
The Rakshasa lads [said], "Having come after eating men's flesh,
what do you say 'smell of dead bodies' for?"
Well then, the Rakshasi and Rakshasa swore, "We will not eat; son,
tell us."
At that place these two Rakshasa lads showed those two, father and son,
to these two. Although this Rakshasi and Rakshasa could not bear not
to eat those two, because they had sworn that day they were forbearing.
On the next day the two persons went away to another country. Having
gone there they arrived near a tank. Both having descended at the
bank, swam. When they were going to the middle of the tank both of
them being soaked with the water died.
Tom-tom Beater. North-western Province.
NO. 197
THE MANNER IN WHICH THE GAMARALA BURIED HIS SONS
In a certain country there are a Gamarala and a Gama-Mahage (his
wife), it is said. When they were there not much time (nombo kalayak),
for the Mahage [there was] pregnancy longing; well then, she is not
eating food.
The Gamarala asked, "What is it, Bolan? You are not eating food,"
he asked.
The woman said, "I have pregnancy longing." The man asked, "What can
you eat?" The woman said, "Seven days (haddawasak) having warmed water
(paen) give it to me." The Gamarala having warmed water gave it [on]
seven days; the Gama-Mahage bathed seven days [with] the water. The
Gamarala asked, "Now then, is it well, the pregnancy longing?" The
woman said, "It is well."
Well, ten months having been fulfilled she bore a boy. Until the time
the boy becomes able to talk they reared him.
[Then] the Gamarala said, "To look what this boy says, having taken
him let us bury him." [74] The Gama-Mahage also having said "Ha,"
they took him to bury. Having cut the grave (lit., hole) and placed
him in the grave, they covered [him with] earth (pas waehaewwa).
Then the boy said, "Ane! What did mother and father [75] bury me
for? If I remained with [them]--the smith does not beat the piece of
iron [after] having placed it on the anvil--many will I beat (hammer)
for them both." [76]
The Gamarala and the Mahage having said, "That one to us [is] a smith's
boy," and having well trampled still [more] earth [on him] came home.
When they were thus for no long time, for the Mahage again [there was]
pregnancy longing; well then, she is not eating food. The Gamarala
asked, "What is it, Bolan? You are not eating food." The woman said,
"I have pregnancy longing." The Gamarala said, "What can you eat for
the pregnancy longing?" The woman said, "[On] seven days from the
Blue-lotus-flower pool having brought water, seven days having warmed
it give me it (dilan) to drink." The Gamarala having brought the water,
[on] seven days having warmed it gave it; the woman on the very seven
days drank. The Gamarala asked, "Now then, is it well, the pregnancy
longing?" The woman said, "It is well."
Well then, ten months having been fulfilled (lit., filled) she bore
a son. Until the time he became able to talk they reared him.
[Then] the Gamarala said, "To look what this one says, let us bury
him." The woman having said "Ha," they took him, and having cut the
grave and placed him in the grave, they covered [him with] earth.
The boy said and said, "Ane! What did they bury me for? If I remained
[with them]--the potter does not beat [the clay for] the pots--[for]
many will I beat it."
The two persons having said, "That one is not ours [77]--a potter's
boy," and having put still [more] earth [on him] and trampled it,
came home.
Having come there, when they were [there] no long time, for the woman
[there was] pregnancy longing; she is without food. The Gamarala asked,
"What is it, Bolan? You are not eating food." The woman said, "I have
pregnancy longing." The Gamarala asked, "What can you eat?" The woman
said, "Having cut a hollow well (puhu lindak) and brought the water
(diya), seven days having warmed it give me it for me to bathe." The
Gamarala having cut a hollow well, [on] seven days having warmed
the water gave it. The woman seven days bathed [with] the water. The
Gamarala said, "Now then even, is the pregnancy longing well?" The
woman said, "It is well."
When she was [there] not much time she bore a boy. Having reared him
until the time when the boy became able to talk, the Gamarala said,
"Having taken this one let us bury him, to look what he says." The
Gama-Mahage having said "Ha," they took him, and having cut the grave
and placed him in the grave, covered [him with] earth.
The boy said, "Ane! If I remained [with them]--the washerman does
not wash cloth for them--many will I wash."
The two persons having said, "That one [is] not ours--a washerman's
boy," put still [more] earth [on him] and having trampled it came home.
(On the next occasion the woman stated, in reply to her husband's
inquiry as to what food she wanted, that she required nothing. When
the son was buried he said, "What [did they bury] me for? For them [78]
I--the tom-tom beater does not beat the tom-tom--will beat many." [79]
They said, "That one [is] not ours--a tom-tom beater's boy," and they
finished the burial and returned home.
On the fifth occasion, when asked what she could eat, the woman said,
"There is the mind to eat (sic) buffalo milk." When the boy was placed
in the grave he said, "Ane! What did our mother and father bury me
for? If I remained [with them], having arrived near a King, [after I
am] exercising the sovereignty won't our mother and father, both of
them, get subsistence for themselves?" [80] The story continues:--)
Well then, the two persons having said, "This one himself [is] our
child," getting him to the surface [81] they brought him home.
(On the sixth occasion the woman required cow's milk. After she had
"eaten" it (lit., them, the word for milk being a plural noun) the
longing was allayed. Like the others, the boy who was born was buried
when he could talk. He said, "Ane! What did our mother and father
bury me for? If I remained [with them] won't the two persons get a
subsistence, I having even done cultivation and trading?")
The rest of the story is as follows:--The two persons having said,
"This one himself [is] our child," getting him to the surface
they brought him home. When they were rearing him not much time,
the Gamarala's two eyes became blind. This boy having become big is
continuing to give assistance to the two persons. Then the Gamarala
died.
The elder (lit., big) boy has taken the sovereignty. The elder brother
and younger brother, both, [assisting her]--one having done cultivation
(goyitan) and trading, one having exercised the sovereignty--that
woman is obtaining a subsistence.
The woman having become old, one day (dawasakda) that younger brother
went to see that elder brother and return to the city. Having gone,
as he was coming back Sakra having come, taking an old appearance,
took away the Gama-Mahage.
The boy having come and looked [for her], at his mother's absence is
weeping and weeping. Sakra, creating an old appearance, having come
asked at the boy's hand, "What are you weeping for?"
The boy said, "On account of our mother's absence I am weeping."
Sakra said, "Why? While your mother has become old you weep! Whatever
time it should be, life goes."
The boy said, "I must go to see our mother's life."
Sakra having taken him to the Sakra residence (bawana) showed him
the boy's mother. Having shown her, Sakra asked, "Can you stay here?"
Then the boy said, "I having asked at elder brother's hand must come,"
and came [back to earth]. Having gone to the elder brother's city
and said, "Elder brother, our mother having gone is in the Sakra
residence; I also will go," the elder brother replied, "If you can,
go." He having said it, he came away to go, [but] the boy not knowing
the path simply stayed [at home].
Finished.
Tom-tom Beater. North-western Province.
I have inserted this pointless tale on account of the evidence
it affords of a belief that infanticide was practised in former
times; I may add that I have adhered as closely as possible to the
text. It agrees with the story numbered 243 in this volume (a tale
from Ratmalana, about eight miles south of Colombo), that children
who were not likely to prove useful were sometimes buried alive. For
other instances of infanticide see the Index to vol. i.
I am unable to refer to Indian instances in which Sakra occupies the
position of Yama as the God of Death; but in Ceylon he is sometimes
represented as being a Dharma-raja, a god of righteousness or justice,
and this is a function of Yama. See the verse at the end of the story
numbered 179 in vol. ii; in No. 107, vol. ii, it is Sakra who kills
the wicked Princess.
The reason for cutting a special well with the water of which the
women wished to bathe, was that they would thus obtain undefiled water.
NO. 198
THE STORY OF THE WOODEN PEACOCK
In a certain country there are a Carpenter and a Hettirala, it is
said. There are also the wives of the two persons; there are also
the two sons of the two persons.
The Carpenter and the Hettirala spoke together: "Let us send our two
children to school." Having spoken thus, they sent the Carpenter's
son and the Hettirala's son to school. At the time when the two had
been going to school no long period, the Hettirala took and gave a
cart and a bull to the Hettirala's son. Well then, the Hettirala's son
goes to school in the cart; the Carpenter's son goes on the ground. A
day or two having gone by he does not go again.
Afterwards the Carpenter asked, "Why, Ade! dost thou not go to school?"
Then said the youngster, "The Hettirala's son goes in the cart;
I cannot go on the ground."
After that, the Carpenter also took and gave (anna dunna) a cart and
a yoke of bulls to the Carpenter's son. Now then, the Carpenter's
son also, tying [the bulls to] the cart, goes to school.
Then the Hettirala's son, having sold the cart and bull, got a horse
and horse carriage. The Hettirala's son began to go in the horse
carriage. Then the Carpenter's son does not go to school.
Then the Carpenter asked, "What dost thou not go to school for?"
The Carpenter's son said, "The Hettirala's son goes in the horse
carriage; I cannot go in an ordinary (nikan) cart."
Afterwards, the Carpenter having said, "If the Hettirala's son goes in
the horse carriage, am I not a Carpenter? Having made a better one than
that I will give you it," constructed a wooden Peacock (dandu mondara)
and gave it to the Carpenter's son. Afterwards the Carpenter's son,
rowing on the wooden Peacock [through the air], goes to school.
When they were thus for not a long time, the Carpenter died; the
Carpenter's wife also died. Afterwards this Carpenter's son thought to
himself that he must seek for a marriage for himself. Having thought
it he went rowing the wooden Peacock to a city.
There is a Princess of that city. The Princess alone was at the palace
when the Carpenter's son was going. Afterwards the Carpenter's son
asked at the hand of the Princess, "Can you (puluhanida) go with me
to our country?"
Then the Princess said, "I will not go; if you be here I can [marry
you]." After that, the Carpenter's son marrying [82] the Princess,
stays [there]. While he was there two Princes were born.
After that, the Carpenter's son said to the Princess, "Taking these
two Princes also, let us go to our country."
The Princess said "Ha."
Well then, while the Princess and the Carpenter's son, and the two
Princes of these two, were going [through the air] on the back of
that wooden Peacock, that younger Prince said, "I am thirsty." [83]
The Carpenter's son having split his [own] palm gave him blood. The
Prince said, "I cannot drink blood; I must drink water."
Afterwards, having lowered the wooden Peacock to the ground,
[the Carpenter's son] went to seek water. [While he was absent]
the younger Prince cut the cord of the wooden Peacock.
The Carpenter's son having gone thus, [after] finding water came back
and gave it to the Prince. Afterwards, after the Prince drank the
water he tried to make the wooden Peacock row aloft; he could not,
because [the young Prince] cut the wooden Peacock's cord.
Afterwards, having left (damala) the wooden Peacock there, [the
Carpenter's son] came to the river with the Princess and the two
Princes; having come [there] they told the boatman to put them across
(ekan-karawanda).
Afterwards, the boatman firstly having placed the Carpenter's son on
the high ground on the other bank (egoda gode), and having come back
to this bank, placing the Princess in the boat took her below along the
river, and handed over the Princess to the King of the boatman's city.
The Carpenter's son having stayed on the high ground on the other
bank, became a beggar, and went away. [84] Those two Princes having
been weeping and weeping on this bank, jumped into the river. The
two Princes went upwards and upwards in the river--there is a
crocodile-house (burrow)--along the crocodile-house they went upward
[and came to the surface of the ground].
Having gone there, while they were there weeping and weeping a widow
woman having come for water (watura pare) asked, "What are you weeping
and weeping there for?" at the hand of the two Princes.
Then the two Princes say, "Ane! Being without our mother and father
we are weeping and weeping."
Then the widow woman said, "Come, if so, and go with me." Afterwards,
having said "Ha," the two Princes went with the widow woman. Having
thus gone, the widow woman gave food to the two Princes.
While they were growing big and large the King said at the hand of
that Princess, "Now then, let us marry."
Then the Princess said, "In our country, when a Princess has either
been sent away (divorced, aericcahamawat) or has made mistakes
(padawari weccahamawat), she does not marry until the time when three
years [85] go by. When the three years have gone (gihama) let us
marry." Afterwards the King, having placed a guard for the Princess,
waited until the time when the three years go by.
These two Princes who jumped into the river one day went to be on
guard. The Princess asked at the hand of the Princes, "Whence are you?"
Then the Princes said, "While we were young at a very distant city
our mother and father were lost near the river. A widow woman having
brought us away is now rearing us."
Then the Princess said, "It is your (umbale) mother indeed who is I;
your father is now walking about, continuing to beg and eat. I will
perform a meritorious deed (pinkomak) and bring him; you, also, join
yourselves to the beggars' party." Having said this, and given the
two Princes silver and gold things, she sent them away.
That Princess at the hand of the King said, "I must perform a
meritorious deed, to give money to those with crippled arms, lame
persons, and beggars."
Afterwards the King by the notification tom-toms gave public notice
to those with crippled arms, and lame persons, and beggars, to come
[for the alms-giving]. Afterwards they came; that Carpenter's son,
the beggar, also came.
To the whole of them [86] she gave money; to that Carpenter's son
she gave much,--silver and gold. Having given it, the Princess said,
"Having taken these and gone, not losing them, construct a city for
us to stay in when we have come together again," she said. "Our two
Princes also are near such and such a widow woman; [after] joining
them, go."
Afterwards that Carpenter's son, joining the two Princes also, went
and built a city. Afterwards this Princess--having placed a guard
over whom, the King had stopped--having bounded off, unknown to the
King [87] went to the city which the Carpenter's son and the two
Princes built.
Well then, the Princess, and the Carpenter's son, and the two Princes
stayed at the city.
Finished.
Tom-tom Beater. North-western Province.
In the Jataka story No. 193 (vol. ii, p. 82), a Prince who was
travelling alone with his wife is described as cutting his right knee
with his sword when she was overcome with thirst, in order to give
her blood to drink.
In Old Deccan Days (M. Frere), p. 142, a Prince married a carpenter's
daughter, and afterwards became poor, and a drum-beater for conjurers
and dancers, a fate from which his second wife and her son rescued him.
In a story of the Western Province numbered 240 in this volume, a
Princess recovered her husband by giving a dana, or feast for poor
people, and observing those who came to eat it. See also No. 247.
In the Arabian Nights (Lady Burton's ed., vol. iii, p. 84), in the
story of "Ali Shar and Zumurrud," the lady, who while disguised as
a man had been chosen as King, recovered her husband by giving a
free feast to all comers at the new moon of each month, and watching
the persons who came, her husband Ali Shar, then a poor man, being
present at the fifth full moon. At each of the earlier feasts she
found and punished men who had been responsible for her own and her
husband's misfortunes.
In the Katha Sarit Sagara (Tawney), vol. ii, p. 101, a merchant's
son who was travelling through a waterless desert for seven days,
kept his wife alive by giving her his own flesh and blood.
See vol. ii, Nos. 80 and 81, and the appended notes.
NO. 199
THE WICKED STEP-MOTHER
At a certain city there are a King and a Queen. There are also two
Princes.
During the time while they were living thus, while the Queen was
lying down at noon, a hen-sparrow had built a house (nest) on the
ridge-pole. The Queen remained looking at it. When the Queen was
there on the following day [the bird] hatched young ones.
When they had been there many days, a young sparrow, having fallen to
the ground, died. The Queen, taking the young sparrow in her hand,
looked at it. Having opened its mouth, when she looked in it there
was a fish spine in the mouth. The Queen threw the young one away.
After that, the hen-sparrow was not at the nest; another hen having
come, stayed there. Afterwards, two young sparrows having fallen to
the ground again and died, when the Queen taking them in her hand
looked at them, two fish spines were in their mouths. The Queen threw
them both away, too.
On account of what she saw the Queen thought, "[This] is not the hen
which hatched these young ones. [The cock-sparrow] having called in
another one [as his mate], she has been making them eat these spines
to kill them." Then from this the Queen got in her mind, "When I am
not [here] it will indeed be like this for my children." Well then,
through that grief the Queen died.
After she died the King brought another Queen. This Queen beats and
scolds the two Princes. Afterwards the Princes said to their father
the King, "We must go even to our uncle's [88] house."
"Why must you go?" asked the King.
The Princes said, "Our step-mother beats and scolds us."
Afterwards the King said, "Go there, you."
When the two Princes went to their uncle's house, "What, Princes,
have you come for?" the uncle asked.
"Our step-mother beats and scolds us; on that account we came."
"If so, stay," the uncle said.
Afterwards, when they had been there in that way not much time, as
they were going playing and playing with oranges through the midst
of the city, an orange fruit fell in the King's palace.
Then the Princes asked for it at the hand of the Queen: "Step-mother,
give us that orange fruit."
The Queen said, "Am I a slave to drag about anybody's orange?"
After that, the big Prince having gone to the palace, taking the
orange fruit came away.
Afterwards, tearing the cloth that was on the Queen's waist, and
stabbing herself with a knife [the Queen] awaited the time when the
King, who went to war, came back.
The King having come asked, "What is it?"
"Your two Princes having come and done [this] work went away."
On account of it the King appointed to kill the two Princes. Having
given information of it to the King's younger brother also, the
younger brother asked, "What is that for?"
The King said, "After I went to the war these two Princes went to
the palace, and tore the Queen's cloth also, and having stabbed and
cut her with their knives, the blood was flowing down when I came."
After that, the King's younger brother asked at the hand of those
Princes, "Why did you come and beat the Queen, and stab and cut her
with the knife, and go away?"
The Princes said, "We did not do even one thing in that way. As we
were coming playing and playing with oranges, our orange fruit having
fallen in the palace, when we asked our step-mother for it she did not
give it. 'Am I a slave to drag about oranges?' she said. Afterwards
we went into the palace, and taking the orange fruit went away. We
did not do a thing of that kind," they said.
The King, however, did not take that to be true. "I must kill the
two Princes," he said. Their uncle took the word of the two Princes
for the truth.
Afterwards the Princes' uncle said, "Go to the river, and [after]
washing your heads come back."
As they were setting off the Princes took a bow and arrow; and having
gone to the river, while they were there, when they were becoming
ready to wash their heads, two hares, bounding and bounding along,
came in front of the two Princes. Having seen the hares, the younger
son said, "Elder brother, shoot those two hares." He shot at them;
at the stroke the two hares died.
The two Princes, washing their heads, took away the two hares
also. Having gone to the city, and given them into the uncle's hand,
the uncle plucked out the four eye-balls of the hares, and gave them
into the Queen's hands:--"Here; they are the four eye-balls of the
Princes," he said.
Afterwards, having looked and looked at the eyes, she brought an Indi
(wild Date) spike, and saying and saying, "Having looked and looked
with these eyes, did you torment me so much?" she went to the palace
where the King was, and pierced [with the spike] the very four [eyes].
After that, having cooked the hares' flesh, and cooked and given
them a bundle of rice, the uncle told the two Princes to go where
they wanted, and both of them went away.
(Apparently the story is incomplete, but the narrator knew of no
continuation, and I did not meet with it elsewhere.)
Tom-tom Beater. North-western Province.
In The Jataka, No. 120 (vol. i, p. 265), a Queen of the King of Benares
is described as scratching herself, rubbing oil on her limbs, and
putting on dirty clothes in order to support the charge she brought
against the Chaplain, of assaulting her during the King's absence on
a warlike expedition. In No. 472 (vol. iv, p. 118) a Queen scratched
herself and put on soiled clothes in order to induce the King to
believe that her son-in-law, Prince Paduma, had assaulted her. Paduma
was accordingly sentenced to be thrown down a precipice.
In Folklore of the Santal Parganas (Rev. Dr. Bodding), p. 27, a Queen
who was a Prince's step-mother behaved in the same way until the King
promised to kill the boy. He smeared the blood of a dog on his sword,
and abandoned the boy in the forest.
In Indian Nights' Entertainment (Swynnerton), p. 273, a King observed
that two swallows had a nest in a veranda at the palace. The hen
disappeared, having been caught by a falconer. The cock constantly
attended to the young ones, but when it brought a fresh mate the two
came only once on the second day, and the cock then disappeared. The
King then examined the nest, and found in it four dead young ones,
each with a thorn in its throat. He concluded that if his wife died
and he married again the new Queen might ill-treat his two sons. After
a while the Queen died and the King was persuaded by the Ministers
to marry again. One day when the two Princes were amusing themselves
with pigeons one of the birds alighted near the new Queen, who hid
it under a basket and denied that she had seen it, but guided by
signs made by an old nurse the younger Prince found and took it. On
another occasion the elder Prince recovered one in the same way,
though forcibly opposed by the Queen. The Queen then charged them
with insulting her, the King banished them, and they went away.
In Folk-Tales of Kashmir (Knowles), 2nd ed., p. 166, a King and
Queen while in the veranda of the palace watched a pair of birds at
a nest. One day a strange hen was seen to go with the cock to the
nest, carrying thorns in her bill. When the nest was examined it
was discovered that the thorns had been given to the young ones,
and that they were dead. The King and Queen discussed it, and the
King promised not to marry again if the Queen died. When she died, by
the Ministers' advice and after many refusals he married a Minister's
daughter who became jealous of the two Princes, complained of their
disobedience and abusive language, and induced the King to order them
to be killed in the jungle. There the soldiers' swords being turned
into wood they allowed the boys to escape. The rest of the story is
given in the last note, vol. i, p. 91.
In the Arabian Nights (Lady Burton's ed., vol. iv, p. 71), in the
Sindibad-nameh, the favourite concubine of the King of China fell
in love with his only son and offered to poison his father, but on
his rejection of her offers she tore her robes and hair, and charged
him with assaulting her. The seven Wazirs told the King tales of the
perfidy of women, and persuaded him to countermand the death penalty
to which the Prince was sentenced, the Prince explained the affair,
and the woman was sent away.
In Cinq Cents Contes et Apologues (Chavannes), vol. i, p. 107, the
favourite concubine of a King being repulsed by the Crown Prince,
charged him with improper conduct towards her, and induced the King to
send him to govern the frontier districts. She and a Counsellor then
forged an order that he must pluck out and send his eyes. When she
received them she hung them before her bed and addressed opprobrious
language to them. The Prince became a flute player, and while earning
a living thus, accompanied by his wife, was recognised by his father,
who scourged the two plotters with thorns, poured boiling oil on
their wounds, and buried them alive.
In Santal Folk Tales (Campbell), p. 33, a raja and his wife observed
the attention paid by a hen-sparrow to her young ones, and that after
she died another mate who was brought let them die of hunger. The queen
pointed this out, and told the raja to take care of her children in
case she died. When he was persuaded by his subjects to marry afresh
after her death, the new wife took a dislike to the elder son, and by
an assumed illness induced the raja to exile him. The other brother
accompanied him, and they had various adventures.
NO. 200
THE WOMAN WHO ATE BY STEALTH
At a certain village there is a woman, it is said; the woman went
in a diga [marriage]. Having gone in the diga, when she is there a
great many days she began to eat by stealth (hora-kanda). Afterwards
the man having said, "I don't want the woman who eats by stealth,"
and having gone [with her] to her village, put her back [there].
Afterwards, after many days went by, yet [another] man having come,
went back, calling her [in marriage]. [When living] near (i.e.,
with) that man also she began to eat by stealth. Afterwards that
man also having said, "I don't want this woman who eats by stealth,"
and having gone [with her] to her village, put her back [there].
Thus, in that way she went in ten or twelve diga [marriages], it is
said. Because she eats by stealth, they bring her back and place her
[at home again].
Afterwards, still a man came and asked [for her in marriage]. The
woman's father said, "Child, I gave her in ten or twelve diga
[marriages]. Because she eats by stealth, having brought and brought
her, they put her [back here]. Because of it, should I give her to
you it will not be successful," he said.
Then the man said, "Father-in-law, no matter that she ate by
stealth. If you will give her give her to me," he said. Afterwards the
woman's father said, "If you are willing in that way, even now call
her and go," he said. Thereupon the man, calling her, went away. [89]
Having investigated for a great many days, when he looked [he saw
that] she eats by stealth. Afterwards the man said to the woman,
"Bolan, it has become necessary for me to eat a [special] food. How
about it?" he said.
"What is it?" the woman asked.
"It is in my mind to eat milk-cake," [90] he said.
Then the woman said, "Is that a very wonderful work? Let us cook it
on any day you want it," she said.
Afterwards the man said, "If so, when you cook it I cannot look and
look on, eyeing it, and [then] eat it. To-day I am going on a journey;
you cook."
Having said [this], the man dressed himself well, and having left
the house behind, and gone a considerable distance [returned and got
hid]. When he was hidden, the woman, taking the large water-pot, went
for water. Having seen it, the man went running, and having got on
the platform in the room (at the level of the top of the side walls),
remained looking out.
The woman, taking rice and having put it to soak and pounded it into
flour, began to cook. After having [cooked some cakes and eaten
part of them, she] cooked a fresh package of cakes, and finished;
and having put the fresh package of cakes into syrup, and laid the
packet of cakes over the others which remained, and covered them,
she took the water-pot and went to the well, and having taken water
after bathing, set off to come back.
The man quickly descended from the platform, and having gone to the
path, got hid. The woman came to the house, taking the water, and
having placed the water-pot [there], when she was taking betel the
man came out from the place where he was hidden, and came to the house.
Afterwards, the woman having apportioned the milk-cake on the plate,
and said, "Inda! Eat," gave him it. Thereupon the man, looking in
the direction of the plate, says, "What are ye saying? Get out of the
way. Should she eat it secretly in that way, it is for her stomach,
and should she eat it openly it is for her stomach," he said. In that
way he says it two or three times. The woman heard.
Afterwards the woman asked, "Without eating the milk-cake, what do
you say that for?" she asked.
Thereupon the man says, "These flies are saying to me that after
you were cooking, you cooked a fresh package of cakes, and having
finished, and put the package of cakes into syrup, you ate the
package. Afterwards I said, 'Should she eat it secretly (hemin) it
is for her (undaege) stomach; should she eat it openly it is for her
stomach,'" he said.
Beginning from that day, the woman, having said, "Do you tell tales in
that way?" began to kill the flies. She also stopped eating by stealth.
Tom-tom Beater. North-western Province.
NO. 201
THE STORY OF THE BITCH
In a certain country there are a woman and a man, it is said. The woman
has a pregnancy longing to eat Katuwala [yams]. There is a Bitch, also;
she also has a pregnancy longing; that also is to eat Katuwala [yams].
After that, the man and the woman and the Bitch, the three, went to
uproot Katuwala [yams]. Having gone there, and the man having said,
"This is for her of ours" (his wife), [91] when he uprooted it on
it there was no yam. Having said, "This is for the Bitch," when he
uprooted it on it there were yams such that the hands could not lift
them. Uprooting them, and having come home and boiled them, when they
were eating the Bitch stayed at the doorway. Without giving [any]
to the Bitch the man and woman ate them.
Afterwards the Bitch thought, "For their not giving the Katuwala [yams]
to me may the children born in my body be born in the woman's body,
and the children born in the woman's body be born in my body."
The Bitch went to the forest jungle (himale); having gone, and entered
a rock cave, she bore two Princesses. Having borne them the Bitch
went to eat food. [The Princesses grew up there.]
Then a Vaedda having come shooting, when he looked there are two
Princesses. Having seen them, the Vaedda, breaking and breaking
branches [to mark the way to the cave], came to the city. Having come
there he told at the hand of the King, "In the chena jungle, at such
and such a place, in a rock cave there are two Princesses. It is to
say this I have come here."
Afterwards the King sent the King's two Princes to go with the Vaedda
to summon the Princesses and come. While going there the Vaedda said
on the road, to the Princes, "When I have gone and am begging for a
little fire at the hand of the two Princesses, they will open the door
in order to give the fire. Then you two must spring into the house."
Having gone near the rock cave, the Vaedda asked for fire. Then
the Princesses having opened the door a very little, when they were
preparing to give the fire the two Princes sprang into the house. Then
the two Princesses fainted, having become afraid. Afterwards, causing
them to become conscious, summoning the two Princesses they went to
the city [and married them].
The Bitch having come, when she looked the two Princesses were not
[there]. After that, having gone along the path on which they had gone
breaking branches she went to the city in which the Princesses are.
Having gone there, when she went to the place where the elder Princess
is, the Princess said, "Ci, Ci, [92] bitch!" and having beaten her,
drove her away.
Having gone from there, when she went to the place where the younger
Princess is, she bathed her in water scented with sandal wood and
placed her upon the bed. Then the Bitch became a golden ash-pumpkin.
Then the Prince having come, asked at the hand of the Princess,
"Whence the golden ash-pumpkin upon the bed?"
The Princess said, "Our mother brought and gave it."
Then the Prince thought, "When she brought so much to the house,
after we have gone to her house how much will she not give!"
Having said to the Princess, "Let us go," they take a cart also. On the
road on which they are going there is a spired ant-hill (kot humbaha).
Having gone near the ant-hill the Princess said, "Ane, Naga
King! Whence has our mother silver and golden things? Let a thunderbolt
strike me!"
Then the Cobra [came out, and] not having raised his hood, said,
"Look there. There are silver and golden things as much as you want
[in the cave]."
After that, the Prince and the Princess having taken the cart, and gone
near the rock cave, when they looked silver and golden things had been
created. Afterwards, loading them in the cart they brought them away.
The elder Princess's Prince having seen that they are bringing silver
and golden things, [and having heard their account of their journey for
them], said at the hand of the Princess, "Younger brother having gone
in that way, brought from your village silver and golden goods. Let
us also go to bring [some]."
When the elder Prince and Princess, having taken a cart, were going
near the spired ant-hill that was on the road, the Princess said,
"Ane, Naga King! Whence has our mother silver and golden goods? Please
give me a thunderbolt."
Then the Cobra having come and having raised his hood, bit the crown
of the Princess's head, and went back into the ant-hill.
The Prince, taking the cart, came to the city. The Princess died there.
Tom-tom Beater. North-western Province.
In Tales of the Punjab (Mrs. F. A. Steel), p. 284, a poverty-stricken
girl who was driven from home by her mother, married a Prince. When
the mother came to her to claim a share of her good fortune, the
girl prayed to the Sun for help; and on her husband's entering the
room her mother had become a golden stool, which the girl declared
had come from her home. The Prince determined to visit it, and again
the girl appealed to the Sun for assistance. When they reached the
hut they found it transformed into a golden palace, full of golden
articles. When the Prince looked back after a three days' visit and
saw only the hut, he charged his wife with being a witch, so she told
him the whole story, and he became a Sun worshipper.
In Old Deccan Days (M. Frere), p. 18, a Raja's wife bore two puppies,
and their pet dog bore two girls which she deposited in a cave. A
Raja and his brother while hunting discovered the girls, whom they
carried away and married. When the bitch went in search of them,
the elder one treated it kindly, but the other ordered her servants
to throw stones at it and drive it away. One stone wounded it on the
head, and it died at the elder daughter's house. The Raja tripped
over the basket under which the body was placed, and found under it
the life-size figure of a dog made of precious stones set in gold,
which his wife said was a present from her parents. As her husband
determined to visit them she decided to commit suicide, and put her
finger in the open mouth of a cobra that was on an ant-hill; by doing
so she relieved it of a thorn which had stuck in the snake's mouth. The
grateful cobra agreed to assist her, and when she returned with her
husband they found a great palace built of precious stones and gold,
with a Raja and his wife inside to represent her parents. After a
visit of six months, when they looked back on their way home they saw
the whole place in flames which totally destroyed it. On seeing the
valuable presents they took back, and hearing her sister's story,
the younger sister went in the same manner, put her finger in the
cobra's mouth, was bitten by it, and died.
In Sagas from the Far East, p. 125, in a Kalmuk tale, after the girl
who had been taken out of a box found on the steppe [93] had three
children, the people began to complain of her want of respectable
relatives, and she went home with her sons. Instead of her former
poor dwelling she found there palaces, many labourers at work, and a
youth who claimed to be her brother. Her parents entertained her well,
and the Khan and Ministers came, and returned quite satisfied. On
the following morning the palaces and all had vanished, and she
returned to the Khan's palace, perceiving that the Devas had created
the illusion on her behalf. (As she had claimed to be the daughter
of the Serpent God, it would appear to have been the Nagas who had
exerted their powers and done this for her. In the story numbered 252
in this volume, Mara, the god of death, assisted the son of a woman
who had stated that he was her husband.)
NO. 202
THE ELEPHANT GUARD
In a certain country there are a woman and a man; there are a boy and
a girl of those two. During the time when these four were [there],
they heard the notification tom-tom at another city. Then the man said,
"I am going to look what this notification tom-tom is that we hear."
After the man went to the city the King said, "Canst thou guard
my elephants?"
The man said, "What will you give me?"
The King said, "I will give a thousand masuran, and expenses [94]
for eating."
Thereupon the man says, "It is too little for me and my wife, and my
boy and girl, for us four persons."
After that the King said, "I will give two thousand masuran, and
expenses for eating for you four persons."
Thereupon the man said, "Having returned to my village I will go and
call my wife and children to come."
As he was going, a jewelled ring of a Maharaja had fallen [on the
path]. This man, taking the jewelled ring in his hand, thought,
"It is bad for me to destroy this jewelled ring; this I must give to
the King."
Thinking thus he went home, and summoning his wife and children came
to the city. After he presented [95] that jewelled ring to the King,
the King asked, "Whence [came] this jewelled ring to thee?"
This man said, "This jewelled ring as I was going to the village had
fallen on the path. It is that [ring] indeed which I placed [before
you] as this present."
After that the King [said], "A ring of a greater King than I! Because
it is so it is bad to destroy this ring. What dost thou say about
[thy reward for] it?"
"I say nothing. The thing that is given to me I will take."
Thereupon the King said, "Are you quite satisfied [for me] to give a
district from the kingdom, and goods [amounting] to a tusk elephant's
load?" This man said "Ha."
After he said it the King gave them. Thereupon this man took charge
of the guarding of the elephants.
One day when he was guarding the elephants the Rakshasa came. This
man asked, "What came you for?"
The Rakshasa said, "It is to eat thee that I came."
This man said, "What will you eat me for? Eat our King," he said.
After that, the Rakshasa having come into the city, when he went near
the King the King asked, "What hast thou come for?"
The Rakshasa said, "I came to eat you, Sir."
"Who, Bola, told thee?" the King said.
Thereupon the Rakshasa said, "The man who guards the elephants
told me."
Then the King said, "What will you eat me for? Go thou and eat the
man who guards the elephants." Afterwards the Rakshasa went near the
man who guards the elephants.
Thereupon the man asked, "What have you come here again for?"
The Rakshasa said, "The King told me to eat you," he said.
After that, the man said, "[First] bring the few silver and gold
articles that there are of yours," he said.
The Rakshasa having gone home, after he brought the few silver and
gold things this man said to the Rakshasa, "Having come [after]
drawing out a creeper, tie a turn on the elephant's neck and on your
neck tie a turn."
The Rakshasa having come after drawing out a creeper, tied a turn on
the elephant's neck and tied a turn on the Rakshasa's neck. Afterwards
this man said, "Ha; now then, come and eat me." When the Rakshasa
tried to go dragging the elephant, the elephant struck the Rakshasa;
then the Rakshasa died.
Afterwards, while this man, taking those few silver and gold things,
is guarding the elephants, one day having been soaked owing to the
rain when is he squatting at the bottom of a tree, a snake appeared.
This man thinking, "Ane! I must go to warm myself with a little fire,"
having gone away, when he looked about there were two Princesses
in a rock-house (cave). Having seen them he went near [and said],
"Ane! Will you give me a little fire?"
Afterwards the eldest Princess said, "Come here; having warmed yourself
a little at the fire go away."
After that, the man went into the rock-house and warmed himself at
the fire, and taking the elephants came to the city, and told the
King, "Having seen that in this manner there are two Princesses in
a rock-house I came to tell you," he said.
The King said, "Our elder brother and I and you, we three, let us go
to-morrow to fetch the two Princesses." The man said "Ha."
On the following day the three persons having gone near the rock-house,
that man went near that rock-house and asked for fire. At that time,
when the eldest Princess is preparing to give the fire these three
persons sprang in, and having drawn the two Princesses outside, when
they were seizing them the two Princesses lost their senses. Afterwards
restoring them to consciousness they came to the King's city.
When the mother of these two Princesses [after] seeking food came to
the rock-house, these two Princesses were not [there]. After that,
when this widow woman is going weeping and weeping along a path, having
seen that a great tusk elephant King is on the path this woman said,
"Did you meet with my two Princesses?"
The tusk elephant King said, "Two royal thieves and a man who guards
the elephants, placing the two Princesses on the back of an elephant
went away."
Afterwards, when this widow woman was going to the city along the path
on which they took the tusk elephant she saw that the elder Princess
is near the well. This widow woman having become thirsty asked for
a little water.
The Princess said, "Go away, widow woman, there is not any water to
give thee."
Afterwards, when this widow woman met with the younger sister's
house, the Princess having been in the house came out, and said,
"Our mother!" Quickly having bathed her with coconut milk scented
with sandal wood and placed her on the bed, as she is going aside
that woman said, "Daughter (pute), go for a little silver and gold
for yourself. As you are going along the path on which you came there
will be a tusk-elephant King. The tusk-elephant King will give it."
Afterwards, [when she had got the silver and gold] the Princess and
the widow woman went away. They went away with another King.
Tom-tom Beater. North-western Province.
NO. 203
THE ELEPHANT-FOOL
There is a man's elephant. Yet [another] man having gone [to him],
said, "Friend, give (that is, lend) me your elephant; there is a work
for me to do for myself," and asked for it. Then the man who owned the
elephant says, "Take it and go." Afterwards the man having taken it,
while it was doing his work the elephant died.
Afterwards this man having come, says, "Friend, while your elephant
was with me it died. On that account am I to take an elephant and give
it to you; or if not am I to give the money it is worth?" he asked.
Thereupon the man who owned the elephant says, "I don't want another
elephant; I don't want the money, too. Give me my elephant itself,"
he says.
Then this man says, "I cannot give the elephant that died. Do the
thing that thou canst," he said.
Thereupon the man who owned the elephant says, "I will kill thee."
One day, having seen this man who owned the elephant coming, this
man's wife says to the man, "Placing a large water-pot near the door,
shut the door." This one having said, "It is good," placed a large
water-pot near the door, and shut the door.
Thereupon the man who owned the elephant having come to the house,
asked the woman, "Where is thy husband?" Then the woman said,
"There. He is in the house."
Having said, "Open the door, courtesan's son," when he struck his
hand on the door the door opened, and the water-pot was broken.
Then this woman asks for it, saying, "After thou hast broken my
water-pot, give it to me immediately."
The man said, "I will bring a water-pot and give you it."
"I don't want another; give me my very water-pot," she says.
Thereupon, being unable to escape from this woman, having said,
"For the debt of the elephant let the water-pot be substituted,"
the man who owned the elephant went away.
Tom-tom Beater. North-western Province.
A variant related by a Potter is nearly similar, except that both
persons instituted lawsuits for the recovery of the elephant and the
waterpot. The judge who tried the cases was the celebrated Mariyada
Raman, termed by the narrator "Mariyaddurame," a word which suggests
the name Amir Abd ur-Rahman.
There is also a Chinese variant, given in Chinese Nights'
Entertainments (A. M. Fielde), p. 111, in which a dishonest old woman
lent a newly-married girl her cat, in order to kill the mice. The
cat ran home, and the woman then applied for its return, praised
its excellence, and estimated its value at two hundred ounces of
silver. The girl discovered that her father-in-law had once lent the
woman an old wooden ladle, and when the old woman called again about
the cat she reminded her of it, and demanded its return. The cases
were taken before a magistrate. The girl claimed that the ladle was
made from a branch which fell down from the moon, and never diminished
the food, oil, or money from which anything was taken by means of it;
and she asserted that her father-in-law had refused an offer of three
thousand ounces of silver for it. The magistrate decided that the
two claims balanced each other.
NO. 204
HOW A GIRL TOOK GRUEL
In a certain country there are a girl and the girl's father, it is
said. While they were there, one day the man went to plough, saying
to the girl, "Bring gruel to the rice field." They spring across a
stream as they go to the rice field.
The girl, cooking gruel, pouring it into a wide-mouthed cooking-pot and
placing the pot on her head, goes away to the field. While going there
she met a Prince near the river. The girl asked at the Prince's hand,
"Where are you going?" Having told him to sit down and given to him
from the gruel, she said, "Go to our house and wait until the time
when I come after giving the gruel to father;" and placing the gruel
pot on her head she went to the far bank of the river.
Then the Prince asked, "Are you coming immediately?"
The Princess said, "Should [it] come [I] shall not come; should [it]
not come, I shall come." [96]
The Prince got into his mind, "This meant indeed (lit., said),
'Should water come in the river I cannot come; should water not come
I will come.'"
Again the Prince asked, "On which road go you to your house?"
Then the girl unfastened her hair knot; having unloosed it she went
to the rice field.
Afterwards the Prince thought to himself, "Because of the girl's
unloosing her hair knot she goes near the Kitul palm tree indeed." [97]
The Prince having gone near the Kitul tree to the girl's home,
remained lying down in the veranda until the girl came.
The girl having given the gruel came home. Having come there and cooked
for the Prince she gave him to eat. Then the girl's father came. After
that, the girl and the Prince having married remained there.
While they were [there], one day the Prince said, "I must go to our
city." Then the girl also having said that she must go, as the girl
and the girl's father and the Prince, the three persons, were going
along there was a rice field.
The girl's father asked at the hand of the Prince, "Son-in-law,
is this rice field a cultivated rice field, or an unworked rice field?"
Then the Prince said, "What of its being cultivated! If its corners
and angles are not cut this field is an unworked one."
When they were going still a little distance there was a heap of
fence sticks. Concerning it the Prince asked, "Father-in-law, are
these cut fence-sticks, or uncut fence-sticks?"
Then the father-in-law says, "What of their being cut! If they are
not sharpened these are uncut sticks."
Well then, having gone in that manner, and gone to the Prince's city,
he made the girl and the girl's father stay in a calf house near the
palace, saying, "This indeed is our house."
The Prince having gone to the palace said at the hand of the Prince's
mother, "Mother, I have come, calling [a wife] from such and such
a city. The Princess is in that calf house. Call her and come back
after going [there]."
After that, the Queen having gone near the calf house, when she looked
a light had fallen throughout the whole of the calf house. The girl
was in the house. After that the Queen, calling the girl and the
girl's father, came to the palace.
Well then, the girl, and the girl's father, and the Prince remained
at the palace.
Tom-tom Beater. North-western Province.
The questions and answers remind one of those asked and given by
Mahosadha and Amara, the girl whom he married, in the Jataka story
No. 546 (vol. vi, p. 182), and one remark is the same,--that regarding
the river water.
Heroines are sometimes described as emitting a brilliant light,
as in No. 145, vol. ii. In Indian Fairy Tales (M. Stokes), p. 158,
there is a Princess who "comes and sits on her roof, and she shines
so that she lights up all the country and our houses, and we can see
to do our work as if it were day."
In the Katha Sarit Sagara (Tawney), vol. ii, p. 133, a heavenly maiden
illuminated a wood, though it was night. In the same volume, p. 145,
a girl "gleamed as if she were the light of the sun."
In Folk-Tales of Kashmir (Knowles), 2nd ed., pp. 484 ff., the son
of a Wazir asked a farmer whom he accompanied a number of cryptic
questions which were understood by the farmer's daughter, whom he
afterwards married. They have a general resemblance to those in the
Sinhalese story, but differ from them. In one he asked if a field of
ripe corn was eaten or not, meaning that if the owner were in debt
it was as good as eaten already.
In Folklore of the Santal Parganas (Rev. Dr. Bodding) there are
several instances of enigmatical replies of this kind. See pp. 269,
349, 368. In a Kolhan tale appended to the vol. by Mr. Bompas, p. 462,
a Princess who was in a Bel fruit had such brilliancy that the youth
who split it open fell dead when he saw her.
In Cinq Cents Contes et Apologues (Chavannes), a brilliant Prince
is described in vol. i, p. 301, and a heroine in vol. ii, p. 17. In
vol. iii, p. 172, a Prince's face shone like the moon among the
stars. Buddha is usually described as possessing great brilliancy.
In No. 237 below, there is a Prince whose brilliance dazzled a Princess
so much that she swooned.
NO. 205
THE BOY WHO WENT TO LEARN THE SCIENCES
In a certain country a boy was sent by his two parents near a teacher
for learning the arts and sciences. Then the boy, [after] learning for
a long time the sixty-four mechanical arts, [98] came back to his home.
The boy's parents asked the boy, "Did you learn all the sciences?" The
boy told his parents that he learnt the whole of the sciences. At
that time his father asked, "Did you learn the subtlety (mayama)
of women?" Thereupon the boy said he did not. Having said, "[After]
learning that very science come back," he was sent away again by his
two parents.
The boy having set off from there, at the time when he was going along,
in the King's garden were the King and Queen. The King was walking
and walking in the garden. The Queen, sewing and sewing a shawl, [99]
was [sitting] in the shade under a tree. Having seen that this very
boy is going, the Queen, calling the boy, asked, "Where are you going?"
Thereupon the boy says, "When I came home [after] learning the arts
and sciences, and the sixty-four mechanical arts, my parents asked,
'Did you learn the arts?' I said, 'Yes.' Then they asked, 'Did you
learn the subtlety of women?' When I myself said I did not, because
they said, '[After] learning that very science come back,' I am going
away to learn that very science," he said to the Queen.
Thereupon that very Queen said, "I will teach you the subtlety," and
calling the boy near, placed the boy's head on the Queen's thigh,
and having told him to lie [still], and taken the shawl that the
Queen was sewing and sewing, and covered the boy [with it], the Queen
remained sewing and sewing. At that time the King was not there.
After that, the King came there. Then the Queen, having called the King
[and said], "I wish to tell you a story," told the King to listen to
the story. The King was pleased regarding it.
The Queen, leaving the thigh on which was the head of the
above-mentioned boy, having placed the head of the King on the other
thigh, and told him to lie [there], told the story. The story indeed
was:--"Like we are here, a King and Queen of the fore-going time,
like we came here went for garden-sport, it is said. At that time the
King went to walk in the garden, it is said. While that very Queen
was staying [there] sewing a shawl, a boy came there. Then the Queen
asked the boy, 'Where are you going?' Thereupon the boy says, 'Because
my parents said I am to learn the subtlety of women, I am going away
to learn that very subtlety,' he said. Then the Queen having said,
'I will teach you,' called the boy, and having placed his head on her
thigh, and told him to lie [still], sewed the shawl. At that time the
King came, like you now have come here. Then, having told the King
to place his head on the other thigh and having told him this story,
with the shawl that covered the boy she covered the King." [As she
said this, she covered the King with the shawl.] Thereupon the boy
quickly jumped up and went away.
When his parents afterwards asked the boy, "Did you learn the subtlety
of women?" he said that he had learnt it.
Tom-tom Beater. North-western Province.
In The Jataka, No. 61 (vol. i, p. 148), there is an account of a
Brahmana youth who, on completing the usual education, was asked by
his mother if he had learnt the Dolour Texts, and on his replying in
the negative was sent back to learn them. There were no such texts,
but his mother intended him to learn the wickedness of women. This
he did, but not in the manner related in the Sinhalese story.
NO. 206
THE PRINCE AND THE ASCETICS
In a certain country there is a Prince, it is said. After the Prince
became big, for the purpose of marrying him they began to visit all
cities to seek an unpolluted Princess. Because they did not meet
with one according to the Prince's thought, he began to look at many
sooth books.
While looking, from a book he got to know one circumstance. The
matter indeed [was this]:--There was [written] in the book that when
the Prince remains no long time inside the hollow of a large tree, a
Princess will be born from the Prince's very blood. Thereupon having
considered it, according to the manner in which it was mentioned he
stayed inside the tree. When he was there not much time he met with a
Princess, also, in that before-mentioned manner. The Prince thereupon
took the Princess in marriage.
After he took her in marriage, having constructed a palace in the
midst of that forest both of them stayed in it. While they are
[there], the Prince having come every day [after] shooting animals,
skinned them, and taking the skins and having fixed them on the wall,
asks the Princess, "What animals' skins are these?" He asks the names
from the Princess. Then the Princess says, "I don't know."
On the day after that, after the Prince went for hunting a Vaedda
came near the palace. The Princess having seen the Vaedda called
him. Then the Vaedda went to the palace.
After he went the Princess asked the Vaedda, "What animals' skins
are these?" The Vaedda informed (lit., told and gave) the Princess
of the names of the animals. Then the Princess asks the Vaedda,
"Where do you live?"
The Vaedda says, "I, also, live very near this palace, in the midst
of the forest."
The Princess says, "Vaedda, advise me how to cause you to be brought
to me at the time when I want you."
Then the Vaedda said, "I will tie a hawk's-bell in my house, and
having tied a cord to it, and tied it on a tree near the palace,
and pointed it out, at the time when the Princess wants me shake the
cord. Then I shall come," he said.
The Vaedda having informed the Princess about this matter,
after the Vaedda went away the Prince having come back [after]
doing hunting, just as on other days asked the Princess the names
of these animals. That day the Princess told him the names of the
animals. After that, she was unable to inform him of the name of the
animal he brought.
The Prince having reflected, walked round the palace. When he looked
about, having seen that a cord was tied to a tree he shook it. Then
having seen that the Vaedda comes to the palace the Prince remained
hidden. The Vaedda having come and spoken to the Princess, after the
Vaedda went away the Prince having gone to the palace went for hunting.
Walking in the midst of the forest he went near a river, and when he
was looking about having heard the talk of men the Prince went into
a tree. Having gone [there], while he was looking three men (minis)
came, and having slipped off their clothes and finished, after they
descended to bathe from the three betel boxes of the three persons
three women came out. They having opened the mouths of the three
betel boxes of the three women, when he was looking the Prince saw
that three men are inside their three betel boxes.
After that, the Prince descended from the tree to the ground, and
asked the three men [when they had bathed], "Who are you?"
Then the men say, "We all three are ascetics," they said. After that
the Prince, calling the three persons, went to the palace. Having gone
[there] the Prince told the Princess to cook rice for twelve.
After she cooked he said, "Having set twelve plates of cooked rice,
place them on the table."
After she put them [there] the Prince told the ascetics to sit down
to eat cooked rice. After they sat down he said, "Tell the three wives
of you three persons to sit down." [They came out and sat down.] Then
when he told the three men (minis) who are in the three betel boxes
of the three women to sit down, all were astonished.
Then he told the Princess to call that Vaedda, and return. "I don't
know [anything about him]," the Princess said untruthfully. Then
the Prince pulled that cord; the Vaedda came running. Afterwards the
whole twelve sitting down ate cooked rice.
Afterwards, those said three ascetics and the Prince having talked,
abandoned this party, and the whole four went again to practise
austerities (tapas rakinda).
Tom-tom Beater. North-western Province.
In The Jataka, No. 145 (vol. i, p. 310), the Bodhisatta is represented
as remarking, "You might carry a woman about in your arms and yet she
would not be safe." In No. 436 (vol. iii, p. 314), an Asura demon
who had seized a woman kept her in a box, which he swallowed. When
he ejected it and allowed her liberty while he bathed, she managed to
hide a magician with her in the box, which the unsuspecting demon again
swallowed. An ascetic knew by his power of insight what had occurred,
and informed the demon, who at once ejected the box. On his opening
it the magician uttered a spell and escaped.
In the Arabian Nights (Lady Burton's ed., vol. i, p. 9), two Kings
whose wives had been unfaithful, saw a Jinni (or Rakshasa) take a
lady out of a casket fastened with seven steel padlocks and placed
in a crystal box; he went to sleep with his head on her lap under
the tree in which they were hidden. Noticing the men in the tree,
she put the Jinni's head softly on the ground, and by threatening to
rouse her husband made them descend. In her purse she had a knotted
string on which were strung five hundred and seventy seal rings of
the persons she had met in this way though kept at the bottom of the
sea, and adding their rings to her collection she sent them away. In
vol. iv, p. 130, the story is told of a Prince, and the woman had
more than eighty rings.
In the Tota Kahani (Small), p. 41, a Yogi took the form of an elephant,
and to insure his wife's chastity carried her in a hauda or litter
on his back. A man climbed up a tree for safety from the elephant,
which halted under the tree, put down the litter, and went off to
feed. The man descended and joined the woman, who took out a knotted
cord and added another knot on it, making a hundred and one, which
represented the number of men she had met in that way.
In the Katha Sarit Sagara (Tawney), vol. ii, p. 80, two young
Brahmanas, hiding at night in a tree close to a lake, saw a number
of men appear out of the water and prepare a place and food which
a handsome person, who came out of the water also, came to eat. He
ejected from his mouth two ladies who were his wives; they ate the
meal and he went to sleep. The Brahmanas descended from the tree to
inquire about it. When the elder youth declined the advances of one
of the women she showed him a hundred rings taken from the lovers
she had had. She then awoke her husband and charged the youth with
attempted violence, but the other told the truth and saved him. The
being whose wives the women were is termed a water-genius and later
on a Yaksha, who was subject to a curse. He told the youths that he
kept his wives in his heart, out of jealousy.
There is a nearly similar story in the same work, vol. ii, p. 98, in
which the being who came out of the water was a snake-god who ejected
a couch and his wife. When he went to sleep a traveller who was lying
under the tree became her hundredth lover. When the snake-god awoke and
saw them he reduced them to ashes by fire discharged from his mouth.
In Cinq Cents Contes et Apologues (Chavannes), vol. i, p. 378, a Prince
who had climbed up a tree saw a Brahmana, who first bathed there,
eject from his mouth a pot, out of which came a woman. While the
Brahmana was asleep she also ejected a pot out of which came a young
man, her lover; when he afterwards re-entered the pot she swallowed
it again. Then the Brahmana awoke, swallowed her in the same way,
and went off. The Prince told the King to invite the Brahmana to a
feast, at which food for three was set near him. On his saying he
was alone the Prince invited him to produce the woman, and when he
had done so, she was made to bring out her lover, and all three ate
the meal together. The Prince thus proved to his father, who had kept
his wives in seclusion, that it was useless to shut women up.
NO. 207
THE TURTLE PRINCE [100]
At a certain city two noblemen [101] stay in two houses. When they are
there, for the two noblemen there are two Queens. One Queen bore seven
female children; the other Queen bore six male children and a Turtle.
Then the same two noblemen spoke: "Cousin, not contracting the
marriages of your children and my children outside, let us ourselves
do giving and taking," they said.
Having said, "If so, let us marry the eldest children," they married
them. The second two children they also married. The third two children
they also married. The fourth two children they also married. The
fifth two children they also married. The sixth two children they
also married. There was no way to marry the seventh two children.
The matter of their not [marrying] indeed [was this:--the father of
the girls] said, "Cousin, my daughter is a daughter possessing much
beauty. Because of it, your young child indeed is not good. Should you
say, 'What of the matter of his not being good, indeed!' Your child
is the Turtle; because it is so I cannot [marry my daughter to him],"
he said.
Then the other cousin says, "Cousin, you cannot say so. The Turtle
who is my young child says, 'I, father, if there be not that marriage
for me, I will jump into the well, and make various quarrels,' the
Turtle says. Because it is so you must marry your very child [to him],
he says. If you cannot [do] so, let us cancel the marriages of the
whole of the several persons," says the Turtle's father.
Then he says, "If so, cousin, no matter about cancelling the marriages;
I will give my daughter to the Turtle," he said. Having thus given her,
they contracted the marriage.
Having married them, when they were [there] there was notified by
the King of the same city, "Can anyone, having brought it, give me
the Fire Cock [102] that is at the house of the Rakshasa?" [103]
he notified. The same King published by beat of tom-toms that to the
persons who brought and gave it he will give many offices. Secondly,
"I will give my kingdom also," he notified.
That word the Turtle having ascertained, he said, "Mother, you
go, and seeing the King, 'The Turtle who is my son is able,' say,
'to bring and give the Fire Cock.'" [She went accordingly.]
Then the King said, "Tell your son to come to-morrow morning," he said.
The following day morning the same Turtle having gone says, "I can
bring and give the Fire Cock in seven days."
Then the King said, "Not to mention [104] the Turtle, should anyone
[whatever] bring and give it, I will give him offices and my kingdom
also."
The Turtle having come home said to the Turtle's wife, "Bolan, having
cooked for me a packet [105] of rice, bring it," he said.
Then the Turtle's wife asked, "What is the packet of cooked rice for
you for?" she asked.
"It is arranged by the King for me to bring and give him the Fire Cock
that is at the Rakshasa's house. Because it is so, cook the lump of
rice," he said.
"Having cooked the lump of rice I can give it, indeed. How will you
take it and go?" she said.
Then the Turtle said, "Having put the cooked rice in a bag, place it
on my back and tie it. I am able to take it and go," he said.
After having placed it on his back and tied it, the same Turtle,
having gone on the journey, while on the road went to a screen formed
by Mahamidi [trees]. [106] Having gone there and unfastened the
packet of cooked rice, and removed and put aside the turtle jacket,
he ate the lump of cooked rice. Having eaten and finished, he hid
the turtle jacket, and went on the journey [in the form of a Prince].
When he was going on the journey, it having become night while he
was on the road he went to the house of a widow-mother. Having gone
[there], "Mother, you must give me a resting-place," he said.
Then the widow-mother said, "A resting-place indeed I can give,"
she said; "to give to eat [there is] not a thing."
"If so, no matter for the food; should you give me only the
resting-place it will do," he said.
Then the widow-mother asked, "Where are you, son, going?" she asked.
Then he said, "I am going for the Jewelled Cock at the Rakshasa's
house," he said.
The widow-mother then said, "Son, go you to [your] village without
speaking [about it]. People, many multitudes in number, having stayed
in the resting-place here, went for the Fire Cock. Except that they
went, they did not bring the Fire Cock. Because it is so don't you go."
Then he said, "However much you, mother, should say it, I indeed must
really go."
"Since you are going, not paying heed to my saying, eat this little
rice dust that I cooked, and go."
Then he said, "Except that to-day you cooked rice dust [for me],
I shall not be able to cook [even] rice dust again for you," he
said. ["Raw-rice, be created."] With the same speed [as his saying it]
raw-rice [107] was created, [and he gave her power to do the same].
"Son, like the power which you gave, I will give you a power. You
having gone to the Rakshasa's house, at the time when you are coming
back the Rakshasa will come [for the purpose of] stopping you. Then on
account of it having taken this piece of stone and said, 'Ci! Mountain,
be created,' cast it down; the mountain will be created. The Rakshasa
having gone up the mountain, while he is descending below you will
be able then to go a considerable distance."
Taking that [stone and] power from there when he was going away,
while he was on the road it became night. After it became night,
again he went to the house of a widow woman. The widow woman asked,
"Where, son, are you going in this way when it has become night?"
Then he said, "I am going for the Fire Cock at the Rakshasa's house,"
he said.
"Don't you go on that journey; the people who go for that Fire Cock,
except that they go, do not return."
"Don't at any rate tell that fact to me indeed; I indeed must
really go for the Fire Cock. I came here at the time when I wanted
a resting-place."
"A resting-place indeed I can give. To give to eat [there is] not a
thing," the widow-mother said.
"No matter for the food; should you give me a resting-place it will
do," he said.
While the person of the resting-place was staying looking on, because
he could not eat, from what she had cooked of rice dust she gave him
a little to eat.
"Mother, being unable to cook again for you, although to-day you cooked
rice dust, I will give you a power," he said. "Raw-rice, be created,"
[and he gave her power to do the same].
"If so, son, I will give you a power. Here (Menna). Having taken away
this bamboo stick, for the Rakshasa's stopping you on the path when
you are coming away, say, 'Ci! Bamboo, be created,' and throw down
the bamboo stick. Then the bamboo fence will be created. The Rakshasa
having gone up it, while he is coming down [on the other side] you
will be able to come a considerable distance."
When he was going away from there on the following day, while he was on
the road it became night. It having become night, again he went to the
house of a widow woman. Having gone there he asked for a resting-place.
"In this way when night has come, where are you going?" she asked.
Then he said, "I am going to bring the Fire Cock at the Rakshasa's
house," he said.
"Except that thousands of robbers, thousands of archers [108] go,
except that the persons who went there went, they did not come
back. Because it is so don't you go."
"I indeed must really go for the Fire Cock. For me to stay here
[to-night] you must give the resting-place."
Then she said, "I can indeed give it. To give you to eat [there is]
not a thing to give."
"No matter for food for me; should you give me a resting-place it
will do."
The widow-mother having cooked a little rice dust gave him to eat.
"Mother, I shall not again be able to cook [even] rice dust for you. I
will give you a good power." He gave her a power to create raw-rice.
"Better than the power you gave me I will give you a power. Having
gone to the Rakshasa's house, when you are coming, taking the Fire
Cock also, the Rakshasa will come running to eat you. When he is
thus coming, here, having taken away this piece of charcoal and
said, 'Ci! Fire, be created,' throw it down; the fire fence will be
created. Then the Rakshasa having come will jump into the fire. Without
speaking, slowly come home."
[The Prince went, stole the Fire Cock, and escaped from the pursuit
of the Rakshasa by means of the three gifts. [109] The Rakshasa was
burnt at the fire fence.]
[The Prince] having come there [again], and gone to the place where
the turtle jacket is, putting on his body the turtle jacket [and
resuming his turtle shape], came to his village. Having come there
he handed over the Fire Cock to the King. When he was giving it the
King said, "From to-day my country, together with the goods, is in
charge for thee."
"There are goods [belonging] to me which are better than that;
I don't want it," he said.
The same King, in order to make a [religious] offering of those goods,
commanded a Bana (recitation of the Buddhist scriptures).
When the Turtle's wife and yet [other] women are going to hear
the Bana, the other women who are coming to hear the Bana, say,
"O Turtle's wife, come, to go to hear the Bana." Having gone there,
while they are hearing the Bana the Turtle, having taken off the
turtle jacket [and become a Prince again], went to hear the Bana.
Then the Turtle's wife thought, "It is my very husband, [110]
this." Having thought it and come home, at the time when she looked
she saw that the turtle jacket was there, and taking out the goods
that were in it she put the same jacket on the [fire on the] hearth,
and went [back] to hear the Bana.
The Turtle's wife's husband having come home, when he looked the turtle
jacket was not [there]. Having got into the house he remained silent.
The Turtle's wife came home gaily. Other women asked, "What is [the
reason of] so much sportiveness of the Turtle's wife which there
is to-day?"
"You will perceive [the reason of] my playfulness when you have gone
to the house."
The other women, to look at [the meaning of] those words, came to
the house of the Turtle's wife with the Turtle's wife. Having come,
when they looked the husband of the Turtle's wife is like a King.
This story is the two noblemen's.
Tom-tom Beater. North-western Province.
NO. 208
THE GEM-SET RING
In a certain country there are a King and a Queen, it is said; there
are seven Princes of these two persons. Out of the seven, the youngest
Prince from the day on which he was born is lying down; only those
six perform service, go on journeys after journeys (gaman sagaman).
Well then, at the time when this Prince is living thus, the King
said at the hand of the Queen, "Should this Prince remain there is
no advantage to us; I must behead him."
The Queen said, "There is no need to behead him. Drive away the
Prince whom we do not want to a quarter he likes." The King said,
"It is good."
The Queen having come near the Prince, said, "Son, he must behead
you, says the King. Because of it go to a place you like, to seek
a livelihood."
Then the Prince said, "For me to go for trading give me (dilan)
a thousand masuran, and a packet of cooked rice." After that, the
Queen gave him a packet of cooked rice and a thousand masuran.
The Prince having taken the packet of cooked rice and the thousand
masuran, arrived (eli-baessa) at a travellers' shed. At the time when
he is sitting in the travellers' shed a man came, bringing a Cobra.
Then the Prince asked, "For how much will you sell the Cobra?"
The man said, "It is a thousand masuran."
Afterwards the Prince said, "There are a thousand masuran of mine. Here
(inda), take them." Having given the thousand masuran he got the Cobra.
Taking it, and having unfastened the packet of cooked rice, the Cobra
and the Prince ate, and the Prince, taking the Cobra, came back to
the Prince's city.
Then the Queen asked, "Son, what is the merchandise you have brought?"
The Prince said, "Mother, having given those thousand masuran that
I took, I brought a Cobra."
Afterwards the Queen said, "Appa! Son, should that one remain it
will bite us. Take it to a forest, and having conducted it a short
distance come back."
The Prince having taken it and put it in a rock house (cave) in the
forest, shut the door, and came back. At the time when he was there
the Queen said, "Son, should the King come to know that you are [here]
he will behead you. Because of it go to any place you like."
Afterwards the Prince said, "Give me a thousand masuran, and a packet
of cooked rice." The Queen gave them.
After that, the Prince taking them and having gone, while he was in
that travellers' shed a man taking a Parrot came to the travellers'
shed.
The Prince asked, "Will you sell that Parrot?" The man said he would
sell it. The Prince asked, "For how much?" The man said, "It is a
thousand masuran." The Prince gave the thousand masuran and got the
Parrot. The Prince and the Parrot having eaten the packet of cooked
rice, the two came to the Prince's city.
The Queen asked, "Son, what is the merchandise you have brought
to-day?"
The Prince says, "Mother, having given those thousand masuran that
I took I have brought a Parrot."
Afterwards the Queen said, "We don't want the Parrot. Take it and
put it in the forest, and come back."
The Prince having taken the Parrot and put the Parrot also in the
rock house in which is the Cobra, shut the door, and came back.
While he was there the Queen said, "Son, should the King see that you
are [here] he will behead you. Because of it go to any place you like."
The Prince said, "Mother, give me a thousand masuran, and a packet
of cooked rice." The Queen gave him a packet of cooked rice and a
thousand masuran. Afterwards, the Prince having taken them, while he
was at that travellers' shed again a man is taking a Cat which eats
by stealth, in order to put it into the river.
This Prince asked, "Will you sell that?" The man said he would sell
it. The Prince asked, "For how much?" The man [said], "I will sell
it for a thousand masuran."
Afterwards the Prince gave the thousand masuran that were in his hand,
and taking the Cat, and the Prince and the Cat having eaten the packet
of cooked rice, the two came to the Prince's city.
Then the Queen asked, "Son, on this journey what have you brought?"
The Prince says, "Mother, having given the thousand masuran that I
took I brought a Cat."
Then the Queen said, "Don't thou come again. Go to any place thou
wantest."
The Prince said, "Mother, give me a thousand masuran, and a packet
of cooked rice." After that, the Queen gave him a packet of cooked
rice and a thousand masuran. The Prince, taking them and taking also
the Cat, came to the rock house; and the whole four having eaten the
packet of cooked rice started to go away.
Having gone away, and having gone near a large Na tree, [111] while
they were there the Cobra said, "You stay [112] here until I come back
[after] seeking the Naga King."
The Cobra having gone, and having returned near the large Na tree
[after] seeking [and bringing] the Naga King, the Cobra said to
the Naga King, "This Prince has been of very great assistance to
me. Because of it you must set me free [by giving a suitable ransom]."
Afterwards the Naga King gave the Prince a gem-set ring (peraes-munda),
and said, "With this ring you can create anything you want." [113]
The Naga King, taking that Cobra, went away.
As this Prince and the Parrot and the Cat were going away the Prince
thought, "Let a palace and a Princess be created here for me." Putting
the gem-set ring on his hand he thought it. Then a palace and a
Princess were created.
At the time when they were there, the Princess and Prince went to the
sea to bathe. Having gone there, while bathing a lock of hair (isakeya
raelak) from the head of the Princess fell into the sea. Having gone it
became fastened in the net of net fishermen. They, taking it, gave it
to the King. The King being unable to guess whether it was a hair or a
golden thread, sent out the notification tom-toms. A widow stopped the
tom-toms. Having stopped them the woman went near the King and said,
"This is not a golden thread (kenda), it is indeed hair of the head
(isakeya gahamayi)."
After that the King said, "Can you find the Princess who owns this
hair?"
The woman having said, "I can," came to the very city where the
Princess is. When she came there, there was not any work place
there. She asked at the hand of the Princess, "How, daughter (pute),
do you eat?"
Then the Princess says, "We eat by the power of the gem-set ring."
Afterwards, the woman that day night having stayed there, after the
Prince went to sleep taking the gem-set ring and taking also the
Princess [by means of it], gave them to the King.
The Prince having awoke, when he looked there were no Princess and no
gem-set ring. The Parrot indeed knows the place where they are. He
cannot summon the Princess and come [with her], he cannot get the
gem-set ring.
Owing to it he told the Cat to be [lying as though] sleeping at the
corn-stack threshing-floor (kola-kamate):--"While you are there the
rats will put their paws into your mouth. Do not seize them. When
the King has put his paws in it seize him; do not let him go."
After that, the Cat having gone [there], while he was [lying as though]
sleeping at the corn-stack threshing-floor, the rats put their paws in
his mouth. He did not seize them. The Rat King having come, and said,
"One with cooking pot's mouth (appalla-kata), are you asleep?" put
his paw there. Then the Cat seized him. [He explained to the Rat
King that he wanted a rat to assist him, as the condition on which
he would release him.]
The Rat King said, "Seize thou any rat thou wantest." Having said,
"Take this rat chief," he gave him. Afterwards the Cat let go [the
Rat King].
The Parrot, calling that rat [who had been appointed to assist him],
went to the palace in which was the Princess. After the rat had cut
[his way into] seven boxes, there was a gem-set ring [in the last one].
Taking it, when he gave it to the Parrot, the Parrot said, "This ring
is not ours (apata nae)."
Afterwards the Parrot and the rat having come near the Prince,
[the rat] said, "I cut into seven boxes; there was one ring. When I
gave it to the Parrot youngster (gira-potakayata) the Parrot said,
'It is not ours,'" he said.
Then the Prince said, "Are there not other boxes?"
The rat said, "There is one more."
The Prince said, "If so, cut thou [a hole in] it."
The Parrot and the rat having gone [there], the rat cut into that
box. Then the gem-set ring was there. [The rat took it to the Parrot,
who handed it over to the Prince. By means of it he recovered the
Princess.]
Taking the ring, and having brought back the Princess, they all
remained at the palace.
Tom-tom Beater. North-western Province.
In The Jataka, No. 73 (vol. i, p. 178), a snake, a parrot, and a rat
assisted a Brahmana who had saved their lives.
In The Story of Madana Kama Raja (Natesa Sastri), p. 20, a Prince
whose uncle had usurped the throne received a hundred pagodas from
his mother in order that he might trade. He first bought a kitten
for the money, and subsequently, when she gave him another hundred,
a snake; with these he went about begging for twelve years. The snake
took him to visit its father, Adisesha, the Snake King, who in return
for it gave him his ring which supplied everything wanted while it was
worn. By means of the ring the Prince got a palace and kingdom and a
capital; he married a Princess also. While she was bathing in the sea
one of the hairs from her head came off and was cast on the shore. The
King of Cochin found it, ascertained that it was twenty yards long,
and promised rewards for the discovery of its owner. An old woman who
was received into the Prince's palace learnt about the powers of the
magic ring, and borrowing it to cure a headache returned to Cochin;
by its power the Princess was brought there. She demanded a delay
of eight days before marrying the King, in order to fast and make a
religious donation to the poor. On the seventh day the Prince and his
cat joined those who were fed. When rats came to eat the remnants the
cat seized the largest one, who proved to be the Rat King, and offered
him his liberty in return for the magic ring. His subjects found it
in a box, and brought it to the cat, who gave it to the Prince. By
means of it he recovered the Princess and his kingdom, and caused
the Cochin kingdom to be destroyed and its King to become insane.
In Folklore of the Santal Pargana (collected by Rev. Dr. Bodding),
p. 24, a youth set afloat in a leaf some hairs that came out while
he was bathing. Two Princesses who were bathing lower down got the
packet, found that the hairs were twelve cubits long, and the younger
one refused food until their owner was discovered. A parrot met with
him in the forest, and a crow enticed him to come by flying off with
his flute. He married the Princess and became a Raja. See p. 75 ff.,
and Campbell's Santal Folk Tales, pp. 16 and 113.
In a variant, p. 88, a youth bought a cat, an otter, a rat, and a snake
that were about to be killed. The snake took him to its parents, from
whom he received a magic ring which provided everything required if it
were placed in a quart of milk. After he got married his wife stole
the ring, and eloped with a former lover. The youth was imprisoned
on a charge of murdering her, but the animals recovered the ring
after the rat made the Prince's wife sneeze it up by tickling her
nose with his tail. By means of it he brought up the absconders and
was released. On p. 129 there is an account of the four animals and
the ring given by the snake, by the aid of which a palace was made.
On p. 228 ff., a boy who had a caterpillar's shape took off the skin
when bathing in his own form. He set two hairs afloat in a leaf which
a Princess bathing lower down the river recovered. She found that
the hairs were twelve fathoms long, and refused to eat until their
owner was brought. When he came she married him, saw him remove his
skin covering at night, burnt it, and he remained in his own form
afterwards.
In the Kolhan tales (Bompas) appended to the same volume, p. 458,
a man whose hair reached to his knees, while bathing set a hair
afloat inside a split fruit. A Princess who found it determined to
marry the owner, her father sent men who fetched him, and they were
united. There is a similar story on p. 460.
In Indian Fairy Tales (Thornhill), p. 67, a merchant's son who had
saved the brother of the Snake King received from the latter a copper
ring which converted into gold everything on which it was rubbed. By
means of it he turned a palace into gold and married a Princess,
whose hair touched the ring and became golden. A single hair fell into
a stream, and was found by a Prince a thousand leagues lower down. A
woman who was a magician went in search of the owner in a magic ebony
boat smeared with the blood and fat of a tiger, which sailed upstream
as she sang. She was engaged by the Princess, induced her to enter the
boat to see the fishes, and carried her off. Before saving the snake,
her husband had obtained a sea parrot and a white cat which divers
brought up out of the sea, and he had left these at home on going
away. When these two came in search of him and heard of the loss of
the Princess they looked for her, the parrot carrying a letter tied
on its leg. They delivered the letter and got a reply from her, the
cat stole the ring from the old woman, and they returned and informed
the Prince, who took an army and rescued his wife.
In Tales of the Punjab (Mrs. F. A. Steel), p. 185, a Prince bought
a cat, a dog, a parrot, and a snake, which he reared. The snake
took him to its father, who in return for it gave him a ring which
granted everything wished for. By means of it he obtained a Princess
in marriage, after making a palace of gold in the sea; he also made
her golden. One day she set afloat in a leaf cup two hairs which came
out as she was washing. In another country a fisherman found them and
gave them to the King, who sent a wise woman in search of their owner
in a golden boat. She met with the Princess, stayed at the palace,
learnt about the ring, induced the Princess to enter the boat, and
took her away. The Princess refused to look at the King's son for six
months. The parrot gave her husband the news, went in search of her
with the cat, and learnt that the wise woman kept the ring in her
mouth. The cat seized the longest-tailed rat that came to eat rice
which the Princess scattered; it thrust its tail up the nose of the
sleeping woman, and the sneeze she gave caused the ring to fly out
of her mouth. The parrot took it to its master, who recovered the
Princess by its aid. The ring was only effective when placed in the
centre of a clean square place purified by being smeared with cow-dung,
and there sprinkled with butter-milk. [114]
In Folk-Tales of Bengal (L. Behari Day), p. 86, a Brahmana's son
married a Princess whom he rescued from Rakshasas. She tied to a
floating shell a hair that came off while she bathed; it was found by
her husband's half-brother, who ascertained that it was seven cubits
long. The Queen-Mother sent her servant, a Rakshasi, in search of the
owner, in a magic boat which flew along the water wherever required
when she uttered a spell and thrice snapped her fingers. She went
to the palace, one day persuaded the Princess to enter the boat,
and carried her away in it. The Princess said she had vowed not to
look at a strange man's face for six months, her husband found her,
was recognised by the King, and all ended happily; but the Rakshasi
was buried alive, surrounded by thorns.
A golden-haired Princess is often described in folk-tales. See No. 240
in this volume, and Indian Fairy Tales (M. Stokes), pp. 62 and 98. In
one of the Santal variants a grateful snake made a man's hair like
gold by breathing on it (op. cit., p. 75).
In Folk-Tales of Kashmir (Knowles), 2nd ed., p. 20, a merchant's son
bought a dog, cat, and snake that were likely to be killed. By means
of a ring which the snake's father gave him he got a mansion and a
wife with golden hair. She set afloat some hairs inside a reed; a
Prince found them lower down the river, and his father sent his aunt,
an ogress, to bring their possessor. She flew to the place in the
form of a bee, became an old hag, was received as the girl's aunt,
borrowed the ring, flew off with it, and by its means the Princess
was brought away. She demanded a month's delay before marrying, the
cat and dog found her, and secured the ring (which the ogress kept
in her stomach) by seizing the Rat King's eldest son and getting it
as his ransom, a rat having made the ogress cough it up by inserting
its tail in her throat while she slept. They returned with it, and
the Prince recovered his wife by it.
At p. 132, a crow carried off the comb of a Princess whom a Prince had
rescued from a Rakshasa and married, and it was discovered at a palace,
inside a fish that had swallowed it when it was dropped in the sea. A
woman sent to find the owner poisoned the Prince; the King carried off
the widow, but she refused to marry him for six months. The Prince's
two friends, a Brahmana and a Carpenter, found her, and by means of
a magic horse of sandal wood which the latter made, that flew where
required, they returned with her. By a touch the Brahmana restored
to life the Prince's corpse which his wife had enclosed in a box.
In Sagas from the Far East, p. 108, in a Kalmuk story, a Khan carried
off a youth's wife who dropped in a stream, while bathing, a gem-set
ring, which the Khan got. Her husband was killed and buried by his
emissaries. When his life-index tree withered, his five comrades
found and revived him, and made a flying bird by means of which he
regained his wife.
At p. 222, in a Kalmuk story, a maidservant gave a Khan some wonderful
hairs which clung to her water jar, and which a wife whom the Snake
King gave to a man had lost when bathing. The Khan's men captured her;
after a year she made her husband dance, dressed in feathers, before
her and the Khan. When the Khan to please her exchanged dresses with
him, she ordered the Khan to be driven out, the dogs overtook and
killed him, and her husband became King. Compare the ending of No. 18,
vol. i.
At p. 135, in a Kalmuk tale, a Brahmana's son bought and set free a
mouse, a young ape and a young bear; when he was afterwards enclosed
in a chest and thrown into the river the animals rescued him. He
found a talisman as large as a pigeon's egg, made by its aid a city,
palace, etc., exchanged the talisman for a caravan-load of goods, and
all vanished. The animals recovered it, the palace was reconstructed,
and he got a divine wife.
In Korean Tales (Dr. Allen), p. 43, a man lost an amber talisman
that a supernatural caller gave him. His dog and cat found it, and
regained it by the aid of the rat-chief, who made a mouse creep into
the soap-stone box in which it was hidden, after the rats gnawed a
hole through the side.
In Cinq Cents Contes et Apologues (Chavannes), vol. iii, p. 258, a
King sent a youth for a Naga girl whose hairs, one hundred feet long,
were found in a swallow's nest. By means of a cap of invisibility
and shoes for walking on water, which he stole from two persons who
were quarrelling about them, the youth fetched her; but seeing that
the King was ugly she threw at him a cake of gold she had brought,
the blow killed him, and the youth became King and married her.
NO. 209
THE STORY OF THE BRAHMANA
In a city a Brahmana has a small piece of ground; only that belongs
to him. He sold that place for three masuran. "Now then, I shall go
and earn a living. You remain [at home], getting a livelihood to the
extent you can," he said to his wife.
When the Brahmana was going along a path, yet [another] Brahmana was
going in front. From the Brahmana who is going in front this Brahmana
asks, "Emba! Brahmana, will you say a word [of advice] to me?"
"If you will give me a masurama I will say it," he said. This one said,
"I will give it."
After he gave it, he says, "When you have gone to a country don't
require honour." Having said it, the two persons go away [together].
When they had been going a considerable distance, this Brahmana asked,
"Will you still say a word [of advice] to me?"
"If you will give me yet a masurama I will say it," he said. "I will
give it," he said.
After he gave it, he said, "Don't do anything without
investigation." He goes on in silence.
When they had gone still a considerable distance, this one spoke,
"Emba! Brahmana." "What is it?" he asked. "Will you say yet a word
[of advice] to me?" he asked.
"Then will you give me still a masurama?" he said. Having said,
"I will give it," he gave him one masurama.
"To one's own wife don't tell a secret."
The Brahmana [whom he had met], turning to go along a different path,
asked at the hand of this one, "Are there still masuran in your hand?"
Then this one said, "I sold a plot of ground, and brought three
masuran. For even my expenses there is no other in my hand."
Having said, "If so, I will say a word without payment (nikan);
don't tell lies to Kings," he went away.
Thereupon this one being weakened by hunger, at the time when he
was going on, a nobleman (sitanan kenek) of a city near there having
died and there being no one to bury him, they gave notice by beat of
tom-toms that they will give five hundred masuran to a person who can
[do it].
This destitute Brahmana asked the tom-tom beater, "What is that
tom-tom beating for?"
The tom-tom beater says, "A man of this country has died and there is
no one to bury him. Because of it I am beating the notice tom-tom,"
he said.
This Brahmana thought, "'When one has gone to a country do not require
honours,' he said." Having thought, "Because it is so I must bury
this nobleman," this one said, "I can," and went.
Thereupon this dead nobleman's son says to the Brahmana, "Thou
having quite alone buried this dead body, come [to me]; I will give
thy wages."
This one having said, "It is good," and taken away the corpse,
and cut the grave, thinks, "A sooth-saying Brahmana said to-day,
'Without investigation don't do a thing.'" Having said this he
unfastened the cloth round the waist of this dead nobleman, and looked
at the body. There was a belt. He unfastened it and looked [at it];
the belt was full of masuran. Having taken them he buried the corpse
and came to the nobleman's house. Well then, the nobleman's son gave
the Brahmana five hundred masuran.
This one having taken them, came near a goldsmith, and causing him to
make for his wife the things that she needed, he went to the Brahmana's
village. Having gone he spoke to his wife and gave her these articles.
After he gave them this woman asks the Brahmana, "Whence did you
bring these?" in order that he should say the manner in which he
brought them.
This one thought, "Yet [another] Brahmana having taken one masurama
from me said, 'To one's own wife don't tell a secret,' didn't
he?" Thinking this, not telling her the way in which he brought
them, he said, "Having become thirsty when I was coming home, when I
looked about there was not a place to drink at. Having drunk a great
quantity of Euphorbia milk [115] because the thirst was excessive, I
was lying down upon a rock. Then the rock having split, masuran were
thrown out. Collecting as many as I could, I got these things made,"
he said to his wife.
As soon as he said it (kiwa wahama), this woman having gone running
told it in this manner to a great number of women besides. Thereupon
the women having come running to their houses said it to their
husbands. Those persons, about twenty-five, taking cooking pots,
went to drink Euphorbia milk. Out of the persons who drank it a
portion died; the other persons [after] vomiting came back.
Having said to this Brahmana and his wife, "You told our men to drink
Euphorbia milk, and caused them to die," those women instituted a
law-suit before a King.
Thereupon the King caused both parties to be brought. The King asks
the Brahmana, "How did this occur?"
The Brahmana says, "Your Majesty (Devayan wahanse), having given
three masuran, I asked for and got three words [of advice] from a
Brahmana. 'Having gone to a country don't require honours,' he said;
'Without investigation don't do a thing,' he said; 'To one's own wife
don't tell a secret,' he said; thereupon, the masuran being finished,
he said without masuran, 'Don't tell lies to Kings.'"
He then repeated to the King the true story (already given) of his
adventures and actions, which I omit; and he ended by saying "On
account of [the other Brahmana's] saying, 'Don't tell lies to Kings,'
I told you the fact."
The King having investigated the law-suit, set free the Brahmana and
the Brahmana's wife.
Tom-tom Beater. North-western Province.
With this may be compared the advice given to the Prince in the story
No. 250 in this volume.
In Indian Nights' Entertainment (Swynnerton), p. 213 ff., a poor
weaver who went away to improve his fortunes after borrowing forty
rupees, met with a man who was silent until paid twenty rupees,
when he said, "Friend, when four men give you [the same] advice,
take it." When he gave the man his remaining twenty rupees, and said,
"Speak again," the man warned him not to tell his wife what happened to
him. After this, the weaver met with four men sitting round a corpse,
and consented to carry it to the adjoining river for them, and throw
it in. He found diamonds tied round its waist, appropriated them,
returned home, repaid his loan, and lived in luxury. The village
headmen wished to know how the weaver became rich, and the man's wife
pestered him about it until he stated that while on his travels he
was told to drink half a pint of mustard oil early in the morning,
and he would then see hidden treasure. The headman's wife being told
this by her, gave her husband and six children the dose at night,
and in the morning they were all dead. When the King held an inquiry
she charged the weaver's wife with advising her to do it; but the
latter totally denied it, and the headman's wife was hanged.
In Folk-Tales of Kashmir (Knowles), 2nd ed., p. 32, a Brahmana's wife
sold to a Prince for a lakh of rupees four pieces of advice written by
her husband, and the King banished the Prince for his foolishness in
wasting the money thus. The advice was that a person when travelling
must be careful at a strange place, and keep awake, (2) a man in
need must test his friends, (3) a man who visits a married sister
in good style will be well received, but if poor will be disowned,
(4) a man must do his own work well. The Prince was saved from murder
by keeping awake at night in his lodgings; was nearly executed when
he visited his brother-in-law as a poor Yogi; rid a Princess of two
snakes which issued from her nostrils, and was appointed her father's
successor; was then received with humility by his brother-in-law,
and cured his father's blindness by laying his hands on his eyes.
At p. 332, four exiled Princes agreed to keep watch at night over
the corpse of a great merchant; the reward was to be four thousand
rupees. They had adventures with the corpse and demons.
In Folklore of the Santal Parganas (collected by Rev. Dr. Bodding),
p. 53, a Prince paid a man his only three gold coins for three pieces
of advice, and the man gave him a fourth free of charge. The first
was not to sit without moving the stool or mat offered; the second,
not to bathe where others bathed; the third, to act according to the
opinion of the majority; and, lastly, to restrain his anger, hear an
explanation, and weigh it well before acting. The first saved him from
being dropped into a well; the second saved his purse when left behind
on bathing; the third obtained for him a roll of coin out of the waist
cloth of a corpse which he threw into a ravine; and on returning home
at night, when he found a pair of slippers and a sword outside his
wife's door, inquiry showed that only her sister was with her.
NO. 210
THE STORY OF A SIWURALA [116]
In a certain country a Lord (monk) having been a monk is
without clothes [to put on, in order] to abandon his monk's robes
(siwru). Asking at the hand of a novice for a cloth and a handkerchief,
he abandoned his robes (thus becoming a layman again).
Having thus come away, when he was bathing in a river an elder sister
and a younger sister were bathing lower down the river. Then, having
seen that man who, having abandoned his robes and come [there], is
bathing, the elder sister said, "That heap of wood which is coming
is for me."
Then the younger sister said, "The things that are in that heap of
wood are for me."
Then the elder sister went home for a cloth, to give to the man to
wear. Afterwards the younger sister, having torn a piece from the cloth
she was wearing, and having given it, goes away to her house with the
man. Then the elder sister brings the cloth, too; having seen that
these two are going the elder sister went back home. The younger sister
and the Siwrala went home [and he remained there as her husband]. The
man, continuing to eat without doing work, is quite unemployed.
Afterwards the younger sister's mother, having told the younger
sister and the Siwrala to eat separately, gave her a gill of rice,
a small water-pot (koraha), a small cooking-pot (muttiya), a large
cooking-pot (appalle), a rice-cleaning bowl (naembiliya), and a spoon.
The man having gone into the village [117] and been [there], when he
is coming the younger sister is weeping and weeping. So the man asked,
"What are you crying for?"
Then the woman says, "Having said that you do not work, mother told
us to eat separately." Having said, "The things she gave (dipuwa),
there they are," she showed him them.
Afterwards the man having gone asked the Gamarala (his wife's father),
"How [are we to do], then? There is not a thing for us to eat. I came
here to ask to cut even a paela (quarter of an amuna) of your paddy
on shares."
The Gamarala said, "Ando! Thou indeed wilt not cut the paddy, having
been sitting doing nothing."
Then the man said, "No. I will cut a paela or two of paddy and come
back." Having gone to the rice field, and that very day having cut
the paddy [plants] for two paelas of paddy (when threshed), and
collected them, and heaped them at the corners of the encircling
[ridges], and carried them to the threshing floor, and trampled
them [by means of buffaloes] that very day, he went to the Gamarala
and said, "The paddy equal to two paelas has been cut and trampled
(threshed). Let us go at once to measure it."
Afterwards the Gamarala having gone there, [said], "I don't want this
paddy; thou take it."
The man having brought the paddy home, said [to his wife], "You
present this as a religious act." [118] The woman having pounded the
paddy and cooked it, gave away [the cooked rice] as a religious act.
The man went [to a river near] the sea, to help men to cross to the
other side. [119] When he helped them to cross, the man does not take
the money which the men [offer to] give.
When he was helping men to cross in that way, one day an old man
came. He helped the man to cross. The man's betel bag, and walking
stick, and oil bottle were forgotten [120] on that bank. Afterwards
the old man says, "Ane! My betel bag was forgotten." That Siwrala,
having gone to that bank, brought and gave him the betel bag.
Then that old man said, "Ane! My walking-stick was forgotten." The
Siwrala brought and gave that also. Then that old man said, "Ane! My
oil bottle was forgotten." The Siwrala brought and gave that also.
Well then, that old man tried to give money to this man; the Siwrala
did not take it. The old man went away.
This Siwrala came home. Having gone there, the Siwrala, having got
fever, lay down. Well then, the Siwrala says, "I shall be still a
little delayed."
The woman asked, "What are you saying? Am I not becoming afraid
[when you talk in that way]?"
Then the man says, "Nay, I will say nothing. They are telling me to
mount on that carriage, and telling me to mount on this carriage."
The woman said, "That is false you are saying."
Then the man said, "To look if it is false, string a flower garland
and give me it."
Afterwards the woman having strung a flower garland, gave it. The man,
taking the flower garland, threw it on the [celestial] carriage [in
the air]. Then the flower garland was arranged on the carriage. Having
seen it, that woman, covering her face, died.
Having died there, the woman having been [re]-born in the divine world,
when she was coming again to the house the man had not yet died. On
account of it the woman said, "Why have you not died yet? I, having
died, and gone, and been [re]-born in the divine world,--is it not
so?--came here. Come, and go with me," she said.
Tom-tom Beater. North-western Province.
The account of the dying man's words and the flower garland which
hung on the celestial carriage is borrowed from Mah. I., p. 226
(Dr. Geiger's translation). When six gods invited the dying King
Duttha-Gamani to join them on their celestial cars and proceed to
their heavenly world, he motioned to them to wait while sacred
verses were being chanted, and explained to the monks what his
gesture signified. As it was thought that his mind was affected, he
ordered flower garlands to be thrown into the air, and these arranged
themselves on the cars, which were invisible to all but the King.
NO. 211
HOW THE POOR MAN BECAME WEALTHY
In a certain country there are a woman and a man, it is said. During
the time while they are there, there is an infant [son] of the two
persons. After the infant became big they were stricken by a very
great scarcity of food.
Having given all and eaten, being without anything, at the time when,
doing work at cities and having brought rice dust, they were continuing
to eat, a King came, and calling that boy went away [with him].
The King having come again to this boy's house, said at the hand of
the boy's mother and father, "How is the manner in which you get a
living now?"
The two persons said, "Having worked in these cities and brought rice
dust [we cook and eat it]."
The King said, "Can you go with me to my city?"
The two persons having said "Ha," the two went with the King to the
King's city. The King built and gave the two persons a house also
(gekut), to be in, and the two, doing work at the city, [after]
cooking continue to eat.
All the city spoke of giving a danaya (religious feast) to the Gods
and the host who come with the Gods. These two also spoke, "Let us
also give (demu) a danaya." Having been there without eating for two
or three days, they got together the things for the dana.
When they will give the dana on the morrow, to seek a fish for the dana
this man went to the sea quarter. As he is going, the sea fishermen,
having drawn their nets ashore, are stringing the fishes together. Then
the fishermen asked, "Where are you going?"
This man said, "I am to give a danaya to the Gods to-morrow. For it
I am going to seek a fish."
The fishermen said, "We will give it. String these fishes."
The man having said "Ha," until it became evening strung the
fishes. Afterwards the fishermen gave that man a fish. Taking it,
as he was coming a considerable distance he met a widow woman. The
woman said, "Where did you go?"
Then the man said, "I went to this sea quarter. I am giving a danaya
to the Gods; I went to seek a fish for it."
The woman said, "I also will go," and came with the man.
At dawn the widow woman, asking [permission] from those two, cooked
the dane for the Gods. One cannot stay in the city on account of the
sweet [smell] of that fish having entered it.
Those Gods and their host having come at the time of the dana, all at
the city apportioned the whole of the food. [121] Near these three
persons there was no one. So Sakra, [observing it], creating an old
man's appearance, came.
This man called to Sakra, "Come here, you; there is not a person here
for the dane."
Having spread a single-fold (tani-pota) mat, he gave the dane to
Sakra. Sakra having eaten the dane went away. Those Gods and their
host then also went. [122]
As this man was folding the mat which he gave to that Sakra to sit
upon, under it silver and golden things had been heaped up.
The man with that silver and gold caused a city to be well built. That
King's sovereignty having been changed, this man's son obtained
the sovereignty. When he had been [there] not much time a very
great scarcity of food struck the [former] King of the city, and
the people. Doing work at the city of this [formerly] poor man,
and having eaten, they remained there.
Tom-tom Beater. North-western Province.
NO. 212
THE STORY OF MADAMPE-RALA
At a certain city there is a person, Madampe-rala. For that
Madampe-rala he brought a [bride in] marriage, it is said. That
bride (mangula) was sent away (aeruna). Still he brought a bride,
it is said; that bride also was sent away. In that manner, he brought
seven persons. The youngest one of the whole seven having prospered,
remained. The whole of those very seven persons were sisters. Those
six persons were sent away, having said they would not grind millet.
While the above-mentioned youngest woman is prospering, one day the man
says, "Bolan, cook for me to-morrow morning while it is still night,
and give me it. It is [necessary] to go to cut jungle (wal)," he said.
The woman during the night itself cooked seven [millet] cakes, and
cooked the flesh of a deer, and packed them in a box; and having
cooked still seven cakes and the flesh of a deer, and given [these
last to him] to eat, he finished. That Madampe-rala ate the seven
cakes and the flesh of the deer, and went to cut jungle, taking the
other seven cakes and the flesh of the deer.
Having gone, and having placed the things he took at the bottom of
a tree, he began to cut jungle. Having cut three and a half chenas,
[123] and come [to the tree] and eaten the seven cakes and the flesh
of the deer which he took, and drunk a gourd (labbak) of water,
he cut another three and a half chenas, and went home.
A little time having halted and been at home, he came back to the
chena, and having set fire to it he began to work [again]. Having sown
it and finished, bringing his wife and bags after the millet (kurahan)
ripened they went to the chena, and she began to cut the millet. In
the whole seven chenas she cut the millet in just one day. Having cut
it and collected it at one place, together with the man she dragged
[124] (carried) it home. That she cut the millet in the whole seven
chenas the man was much pleased.
Having finished with the millet work, there having been a little
paddy of his he cut that little, and collected it together.
Having said that he must go to his father-in-law's village, while
he is going away [after] tying five pingo (carrying-stick) loads,
when going along through the middle of the King's rice field the men
who are in the field seized him.
Thereupon he says, "Don't seize me. There being no paddy for me to
cut, a little paddy of my father-in-law's has ripened; to cut that
little and return, I am going [after] tying also five pingo loads
[of presents for my father-in-law]. I am unable [125] to stay to cut
paddy [for you]," he said.
Thereupon, the men while giving answer asked, "Bola, any person
who goes through the middle of this field goes [after] having cut
paddy. [126] If thou cut [some] and went, would it be bad?"
Thereupon, the man began to cut the paddy. Having cut the seven
amunas (about sixteen acres), and finished, he descended to the
unripe paddy [127] and began to cut it. Having cut the unripe paddy
and finished, he began to cut the young paddy. [128] That he cuts
with an elephant's-rib pin.
When he is cutting the young paddy, the men having gone running to
the royal palace, say, "We called and got a man who was going on the
path. That man having cut down all the [ripe] paddy is cutting the
young paddy," they said.
Thereupon the King having come to the rice field and called the man,
when he asked, "What are you cutting the unripe paddy for?" the man
says, "When I was going to father-in-law's village [after] tying five
pingo-loads, they told me to cut paddy," he said.
The King calling the man and having gone with him [to the palace],
tied ten pingo-loads more, and sent him away with men [carrying them],
it is said.
Having gone to his father-in-law's house, while he is there, when
the man is preparing to go to the watch hut [in the rice field] his
father-in-law says, "Son-in-law, you cannot go. A malignant (wasa)
boar comes to the rice field. It has eaten three or four men," he said.
Having said, "No matter to me for that; I am not afraid of it," he
went off, taking a large rice pestle. Having gone, when he was [there]
the boar came; it having come there he shouted. Through fear at that
it descended to rip open the man. When it was coming, the boar came
and sprang to eat him. The man having given it blows with the rice
pestle, killed it; having killed it he began to cut the paddy. In
that paddy field he cut all the paddy before light falls. Having cut
it and come away, he entered the watch hut and went to sleep.
After light fell, his father-in-law who stayed at home was expecting
that he would come; because [he did] not, with much grief he went to
the rice field to look if the boar had eaten him. Having gone [there],
when he looked he had gone to sleep.
When his father-in-law spoke to him he turned and got up. When he said,
"Boy, we were afraid that the boar would have eaten you," he replied,
"The boar indeed came; I beat it. Look there; it is dead, look." Having
looked at it, both of them went home, taking it. Thereafter he was
much pleased with the son-in-law. Afterwards [the man] came home.
Tom-tom Beater. North-western Province.
NO. 213
ÆWARIYAKKA
The first part of this story is a repetition, with little variation,
of the incidents in No. 58, vol. i, and the first part of No. 10. After
eating the fruit in the plantain garden the youth was set afloat in
the river, and had a similar experience at a Kaekiri garden, where he
said his name was Ena-ena-gaeta Kanna, Wael Peralanna,--Eater of the
young fruits which keep coming, Turner-over of creepers. The present
story continues:--
Then the ship (raft) went to the place where the washerman-uncle
was washing clothes. "Ane! Washerman-uncle, take me out," the
boy said. He got him ashore, and after taking him asked, "What is
your name?" "Hukiyanna" (He who calls "Hu"), he said. Well then,
calling him they went home. The woman who was in the house asked,
"What is your name?" "Asiya," [129] he said.
After that, the boy went with the washerman-uncle to a house, to tie
cloths for decoration [on the walls and ceiling]. [130] While tying
them the cloths became insufficient, so the washerman-uncle said,
"Go home; take cloths from the box at the foot of the bed, [131]
and bring them."
The boy having gone home and opened the box, took cloths from it,
and as he was coming back decorated with the cloths a Jambu tree [132]
that was near the path. Having decorated it (that is, hung them from
the branches), while he was there Hettiralas who were going trading
in cloth [came up and] asked the boy, "What is that?"
"This Jambu tree produces cloth as fruit," he said.
When he said this, the Hettiralas said, "Give the cloth tree to us
for money."
Afterwards the boy having given them the cloth tree for money, said,
"I have no cloth to wear. Give me those two cloths; the tree will
bear other cloths for you." The men gave him the two cloths.
After that, while he was taking the cloths he met with a Banyan tree,
and decorated that tree also with the two cloths. While he was there
[after] decorating it, a man was taking an elephant [along the
path]. When he came near the tree he asked, "What is that?"
"This Banyan tree produces cloth as fruit," the boy replied.
After he said this [the man] said, "Taking this elephant give me that
cloth tree."
Then the boy, having given that man the cloth tree, took the elephant
to a house.
After he went there, having tied up the elephant he made the elephant
eat (swallow) the gold [coins] which he had [got from the cloth
traders]. Next morning it had voided them.
Afterwards, taking [the elephant's dung], while he was washing it
[and picking out the gold coins] the house man, [learning from him
that the elephant always dropped gold coins in that way], said,
"Give that elephant to me for money." He gave the elephant.
After that, the boy, taking the money, went to his father's house.
Tom-tom Beater. North-western Province.
The last incident is given in The Indian Antiquary, vol. xviii,
p. 120, in a Tamil story by Pandit Natesa Sastri. A Brahmana's son
who was sent away by his father, stayed at a courtesan's house. At
dawn he put two gold coins in each of the droppings of his horse,
and when the sweeper came he refused to let him remove the horse dung
until he took out his money. After the courtesan bought the horse, and
learnt the spell which he said was necessary, he went away to Madura.
In the same Journal, vol. iii, p. 11, in a Bengal story by
Mr. G. H. Damant, a farmer made his cow swallow one hundred rupees. Six
men who saw him afterwards collecting the rupees from the cow-dung,
bought the animal for five thousand rupees. When they returned after
discovering the trickery the stick incident followed, in which the
wife was beaten in order to change her into a girl.
In Indian Nights' Entertainment (Swynnerton), p. 109, a man made
his servant insert rupees into his mule's dung overnight, and in the
morning break it up and remove them. He then sold the mule for four
thousand rupees to some people who had robbed his brother.
In a Khassonka story of the interior of West Africa, given in Contes
Soudanais (C. Monteil), p. 66, a boy received from a credulous King a
thousand slaves in exchange for a hen which he averred changed all the
herbs it ate into nuggets of gold. He explained that he did not know
what to do with it because gold was nothing to him. The King kept
the hen in confinement for a month, caused the dung to be washed,
and of course found no gold.
NO. 214
THE HORIKADAYA STORY
In a certain country there are seven Queens, it is said. For the
whole seven Queens there are no children.
In the King's garden one Jak fruit grew [133]; after the Jak fruit
ripened he cut it; in it there was one section containing a seed
(madula). Afterwards the King said, "Can a Queen eat this Jak section
and bear a child?" Six Queens said they cannot; one Queen ate it.
She having eaten it, ten months were fulfilled (lit., filled) for
bearing a child. Then the King happened to go for a war. Afterwards
pains seized that Queen; she bore a Chank shell. Then when the six
Queens made an Asura figure, [134] having taken that Chank shell they
buried it in the dunghill. Well then, having waited until the time when
the King came, the six persons showed him the Asura figure. Afterwards
the King having struck blows at the Queen who was confined, drove
her away.
A bull having come to the place where that Chank shell was buried,
and dug it with its horns, saw the Chank shell and swallowed it. The
bull having gone to the sea evacuated the Chank shell; there also the
shark having seen it swallowed it. From there, having killed the shark,
fishermen (kewulo) took it to the city; when taking it along the street
to sell, the Queen who bore that Chank shell met with them. Having seen
the shark the Queen asked, "For how much are you selling this shark?"
The fishermen said, "We are selling it for four tuttu (three
half-pence)."
Afterwards the Queen having given four tuttu, took the shark. Having
brought it to her lodgings and cut it, when she looked there was a
Chank shell in its stomach. Having put the Chank shell away, [after]
cooking the shark meat she ate.
When she was [there after] putting away the Chank shell, one day
she looked at it. Then having seen that inside the Chank shell a
Prince is drinking milk that is in his hand, [135] she took the
Prince out. At that time (e para) the Queen got to know that it was
the Chank shell that she bore. She gave the Prince a jacket. At the
time when she put it on [136] there was a cutaneous eruption (hori)
on his body. Afterwards the Queen said he was Horikadaya (the one
with the bit of hori).
After the Prince became big he went to the smithy; having gone and
brought a bow, and an arrow-stem, and an arrow-head, [137] he went
to shoot animals, and shot a deer. Having come [after] shooting it,
he gave it to his nearest uncle. [138] Thus, in that manner, shooting
and shooting deer he eats.
When he was thus, one day when going to shoot he met with an Egret
(kokka); when he caught it alive (amuwen), taking it [home] he reared
it. [After] rearing it, the Egret and Horikadaya every day go to the
chena jungle for hunting-meat, [139] to shoot deer for themselves.
One day when they were going thus they saw that there were a horse, and
a Prince, and a Minister; afterwards the two went there. Having gone,
at that Prince's hand, "What [are you doing here]?" Horikadaya asked.
"Because our father the King tried to kill us, on account of it we
came and sprang into the chena jungle," the Prince said. Afterwards
the five live in one place.
While there, Horikadaya said to the Prince, "Let us go to seek
a marriage."
Afterwards the whole five having gone very near a city to seek the
marriage, the Prince and the Minister having gone inside the city,
and having tied the horse in the open space (midula) of the city,
Horikadaya and the Egret remained among the branches [in the jungle].
The Prince asked the city Princess [in marriage]. The Princess said,
"To the Prince I cannot go; I will go indeed to Horikadaya." Afterwards
Horikadaya and the Princess contracted (lit., tied) the marriage.
When the whole six having collected together are coming to the village,
the horse and the Prince and the Minister say, "We can't give that
Princess to that Horikadaya; owing to it let us kill Horikadaya."
Afterwards, when the three, summoning Horikadaya, were going to the
forest they met with a well. They made Horikadaya descend into the
well; having made him descend and thrown down stones, they trampled
[them down]. There Horikadaya died.
Afterwards the three, calling the Princess, came away (enda awa) to
the village. The Egret being without Horikadaya went away (giya yanda).
Tom-tom Beater. North-western Province.
In Cinq Cents Contes et Apologues (Chavannes), vol. i, p. 82, a
girl who was married to a King bore one hundred eggs, out of which
eventually issued one hundred Princes. The Queen and concubines,
being jealous of her, showed the King a piece of plantain fruit
trimmed so as to represent a demon, and stated that she had given
birth to it. They placed the eggs in a pot (cruche) and set it afloat
in a river, whence a King of a country lower down obtained it.
In the same work, vol. i, p. 305, Sakra gave a Queen of Pañcala a
fruit, telling her that after eating it she would have a son.
NO. 215
THE STORY OF BAHU-BHUTAYA
In a certain city a woman had become dexterous at dancing. It became
public everywhere that there was not a single person in the whole of
Great Dambadiva (India) to dance with (i.e., equal to) the woman.
At the same time, there was also a boy called Bahu-Bhutaya, a boy of
a widow woman. While he is [there], one day the aforesaid woman went
for dancing to the village called Balaellaewa. [140] Having danced
that day, she obtained a thousand masuran.
Thereafter, she went to dance at the house of the Dippitiyas [141],
at the village called Kotikapola, which was near the same village. On
the same day the aforesaid Bahu-Bhutaya also went in order to look
at the woman's dances. Bahu-Bhutaya before this had learnt dances
from the Dandapola Korala (headman).
While Bahu-Bhutaya, having gone, and looked and looked, was there,
she began to dance, having sung and sung poetical songs, and beaten
and beaten cymbals. The woman says,
"The savages that are to Lanka bound!
Alas! the savages upon my Lanka bound!" [142]
When, in singing it, she had made it about Lankawa (Ceylon), when she
[thought she] had made no opportunity (idak) for any other dancing
person who might be present [to surpass her], having sung the poetical
song she danced.
At that time Bahu-Bhutaya, after having decorated himself with
[dancer's] dress, taking the udakkiya (the small hand tom-tom),
and asking permission from all (according to the usual custom),
sang a song (a parody of the other). The very song indeed [was]:--
"Alas! Alas! Daub oil my head around;
Or, if you won't,
Athwart my chest observe how hairs abound." [143]
(Ane! Ane! Mage isa wata tel gapan
Baeri nan bada [144] wata kehuru balan.)
Having sung the song, Bahu-Bhutaya descended to dance.
Because the Dandapola Korala previously taught Bahu-Bhutaya that
same song, and because the same teacher had given his sworn word
[not to teach it to another person], the woman was unable to dance
the same song. After having made obeisance to Bahu-Bhutaya, she says,
"You, Sir, must give me teaching," the woman said to Bahu-Bhutaya.
After that, Bahu-Bhutaya, marrying that very woman, began to teach
her. After he had taught her, one day the woman thinks, "I must kill
this Bahu-Bhutaya," she thought. "What of my being married to this
Bahu-Bhutaya! From dancing I have no advantage; he himself receives
the things. Because of it I will kill him," she thought.
One day, lying down in the house, saying, "I have a very severe (lit.,
difficult) illness," the woman remained lying down. Bahu-Bhutaya having
gone for a work, when he came back saw that she is lying down. Having
seen it, he says, "What is it? What illness have you?" he asked.
The woman, in order to kill the man, says, "Now then, I shall not
recover; I have much illness," she said.
Thereupon Bahu-Bhutaya, because the woman was good-[looking], thinks,
"What medical treatment shall I give for this?" he thought.
After that, the woman says, "If you are to cure my illness, having
brought a little water which is at the bottom of the Great Sea beyond
the Seventh Ocean, should I drink it (bunnot) my illness will be
cured," she said.
After that, Bahu-Bhutaya began to go. Having gone on and on he went
on the Great Ocean. Through affection for his wife, because she was
very handsome, he jumped [into it] to get the water from the bottom
of the ocean. After he jumped [into it], the fishes having bitten
him and the water having soaked him, he died.
Beginning from that time, this woman, having associated with another
husband also, when dancing brought back presents. After a long time,
that very woman also, through the crime committed respecting her
first husband, fell into the water and died.
From that time, the persons who saw these [things said] they are in
the form of a folk-tale.
Tom-tom Beater. North-western Province.
NO. 216
THE STORY OF GOLU-BAYIYA [145]
In a country there was, it is said, a man called Gonaka-Bokka. There
were ten younger brothers of that Gona-Bokka, it is said.
The ten younger brothers spoke: "From elder brother Gona-Bokka there
is not any advantage for us [because he idles and does no work]. It is
difficult for us, doing [house] work for ourselves. On account of it,
we will bring one [woman in] marriage for us ten persons." After having
said it, having said, "Let us go to the village called Otannapahuwa,"
the young younger brother went to the village, it is said. He went
to that Otannapahuwa to ask about the marriage.
After that, the other nine persons speak, it is said: "When we say
to our elder brother, 'Gona-Bokka,' the woman they are bringing
for us will say, Bola, that the name called Gona-Bokka is not good
caste [enough] for her. The woman they are bringing for us will come
[now]. On account of it, let us call him Golu-Bayiya. Let us give her
to our Golu-Bayi elder brother also to neutralise [146] our [inferior]
names," they are talking together, it is said.
Then, several days wearing down the road, the youngest brother of
all having come, said, it is said, "Elder brothers, I went to ask
at Otannapahuwa. The woman indeed is of good lineage (wanse). They
sent word, 'Who gives in marriage to a young youngster? [147] Tell
the elder brothers, one of them, to come.'"
After that, the ten persons speak [together], it is said, "Let us
send elder brother Golu-Bayiya, older than we ten, to ask about the
marriage," they talk.
Well, the person they call Golu-Bayiya is a great fool, it is
said. After that, those ten spoke: "Elder brother, if you also agree
(lit., come) to the things we say, you also come [after] calling
[a woman] to live in one marriage for the whole of us eleven."
After that, Golu-Bayiya said, "It is good; I will go." Causing them to
cook a lump of rice, he set off and went. He goes and he goes. Because
he does not know the path, having gone [part of the way], sitting down
on a rock in the midst of the forest he ate the lump of cooked rice.
Having eaten it, while he is there a woman of another country, having
become poor, is coming away, it is said, along the path. Having
come, she sat down near the rock on which is that Golu-Bayiya. After
that, the woman asks, it is said, "Of what country are you? Of what
village?" the woman asked the man.
The man said, "I am going to Otannapahuwa to ask about a marriage,"
he said. [He told her of his brother's visit.]
After that, the woman says, "Aniccan dukkhan! The woman of that
village who was asked is I. My two parents, having made a mistake,
drove me away. Because of it I am going to a place where they give
to eat and to drink," she said.
After that, Golu-Bayiya having thought, "Because the woman is
good-looking, and because she has been asked before, not having gone
at all to Otannapahuwa I must go [back] calling her [in marriage],"
summoning the woman whom he met with while on the path he came to
the village. Having come, he says to his younger brothers, "I went to
Otannapahuwa." Having said, "The bride,--there, [that is] the woman;
for the whole of us let us call her [to be our wife]," he said.
After that, the other ten persons, because they had not seen her
[before], from that day marrying the woman stayed [there with
her]. Marrying her, while they were there several days the younger ten
persons speak: "Elder brother quite alone, without anyone whatever
[to assist him], came back calling our [bride in] marriage. It was
good cleverness that our elder brother showed (lit., did). Because
of it let us all do work. Having handed over our wife to our elder
brother Golu-Bayiya to guard her continually, let us do work. Elder
brother, guard the woman," they said.
Having said, "It is good; I will guard her," to the places where
the woman goes and comes, and to all other places if the woman goes,
that Golu-Bayiya also goes.
While [matters were] thus, one day a man came to the village for
trading. The man's name was Gaetapadaya. That Gaetapadaya for several
days having continued to do trading at the same house, stayed in
the maduwa (open shed) at the same house [at which the brothers
lived]. While staying there, Golu-Bayiya's wife associated with the
same man they call Gaetapadaya.
While they are thus, on a day when the first-mentioned ten persons
went to work, Gaetapadaya says to the aforesaid Golu-Bayiya, "I saw
a dream to-day. What was it? At such and such a place on the path
I saw that a Sambhar deer is dead." Gaetapadaya told Golu-Bayiya to
look at it and come back.
While Golu-Bayiya went to look at the Sambhar deer, Gaetapadaya
taking the woman, taking also the goods that were at the house,
both of them absconded.
Tom-tom Beater. North-western Province.
NO. 217
THE YAKA OF THE AKARAGANE JUNGLE
In a certain country there are a woman and a man, it is said. The man
has worked in a rice field; in it he also built a watch-hut. The man
is in the watch-hut every day.
At the time when he is thus, a beggar came to the man's
house. Afterwards the man having heaped up a great many coconut husks
in the watch-hut [for making fires at night], told the beggar to go
to the watch-hut. The beggar went to the watch-hut.
Afterwards this man having gone to the watch-hut and set fire to the
watch-hut, came back, and said at the hand of his wife, "You say, 'Our
man, having been burnt at the watch-hut, died.'" [148] Furthermore he
said, "Every day when I say 'Hu,' near the stile of the rice field,
put a leaf-cup of cooked rice for me"; having said it the man went
into the jungle.
After it became night, the man having come to the rice field cried "Hu"
near the stile. Then the woman brought the cooked rice and placed it
there; having placed it there the woman went home. The man ate the
cooked rice, and went again into the jungle.
On the following day, also, the man, after it became night, came to
the rice field and cried "Hu." Then the woman brought cooked rice
and placed it there. While she was there, the man having come said,
"Don't you bring cooked rice again; I am going to the Akaragane
jungle." Afterwards the woman came home.
That man, having eaten the cooked rice, went to the Akaragane jungle,
and having rolled himself in a mud hole, [149] came to the path and
remained [there].
Then, when a man was coming bringing cakes and plantains along the
path, this man, breaking a bundle of branches, sprang in front of
that man who was coming. Thereupon, the man having thrown down the
cakes and plantains at that very spot, bounded off and went away.
When this man, [after] taking and putting away the pingo
(carrying-stick) load, was there, a potter comes along bringing a pingo
load of pots. Then this man, again breaking a bundle of branches,
sprang in front of that man who was coming. Thereupon the potter,
having thrown down the pingo load of pots at that very spot, bounded
off and went away. After that, the man, taking and putting away the
pingo load of pots, remains [there].
(He frightened other men in the same manner, and secured pingo loads
of coconuts, turmeric, chillies, salt, onions, rice, vegetables,
and a bundle of clothes. Thus he had the materials that he required
for making curries. The narrator gave the account of each capture in
the same words as before.)
Afterwards, this man having taken and put away there the pingo load
of rice and vegetables,--near that forest there is a city,--having
gone to the city and brought fire, [after] cooking ate. While he was
[there], when a man who had gone to a devil-dance (kankariyakata)
was coming, this man, breaking a bundle of branches, sprang in front
of that man who was coming. Then that tom-tom beater, having thrown
down there the box of decorations, and jingling bangles, and all,
bounded off and went away.
Afterwards, when this man was there [after] tying them on, while
certain men who had gone to a [wedding] feast were coming calling
the bride, again this man, breaking a bundle of branches, sprang in
front of those men who were coming; and taking the bride and placing
her in the chena jungle he sprang into a rock house (cave). Those
men through fear bounded off and went away.
Afterwards the King of the city said, "Who can seize that Yaka?"
Then a man said, "I can."
The King said, "What do you want?"
"Having built a house in the chena jungle (lande) and tied white cloths
[inside, on the walls and ceiling], [150] and put a bed [in it],
you must give me it."
Afterwards the King having caused a house to be built, and caused white
cloths to be tied, and caused a bed to be placed [in it], gave it.
Afterwards this man having caused the bride to stay in the rock house,
and having gone much beforehand (kalimma), crept under the end of
the bed in the house and remained [there] silently.
The man who said he could seize the Yaka, after it became night having
eaten and drunk, taking also a thread, came onto the bed in the house;
having come he utters spells (maturanawa). Then the man who is under
the bed shakes the jingling bangle a little.
The man who is uttering spells, after saying, "Ha, are you getting
caught?" utters spells loudly, loudly. [151]
Then the man who was under the bed having arisen, taking the man
together with the bed also, went to the rock house. Having gone there,
when he was placing the bed in the rock house, the man who was on
the bed, crying out and having got up, went to the city.
Then the King asked, "What is it? Didst thou seize the Yaka?"
The man having said, "Ane! O Lord, I indeed cannot seize him," went
to the man's village.
Afterwards the King having said that he can seize him, and the King
having mounted on his horse, came with the army to the Akaragane
jungle.
Then this man, breaking a bundle of branches, sprang in front [of
him]. Having sprung in front of the King who was coming, seizing the
horse this man came to the rock house. The King and the army went to
the city through fear.
After they returned a Lord [152] came. The King asked if the Lord could
seize the Yaka who is in the Akaragane jungle. Then the Lord asked,
"When I have seized the Yaka what will you give me?"
The King said, "I will give a district from the kingdom, and goods
[amounting] to a tusk elephant's load, and the Akaragane jungle." The
King said, "For seizing the Yaka what do you want?"
The Lord said, "Having built a house, and tied cloths at it, and
placed a bed [in it], please give me it."
Afterwards the King having put a bed in that house which was built
[already], gave him it.
This man, just as on that day, crept beforehand under the bed in
the house, and remained [there]. Afterwards the Lord having gone,
taking also a thread, utters spells while sitting on the bed.
Then the man who is under the bed shakes the jingling bangle a
little. Then the Lord while uttering spells says, "Ha, being caught,
come." Saying and saying it, he utters spells very loudly.
Then the man who was under the bed, having shaken the jingling bangles
loudly, lifting up [and carrying] the bed also, went to the rock
house. Having gone there, when he was placing it [there], the Lord,
crying out, bounded off and went away.
Having thus gone, when he was [at the palace] the King asked, "What
is it? Did you seize the Yaka?"
Then the Lord having said, "Ane! I indeed cannot seize him," the Lord
went to his pansala.
Having caused the bride of the man who is in the rock house to remain
in the rock house, and having taken off the man's jingling bangles
and placed them in the rock house, [the man] came near the King.
Then the King asked, "Can you seize the Yaka of the Akaragane jungle?"
The man having said, "I can," said, "What will you give me?"
The King said, "I will give a district from the kingdom, and goods
[amounting] to a tusk elephant's load. I will also give the Akaragane
jungle as a Nindema." [153] The King said, "For seizing the Yaka what
do you want?"
Then the man said, "I don't want anything."
Having gone to the Akaragane jungle, and having come on the following
day taking the jingling bangle and box of tom-tom beater's decorations,
he showed them to the King, and said he seized the Yaka.
Afterwards the King, having given the man the articles which the man
took [to him], gave the man a district from the kingdom, and goods
[amounting] to a tusk elephant's load, and the Akaragane jungle.
The man having taken them, and come to the rock house, that woman
and five children were [there]. The five children having gone to
the man's village, in the man's village were his first wife and five
children of the woman's. The children having sold the house at that
village, and the two women and the ten children having come again to
the Akaragane jungle, building a house in that jungle all remained
in that very place.
Tom-tom Beater. North-western Province.
NO. 218
THE FOUR RAKSHASAS
At a certain village there are five Gamaralas; for those five there
are five wives. While the five persons are [there], five traders
came to the house. To those women say the five traders, "Go with
us." Having said, "Let us go," they went. Then when the five Gamaralas
came home, having seen that the five women were not [there] they went
to seek them.
When going, they went into the forest jungle (himale) in which are
four Rakshasas. The Rakshasas seized the men. Well then, the four
Rakshasas having shared four men ate them; one person remained over.
One Rakshasa said to another Rakshasa, "Take him for yourself."
Then the other Rakshasa says, "I don't want him; you take him."
This Rakshasa says, "I don't want him."
Then that Rakshasa said, "Give him to me, if so."
The other Rakshasa said, "I will not give him now, because previously
when I was giving him you did not take him."
Owing to it there having been a quarrel, the two [fought each other,
and] died.
Still two Rakshasas remained over. One Rakshasa having handed over
the man to the other Rakshasa, says to the other Rakshasa, "You
take charge of this man. Stay in this jungle; I am going to another
jungle." After he said it the Rakshasa goes away.
When going, he met with yet [another] man. Seizing the man he says,
"What is in your box?"
"In my box, cakes," he said.
Then the Rakshasa says, "I don't want cakes; I must eat you."
The man says, "It is I alone you eat now. [Spare me, and] I will give
you cakes to eat," he said.
The Rakshasa said, "I indeed don't eat these."
The man says, "O Rakshasa (Raksayeni), it is for the name of thy
Goddess, Midum Amma, [154] [that thou must spare me]." He having
said this name, the Rakshasa, taking a cake, went to the river;
he let the man go.
Then the Rakshasa, having broken the cake into bits, says, "Under
the protection (sarane) of Midum Amma, this cake is sprouting." Then
it sprouted.
Then the Rakshasa says, "On this tree four branches are being
distributed, under the protection of Midum Amma." They were
distributed.
After they were distributed, he said, "On this tree four flowers are
becoming full-grown, under the protection of Midum Amma." Then four
flowers were full-grown.
After that, he said, "Four cakes are becoming fruit on this tree, under
the protection of Midum Amma." Then four cakes became fruit. After they
became fruit the Rakshasa climbed the tree. While he was ascending,
a Rakshasi came. Having come, she says, "O Rakshasa, please give me
also cakes."
The Rakshasa says, "Because I asked and got them from Midum Amma I
cannot give them."
The Rakshasi says, "Ane! O Rakshasa, you cannot say so. Please give
me cakes." Then the Rakshasa gave her a [cake]-fruit.
The Rakshasi said falsely, "The cake fell into the heap of cow-dung."
Then the Rakshasa says, "To give cakes to thee, I shall not give
again."
The Rakshasi says, "O Rakshasa, [for me] to take [thee] to my house,
place two cakes in thy two armpits, and taking one in [each] hand,
do thou please jump into my sack."
The Rakshasa says, "O Rakshasi, what happened to thy Rakshasa?"
The Rakshasi says, "There is no Rakshasa of ours. O Rakshasa, I must
take thee away." Then the Rakshasa says, "It is good."
The Rakshasi says, "Having been in that cake tree, please jump into my
sack." Then she held the sack. The Rakshasa jumped. He having jumped
[into it], the Rakshasi tied the mouth of the sack, and placing it
on her head goes on the path to the jungle. [155]
When going, she met with a Moorman (Marakkek). The Rakshasi, having
become afraid at seeing the man, bounded off. After she sprang off,
the Moorman, having gone near the sack, placed the sack on his head;
he took the sack away. Having gone again to the jungle he stays
[there]. Then the Rakshasa came out and seized the Moorman. The man
says, "What didst thou seize me for?"
"Because there is not any food for me I seized thee to eat."
The Moorman says, "Thou wilt eat me, only, now. There are five
hundred children [of mine]. In the month I will give thee the
children." Afterwards the Rakshasa let him go.
The Moorman went home. The whole of the five hundred children
of the Moorman go to school. When they came home from school the
Moorman says, "Sons, come, to go on a journey." The five hundred and
the Moorman having gone to the jungle, went to the place where the
Rakshasa is. Having gone there, he called the Rakshasa; the Rakshasa
came. Seeing the Rakshasa, this Moorman says, "O Rakshasa, they are
in thy charge, these five hundred."
Then the Rakshasa again seized the Moorman. The Moorman says, "What
didst thou seize me for?"
The Rakshasa says, "To eat thee I seized thee."
Then the Moorman says, "My five hundred cattle are [there]; I will
give them to thee."
The Rakshasa says, "If so, wilt thou bring and give them?"
The Moorman says, "I will bring and give them."
Then the Moorman went to his house. Having gone [there], he came back,
taking the five hundred cattle. He gave him them.
Then the Rakshasa again seized the Moorman. The Moorman says, "What
didst thou seize me for?"
The Rakshasa says, "To eat thee."
The Moorman says, "Five hundred goats are [there]. I will give them
to thee; let me go." Then he let go the Moorman. The Moorman, having
gone home, brought those five hundred goats and gave them.
After he gave them the Rakshasa again seized the Moorman. When he was
seizing him, he said to the Rakshasa, "I have brought and given thee
so many things; thou didst not eat them."
The Rakshasa says, "That is the truth. Take thy five hundred children;
take thy five hundred cattle." When he said thus, the Rakshasa,
taking the five hundred goats, ate. After that, the Moorman was sent
home by the hand of the Rakshasa. After he sent him, this Rakshasa,
having come to the Rakshasa's boundary, called the Moorman, and said,
"Please take charge of this jungle; I am going away."
The Moorman says, "O Rakshasa, where are you going?"
The Rakshasa says, "I cannot live in this jungle!"
The Moorman says, "If so, I will take over this chena jungle." He
took it, the Moorman.
The Rakshasa afterwards having gone from the jungle, a Yaka went into
the jungle. In that jungle there is a very excellent [156] tree. In the
excellent [tree] in that jungle the Yaka lives. When he was [there]
he saw that the Rakshasa is going, the Yaka. The Yaka having become
afraid began to run off, having descended.
Then the Rakshasa came near the tree. Having come, when he looked
he perceived that the Yaka had been [there]. The Rakshasa thought,
"I must create for myself a man's disguise"; he created it. [After]
creating it he ascended that tree; having ascended the tree he stayed
[there] seven days.
He saw two men taking a hidden treasure. The Rakshasa thought,
"I must eat these two persons." Afterwards these two men came to
that very tree. After they came the Rakshasa slowly descended. After
having descended (baehaela hitan), having come near those men he says,
"Where went ye?"
Then the men say, "We came for no special purpose (nikan)."
"What is this meat in your hand?" he asks.
The men say, "This meat is indeed human." [157]
Then the Rakshasa says, "Why didst thou tell me lies?" Having said
it he seized them. Having finished seizing them, to those men says
the Rakshasa, "I must eat you."
The men say, "Shouldst thou eat us thy head will split into seven
pieces."
Then the Rakshasa says, "Art thou a greater person than I,
Bola?" Thereupon the Rakshasa created and took the Rakshasa
appearance. After he took it he asks, "Now then, art thou afraid of
me now?" Then he ate a man. Seeing the other man, he seized his two
hands. [158]
After he seized them that man says, "O Rakshasa, what didst thou hold
me for?"
The Rakshasa says, "I hold thee for me to eat."
"I have the tiger, greater than thee. Having employed the tiger I
will kill thee," [the man said].
Then the Rakshasa, having abandoned the Rakshasa appearance, created
the tiger appearance. After creating it, when he seized that man he
says, "Is there a child of thine?"
The man says, "There are two children of mine."
The tiger says, "Am I to eat thee, or wilt thou give me thy two
children?" he says.
Then he says, "Don't eat me; I will give my two children."
The tiger says, "Thou art telling lies."
The man says, "In three days I will bring and give them to thee."
Both the boys went to the jungle to break firewood. Afterwards, this
man having come home, when he looked [they were] not at home. The
man asked at the hand of his wife, "Where are the two youths?"
The woman says, "The two boys went to break firewood."
Then the man beat that woman. "Why didst thou send them to the chena
jungle?" he said.
The two youths came home. After they came they saw that their mother is
weeping and weeping. "What, mother, are you weeping for?" they asked.
Then said that woman, "Sons, your father beat me."
Then the two youths say, "It is good, mother; if so, let him
beat." [159]
Thereupon the father called those two youths: "Having gone quite
along this path, let one go on the rock that is on the path,--one,"
he said. He told the other youth to stay below the rock. Then he said
to the youth who was going on the rock, "Having gone to the rock call
your younger brother."
Those boys having gone to that rock, the youth who went onto it
called the other youth. The tiger heard that word. Having heard it
he abandoned the tiger appearance; again he created the Rakshasa
appearance. [After] creating it, he came running near the rock,
the Rakshasa.
Then after that youth who stayed on the ground had seen that Rakshasa,
he seized the youth. After seizing him he says, "Who sent thee?"
That youth said, "Father sent me into this chena jungle."
The Rakshasa says, "Didst thou come alone?" [160]
The youth says, "I came with my elder brother." Then the Rakshasa
ate him.
After that, that youth who is on the top of the rock says to his
younger brother, "Younger brother, hold out your hands; I will jump."
Having said, "Ha, jump," this Rakshasa opened his mouth. Then the
youth jumped into his mouth. He having jumped into his mouth the
Rakshasa ate him.
Tom-tom Beater. North-western Province.
This rambling story was related by a boy who supplied me with several
other better ones. I have inserted it because it is the only one which
mentions the deity of the Rakshasas, Midum Amma, the Mist Mother. The
rest of the story gives a fair representation of some of the notions
of the villagers regarding the Rakshasas.
Their own statements to me regarding them are that the Rakshasas
were found chiefly or only in the jungle called himale, the wild and
little-frequented mixture of high forest and undergrowth. There are
none in Ceylon now, they say; but in former times they are believed
to have lived in the forest about some hills near this village of
Tom-tom Beaters, at the north-western end of the Dolukanda hills,
in the Kurunaegala district.
Those at each place have a boundary (kada-ima), beyond which they
cannot pass without invitation; this is referred to in the story
No. 135. Ordinarily, they can only seize people who go within their
boundary, unless they have been invited to enter houses or persons
have been specially placed in their power.
They are much larger than men, but can take any shape. Their teeth
are very long, and are curved like bangles; they are as thick as a
boy's arm. Their tangled hair hangs down over their bodies.
They build good houses, and have an abundance of things in them,
as well as silver and gold. They commonly rear only horses and
parrots. They live on the men and animals they catch. Men are very
much afraid when they see them; they seize anyone they can catch,
and eat him,--or any animals whatever.
Yakas (Yaksayo) do not usually eat men; they only frighten
them. Rakshasas are much worse and more powerful than Yakas.
Other notions of the villagers regarding these two classes of
supernatural beings may be gathered from their folk-tales.
In Tales of the Punjab (Mrs. F. A. Steel), p. 135, a Rakshasa is
represented as living partly on goats. In the notes, p. 310, Sir
R. Temple remarked that this was curious. It is in accordance with
Sinhalese belief.
In the Katha Sarit Sagara (Tawney), vol. ii, p. 602, a Rakshasa
who had seized a man and was about to eat him, allowed him to go
on his taking an oath that he would return, after doing a service
for a Brahmana that he had promised. He got married in the place of
the Brahmana's son, stole off in the night to redeem his promise,
and was followed by his wife, who offered herself to the Rakshasa in
his place. When the Rakshasa said that she could live by alms, and
stated that if anyone refused her alms his head should split into a
hundred pieces, the woman asked him for her husband by way of alms,
and on his refusing to give him the Rakshasa's head split up, and he
died. See also vol. i, p. 141, of these Sinhalese stories.
In Cinq Cents Contes et Apologues (Chavannes), vol. i, p. 405,
a demon released a King on his promising to return to be eaten.
NO. 219
THE STORY OF THE RAKSHASA
In a certain country three youths, brothers, go to school. When
not much time is going by, the youths' father called them in order
to look at their lessons. The youngest one can say the lessons, the
other two cannot say the lessons. After that their father drove them
from the house.
Well then, the two, setting off, went away from the house. Thereupon
this young younger brother began to go with them both. Both those
elder brothers having said, "Don't come," beat that youth. Taking no
notice of it [161] he went behind them, weeping and weeping.
Having gone thus, and entered a forest wilderness, while they were
going they met with the Rakshasa's house. The youngest youth says,
"Ane! Elder brother, having gone into the house place me in the middle,
and sit down."
At that time the Rakshasa brought and gave them food for all three
to eat. These three said, "We cannot eat." After that, for the three
persons to sleep the Rakshasa gave three mats. The Rakshasa sent the
Rakshasa's two boys, also, to sleep. Those three wore red cloths;
that Rakshasa's two boys wore white cloths.
After that, the Rakshasa, having opened the door, came to eat those
three persons. At that time the youngest youth was awake; owing to
it the Rakshasa was unable to eat those boys. [162] He went back and
lay down.
Then that youngest youth taking the white cloths which the Rakshasa
youths had put on, these three put them on. They put on those two
the red cloths which these three had put on.
When the Rakshasa came still [another] time, the three were lying
down. That time, taking those two youths of the Rakshasa's who wore
red cloths he ate them.
When it was becoming light the three persons went to another
village. After that, the two eldest contracted two marriages; that
youngest youth remained to watch goats. To the owner of the goats
those two who got married said, "At the Rakshasa's house there is a
good parrot."
The owner of the goats asked, "Who can bring it?"
That youth who watched the goats said, "I can bring it." After that,
the youth went at night to that Rakshasa's house, and having cut the
parrot's cage brought the parrot, and gave it.
Then those two said, "There is a good horse at that Rakshasa's house."
Then, "Who can bring it?" he asked.
The youth who watches the goats said, "I can bring it." After that,
he went at night, and having unfastened the horse he brought it. Having
brought it, he gave that also to the man who owned the goats.
Then those two said, "At the Rakshasa's house there is a golden
pillow."
The man who owned the goats asked, "Who can bring the golden pillow?"
The third boy said, "I can bring it." After that, having gone to
the Rakshasa's house at night, opening the doors he went into the
house. Having gone in, he took hold of the golden pillow in order to
get it. On that occasion (e para) the Rakshasa awoke; after he awoke
he seized that youth. He lit the lamp. Then he prepared to eat that
youth, the Rakshasa. That youth said, "You cannot eat me in this way;
having roasted me you must eat me."
After that, that Rakshasa having given that youth into the hand of the
Rakshasi, went to cut firewood. Then the youth calling the Rakshasi [to
accompany him] came back, taking the Rakshasi and the pillow. Having
brought them, he gave the pillow to the man who owned the goats.
Thereupon the man who owned the goats told the boy to marry his girl
(daughter). That youth said, "I cannot. When the woman who saved my
life is here, I will marry that woman." After that, he married the
Rakshasa's wife.
Tom-tom Beater. North-western Province.
NO. 220
THE THIEF AND THE RAKSHASAS
In a certain village a man and a Rakshasa, having become friends,
dwell. While they are there this friend went to the Rakshasa
jungle. When going, the Rakshasa seized him to eat. Then the man says,
"Don't eat me; I will give thee demon offerings." The Rakshasa,
having said, "It is good," allowed him to go home.
After that, that man having brought a youth gave him to the Rakshasa
to eat. In that manner every day he brought and gave a youth until
the time when the youths of the village were finished. All the youths
having been finished there was not a youth for this man to give. While
he was thus the man died.
After he died, the Huniyan Yaka [163] began to come to the house
[visiting the widow in the disguise of a man]. When he was coming,
the woman's father having seen him went into the house to seize
him. Having gone [there], when he looked there was not a Yaka. After
that, the man having gone away went to sleep. Then the Huniyan Yaka
having gone to that man's village, said, "Don't come to look at me."
The man said afterwards to his daughter, "Daughter, ask for wealth
at the hand of that man." After that, the woman says to the Yaka,
"Bring and give me wealth." Thereupon the Yaka says, "I will bring
and give it."
Having gone to the place where that man is sleeping, says the Yaka,
"Come thou, to go [with me] for me to give thee wealth." He went
with the man near the hidden treasure. Having gone, he opened the
door of the hidden treasure. "Take for thyself the treasure thou
wantest," he said. Then the man took a golden necklace, two cloths,
four gem-lamps, four cat's-eye stones (wayirodiya gal), and twelve
pearls. Taking those, the man came home.
When he was coming home, [four] other men having seen that he brought
the wealth, the men went to break [into] the hidden treasure. After
they went there, the four men having uttered spells, and put "life"
[164] (i.e., magical life or power) into four stones, buried them
at the four corners, in such a manner that no one could come [within
the square formed by them]. After that, half the men break into the
hidden treasure. (The others were repeating protective spells to keep
away evil spirits.)
The Huniyan Yaka ascertained about the breaking. Having ascertained
it he came near the hidden treasure, but as the four stones are there
he cannot seize the men.
Having come, he created for himself the Cobra appearance; those four
persons gave fowls' eggs to the Cobra. Again, he created the Elephant
appearance; to the Elephant they gave a plantain stump. Again, a Hen
with Chickens began to come near the hidden treasure; to the Chickens
and to the Hen the men gave millet (kurahan). After having eaten they
went away. [165]
The Huniyan Yaka, [being unable to approach the place on account of the
charmed stones, and the feeding of the animals], went to that woman's
house. He went to the place where the woman's father is sleeping. The
Yaka says, "Quickly go near the hidden treasure." Without hearing
it the man slept. Then having come yet [another] time he struck
the man. The man having arisen began to run naked near that hidden
treasure.
Those men who are breaking [into it], having seen the man [and thought
he was a demon], uttered spells still more and more; they uttered
spells to the extent they learnt. Notwithstanding, this man comes
on. After having seen this man who is coming, those men began to run
off through fear; they ran away.
This man ran behind them. Those men, looking and looking back, run;
this man runs behind. Then this man says, "Don't run; I am not a
Yaka." The men say, "That is false which he says; that is indeed a
Yaka." While running, one man stumbled and fell.
Then that man who was coming behind went to the place where the man
fell. After that, that man says, "Where are you going?"
That man who had fallen says, "We having come to break [into] a hidden
treasure, a Yaka came as we were running on the path. Then, indeed,
I fell here." Those other men bounded off and went away.
After that, these two men lament, "What is it that has happened to
us? In this forest wilderness what are we to do?" they said.
Having heard that lamenting, that Rakshasa came and said, "What are
ye lamenting for?" Having come, he seized both of them. After he
seized them he did not let either of them go. The men said, "Don't
eat us. We two have two sons; we will give them to thee." Afterwards
he let both of them go, and the men came to the village.
After that, taking a youth they gave him to the Rakshasa. After that,
they went and gave the other youth. Then that Rakshasa says to that
man, "I must eat thee also; for to-morrow there is no corpse for me."
Then the man says, "I must go home and come back," he said. The
Rakshasa said, "Thou wilt not come." "I will come back," he said. Then
the Rakshasa allowed him to go home.
When he went home, the man having amply cooked, ate. After he ate, the
man charmed his body (by repeating spells, etc.). Thereafter having
gone to the jungle he called out to the Rakshasa. When the Rakshasa
came, after he seized the man he ate him. After that, the Rakshasa
remains there. A sleepiness came. After he went to sleep, the Rakshasa,
having split in two, died. By the power of the [charmed] oil which
that man rubbed [on his body], the Rakshasa having been split, died.
The Rakshasa having gone, was [re]-born in the body of a Yaksani. The
Yaksani says to the Yaka, "I am thirsty." Then the Yaka (her husband)
having gone, brought and gave her water. The Yaksani again says to
the Yaka, "I must sleep." The Yaka told her to go into the house and
sleep. Then [while she was asleep], the Yaksani's bosom having been
split, she died.
That Rakshasa who was in her body at that time, splitting the bosom
came outside. Having come he says to the Yaka (his apparent father),
"You cannot remain in this jungle."
Then the Yaka says, "Are thou a greater one than I?"
The Yaka youngster (the former Rakshasa) says, "These beings called
Yakas are much afraid of Rakshasas. Let us two go into the Rakshasa
forest, the jungle (himale) where they are."
Then that Yaka says, "Is that also an impossible thing [for me]?" The
Yaka youngster became angry; then the two go to the Rakshasa forest.
A parrot having been at the side of the road at the time when they
are going away, says, "Don't ye go into the midst of this forest."
Then that big Yaka through fear says he cannot go. That Rakshasa
youngster says, "Where are you going?"
"I am going to the new grave," that Yaka said. Well then, having gone
to the burial place, he remains there.
A man, catching a thief, is coming [with him] to the burial
place. Having come [there], that man tied the thief to the corpse that
was at the burial place, back to back. Then while the thief is [left]
at the grave, the man came to his village. When he came he went to
the thief's house, and seeing the mother and father he says, "Don't
ye open the door; to-day, in the night, a Yaka will come." Having
gone to the house, also, of that thief's wife, he says, "Don't thou
open the door to-day; a Yaka will come to thy house to-day." Having
gone to all the houses and said this, he went away.
After that, taking on his back that dead body which was at the burial
place, the thief came to his house. When he came he tells the woman to
open the door. The woman is silent through fear. Then the thief says,
"I am not a Yaka; you must open the door." The woman at that time,
also, is silent through fear.
He went to his father's house, this thief. Having gone, he says,
"Mother, open the door." Then the woman through fear is silent. He went
to the house of the thief's friends: "O friend, open the door." Having
said, "This is a Yaka," the friends did not open the door.
That thief afterwards went by the outside villages. When he was going
on the journey the light fell. He went to the jungle in which is that
Rakshasa. When going, the thief met with a parrot. Then the parrot
says, "Friend, what did you come to this jungle for?"
The thief thought, "Who spoke here?" When he looked up he got to
know that the parrot is [there]. After that, he says to the parrot,
"What art thou here for?"
The parrot says, "I am sitting in my nest."
The thief says, "If so, how shall I go from this jungle?"
After the parrot descended it cut the tyings of that dead body. Having
cut them and finished the parrot says, "Thou canst not go in this
jungle."
The thief says, "What is that for?"
Then the parrot says, "In this there is the Rakshasa. Catching thee
he will eat thee. Because of it don't thou go." The thief without
hearkening to the parrot's word said he must go.
Then the parrot says, "Listen to the word I am saying. The Rakshasa
who is in this jungle is my friend. Say thou camest because I told
thee to come." Afterwards the man went.
After he went, the Rakshasa, with a great loud evil roar, seized the
man on the path. After he seized him, the man says, "What didst thou
seize me for?"
Thereupon the Rakshasa says, "To eat thee."
Then the man says, "A parrot told me to come in this manner: 'The
Rakshasa is my friend,' [he said]."
The Rakshasa says, "Those are lies thou art saying. Let us go, let
us go, us two, near the parrot."
When they came near the parrot, the Rakshasa says to the parrot,
"Friend, didst thou send this one to my forest?"
The parrot says, "I sent him."
Then the Rakshasa says, "Am I to eat this one?"
The parrot says, "Seize another man and eat him. Let that man go." Then
the Rakshasa let him go; after that the man went away.
Having gone and hidden, he stayed in the midst of the forest. The
Rakshasa went to watch the path. After that, that man came to the
Rakshasa's house. Having come, the man says to the Rakshasa's boy
(son), "O youth (kolloweni), thy Rakshasa died."
The Rakshasa youth is grieved, and says, "You are not my mother,
not my father; what man are you?"
Then the man says, "I am thy Rakshasa's elder brother." The man told
a lie.
The Rakshasa youth says, "It is good. There is much wealth of my
father's," he said.
Then the man went into the Rakshasa's house to take the wealth. Having
gone in, there was a golden mat (kalale); he took it. There was a
golden cloth; he took it. Taking these, the man went away unknown to
the Rakshasa youths. [166]
After he went secretly (himin), the Rakshasa next (dewanu) came to
the house. Having finished coming, [167] he says, "Where is my golden
mat?" he asked.
Thereupon, the Rakshasa youth said, "Your elder brother came and took
away the mat."
Then the Rakshasa says, "Where have I, Bola, an elder brother?"
That thief went near the parrot. "Look here, I met with a golden mat
in the midst of this forest," he said. "Parrot, am I to take thee?" he
said. Thereupon the parrot came near the thief.
After he came, he seized the parrot by its two legs. Having waited
until the time when he is catching it, when he caught it the thief
killed the parrot. After that, the thief went away plucking and
plucking off the feathers.
The Rakshasa says to that Rakshasa's youth, "Where went this thief?"
"He entered your forest wilderness," he said.
The Rakshasa having gone along the thief's footprints, after he went
to the place where the parrot was, the parrot was not [there]. He
looked to see who killed this parrot:--"It is the very thief who
killed this parrot." Then the Rakshasa fell down and wept through
grief that the parrot was not [there].
Tom-tom Beater. North-western Province.
In the Maha Bharata (Santi Parva, CLXX) a crane sent a poor Brahmana
to a Rakshasa King who was his friend. He was well-received on account
of the bird's friendship, was presented with a large quantity of gold,
returned to the bird, and killed and ate it. When the Rakshasa King
noticed that the bird did not visit him as usual, he sent his son
to ascertain the reason, the remains of the bird were found, and the
Brahmana was pursued and cut to pieces.
In Santal Folk Tales (Campbell), p. 81, a hero in search of gems
possessed by an Apsaras (Indarpuri Kuri) fed, as he went and returned,
her three animal guards stationed at her three doors,--an elephant with
grass, a tiger with a goat, and a dog with a shoe which it worried.
In Cinq Cents Contes et Apologues (Chavannes), vol. i, p. 179,
a man killed a monkey that had saved his life. In vol. iii, p. 51,
a corpse was tied on a man's back.
NO. 221
KING GAJA-BAHU AND THE CROW
At the time when King Gaja-Bahu [168] was lying in the shade one
day in his garden, he said, "There is not a greater King than I." He
having said it, a Crow that was in the tree dropped excreta in his
mouth. [169]
Then he gave orders for the Crow to be caught alive, and published
them by beat of tom-toms on the four sides. All the men said, "We
cannot." Then a widow woman went to the King and said, "I can catch
that Crow."
The King asked, "What are the things you require for it?"
The woman said, "I want a suckling woman and an [infant] child. How
about the maintenance of those two?"
The King said, "Up to the time when you catch the Crow I will give
their maintenance."
Afterwards the King caused a suckling woman and an [infant] child
to be brought to her. With these two that woman went to her village,
and having gone there began to give food to the crows every day. Many
crows collected together there for it. She caused that child to be near
the crows at the place where the crows were eating the food. During
the time while it was there, that little one was playing in the midst
of the party of crows, the crows surrounding it. [At last it came to
understand their language.]
Afterwards she taught the child, "When the crows are quarrelling, on
hearing a crow say, 'It was thou who droppedst excreta in Gaja-Bahu's
mouth,' seize that very Crow [which did it]."
When the crows came to eat the food they quarrelled. At the time
when they were quarrelling the child stayed in that very party
of crows. Then a crow which was quarrelling said to another crow,
"Wilt thou be [quiet], without quarrelling with me? It was thou who
droppedst excreta in Gaja-Bahu's mouth." As it was saying the words
the child seized that Crow. The woman having come, caught the Crow
and imprisoned it, without allowing it to go.
On the following day she took the Crow to the King. The King asked
at the hand of that woman, "How didst thou recognise this Crow, so
as to catch it?" The woman told him the manner in which it was caught.
Then the King asked the Crow, "Why didst thou drop excreta in my
mouth?" At the time when he was asking it there was a jewelled ring
on his finger.
The Crow replied, "You said, 'There is not a greater King than
I.' I saw that there is a greater King than that; on that account I
did this."
Then the King asked, "How dost thou know?"
The Crow said, "I have seen the jewelled ring that is on the finger of
that King; it is larger than your jewelled ring. Owing to that I know."
The King asked, "Where is that ring?" Then the Crow having said,
"I can show you," calling him, went to a city.
At that city there is a very large rock house (cave). Having gone
near the rock house, he told him to dig in the bottom of the house,
and look. The King caused them to dig, and having dug, a jewelled
ring came to light.
King Gaja-Bahu, taking the jewelled ring and the Crow, came back to his
city. Having come there he put the jewelled ring on his head, and it
fell down his body to the ground. Well then, the King on account of the
strange event let the Crow go, and gave employment to the widow woman.
Tom-tom Beater. North-western Province.
NO. 222
THE ASSISTANCE WHICH THE SNAKE GAVE
In a certain country the King's elephant every day having descended
into a pool, bathes. In the water a Water Snake (Diya naya) stayed.
One day a beggar went to the pool to bathe. As soon as he came the
Snake came to bite him. When it came, the man having beseeched it and
made obeisance, said, "Ane! O Lord, for me to bathe you must either
go to the bottom or come ashore."
"If so, because thou madest obeisance to me I will give thee a good
assistance," the Snake said. "The King's tusk elephant every day
comes to the pool to bathe. When it is bathing I will creep up its
trunk. Having gone to the city from that place, the tusk elephant will
fall mad on the days when it rains. [170] Then doctors having come,
when they are employing medical treatment they cannot cure it. After
that, you, Sir, having gone to the royal palace must say, 'Having
employed medical treatment I can cure the tusk elephant.' Having heard
it, the King will allow you to practise the medical treatment. Should
you ask, 'What is the medical treatment?' [it is this:]--Having brought
a large water-pot to the place where the tusk elephant is, and placed
the elephant's trunk in the water, and covered and closed yourself
and the tusk elephant with cloths, and tapped on the forehead of the
elephant, [you must say], 'Ane! O Lord, you must descend into the
water-pot; if not, to-day I shall cut my throat (lit., neck).' Then
I shall descend into the water."
This was all done as the Snake said. The beggar tapped on the tusk
elephant's forehead, and said, "Ane! O Lord, you must descend into the
water-pot; if not, to-day I shall cut my throat." Then the Snake came
down the tusk elephant's trunk into the water-pot, as he had promised.
The beggar then took the tusk elephant to the King; it was no longer
mad. The King rode on it along the four streets, and came back to
the palace, and descended.
Then he asked the beggar, "How didst thou cure this sickness?"
The beggar said, "I caused a Water Snake to come down the tusk
elephant's trunk into the water-pot, and thus cured him."
Then the King went with the beggar to look at the Snake. When he
saw it in the water-pot he ascertained that the man's statement was
true. After that he gave offices to the beggar.
Tom-tom Beater. North-western Province.
Dr. J. Pearson, Director of the Colombo Museum, has been good enough
to inform me that the water-snake termed diya naya in Sinhalese (lit.,
Water Cobra) is Tropidonotus asperrimus. Though neither large nor
venomous, snakes of this species sometimes attacked my men when they
were bathing at a pool in a river, or endeavoured to carry off fishes
which they had placed in the water after stringing them through the
gills on a creeper. They did this even when the man held the other
end of the creeper.
NO. 223
THE LEVERET, OR THE STORY OF THE SEVEN WOMEN
At a certain city there were seven women. The seven went into the
jungle for firewood. Out of them one woman met with a young female Hare
(Ha paetikki). The other six persons brought six bundles of firewood;
the woman brought the Leveret.
There were seven Princes (sons) of the woman who brought the
Leveret. Out of them, to the youngest Prince she gave the Leveret
in marriage.
The above-mentioned seven Princes cut a chena. Having sown millet
(kurahan) in the chena it ripened. After that, for cutting the millet
the six wives of the above-mentioned six brothers having come out,
said to the youngest Prince, "Tell your wife to come."
Thereupon the Prince says, "How are there women for me? My parents
gave me a female Leveret in marriage."
Thereupon the Leveret says, "What is it to you? tik; I am proud,
tik." [171] Having said it, springing into the house she stayed
[there].
Having waited [there] in this way, when it was becoming night she went
into the jungle, and collecting the whole of the hares of both sides
(m. and f.) went to the chena, and having cut all the millet they
carried the whole to the store-room. After that, having allowed all
the hares (haho) to go, the Leveret the same night came home.
After it became light, the above-mentioned female Hare's husband went
to the chena. At the time when he looked there, ascertaining that
the millet is cut and finished, he said thus, "Ane! Elder brothers'
wives, with no helper, have finished the millet. Having divided the
millet there they brought it [home]."
Not a long time afterwards, while they are [there], people came for
giving betel for a wedding at that village. [172] Having given betel
there to the seven persons they went away.
On the day for going there to the wedding they came [for them]. After
that, the above-mentioned six women came out, and said, "Tell your
wife to come out to go."
Thereupon that Prince says, "How are there women for me? My two
parents gave me a female Hare in marriage. I am unable to go," he said.
Thereupon the female Hare says, "You go," she said. So the Prince went.
Afterwards the female Hare went there; having taken off her hare
jacket on the road, she went to the [wedding] feast.
The Prince [recognised her there, went back, and found and] burned
the hare jacket which she had hidden [so that she was unable to resume
her hare form again].
Tom-tom Beater. North-western Province.
In Folk-Tales of Hindustan (Shaik Chilli), p. 54, the youngest of seven
Princes married a female Monkey who in the end proved to be a fairy,
and took off her monkey skin.
NO. 224
THE GREEDY PALM-CAT [173]
At a certain city three cultivators cut a chena. Having cut it they
spoke [about it]: "Let us plant plantains." Having planted plantains,
the flowers that came on the plantains began to fall when the fruits
were coming to mature.
When they looked, having seen that except the fresh ones [the trees]
were without ripe [fruits], they began to seek [the reason]. Having
sought and sought it, they do not perceive whether some one is
destroying them [or not]. Owing to it they contrived a device. What was
it? Having brought a plantain tree they set it up [? after inserting
poison in the fruits that were on it].
The flowers on it having fallen, and [the fruits] having become ripe,
after they were emitting a fragrant smell [a female Palm-cat came
there with its kitten]. When the [young] Palm-cat looked upward the
female Palm-cat says, "Cultivator, that is not good."
When it said it, the [young] Palm-cat says, "What though I looked up,
if I didn't go up the tree!" it said.
It went up the tree. Once more the female Palm-cat said again, "Don't."
Thereupon the [young] Palm-cat says, "What if I went up the tree,
if I didn't take hold of it!" it said.
Having taken hold of it, it looked at it. When the female Palm-cat
said, "What is that [you are doing]?" it said, "What if I took hold
of it! If I didn't eat it is there any harm?"
After it removed the rind, when she said, "What is that [you are
doing]?" it says, "What if I removed the rind, if I didn't eat it!"
Having set it to its nose it smelt at it. When she said, "What is that
[you are doing]?" it said, "What if I put it to my nose, if I didn't
eat it!"
It put it in its mouth. "What if I put it in my mouth, if I didn't
swallow it!" it said.
It swallowed it; then it fell down. It having fallen down and died,
the female Palm-cat went away lamenting.
The thief of the garden was caught.
Tom-tom Beater. North-western Province.
STORIES OF THE WESTERN PROVINCE AND SOUTHERN INDIA
NO. 225
THE WAX HORSE [174]
In a certain country a son was born to a certain King, it is
said. Having caused Brahmanas to be brought to write this Prince's
horoscope, at the time when they handed it over, after they gave
information to the King that when the Prince arrived at maturity he
was to leave the country and go away, the King, for the Prince to be
most thoroughly guarded, caused a room on an upper story to be made
[for his occupation], it is said.
This infant Prince having become somewhat big, being suitable for game
amusements and the like, during the time while he was passing the days
he saw in the street a Wax Horse that [persons] brought to sell; and
having told his father the King to take and give him it, at the time
when he considered it his father the King paid the price, and taking
the horse gave it to his son, it is said. This horse, furnished with
two wings, was one possessing the ability to fly in the sky.
After he had got this horse for a little time, when the Prince became
big to a certain extent, not concealing it from anyone whatever,
by the help of the Wax Horse he went to fly. Well then, the saying,
too, of the soothsayer-Brahmana became true.
The Prince having gone flying by the power of the horse, went to
the house of an old mother, who having strung [chaplets or garlands
of] flowers gives them at the palace of yet [another] King. While
here, having hidden the Wax Horse somewhere, when staying at the
flower-mother's house he asked the flower-mother [about] the whole
of the circumstances of the royal house, and got to know them.
Ascertaining them in this way, and after a little time getting to know
the chamber, etc., on the floor of the upper story in which the King's
daughter stays, he went during the night time by the Wax Horse to a
room in which is the beautiful Princess; and for even several days,
without concealing himself having eaten and drunk the food and drink,
etc., that had been brought for the Princess, he went away [before
she awoke]. And the Princess, perceiving that after she got to sleep
some one or other had come to the chamber and gone, on the following
day not having slept, remained looking out, it is said.
At that time the Prince having come, when he is partaking of the food
and drink, etc., the Princess, taking a sword in one hand and seizing
the Prince with one hand, asked, "Who art thou?" [175]
The Prince having informed her that he was a person belonging to a
royal family, and while conversing with her having become friendly,
he, making a contract to marry her also, began to come during the
following days after that.
Well then, there was a custom of weighing this Princess in the morning
on all days. [176] During the days after the Prince became [accustomed]
to come, the Princess's weight having by degrees gone on increasing,
the King, ascertaining that she was pregnant, and having thought
that there will be a friendship of the Minister with the Princess,
settled to kill the Minister.
And during the time when the Minister was becoming very sorrowful,
when the other daughters of the King having come asked the Minister,
"Why are you in much grief?" he gave them information of the whole
of the circumstances. The Princesses having assembled together, in
order to save the Minister contrived a stratagem thus, that is, having
thought that without a fault of the Minister's indeed, some one or
other, a person from outside, by some stratagem or other will be coming
near the Princess, they put poison in the bathing scented-water boat,
and placed guards at the pool which is at the royal palace gateway.
The Prince having come, when he bathed in the scented water prior to
going to the Princess's chamber the poison burned him, and having gone
running, when he sprang into the pool the guards seized him. Having
gone [after] causing this Prince to be seized, when they gave the
explanation of the affair to the King he freed the Minister, and
ordered the Prince to be killed.
At the time when the executioners were taking the Prince, having said
"A thing of mine is [there]; I will take it and give it to you," he
climbed a tree, and taking the Wax Horse which at first he had placed
and hidden there among the leaves, he flew away. [177] Having gone
thus a little far, and stopped, during the night time he came again
to the royal palace; and calling the Princess, while they were going
[on the flying horse] by the middle of a great forest wilderness,
when pain in the body was felt by the Princess they alighted on the
ground. Having caused her to halt [there] he went to a village near by,
in order to bring medicine and other materials that she needed for it;
and having set the Wax Horse near a shop and gone to yet [another]
shop, when coming he saw that there having been a fire near the shop
the Wax Horse having been melted had gone. After the Wax Horse was lost
this Prince was unable to go to the place where the Princess stayed.
And the Princess while in the midst of the forest having borne a son,
said, "I don't want even the son of the base Prince"; and having put
the child down she went into the neighbourhood of villages. During the
time when this Princess's father went into the midst of the forest
for hunting he met with this child, and having brought it to the
royal house he reared it.
The Princess who was this child's mother, having joined a company of
girls, [178] during the time while she was dwelling [there] this boy
whom [the King] reared having arrived at maturity went and sought a
marriage; and having seen his own mother formed the design to marry
her. Having thought thus, when on even three days he set off to go
for the marriage contract there having been an unlucky omen while on
the road, on even three days having turned he came back.
One day, having mounted on horse-back, while he was on the journey
going for the marriage contract some young birds having been trampled
on by the horse, the hen in this way scolded the Prince, that is,
"As it is insufficient that this one is going to take his mother
[in marriage], he killed my few young ones." [Thus] she scolded
him. Because during this day there was [this] unlucky omen, having
turned back and come, he went on the following day.
When going on that [second] day, a young goat having been trampled on
by the horse the female goat also scolded him: "As it is insufficient
that he is going to take this one's mother [in marriage], he killed
our young ones."
When going on the third day also, just as before there was the
unlucky omen.
This Prince in this way sought a marriage from the girls' society
itself, because he being a foundling [179] no one gives a [daughter in]
marriage on that account. Before this, one day while at the playground,
when the other boys said, "He is base-born," he having asked the King
who reared him where his two parents were, had ascertained that having
brought him from the midst of the forest he reared him.
Well then, on the third day, also, there having been the unlucky omen,
not heeding it and having gone for the contract, not knowing even a
little about his mother, from her bearing him up to the time when she
came to the girls' society he asked about the principal occurrences
[of her life. Hearing her account of her abandonment of her child],
he said, "It was I indeed who was met with in the midst of the forest
in such and such a district; because of it this is indeed my mother."
Ascertaining it, and having gone spreading the news, and seeking out
even his father and having returned, he was also appointed to the
sovereignty in succession to the King his relative, or who was his
mother's father; and having married [a Princess] from a royal family,
he caused the time to go with glory, it is said.
Western Province.
See the first note after No. 81, vol. ii.
In The Story of Madana Kama Raja (Pandit Natesa Sastri), p. 50, a
Prince who had been adopted by a King of Madura, whom he had succeeded
on the throne, saw, at the house occupied by dancing-girls, his own
mother, from whom he had been separated since his birth, and who had
been banished,--and took a fancy for her. When he was about to visit
the house in the evening he trod on the tail of a calf and crushed
it. In reply to the calf's complaint, the cow exclaimed that such an
act might well not be considered a dishonour by one who was about to
visit his own mother. The young King, who understood the language of
animals, retraced his steps, prosecuted inquiries, learnt from the
Goddess Kali the story of his birth, his abandonment, and protection
by her, and the history of his mother. He brought his mother to the
palace, and thanks to Kali's advice recovered his father, who had
been spirited away by the Sapta-kanyas or Seven Divine Maids.
In The Kathakoça (Tawney), p. 49, a Prince, who when an infant had been
carried off and adopted by a Vidyadhara, afterwards saw his mother
seated at a window, fell in love with her, and by the magical art of
the Vidyadharas, which he had acquired, carried her off in an aerial
chariot. While he was in a garden with her he heard the conversation
of two monkeys, and learnt from it that he was her son. Two hermits
confirmed this, and in the end the Prince and his parents became
Jain hermits.
In Folk-Tales of Kashmir (Knowles), 2nd ed., pp. 177 ff., the son of
a woman who had been sent away during her husband's absence, in the
belief that she was an ogress, was sold to a Queen soon after birth by
the widow with whom his mother lodged, and was brought up as her son,
the King believing her false statement that she had borne him. When
he grew up, the supposed Prince saw his mother, who still lived with
the widow, fell in love with her, and induced the King to agree
to his marriage to her. She stated that she was already married,
and obtained a postponement of the wedding for six months. In the
meantime her husband returned, went in search of his wife, heard
that she was to be married to the Prince, sent her his ring, and
they were reunited. The Prince ascertained that he was their son,
the widow who sold him was executed, and the Queen was banished.
In the Katha Sarit Sagara (Tawney), vol. i, p. 79, a Brahmana who had
obtained a young Garuda or Rukh from Vibhisana, the Rakshasa King of
Ceylon, visited on it, on three successive nights, a courtesan with
whom he had fallen in love, whom he eventually married.
In Old Deccan Days (M. Frere), p. 145, there is an account of a
Princess who was weighed every day against five lotus flowers, being
no heavier than they were.
In Indian Fairy Tales (M. Stokes), p. 1 ff., there is a story of
a Princess who was weighed against one flower every day, after her
bath. She was married by her parents to a Raja of the same weight
as herself.
In Cinq Cents Contes et Apologues (Chavannes), vol. i, p. 376,
a girl who was reared by a crane in its nest on the top of a tree
was weighed daily by it. In this manner it ascertained that she had
improper relations with a young man who had climbed up the tree and
was concealed there by her.
In Folk-Tales of Hindustan (Shaik Chilli), p. 108, a Prince got
his grandfather, who was a carpenter, to make a wonderful wooden
horse which could either move on the earth or fly in the air, as it
was bidden.
In the Arabian Nights (Lady Burton's ed., vol. iii, p. 137 ff.), an
aged Persian sage presented a Persian King with a flying horse made
of ebony, which could carry its rider where he wished, and "cover
in a single day the space of a year." In return for it the King
promised him his daughter in marriage, but her brother objected to
this, tried the horse, and was carried far away before he found the
pin which controlled the descent. He alighted at night on a palace
roof, entered a Princess's room, was discovered, offered to fight
all the troops if he had his own horse, and while they awaited his
charge rose in the air and returned home. At night he sailed back
and brought away the Princess.
In a foot-note, p. 139, Sir R. Burton suggested that the Arabian
magic wooden horse may have originated in an Indian story of a wooden
Garuda [bird]. The legend of a flying horse, however, is found in the
earliest hymns of the Rig Veda. If this period was about 2,000 B.C.,
the notion may have arisen in the third millennium B.C. In the hymn
163 of Book I, the horse is mentioned as possessing wings--"Limbs of
the deer hadst thou, and eagle pinions" (Griffith's translation). In
iv, 40, 2, the horse Dadhikras is described as having wings. In i,
85, 6, the wings of the spotted deer (clouds) which draw the cars of
the Maruts, the Storm Gods, are referred to; the car of the Asvins
was drawn by winged asses (i, 116-117, 2).
At a later date, the account of the treasures produced by the great
Churning of the Ocean by the Gods and Asuras includes the winged
horse Uccaihsravas.
In the Jataka tale No. 196, the Bodhisatta is described as transforming
himself into a flying horse which carried a party of wrecked merchants
and sailors from Ceylon to India.
Two or three steps further bring us to the position in the
folk-tales:--(1) the creation of a wooden flying horse by a
supernatural being, (2) the construction of a similar animal by a
human being, by magical art, (3) the construction of one by mechanical
art. Thus, if this development occurred in India or Ceylon, the notion
of a wooden or wax flying horse, such as the folk-tales describe,
is possibly of earlier date than the time of Christ. Arabian traders
or travellers may have carried the idea to their own country either
by way of Persia or more directly by sea. They may have had a local
tradition of flying quadrupeds, however, based on the winged lions
and bulls of Assyria, belonging to the eighth and ninth centuries
B.C. Winged quadrupeds of a composite character were known to the
Babylonians in the time of Gudea, Patesi of Lagash (2450 B.C.), and
probably some centuries earlier; [180] the idea may have spread from
them to the early Aryans in the first place.
NO. 226
THE THREE-CORNERED HATTER [181]
In a certain country a greatly-poor man dwelt, it is said. The man
having prayed to a friend of his [for assistance], received from
his friend a calf. In order to sell the calf for himself, having set
out from the village at which he stayed, and come and descended to
the road, at the time when he was going along driving it he met with
three young men of yet [another] village.
At the time when the three young persons saw this poor man, they spoke
together in this fashion. The speech indeed was, "Having cheated the
man who is going driving this bull, let us seize the bull," they said.
Having spoken to the man, when they asked him, "Will you give us the
goat?" the poor man who is going driving the bull, says, "Friends,
I am not taking the goat; it is a bull," he said.
Then the men who were cheating him began to say, "Why, O fool, when
you have come driving the goat, are you trying to make it a bull? We
recognise goats, and we recognise bulls. Don't make fun [of us]. Having
given us that goat, and taken a sufficient amount, go away," they said.
Having said and said thus, when these three persons began to make an
uproar [about it], the poor man who is driving the bull, having made
the bull the goat, and spoken to the three persons, says, "It is good,
friends. Taking this goat that I brought, and having fixed a sufficient
price, give [me it]," he said.
When he said thus, those three enemies say, "What are you saying? The
full value of a goat is five rupees; this one is worth three rupees,
but we shall not do in that manner to you. To you we will give four
rupees," they said.
Having said thus, and given that poor man four rupees, "Now then,
you go away," they said.
When they said thus, that man who went driving the bull having spoken
[to himself]: "I will do a good work for these three persons," says,
"Ane! Friends, except that I have a thought that I also having joined
you three persons [should be] obtaining a livelihood, for what purpose
should I go to my village? It is not the fact [that I think of going
there]. It is my thought to live joined with you," he said.
When he said this, those thieves say, "It is good. We also are much
pleased at your living joined with us," they said.
The two parties speaking thus, the man who came driving the bull
stayed near those men who cheated him. Having stayed thus, after
about eight days or ten days had gone, he said, "I will do a thing
for their having cheated me and taken the bull"; and making a hat
which had three corners he put it on his head.
While he is there [after] thus putting the three-cornered hat on
his head, those three persons ask, "What is it, friend? Where did
you meet with a hat of a kind which is not [elsewhere]? This is the
first time we saw such hats," they said.
When they said thus, the man says, "Ane! Friends, if you knew the
facts about this hat you will not speak in this way," he said.
"Because of what circumstances are you praising this hat?" they asked.
This poor man says, "By this hat I can obtain food and drink while
at any place I like. Moreover, by the power of this hat I can also
do anything I think of," he said.
When he said thus, those three persons say, "Ane! Friend, will you
give us that hat?"
When they asked him, he says, "Having shown you the power which there
is in my hat, I can give you the hat also for a sufficient sum,"
he said.
They said, "If so, show us the power that is in your hat. We having
looked at the power of the hat, we will give you the whole of the
goods that there are of ours, and take the hat."
Having said, "It is good. I will show you to-morrow the power of my
hat," that day evening he went to the eating-houses that are in that
village, and spoke to the persons who are in the eating-houses: "We
four persons to-morrow are coming for food. When we have come you must
promise to treat us four persons well. Take the money for it to-day."
Having given the money, and also having gone to the place where
they eat during the [mid]day, and the place where they drink tea,
and the place where they eat at night, speaking in that manner he
gave the money.
On the following day he says to those three persons, "I will show you
the power of my hat. Come along." [182] Summoning them, and putting
on that hat, at the place where he came and gave the money first he
went in, together with the three friends.
Having taken off the three-cornered hat, when he lowered his head the
men who were in the eating-house say, "It is good. Will you, Sirs,
be seated there?" Having placed and given them chairs, and made ready
the food, they quickly gave them to eat, and when they had finished,
gave them cheroots.
Having been talking and talking very much, the Three-cornered Hatter
says, "Now then, we must go, and come [again]."
When he said it, the men of the eating-house say, "It is good; having
gone, come [again]. Should you come [this way] don't go away without
coming here."
When they said it, the Three-cornered Hatter says, "Yes; should we
come, we will not go away without coming here."
Having gone from there, and walked there and here, and at the time for
the [mid] day rice having gone to the place where he gave the money,
in that very manner they ate and drank. Having also gone to the tea
drinking place, and in that very way having drunk, after it became
night they went to the place where he gave the money for the night
food, and ate.
From the time when they came back to the place where they dwell,
those three persons speak [together], "This hat is not a so-so [183]
hat. To-day we saw the power there is in the hat. What are the goods
for, that we have? Having given the whole of our goods, let us take
that hat." Speaking [thus], and having spoken to the Three-cornered
Hatter, they say, "Friend, taking any price you will take, give us
this hat."
When they said it [he replied], "Ane! Friends, having made the bull
the goat, even should you [be willing to] take it, I cannot give this
hat. My life is protected by that hat."
When he said [this, they replied], "If so, it is good. Taking the whole
of the goods that there are of us three persons, give us the hat."
When they said [this], the Three-cornered Hatter says, "It is
good. Because you are saying it very importunately, [184] and because
up to this time from the first [I have been] the friend of you three
persons, taking the hat give me the goods."
Having said [this], tying all the goods belonging to the three persons
in bundles, the Three-cornered Hatter says, "Now then, I am going. I
gave you the hat that I had for the protection of my life; you will
take good care of that hat." Having said it, the Three-cornered Hatter
bounded off and went away.
On the following day after that, those three persons made ready to go
in the first manner, for eating. One putting on the hat, they went,
and sitting in the eating-house they ate and drank.
Having finished and talked, when they said, "We are going," [185]
[the people of the eating-house] ask, "Where is the money?" When they
said, "Having given the money, go away," where have these three got
money to give?
When they did not give it on the spot, the men who are in the
eating-house, seizing them and having beaten them, put them out of
the eating-house.
When they put them out, these three persons are quarrelling along the
road. [One of them] said, "Because, indeed, they did not see that you
went [after] putting on the hat, we two also ate blows. I will see
[about it]; I will put it on and go. Give me it here."
This one, taking the hat from that man, and having gone [after]
putting it on, to the place where they eat during the [mid] day,
they ate and drank in the first manner. Having been there talking and
talking for a little time, they say to the men of the eating-house,
"Now then, we are going."
When they said it, the men of the eating-house say, "Having gone,
no matter if you should come again. For what you ate to-day we want
the money. Give the money, and having gone, come [again]."
When they said [this], these three persons, except that they ate in
order to look at the power of the hat, whence are they to give the
money? While they were there without speaking, they said in the very
first manner, "Thrash these three thieves for the money," and there
and then also seizing the men, beat them.
When they had put them to the door, having descended to the path on
the journey on which they are going, the man who did not put on the
hat says, "[The people] not seeing you two [wearing it] and your
putting on of that hat, can you go and look at the power of the
hat, stupids both? If you want, you can look for yourselves [this]
evening. Give me that hat. In the evening, at the place where they
eat food I will show you the power of the hat."
Having said [this], the man having gone in the evening [after] putting
on the hat, to the place where they eat food, in the very first manner
they ate and drank. Having been talking and talking, they say, "Well,
we are going."
When they said it, "Having given the money for what you ate, go,"
they said.
Then these three persons, whence are they to give the money? Many a
time (bohoma kalak) having asked for the money, while they were there
without speaking, the men having well beaten these three persons put
them out of the eating-house.
The three persons that day's day having eaten blows three times, in
much distress each one comes to his own house. In not many days, on
account of these blows that they ate, and through sorrow at the loss
of their goods, the end of the lives of the three persons was reached.
The Three-cornered Hatter having gone away taking the goods of these
three persons, and having eaten and drunk in happiness, [at last]
he died. For their making the Three-cornered Hatter's bull the goat,
taking the goods of these three he also destroyed the lives of the
three persons.
Western Province.
In the Hitopadesa, a well-known form of the first incident
occurs. Three rogues, seeing a Brahmana carrying home a goat on
his shoulder for sacrifice, sat down under three trees at some
distance apart on the road. As the man came up, the first rogue said,
"O Brahmana, why dost thou carry that dog on thy shoulder?" "It is
not a dog," said the Brahmana, "it is a goat for sacrifice," and he
went on. When the second rogue asked the same question, the Brahmana
put down the goat, looked at it, returned it to his shoulder, and
resumed his journey. When the third man inquired in the same way,
the Brahmana threw down the goat and went home without it, the rogues
of course taking it to eat. This story is given in the Katha Sarit
Sagara (Tawney), vol. ii, p. 68, with the difference that first one
man spoke to the Brahmana, then two men, and lastly three.
In Indian Nights' Entertainment (Swynnerton), p. 106, when a foolish
man was passing through a village driving a buffalo that he had bought,
some men asked him where he got the ram; and as the whole of them
insisted that it was a ram he left it with them through fear of his
brother's anger at his buying a ram instead of a buffalo.
In Folk-Tales of the Telugus (G. R. Subramiah Pantulu), p. 61, it is
repeated with the variation that the Brahmana had four or five goats
which he was leading. Four Sudras (men of low caste) who wished to get
them, in turn asked him why he was taking a number of mad dogs. The
last Sudra suggested that it was unsafe to release them, so he tied
them to a tree, whence the four men removed them when he had gone.
In the Arabian Nights (Lady Burton's ed., vol. iii, p. 200), a thief
promised another that he would steal an ass that a man was leading by
a halter. He went up to it, quietly took off the halter and placed
it on his own head without the ass-owner's observing it, and his
friend led away the ass. When he had gone off with it, the haltered
man stood still, and on the ass-owner's turning to look at his ass,
told him that he was really the ass, and that he had been transformed
into it because of his mother's curse when he went home drunk and beat
her. She had now relented, and as the result of her prayers he had
taken his original form once more. The ass-owner apologised for any bad
treatment meted out to him, went home, and told his wife, who gave alms
by way of atonement, and prayed to Heaven for pardon. Afterwards, when
the owner went to purchase another ass he saw his own in the market,
and whispered to it, "Doubtless thou hast been getting drunk again
and beating thy mother! But, by Allah, I will never buy thee more."
NO. 227
THE GAMARALA WHO WENT TO THE GOD-WORLD
In a certain country there was a newly-married Gamarala, it is
said. For the purpose of the livelihood of these two persons (himself
and his wife), he begged and got a piece of chena from the King, to
plant it on shares. [186] Near the time when they obtained the chena,
having taken great pains and cut the ground and tied the fence, they
sowed the millet (kurahan). But during the course of time having
completely forgotten about the millet chena, they remained doing
house work.
After two or three months passed away in this manner, one day the
Gama-Mahage (Gamarala's wife) having remembered the millet chena,
spoke to her husband, "Have cattle eaten the millet chena?" and she
sent him to look.
The Gamarala, too, having gone hastily at the very time when he heard
the word, saw at the time when he looked that rice mortars having gone
had trampled the millet, and eaten it, and thrown it down. Having
come home, perceiving at the time when he looked that his very own
rice mortar had gone, making it fast he tied it to a tree.
On the following day also having gone, and again having seen, at the
time when he looked, that the rice mortars had come and had eaten the
millet, he walked everywhere in the village, and ordered [the owners]
to tie up the rice mortars that were at the whole of the houses. The
residents in the village being other fools did in the way he said.
On the third day, also, the Gamarala having come, and having seen
at the time when he looked that the rice mortars still had come, he
thought, "It is our own rice mortar," and having gone home he split
the rice mortar with his axe, and burned it. The ashes he threw into
the river.
Nevertheless, on the fourth day having come, and at the time when
he looked having seen that rice mortars had come, not being able to
bear his anger he came home, and while he is [there] he remains in
the house, extremely annoyed.
"Why is it?" his wife asked.
Thereupon the Gamarala replied thus, "The rice mortars having come
to cause our millet eating to cease, I am not rich. Art thou clever
enough to arrange a contrivance for it?" he asked. And the Gama-Mahage,
having considered a little time, ordered the Gamarala to watch in
the watch-hut at the chena.
The Gamarala, accepting that word, on the following day went to the
chena with a large axe, and during the night-time having been hidden,
at the time when he was looking out saw that a tusk elephant, having
come from the Divine World and trampled on the millet, and eaten
it, and thrown it down, goes away. Having seen this wonderful tusk
elephant, and thought that having hung even by his tail he must go to
the Divine World, he went home and told the Gama-Mahage to be ready,
putting on clothes to-morrow for the purpose of going to the Divine
World. At the time when the Gama-Mahage also asked "In what manner
is that [to be done]?" he made known to her all the news.
The Gamarala's wife hereupon wanted to know the means to get clothes
washed when she went to the Divine World. At that time the Gamarala
said that they must perhaps take the washerman-uncle, [so he went to
him and told him]. When the washerman-uncle set off to go he wanted
his wife also to go, [and he brought her with him].
At last, these very four said persons having become ready and having
been in the chena until the tusk elephant comes, after the tusk
elephant came, at the very first the Gamarala hung by the tail. The
Gamarala's wife hung at his back corner (piti mulla). After that,
while the washerman-uncle and his wife were hung in turn behind the
others, the tusk elephant, having eaten the millet, began to go to
the Divine World.
After these four persons with extreme joy went a little distance,
the washerman-uncle's wife spoke to the Gamarala, and asked thus,
"For a certainty, Gamarala, in that Divine World how great is the
size of the quart measure which measures rice?" she asked.
Thereupon the Gamarala, who was holding the tusk elephant's tail the
very first, said, "The quart measure will be this size." Having put
out his two hands he showed her the size.
At that time, these very four persons being extremely high in the sky,
and from that far-off place having fallen to the earth, each one went
into dust.
Western Province.
THE TUSK ELEPHANT OF THE DIVINE WORLD (Variant).
In a certain country a man having worked a rice field, after the
paddy became big a tusk elephant comes from the Divine World and eats
the paddy.
The man having gone, when he looked (balapuwama) there are no gaps [in
the fence] for any animal whatever to come; there are footprints. The
man thought, "It is the rice mortars of the men of our village that
have eaten this; I must tell the men to tie the rice mortars to the
trees." Thinking it, in the evening the man having told it to the
whole of the houses, [187] together with the man they tied all the
rice mortars to the trees. Having tied them, the man who owned the
rice field and the men of that village went to the rice field and
remained looking out.
Then from the Divine World they saw a tusk elephant, and with the
tusk elephant also a man, come. Having seen them, when the men having
become afraid are looking on, the tusk elephant eats the paddy. Then
the men asked at the hand of the man who came with the tusk elephant,
"You [come] whence?"
Then the man said, "We come from the Divine World; if you also like,
come."
After that, the men having said "Ha," [added], "How shall we come
now? At the speed at which you go we cannot come."
Then the man said, "As soon as the tusk elephant has got in front [188]
I will hang at the elephant's tail. One of you also take hold at my
waist, [189] let still [another] man take hold at the man's waist,
and thus in that manner all come."
After that, the men having said "Ha," in that very way the tusk
elephant got in front. The man having hung from the tusk elephant's
tail, when they were going away, the other men holding the waists,
there was a coconut tree in the path.
Then the man who came from the Divine World said, "Ando! The largeness
of these coconuts!"
Then these men asked, "In the Divine World are the coconuts very
large?"
Then the man [in order] to say, "They will be this much [across],"
released the hand which remained holding the tail of the tusk
elephant. So the man fell to the ground, and all the other men fell
to the ground.
Only the tusk elephant went to the Divine World.
Cultivating Caste, North-western Province.
In The Orientalist, vol. i, p. 234, Mr. C. J. R. Le Mesurier mentioned
the man who tied up the rice mortars in the belief that the elephants'
foot-prints in a rice field were caused by them.
In the Katha Sarit Sagara (Tawney), vol. ii, p. 111, a man who
got a tank made found that some animal tore up the surface of the
embankment. When he remained on the watch for it he saw a bull descend
from heaven, and gore it; and thinking he might go to heaven with it,
he held the tail and was carried up to Kailasa, the bull evidently
being the riding animal of the God Siva. After spending some time
in happiness he descended in the same way, in order to see his
friends. They asked him to take them with him on his return, and he
consented. He seized the bull's tail, the next man held his feet,
the third his, and so on, in a chain. While they were on their way
upward one of the men inquired how large were the sweetmeats he ate
in heaven. The first man let go, joined his hands in a cup shape,
and said, "So big." Thereupon they all fell down and were killed. The
story adds that "the people who saw it were much amused."
NO. 228
THE GAMARALA WHO ATE BLACK FOWLS' FLESH AND HIN-AETI RICE
In a certain country there were a Gamarala and a Gama-Mahage, it is
said. There was a paramour for this Gama-Mahage, it is said. Because
the Gamarala was at home the paramour was unable for many days to
come to look at the Gama-Mahage.
Because of it, the Gama-Mahage having thought she must make her
husband's eyes blind, went on the whole of the days to the bottom of
a spacious tree in which it was believed that there is a Devatawa,
and cried, "O Deity, make my man's eyes blind."
Having seen that in this way incessantly (nokadawama) the Gama-Mahage
in the evening having abandoned all house work goes into the jungle,
the Gamarala wanted to ascertain what she goes here for. The Gamarala
also in order to stop this going of the Gama-Mahage settled in the
afternoon that there will be a great quantity of work [for her] to
do. The Gamarala, who saw that nevertheless, whatever extent of work
there should be, having quickly finished all the possible extent she
goes into the jungle, on the following day in the evening having been
reminded of the preceding reflections, remained hidden in a hollow
in the tree there.
And the Gama-Mahage, just as on other days, in the evening having
finished the work and having come, cried, "O Devatawa who is in this
tree, make my man's eyes blind." Having cleared the root of the tree
and offered flowers, she also lighted a lamp.
The Gamarala who was looking at all these, having been struck with
astonishment, after the Gama-Mahage went away descended from the tree
and went home.
On the following day, also, in the evening the Gamarala, catching a
pigeon and having gone [with it], remained hidden in the hollow of
the very same tree. At the time when he is staying in this way, the
Gama-Mahage having come, and having offered oil, flowers, etc., just
as before, when she cried out [to the deity] to blind her man's eyes,
the Gamarala from the hollow of the tree, having changed his voice,
spoke, "Bola!"
Thereupon the Gama-Mahage, having thought, "It is this Deity spoke,"
said, "O Lord."
At that time the Gamarala said thus, "If [I am] to make thy man's
eyes blind, give [him] black fowls' flesh [190] and cooked rice of
Hin-aeti rice." Having said [this], he allowed the pigeon which he
had caught to fly away.
Thereupon the Gama-Mahage having thought, "This Deity is going in the
appearance of a pigeon," having turned and turned to the direction
in which the pigeon is going and going, began to worship it. And the
Gamarala after that having slowly descended from the tree, went away.
Beginning from that day, the Gama-Mahage, walking everywhere, having
sought for black fowls' flesh and Hin-aeti rice, began to give the
Gamarala amply to eat. While the Gamarala, too, is eating this tasty
food, after a little time he says to the Gama-Mahage, "Ane! Ban,
[191] my eyesight is now less." When he said thus, the Gama-Mahage
more and more gave him black fowls' flesh and cooked Hin-aeti rice.
After a little time more went by, he informed her that by degrees the
Gamarala's eyesight is becoming less. At this time the Gama-Mahage's
paramour began to come without any fear. The Gamarala, groping and
groping like a blind man, when he is walking in the house saw well
that the paramour has come.
Having said, "Ban, at the time when you are not [here], dogs having
come into the house overturn the pots," the Gamarala asked for a large
cudgel. Keeping the cudgel in this manner while he was lying down,
when the paramour came having seized his two hands and beaten him
with the cudgel, he killed him outright.
While he was thus, when the Gama-Mahage came he said, "Look there,
Ban. Some dogs having come from somewhere or other, came running and
jumping into this. Having thrown them down with the cudgel, I beat
them. What became of them I don't know."
Having heard this matter, at the time when the Gama-Mahage looked she
saw that the paramour was killed, and having become much troubled about
it because there was also fear that blame would come to her from the
Government, lifting up the corpse and having gone and caused it to
lean against a plantain-tree in her father's garden, she set it there.
Her father having gone during the night-time to safeguard the plantain
enclosure, and having seen that a man is [there], beat him with
his cudgel. Although the blows he struck were not too hard, having
seen that the man fell and was killed, the plantain enclosure person,
having become afraid, lifting up the corpse and having gone [with it],
pressed the head part in the angle of the shop of a trader in salt,
and went away.
The salt dealer having thought, "A thief is entering the house,"
struck a blow with a cudgel. But having come near and looked, and seen
that the man is dead, at the time when it became light he informed
the Government. He said that the man could not die at his blow,
and that some person or other had put him there. [192]
Because on account of the dead man there was not any person to lament,
having employed women for hire he caused them to lament. At this time
one woman lamented: "First, it is my misfortune; next to that, father's
misfortune; and after that the salt dealer's misfortune." [193] At
the time when they asked, "What is that?" when she related the whole
account for her punishment they ordered her to be killed.
Western Province.
In The Jataka, No. 98 (vol. i, p. 239), a man in order to cheat
his partner got his father to enter a hollow tree, and personate a
Tree-Sprite who was supposed to occupy it. When the matter in dispute
was referred to this deity, the father gave a decision in favour of
his son.
In The Adventures of Raja Rasalu (Swynnerton), p. 138, a man whose
wife absented herself every night, followed her and discovered that
she prayed at the grave of a fakir that her husband might become
blind. He hid himself in the shrine, and on the next night told her
that if she fed her husband with sweet pudding and roast fowl he would
be blind in a week; he then hurried home before her. Next morning
she remarked that he was very thin and that she must feed him well;
he acquiesced and was duly fed on the two dishes. He first stated
that his eyes were getting dim, and after the seventh day that he was
quite blind. Her paramour now began to visit the house openly. One
day the man saw his wife hide him in a roll of matting; he tied it
up, and saying he would go to Mecca, shouldered it and left. He met
another man similarly cheated, and they agreed to let the lovers go.
In the Katha Sarit Sagara (Tawney), vol. ii, p. 40, after two
brothers buried at the foot of a tree two thousand gold dinars,
one of them secretly carried them off, [194] and afterwards charged
the other with stealing them. As the King could not decide the case,
the thief claimed that the tree at which the money was buried would
give evidence for him. The question was put to it next day and a
voice replied that the innocent brother took the money; but when the
officers applied smoke to the hollow the father who was hidden there
fell out and died, so the thief was punished by mutilation.
In Folk-Tales of the Telugus (G. R. Subramiah Pantulu), p. 28, there
is a similar story in which the thief was sentenced to pay the whole
amount to the other man.
In the Kolhan folk-tales (Bompas) appended to Folklore of the Santal
Parganas, p. 482, a Potter's wife whom a Raja advised to kill her
husband, set up a figure of a deity in her house, and prayed daily
to it that the man might become blind and die. On overhearing her,
the Potter hid behind the figure, said her prayer was granted,
and predicted that he would be blind in two days. When he feigned
blindness she sent for the Raja, who together with the woman was killed
at night by him, and his corpse placed in a neighbour's vegetable
garden. Towards morning the neighbour saw an apparent thief, struck
him on the head, and discovered he had killed the Raja. He consulted
the Potter and by his advice placed the body among some buffaloes,
where their owner knocked it over as a milk thief, and after consulting
the Potter threw it into a well. It was discovered there and cremated.
In Folklore of the Santal Parganas (collected by Rev. Dr. Bodding),
p. 247, a smith was the hero in place of the Potter. The body of a
Prince was left at three houses in turn, the last householder being
imprisoned.
In Santal Folk Tales (Campbell), p. 100, a man whose wife died left her
corpse in a wheat field, tied in a bag loaded on a bullock, and got
hid. When the field owner thrashed the bullock the man came forward,
charged him with killing his sick wife, and received six maunds of
rupees as hush money. The standard maund being one of 40 sers, each of
80 tolas or rupee-weights (Hobson-Jobson), this would be 19,200 rupees.
Regarding the black fowls, Bernier stated that in India there was
"a small hen, delicate and tender, which I call Ethiopian, the skin
being quite black" (Travels, Constable's translation, p. 251). In
a note, the translator added the remarks of Linschoten (1583-1589)
on Mozambique fowls:--"There are certain hennes that are so blacke
both of feathers, flesh, and bones, that being sodden they seeme as
black as ink; yet of very sweet taste, and are accounted better than
the other; whereof some are likewise found in India, but not so many
as in Mossambique" (Voyage, i, 25, 26. Hakluyt Soc.).
NO. 229
HOW THE GAMARALA DROVE AWAY THE LION
In a certain country the wife of a Gamarala had a paramour. Having
given this paramour to eat and drink, because she wants him to stay
there talking and associated [with her] the Gama-Mahange every day
at daybreak tells the Gamarala to go to the chena, and at night tells
him to go to lie down at the watch hut; even having come to eat cooked
rice, she does not allow him to stay at home a little time.
The Gamarala, having felt doubtful that perhaps there may be a paramour
for the Gama-Mahange, one day at night quite unexpectedly went home
and tapped at the door.
Then, because the paramour was inside the house, the Gama-Mahange
practised a trick in this manner. During the day time the Gamarala had
put in the open space in front of the house a large log of firewood
that was [formerly] at a grave. "A Yaka having been in this log of
firewood, and having caused me to be brought to fear, go and put down
that log of firewood afar. Until you come I cannot open the door,"
the Gama-Mahange said.
The Gamarala having been deceived by it, lifting up the log of firewood
in order to go and put it away, went off [with it]. Then the paramour
who was in the house having opened the door, she sent him out. When
the Gamarala came back (apuwama) anybody was not there.
After this, one day when the Gamarala came at the time when the door
had been opened, because the paramour was in the house the Gama-Mahange
told the paramour to creep out by the corner of the roof [over the
top of the wall], to the quarter at the back of the house, and go away.
But having crept a little [way], because he remained looking back
the Gama-Mahange says, "You are laughing. Should he even cut my body
there will be no blood [of yours shed]. Creep quickly. If not, there
will be great destruction for us both." But because he does not speak,
when she came near and looked she saw that the paramour having stuck
fast was dead. Because his mouth was opened, this woman thought,
"At that also he is laughing."
Well then, when the Gamarala came into the house the Gama-Mahange said,
"Look here. A thief having come and having prepared to steal the goods
that are in the house, is dead on the path on which he crept from
here when I was coming. It is a good work," she said. The Gamarala,
taking this for the truth, buried the man.
After this the Gama-Mahange met with another paramour. The man said
to the Gama-Mahange, "We must kill the Gamarala. The mode of killing
[shall be] thus:--Because it troubles men when a lion that is in the
midst of such and such a forest in this country is roaring, to-morrow
during the day the King will cause a proclamation tom-tom to be beaten
[to notify] that he will give goods [amounting] to a tusk elephant's
load to a person who killed [195] the lion, or to a person who drove
it away. You having caused the proclamation tom-tom to halt, say that
our Gamarala can kill the lion," the paramour taught the Gama-Mahange.
In this said manner, the Gama-Mahange on the following day having
stopped the proclamation tom-tom, said, "Our Gamarala can kill
the lion."
Well then, when the Gamarala came [home] they told him about this
matter. Then the Gamarala, having scolded and scolded her, began to
lament, and said, "Why, O archer, can I kill the lion?" But because
the King sent the message telling the person whom they said can kill
the lion, to come, when the Gamarala, having submitted to the King's
command, went to the royal house [the King] asked, "What things do
you require to kill the lion?"
Thereupon the Gamarala thought, "Asking for [provisions] to eat and
drink for three months, and causing a large strong iron cage to be
made, I must go into the midst of the forest, and having entered
the cage, continuing to eat and drink I must remain in it doing
nothing." Having thought it, asking the King for the things and
having gone into the midst of the forest, he got into the iron cage,
and continuing to eat and drink stayed in it doing nothing.
While he was staying in this manner, one day the lion having scented
the iron cage looked at it. Then the Gamarala with a lance that was
in his hand stabbed [at it, for the blade] to go along the nose. The
Gamarala did thus through fear; but the lion having become afraid,
not staying in the midst of that forest went to another forest.
After that, the Gamarala [informed the King that he had driven it
away, and] taking the goods [amounting] to a tusk elephant's load,
went home and dwelt in happiness.
Western Province.
In The Orientalist, vol. ii, p. 175, in a story given by
Mr. T. B. Panabokke, a foolish Adikar who was sent to kill a lion,
ran off as it was coming, and climbed up a tree. The lion came,
and resting its fore-paws against the tree trunk, tried to climb up
it. The man was so terrified that he dropped his sword, which entered
its open mouth and killed it. He then descended, cut off the head,
and returned in triumph. In a variant in the same volume, p. 102,
the animal was a tiger. The story is given in Cinq Cents Contes et
Apologues (Chavannes), vol. ii, p. 207, the animal being a lion.
In Tales of the Punjab (Mrs. F. A. Steel), p. 85, a weaver who had
been made Commander-in-Chief killed a savage tiger by accident in
the same manner, through his dagger's falling into its open mouth
when he was in a tree.
In The Indian Antiquary, vol. xiv, p. 109, in a South Indian story
by Natesa Sastri, a man who was sent to kill a lioness climbed up a
tree for safety. When the lioness came below it and yawned he was so
much alarmed that he dropped his sword, which entered her open mouth
and killed her.
NO. 230
THE SON WHO WAS BLIND AT NIGHT
In an older time than this, in a certain village there was a nobleman's
family. In the nobleman's family there was a Prince whose eyes do
not see at night.
Because the nobleman-Prince is not of any assistance to his parents,
the nobleman having spoken to his wife, told her that having given
him suitable things, etc., she is to send off this one to any place
he can go to, to obtain a livelihood. The lady (situ-devi) having
tied up a packet of cooked rice and given it to her son, says,
"Go in happiness, and earn your living."
Thereupon this Prince whose eyes were blind at night, taking the packet
of cooked rice and having started, goes away. Having gone thus, and
at the time when it was becoming evening having eaten the packet of
cooked rice, he thinks, "Should it become late at night my eyes do
not see." Having thought, "Prior to that, I must go to this village
near by," and having arisen from there very speedily, he arrived at
a village.
Having gone there and come to a house, during the time while he is
dwelling with them this one says, "I am going away [from] there for
no special reason (nikan). I am going for the purpose of seeking a
marriage for myself," he said.
Thereupon they say, "There is a daughter to be given with our
assent. We do not give that person in that manner (i.e., not merely
because she is sought for). From our grandfather's time there is a
book in our house. To a person who has read and explained the book
we are giving our daughter in marriage," they said.
At that time this person who is blind at night asked for the book. The
party brought and gave him the book. This person who is blind at night,
taking the book into his hand, began to weep.
When they asked, "What are you weeping for?" he says, "Except that
in my own mind I completely understand the difficulty of the matters
that are in this book, I wept because of the extreme difficulty that
there is for some one else in expounding it," he said.
At that time the party think, "To give our daughter [in marriage]
we have obtained a suitable son-in-law." They gave her in marriage.
At the time when he is living thus for a few days, his father-in-law
having spoken, says, "Don't you be unoccupied (nikan). There is our
chena; having gone to the chena with the other brothers-in-law, taking
a tract of ground for yourself clear it and sow it for yourself."
This one having said, "It is good," and having gone, taking a side
of the chena began to clear it. This one worked more quickly than
the other persons. Thereupon the father-in-law felt much affection
for this person who was blind at night.
During that time when he was clearing it, a porcupine having been there
at the corner of a bush, he killed it unseen by anyone, and put it away
and hid it. At the time when it became evening the other dependants
(pirisa) went home. This one, his eyes not seeing, was in the chena,
clasping the dead body of the porcupine.
During the time while he was thus, the father-in-law came to seek
him. Thereupon he says to the father-in-law, "It is excellent that
you came first to do a work. Was it good to go home empty-handed? When
I stopped for this business you went away, didn't you?"
Thereupon the father-in-law says, "Don't you be displeased; we did
not know that you stopped. Come, to go home."
Then he says, "I cannot go in that way. Getting a stick and having
come, hang this animal in the manner of the carrying-pole load (tada),
in order to carry it," he said.
Thereupon, tying the carrying-pole, and placing the father-in-law
in front, [196] he came to the house. That his eyes do not see,
this one did not inform the father-in-law.
While a few days are going in that manner, the work in the chena
having been finished he sowed it, and fitting up a watch-hut there
he is [watching it] carefully.
While he is thus, thieves having broken into the house of the King of
that country came near the watch-hut to which this one goes, in order
to divide the goods. When they were sitting there dividing the goods,
this one opened his eyes, and becoming afraid says, "Seize them! Beat
them! Tie them!"
At once the thieves, leaving the goods and having become afraid,
jumped up and ran away. When this one, collecting the heap of goods
and having arrived at the house, informed the father-in-law, the
father-in-law gave the King notice of it. The King having become much
pleased, caused this one to be brought, and having given him various
things appointed him to the office of Treasurer [197] of that city.
Western Province.
NO. 231
THE SON AND THE MOTHER [198]
In a certain country a widow woman lived with her only son, it
is said. At the time when her son arrived at a young man's age,
this woman for the purpose of bringing and giving him a [bride in]
marriage, having descended to the road, set off to go to a village
not distant from it. While this woman was going thus, in order to
quench her weariness she went to a travellers' shed that was at the
side of the path.
After a little time, yet [another] woman having arrived at this very
travellers' shed, when these two were conversing one of those persons
asked [the other] on account of what circumstances she went along by
that road. At that time the woman who had come first to the travellers'
shed gave answer thus, that is, "My husband having died I have only
one son. Because of it, in order to seek a marriage for that son I
set out and came in this manner," she said.
Thereupon the other woman says, "My husband also having died, I have
only one daughter. I came on the search for a suitable husband for
that daughter," she said.
After that, these two persons ascertaining that they were people
belonging to the [good] castes, agreed to marry the son and daughter of
these two persons. [After] promising in this manner, having given in
marriage the other woman's daughter to the son of the first-mentioned
woman, because the daughter's mother is living alone they summoned
the whole four persons to one house, and resided there.
When they are coming and dwelling in that manner a very little time,
the young man said to his mother that his wife was not good. A very
little time having gone thus, the young woman says to her husband,
"I cannot reside here with your mother. Because of it [please] kill
her. If it be not so, having gone away with my mother we shall live
alone," she said.
Although even many times he did not give heed to the word of his wife,
because the young man was unwilling to kill his mother, in the end,
at the time when his wife set off to go away, he said, "It is good;
I will kill mother. You must tell me the way to kill her."
Thereupon his wife said thus, "In the night time, when thy mother is
sleeping, taking completely [199] the bed and having gone [with it],
let us throw it in the river," she said.
In the night time, at the time when all are sleeping, the young woman
having tied a cord to the leg of the bed on which her mother-in-law
is sleeping, went to sleep, placing an end of the cord in her hand.
The young man having seen this circumstance, after his wife went to
sleep unfastened the end of the cord that was tied to the leg of
his mother's bed, and tied it to the leg of the bed of his wife's
mother. While it was thus, suddenly this young woman arose, and spoke
to her husband: "Now the time is good," she said.
When he asked, "Because there is darkness how shall we find our
mother's bed?" "I have been placing a mark," the woman said. Well then,
because the end of the cord was tied to the leg of this woman's bed,
both together lifting up the bed went and threw it in the river.
After it became light, when she looked, perceiving that the young
woman's mother was thrown into the river, and coming to grief, and
having wept, she said thus to her husband, "For committing some fault
[200] we have thrown my mother into the river. Well, let us kill your
mother, too," she said again.
The husband being not satisfied with this, because the request of
his wife was stronger than that [disinclination], said, "It is good;
let us kill her."
When her husband further asked, "By what method shall we kill
mother?" she said, "When thy mother is asleep, lifting up the bed
completely and having gone [with it], and having placed a pile of
sticks at a new grave, let us burn her." The husband approved of
her word.
On the following day, subsequently to its becoming light, when the
woman whom the two persons were lifting up was asleep, having gone
[after] lifting up the bed completely, they placed this woman together
with the bed on the middle of the pile of firewood which they had
gathered together previously. But to set fire to the heap of firewood
they did not remember to take fire. Because of it, and because to
bring fire each person was afraid to go alone, both set off and went.
During the time while they were going thus, when strong dew was
falling like rain the woman who was asleep on the pile of firewood
having opened her eyes, said, "Am I not at this grave mound?" She also
having looked far and near, [201] thought, "It is indeed a work, this,
of my son and daughter-in-law;" and having descended from the pile of
firewood, lifting up a new corpse that was at the grave, and having
gone and placed it upon that bed that was on the pile of firewood,
she plucked off her cloth, and having clothed the corpse she entered
the jungle quite unclothed.
The son and daughter-in-law having come, remained looking about. Then
her son and daughter-in-law procuring fire, [202] and having come
to the new grave, both persons made the fire burn at the two ends of
the pile of firewood, and went away.
The woman, who had looked very well at this business, because she
was unclothed could not come near villages. Having entered a forest
wilderness that was near there, when going a considerable distance
she saw a rock house (cave). Having gone to this rock house,
when she looked [in it] she saw that a great number of clothes,
and ornaments, and kinds of food and drink were in this rock house,
and having thought, "For these there will be owners," she remained
quite afraid to seize them.
At that time a gang of thieves who owned the goods, hundreds of
thousands in number, that were in this rock house, having come and
looked in the direction of the rock house, saw that an unclothed
Yaksani had entered there. Having become afraid at it, the whole of
them bounded off, and having gone running arrived near a Yakadura,
[203] and said thus, "Friend, one Yaksani having entered is now
staying at the rock house in which are the goods that we collected
and placed [there] during the whole eight years in which we now have
been committing robberies. Because of it, should you by any means of
success whatever drive away the Yaksani for us, we will give a half
from the goods," they said to the Yakadura.
Thereupon the Yakadura being pleased, when he went to the neighbourhood
of the rock house with the thieves, the thieves, through fear to go,
halted. The Yakadura having gone quite alone to the rock house, when
he asked the woman who was unclothed, "Art thou a human daughter
[204] or a Yaksani?" she gave answer, "I am a human daughter."
At that time the Yakadura said, "If so, I cannot believe thy word. Of
a Yaksani, indeed, there is no tongue; of a human being there is the
tongue. Because of it, please extend the tongue [for me] to look at
it, having rubbed my tongue on thy tongue," the Yakadura said.
Thereupon this woman thought thus, "If so, these men having thought
I am a Yaksani, are afraid of me. Because of it, having frightened
them a little more I must get these goods," she thought.
Having thought thus, and having come near the Yakadura, at the time
when he extended the tongue she bit his tongue. Thereupon, when
the Yakadura began to run away, blood pouring and pouring from his
mouth, the thieves, having become more frightened at it, ran away;
and having said, "If she did so to the Yakadura who went possessing
protective spells and diagrams, [after] uttering spells over limes,
and uttering spells over threads coloured with turmeric, how will
she do to us?" they did not go after that to even that district.
Well then, that woman, putting on clothes that were in the rock house,
and having eaten and drunk to the possible extent [after] making up the
goods into bundles as much as possible, came to look for her son. When
the daughter-in-law and son saw her coming while afar, having arrived
at astonishment at it, they asked, "How have you who were put on the
pile of firewood and burnt, come again? Whence are these goods?"
Thereupon the woman says, "Why, Bola, don't you know that after their
life, when they have burnt men they receive goods?" she asked.
Then her daughter-in-law, having thought that she will be able to
bring goods, said, "Ane! Please burn me also in that way."
Having said, "It is good," the mother-in-law, having gone taking her
daughter-in-law, and having put her on the pile of firewood, set fire
[to it].
At that time, "Apoyi! I indeed cannot stay," she cried when she began
to burn.
Thereupon her mother-in-law cries out, "Ha! Ha! Don't cry out. Should
you cry out you will not receive the goods. While you were burning
me did I also cry out? Ane! Because you are stronger than I, [after]
making a great many articles into bundles come back," she said. In this
manner having told and told her, and having burnt the daughter-in-law,
the mother-in-law went home.
After a few days had gone, her son asks, "Mother, you by this time
came bringing the goods. This giantess [205] has not [come] yet;
what is that for?" he asked.
She said, "No, son; she is staying to bring a great many goods."
Having waited, one day the son having thoroughly tied the mother
to kill her, on account of the manner in which he accepted the
daughter-in-law's word, she said, "Why, Bola, fool! Dead men having
arisen from the dead, will there be a country also to which they
come? [206] I came in this manner," and having told her whole story,
and employed her son, they went taking a great many carts, and brought
to the village the whole of the goods that were in the above-mentioned
rock house.
After that, this son contracted another marriage. Having seen
his wealthiness, the King of that country gave him a post as
Treasurer. [207]
Western Province.
This is also a folk-tale called "The Wicked Daughter-in-law," in
the North-western Province, the parents of the young man being a
Gamarala and Gama-Mahage. The wife wished to kill her mother-in-law
because the latter and her own mother were quarrelling. She and her
husband threw the first bed into a forest pool (eba). The incident
of the return of the robbers to the cave where they had hidden their
plunder is omitted; the Mahage simply put on a number of silver and
gold articles and carried home a bundle of others, including necklaces
and corals. She told her daughter-in-law that there were many more
at the burial ground, and the latter went to fetch them. When she
arrived there she saw a fresh corpse, and became so much afraid that
she fainted, and fell down and died.
This story is given in The Jataka, No. 432 (vol. iii, p. 303).
In the Katha Sarit Sagara (Tawney), vol. i, p. 88, a servant girl who
had absconded with her master's store of gold, climbed up a leafy tree
to escape from him. One of his servants climbed up it in search of
her. Seeing that she would be captured, she pretended to be in love
with him, and as she was kissing his mouth she bit off his tongue,
and he fell down unable to speak. Her master thought he had been
attacked by a demon, and at once ran off.
In Cinq Cents Contes et Apologues (Chavannes), vol. iii, p. 141,
a woman who wished to kill her mother-in-law persuaded her husband
to believe that if she were burnt she would be re-born as a deity,
and receive continual offerings from them. They made a great fire
in a deep trench, gave a feast at it, and when the people had gone
pushed the mother over the edge into it, and ran off. She fell on
a ledge in the side of the trench and thus escaped, was unable to
return home in the darkness, and climbed up a tree for safety from
animals and demons. While she was there, robbers came to the foot
of the tree with valuable articles they had stolen, and when they
heard her sneeze ran off, thinking she was a demon. In the morning
she returned home with a heavy bundle of jewellery they had left,
told the daughter-in-law that she had become a deity and had therefore
received these valuables, and offered to send her also. The fire was
made up afresh, the man pushed his wife into it, and she was burnt up.
NO. 232
CONCERNING THE HETTI MAN'S SON
In a former time, in a certain country there was a certain Hetti family
possessing a great quantity of goods, it is said. There were seven sons
of the Hettiya. For the purpose of learning he sent the seven sons to
school. Out of the Hetti children who go to school, as the youngest
son was a mischievous rough fellow, having set out from the house in
order to go to school, while on the road he got hid, not going to the
school. At the time when, the school having been dismissed, the other
children are coming back, this child also, like a person who went to
school, comes to the house with his brothers, and dwells [there].
That this one did not go (nongiya) to school no one tells either the
father or mother. Because of what thing? Because of the harshness that
there is of his, should they give information to his parents that he
did not go to school they are afraid he will cause great annoyance
to the people who give the information.
In that manner going to the school and coming according to his will,
and making disturbance with the other children (lamo), and walking
to several places at the time when he is dwelling [there], he one
day in the eventide having descended to the city street goes to walk.
While going, a certain horse-keeper taking a horse brought it for
sale. He having stopped the horse-keeper, asks, "To which district
are you taking this horse?"
To that the horse-keeper gives answer, "I am taking this horse
for sale."
Thereupon he said, "It is good. For how much money will you give
this horse?"
Then the horse-keeper says, "You a man who takes horses, indeed! There
is not any profit in telling you the amount. The value of this horse
is much," he said.
Thereupon, having much scolded the horse-keeper, and having arrived
at his house calling [the man to bring] the horse, he speaks to his
father and says, "Take and give me this horse."
At that time his father the Hettiya having rebuked him, drove him
away. As this one was a vile rough fellow, taking the saying heavily,
he began to make disturbance with his father. Thereupon anger having
gone to the father, seizing him and having beaten him, he drove
him away.
Having done thus, this one came into the house, and taking a gun speaks
to his father and says, "Should you not take and give me this horse,
shooting myself I will die." Thereupon his father having become afraid,
took the horse and gave [him it].
From the day when he took and gave the horse, he did not even go to
the school. Having gone away according to his own notion, he joined
the war army of that country. During the time when he was thus, also,
he began to work there, so as to be a great dexterous person. The
Chief of the war army there showed him much favour.
When a little time had gone thus, having been ordered to a war they
came [for it]. Thereupon this one also having gone with the war
force, and having been halted on the battle-ground, during the time
while they are [there] the Chief of the Army spoke to this force
(pirisa). When he said that in order to fight, a person who is able
is to go to the enemy-King, and give the leaf missive (pattraya) which
the Counsellor had prepared for the purpose, having seen that everyone
remained without speaking, this one came forward, and having said,
"I am able to go and give it," asked for the letter.
When he thus asked, the Commander of the Army, having arrived at great
sorrow, says, "By this fight to whom will occur victory, defeat,
or any other thing I am unable to say. But should you stay on the
battle-ground, harm not befalling you at any time, you may escape. The
messenger who goes in order to give notice to this enemy-King does not
escape at any time. When, having said the message, he is dismissed,
the guards strike him down. I know that you are a person of a great
wealthy family. I know that the advantage that is obtained from another
twelve soldiers I am receiving from you. [But] because at the time
when I spoke to any person who was willing to despatch and make known
this message, you came forward, it is not justice to cause another
person to go." Having said [this], the General arrived at great sorrow.
Thereupon this one says, "Don't be afraid. Having gone and given
the letter I shall come back. But I cannot go thus; I don't want
these clothes. Please make afresh and give me clothes in the manner
I say." When he said [this], the General, in the manner he said,
made and gave him the clothes.
Thereupon, putting on the clothes and having mounted on the back of
the horse which his father took and gave him, taking the leaf that
was written for the purpose of giving the notice to the enemy-King,
he went off.
At the time when he was going there, the guards of the King's house
thought that a trader gentleman was coming in order to give assistance
connected with the war. Without any fear whatever he went on horse-back
to the royal palace; and having given the leaf and turned back,
driving the horse a little slowly to the place where the guards are,
and, having come there, driving the horse with the speed possible,
he arrived at the place where his force is.
When he arrived thus, the General, having become much attached to
him, established this one as the third person for that force. After
that, having fought he obtained victory in the fight also. After he
obtained victory in the fight, he appointed him to the chiefship of
the army. During the time while he was dwelling thus, he went and in
still many battles he obtained victory.
After that, having appointed him to the kingship, [208] he sent
him to improve the out-districts. Having dwelt in that manner for
much time, and having reached old age, he performed the act of death
(kalakkiriya).
Western Province.
NO. 233
THE FORTUNATE BOY [209]
At a certain city there was a poor family, it is said. Of that family,
the father having died, the mother and also a son remained, it is
said. The mother, by [reason of] her destitute state without food,
was supported by pounding [rice into] flour for hire at the shops,
it is said.
While getting a living thus, having sent the son to school he began
to learn letters. While he was staying in that way for learning them,
one day [his mother] having sent him to school, at the time when he
was coming home he was looking on nearby while a great rich man was
getting a ship prepared on the sea shore. While he was thus looking,
at the time when this boy having gone near looked, the work at the
ship was becoming finished, it is said.
Owing to it, the boy, speaking to the rich man, says, "Will you sell
this ship?" He asked [thus], it is said.
[In reply] to it, the rich man having looked in the boy's direction,
said in fun, "Yes, I will sell it."
The boy asked, "For how much will you sell it?"
"For five hundred pounds for the ship on which pounds, thousands in
number, have been spent I will give it," he said.
On account of it the boy, having placed in pawn his books and slates at
a shop near by, and having [thus got and] brought twenty-five cents,
[210] and given them as earnest money for the ship, says, "To-morrow
morning at nine, having secured the money I will take the ship,"
he said. The rich man through inability to say two words remained
without speaking, it is said.
The boy having gone home, at the time when he was there, when his
mother asked, "Why, Bola, where are thy books and slates?" the boy
says, "Having asked the price for a new ship of such and such a rich
man, and agreed to take it, I placed the slates and books in pawn,
and bringing twenty-five cents I gave them as earnest money," he said.
His mother having become angry at it, and having beaten the boy,
scolding him drove him away without giving him food, it is said.
At the time when she drove him away, having gone near a Hettiya of
that city he says, "Ane! Hettirala, I having agreed to take such and
such a rich man's ship, and having gone to school, at the time when
I was coming I placed my books and slates in pledge at a shop; and
bringing twenty-five cents and having given them as earnest money,
and agreed to secure the remaining money to-morrow morning at nine,
I was going home meanwhile. When I told my mother these matters,
she bringing anger into her (undae) mind, beat me, and drove me from
the house without having given me food. Because it is so, you having
paid this price for this ship keep it in your name," he said.
The Hettiya becoming pleased at it, on the following day morning
having made ready the money and gone with the boy, the Hettiya says,
"I will stay here. You having gone with this money and given it to him,
take the ship. As soon as you take it (e aragana wahama) speak to me;
then I will come," he said.
Then the boy, having gone in the manner he said, at the agreed time,
and having spoken to the rich man, says, "According to the agreed
manner, here (menna), I brought the price for you. Taking charge of
it and having written the deeds, give me the ship," he said.
The rich man, as soon as he was out of a great astonishment, [211]
having gone and written the deeds, and having handed over the ship,
says, "Ade! Bola, boy, is thy filth (kunu) a religious merit? Where,
indeed, if this had not broken and fallen [on me], for a price of
that manner was I to give the ship on which I incurred expenses to
the amount of thousands of pounds! Thy birth having been consistent
with it, it will be a debt [of a previous existence] which I was to
give to thee. Because it is so, I will launch on the great sea this
ship on which these five hundred pounds are spent, and will give
[thee it there]," he said.
On account of it, the boy having summoned the Hettiya, says, "There
(Onna)! I got the ship! Although I got it, the price I gave for the
ship was not mine; it was yours. Because of that, load into this ship
the goods you want [to send], and having placed hired workmen [on
board] for it, give charge of it to me. I having gone to some country
or other [after] doing trading shall come back in happiness," he said.
Then that man who sold the ship, having collected together people and
incurred great expenses, and caused the ship to be launched on the sea,
gave him it, it is said. Having acted in that manner and given it,
out of that price not bringing a cent home, he spent it over that; and
having related the circumstance to his family, not feeling (ne-gena)
any grief, in good happiness he dispatched the time (kal aeriya),
it is said. If you said, "What is [the reason of] that?" "There is
no need for us to take [to heart] sorrow. From the debt that we were
to give him [in a previous existence] we are released," he said.
After that, the Hettiya having loaded into the ship bags of rice,
thousands in number, and placed [over it] a hired captain, made the
boy the principal (palamuweniya), and having given him charge sent
it off, it is said.
While the ship was going, time went by, many days in number, it is
said; but while they were going on as a land (godak) was not yet
to be perceived, the ship drifted to a great never-seen country,
it is said. When they investigated in the country, and looked at the
auspicious character of the kind of men who are [there], their faces
were of the manner of dogs' faces, the body like these bodies of ours,
[212] but the food was human-flesh food, it is said.
On account of it, the persons who were in the ship being afraid,
say, "Ane! This is indeed a cause for both ourselves and our ship to
be lost!"
While they are staying [there] the boy says anew, "I think of an
expedient for this, that is, let us cook a great rice [feast] on the
ship. Having cooked it, I will go to this village, and having spoken
to the men and come [after] assembling them, and having eaten this
food of ours, we will tell them to look [round the ship]."
Having caused the rice to be made ready the boy went to the village,
and having come [after] assembling the men, while giving them the food
to eat, these men, perceiving that it was a food possessing great
flavour that they had not eaten and not seen (no-ka nu-dutu) say,
"This sort you call 'rice' we [first] saw to-day indeed. For what
things will you give this?" [213] they asked.
To that the sailors say, "Except that we give for money, for another
thing we do not give," they said, it is said.
Meanwhile the men (minisun) say, "In our country there is not a kind
called 'money'; in our country there are pieces of silver and gold. If
you will give it for them, give it," they said, it is said.
After that, the sailors having spoken [together] and caused them to
bring those things, began to measure and measure and give the rice, it
is said. Should you say, "In what manner was that?" that kind of men,
putting the pieces of silver and gold into sacks and having brought
them, began to take away rice to the extent they give, it is said.
During the time while they are doing taking and giving (ganu denu)
in that way, because the sailors had great fear of staying, at night,
at about the time when both heaps were equal (hari) by stealth they
began to navigate the ship, it is said. At that very time, at the
time when they looked at the accounts of that rice they gave, the
cost had been not more than a hundred bags in number, it is said. For
the rice that was of that cost there had been collected sacks of gold
and silver,--about twelve were assembled, it is said.
Having gone to yet [another] country, and sold those things, and made
them into money (mudal kara), taking for the money yet nine ships,
and together with this ship having loaded goods into the whole ten
ships, he began to come to his own city.
While coming there, at the time when [the citizens] looked at this it
was like the mode of coming for a great fight. Meanwhile, not allowing
them to approach their own country, the King asked, "Of what country
are these ships? Are they coming for some fight, or what?"
At that, having raised the flag of the ship they say, "No; we have
not come for a fight. In these ships are trading-goods. In any other
way but that we have not come," they said.
Yet still the King asked, through the excess of his fear, saying and
saying, "Whose ships? Who is the owner?"
To that the boy, having caused them to raise the ship's flag, says,
"Such and such a Hettirala's indeed are these ships," he said.
Then speedily having caused the Hettiya to be brought, when he asked
him, the Hettiya says, "These ships are not for me. I bought such
and such a rich man's ship for such and such a boy, and loaded rice
in it; since I sent it (aeriya haetiye) there is not even news yet,"
the Hettiya said.
After that, having sent a boat, and caused the principal person of the
ships to be brought, when he asked, indeed, thereafter the Hettiya
gets to know [the facts]. As soon as he ascertained he caused the
ships to be brought, and when the Hettiya asked the boy about these
matters the boy gave account of (kiya-dunna) the wonderful things
that occurred, it is said.
At the time when he reported them the Hettiya says, "I will not
take charge of these ships. Should you ask, 'What is [the reason of]
that?' because your merit (pina) is great, when I have taken the things
you obtained they will not flourish for me," he said. On account of
it, the Hettiya took only the five hundred pounds that the Hettiya
gave the boy, and the price of the rice, it is said.
Thereupon the boy, having caused a great palace to be built, and having
decorated his mother with great beauty, causing her to ascend a great
horse-carriage, published it by beat of tom-toms; and obtaining the
office of Treasurer (situ tanataera) he dwelt in that palace. Having
established hired persons for the ships, he began to send them to
various countries (rata ratawala), it is said.
Western Province.
NO. 234
HOW THE DAUGHTER-IN-LAW GOT THE MASURAN
In a certain city there was a nobleman. [214] There had been a great
quantity of the nobleman's goods, but the goods in time having become
destroyed, he arrived at a very indigent condition. During the time
while he was [thus], existing by his son and daughter's continuing
to strongly exert themselves as much as possible, at last this
nobleman died.
After that, at the time when his son arrived at full age, his
mother began to say to the son, "Son, because I am now a person
who is approaching old age, you are unable quite alone to provide
for me. Because it is so, thou must take in marriage a woman from a
suitable family," she said.
Well then, after he had married, the woman does not exert herself for
his mother. Her husband having succeeded in ascertaining that she
does not exert herself in this manner, and having thought that for
[counteracting] this he must make a means of success, collected a
quantity of fragments of plates that were at the whole of the places
in the village; and taking a large skin, and having caused a purse
to be made from the skin, and put in the skin purse the quantity
of fragments of plate that he collected, he says to his mother,
"Mother, when you have come near that woman, open the box so as to
be visible from afar, and having behaved as though there were great
wealth in it, and shaken this skin bag, place it in the box [again],
and put it away."
When he said thus, his mother, taking [to heart] her son's saying,
having made a sound with the skin bag in the manner he said, so as
to be noticed by her son's wife, and having treated it carefully,
placed it in the box.
From the day on which the son's wife saw it, she began to exert herself
for her mother-in-law. During the time when she is exerting herself
thus, a leprosy disease attacked her mother-in-law. Thereupon the
son spoke to his mother, and said, "Mother, taking that skin bag,
and placing it at the spot where you sleep, say in this manner to
your relatives and my wife, that is, 'Beginning on the day when I
was little (podi dawase patan) until this [time] I gathered together
these articles. For not any other reason but in order to give them at
the time of my being near death, to a person who has exerted herself
for me, I gathered these together. Should any person out of you exert
[herself] for me, to that person I will give these.' You say [this],"
he said secretly to his mother.
After that, his mother having gathered together her relatives, and
having called her daughter-in-law near, while in front of the whole of
them she said in the mode which her son taught her, that to the person
who exerted herself for her she will give the skin bag of masuran.
Thereupon each one, competing according to the measure of her power,
attended on this female leper. That son's mind arrived at [a state of]
much delight. [After] in this manner enjoying pleasure, when a little
time had gone this female leper died. Thereupon, anybody among the
relatives not having hidden it, the son's wife, stealing the masuran
bag, concealed it.
Having buried the corpse, after the disturbance was done with the
son's wife unfastened the bag of masuran. When she looked [in it],
having seen that it had been filled with only the fragments of the
plates that were in the village, she arrived at extreme grief.
That woman's mother also having come at this time, very noisily asked,
"Did my daughter receive the bag of masuran?"
Thereupon her daughter having told her that she was cheated, when she
had shown her the bag of fragments of plates both of them wept; and
that woman having become angry with her husband separated from him,
and went to her own house.
Western Province.
In The Orientalist, vol. iv, p. 121, Miss S. H. Goonetilleke published
nearly the same story without the introductory part, presumably as it
is found in Kandy. The son gave his mother a bag containing stones,
telling her to pretend that it held valuables. She threatened to
leave owing to her daughter-in-law's neglect of her, and to go to her
own daughter's house, and she went off while the daughter-in-law was
asleep. The son scolded his wife, and told her the bag of gold would
now be left to his mother's daughter, so she went off next morning,
coaxed her back, and attended to her carefully afterwards, and only
learnt about the trick when the woman was dying.
In Folk-Tales of Kashmir (Knowles), 2nd ed., p. 241, an old man who
was wealthy, thinking he was about to die, divided his property among
his sons, who afterwards neglected and abused him, and treated him
with cruelty. A friend to whom he related his troubles afterwards came
with four bags of stones, and told him to pretend that he had returned
to pay off an old debt of large amount, on no account allowing the
sons to get the bags. This had the desired effect; the sons attended
carefully to him until he died, and then greedily opening the bags
learnt how they had been tricked.
NO. 235
THE MONKEY AND THE BEGGAR, OR THE MONKEY APPUSIÑÑO AND
THE BEGGAR BABASIÑÑO
A certain Beggar having gone from village to village was earning a
subsistence by making a Monkey [215] dance and dance. By it those
two collected a very little money. Having changed the small coins
they got a pound in gold, and a rupee. During that time the Monkey
was well accustomed to [visit] the royal house.
For marrying and giving the Princess of the King of the country,
the King began to seek Princes. At that time royal Princes not being
anywhere in those countries, he stayed without doing anything (nikan).
At that time the Monkey called Appusiñño asked Babasiñño the Beggar,
"Am I to arrange and give you an opportunity [for a marriage]?"
Then Babasiñño said, "What is this you are saying, Appusiñño? For
you and for us what [wedding] feast!"
Then Appusiñño said, "It doesn't matter to you. I will arrange and
give it from somewhere or other."
Having said thus, Appusiñño went to the royal house. At that time
the King having seen Appusiñño, asked, "What have you come for?"
Then Appusiñño said, "The Mudaliyar [216] Babasiñño told me to go
and ask for the bushel for measuring golden pounds. On that account
I came."
Then the King thinking, "Who is it, Bola, who is a rich man to that
degree?" told him to ask a servant for it, and go. So Appusiñño,
asking a servant for it, went back [with it].
[Afterwards] taking the golden pound which, having changed [their small
coins for it], they were hiding, and having glued it in the bushel
so as not to be noticed, he handed over the bushel, with the golden
pound also, at the royal house. Thereupon the King, having looked
at the bushel, said, "Look here. A golden pound has been overlooked
[217] in this. Appusiñño, take it away."
Thereupon Appusiñño said, "Golden pounds like that are swept
up into the various corners of the house of our Lord Mudaliyar
Babasiñño. Because of it, what of that one!"
The King thought, "Maybe this person is a richer man than I!"
The Lord Mudaliyar Babasiñño and Appusiñño stay in a hut enclosed
with leaves. [218] There are deficiencies of goods for those persons,
for cooking and eating; there are only the small cooking pot (muttiya)
and the large cooking pot (appalla) [as their goods].
On yet a day Appusiñño went running to the royal house. Having said
that the Lord Mudaliyar told him to go and ask for the bushel for
measuring rupees, he asked for it.
At that time the King asked Appusiñño, "Whence comes this money?"
Appusiñño said, "All is indeed the revenue which he receives from
gardens, and grass fields, and rice fields."
After that, he took away the vessel. At that time taking the rupee
which was hidden, having brought it again, he gave it [with the
rupee inside].
That day also the King said, "Look here. A rupee has been overlooked;
take it away."
Thereupon he says, "If one gather up rupees at home in that way there
are many [there]. What of that one!"
Appusiñño having gone, and having walked to the shops in the villages,
[after] finding about a hundred old keys, returned. Having brought the
keys, and having thoroughly cleaned them, and made them into a bunch
of keys, he tied them at his waist. [After] tying them at his waist
he went in the direction of the royal house. The King, having seen
this bunch of keys, asked, "Whence, Appusiñño, keys to this extent?"
"They are the keys of the cash-boxes in the wardrobes of the Lord
Mudaliyar," he said. Having said it, Appusiñño said, "O Lord King,
Your Majesty, will you, Sir, be angry at my speaking?"
The King replied, "I am not angry at your speaking, or at your saying
anything you want."
Thereupon Appusiñño says, "Our Lord Mudaliyar having walked to every
place in this country, there was not an opportunity (idak) [for a
marriage] to be found." The Monkey informed the King that although
during the little time that had passed he was poor, at present he
was a great rich man, and that he was a person born formerly of an
extremely important lineage. "Because of it I am speaking," he said.
At that time the King said, "That there are signs of his wealth,
I know. His caste and birth [219] I do not know. Hereafter (dewenu)
having inquired [about them], I will say."
Thereupon Appusiñño having gone into a multitude of villages, told
the men, "The King having sent messages and told you to come, will
ask, 'Is Babasiñño a very wealthy person? Is he a person of good
lineage?' Then say, 'He is of a very good caste.'"
After that, the King having summoned the Talipat fan men [220] who
were in that country, made inquiry, "Is Babasiñño's house (i.e.,
lineage) good or bad?"
The whole of them began to say, "He is a monied man, an overlord of
lineage," [221] they said.
After that, Appusiñño came once to the royal palace. At that time
the King said to Appusiñño that he must see the bridegroom.
Thereupon Appusiñño having gone home, and again having gone to the
bazaar and bought a piece of soap, caused the Lord Mudaliyar Babasiñño
to bathe.
Again, the Monkey known as Appusiñño, splitting his head with a stone,
went running to the royal house.
Thereupon the King asked Appusiñño, "What has split your head?"
Appusiñño says, "The Lord Mudaliyar sought for the keys to get clothes
to go somewhere or other. Out of my hand the keys were lost. On
account of it having beaten me with a club and my head having been
split, I came running here," he said.
Thereupon the King says, "You can find the keys some time. Until then,
there are the needful clothes. Go and give him any cloth you want
out of them," he said.
So having taken a good cloth in which gold work was put, he dressed
him, and he having come to the royal house, the King became pleased
with the Lord Mudaliyar Babasiñño; and having caused the naekat
(planetary prognostics) to be looked at, settled to marry [him to his
daughter]. Thereupon, having told the men who were in that country,
and having decorated the city, he observed the [wedding] festival,
having also been surrounded by much sound of the five instruments of
music in an extremely agreeable manner.
Well then, while they were going summoning the Princess to Babasiñño's
own country, the Monkey through extreme delight ran jumping and jumping
in front. While the Monkey was going thus, a party of boys who were
causing certain goats to graze, having heard the noise of the five
instruments of music, became afraid. At the time when they asked,
"What is this?" "They are coming breaking up a country, upsetting
a country. If ye are to save these goats, say they are the Lord
Mudaliyar Babasiñño's," the Monkey said.
When they are going a little further, certain herdsmen who are looking
after cattle having become afraid, at the time when they asked [what
the noise was], "They are coming breaking up a country, upsetting a
country. If ye are to escape say, 'We are causing the Lord Mudaliyar
Babasiñño's cattle to graze,'" the Monkey said.
When they are going a little further, certain men who are doing
rice-field work having become afraid, at the time when they asked,
"What is this noise?" he said, "They are coming breaking up a country,
upsetting a country. If ye are to escape say, 'We are doing work in
the Lord Mudaliyar Babasiñño's rice fields.'"
At the whole of the aforesaid places the men observed the method
which the Monkey said.
The Monkey saw during the time he was staying in the midst of the
forest, a house in which is a Yaksani. As in that house there are
riches, silver and gold, like a palace, and because there was nothing
in Babasiñño's house, he thought of going there. Having thought it,
and having left the bride and bridegroom and the whole of them to
come in carts, and having said, "Come on this path," Appusiñño got
in front, and having gone to the place where the Yaksani is, said,
"Isn't there even news that they are coming breaking up a country,
upsetting a country? The King is coming to behead you. Because of it,
go to that stone well and get hid."
Thereupon, the Yaksani having gone to the stone well, got hid. While
she was hiding [in it], this Appusiñño having thrown stones [into it],
and having killed the Yaksani, swept the Yaksani's house, and when
the party were coming was there.
The King and the rest having come, when they looked much wealth
and corn were there. Having said, "This one is a great rich person,
indeed," while the servants and the Princess remained there the King
came back to the city.
But however much assistance the Monkey gave, Babasiñño having forgotten
the whole of it did not even look whether they gave the Monkey to eat.
Well then, while the party are staying there, one day, to look,
"Does the Lord Mudaliyar Babasiñño regard me?" Appusiñño was getting
false illness.
At that time Babasiñño said, "What a vile remnant [222] is this! Take
it and throw it away into the jungle."
Thereupon the Monkey made visible and showed the absence (naetikama) of
Babasiñño's good qualities (guna), bringing forward many circumstances
[in proof of it. He said], "Putting [out of consideration] that I was
of so much assistance, you said thus!" Having said, "Because of it,
staying here is not proper," he went into the midst of the forest.
Western Province.
NO. 236
HOW THE BEGGAR AND THE KING GAMBLED
In a certain country there was a King who having gambled gets the
victory. At that time, in that country there was a Beggar.
One day, Senasura, [223] having come near the Beggar, said, "Taking the
money that thou hast begged and got, go near the King, and say thou,
'Let us gamble.' Then the King will say, 'I will not.' Then say thou,
'Somehow or other, to the degree in which you, Sir, hold [a wager],
I will hold wagers. Because of that you ought to play.' Then the King
will say, 'Ha.'"
At that time the Beggar by begging had obtained about a thousand
pounds. Having taken that little money he spoke to the King about the
gambling. Then the King scolded him: "What gambling with thee, Beggar!"
Then the Beggar says, "Should I hold the wager that you, Sir, hold,
that is as much [as matters] to you, isn't it? Why are you saying
so? Let us gamble." Then anger having come to the King, and having said
"Ha, it is good," he became ready to gamble.
Having made ready the two gambled. While gambling the King began to
lose at the wagers they were laying and laying. Having thus lost, he
staked (lit., placed) the palace, also, and played. By that [throw]
also, he lost. Then having staked Lankawa (Ceylon) also, he played. By
that [throw] also, he lost.
After that, going from the palace the King and Queen made an outer
palace, and the Beggar stayed in the palace. This King and Queen
[afterwards] went away. Being unable to go on, they sat down at a
place. While they were sitting the Queen lay down, and placed her head
on the foot of the King. During the time while the Queen was asleep,
the King taking a ball of straw placed it for the Queen's head;
and while the Queen was sleeping there the King went away.
At that time some men came there, bringing laden oxen. Then having
heard the noise of the caravan (tavalama), the Queen awoke. When she
looked about the King was not there. Then the Queen also having joined
the caravan people, went away [with them].
Having gone, while she was lying down at a place, Senasura, having
come taking the disguise of a leopard, sprang at the party of caravan
cattle. Then all the cattle which were tied up, breaking [loose]
bounded off. Having bounded off, while they were running all these
men sprang off on that road. This Queen sprang off to one hand (a
different direction).
Having bounded off she entered a city. The mother who makes garlands
for the royal house, being without a person [as an assistant], having
sought one and walked there, met with this Queen. At the time when
she asked at the hand of the Queen [if she would help her], she said,
"I can work." Well then, the Queen stayed [there], doing and doing
garland-making work.
That King having abandoned the Queen, while he was going away,
Senasura, taking the disguise of a polanga [224] (snake), stayed
on the path. When the King was going from there the polanga said,
"Having swallowed a prey I am here, unable to go. Because of it take
hold of my tail, and having drawn me aside and left me, go away."
Thereupon the King having taken hold of the tail of the polanga,
while he was drawing it aside it bit him on the hand. Then leprosy
having struck the King, the King's eye became foul.
At that time a horse belonging to the King of yet [another] city was
born. [The King went there, and was appointed as a horse-keeper under
the King who owned the horse.]
That garland-making mother (the ex-Queen) one day having gone taking
flowers, placed them on the couches at the palace. When she was
coming out, a trader who sold clothes when at that gambling city,
having brought clothes to this city and having seen her as that
garland-making mother was coming out, this trader made obeisance to
this garland-making mother.
Thereupon the Queen of the King of the city having seen it summoned
the trader, and asked him, "Why didst thou make an obeisance to our
garland-making mother?"
The trader says, "What of that Queen's doing garland-making work! [She
is] the Queen of the King of such and such a city. Having seen her
before, through being accustomed to it I made obeisance." When she
asked the garland-making mother about the circumstances, all was
correct.
After that having told the King, when the King, having heard of it,
went looking at her she was the King's elder sister. Thereupon he
caused the garland-making mother to bathe in sandal-wood water,
and robed her.
Having heard the circumstances, in order to find the King (her husband)
he made use of an expedient in this manner. Settling to eat a feast, he
sent letters to the royal personages of cities successively, to come to
this city. Then on the day the whole of the Kings came. Before that, he
had told that Queen that should that King come she was to ascertain it.
All these royal parties and their horse-keepers having come, and
the royal party having arrived at the palace, that horse-keeper (the
former King) went to another quarter, and placed a gill of rice on the
hearth [to boil]. Cooking it and having eaten, because he was a King
before that he set off to look at this royal party when eating food,
and having come, peeped a little and looked. When he looked he saw
that that Queen was there.
Thereupon both these persons having seen each other began to weep. Then
the whole of the Kings, having hit upon a little about it, inquired,
"What is it?" Then the [royal] party said, "It is thus and thus."
Then the King summoned the horse-keeper, and having made him bathe in
sandal-wood water, kept the Queen and the King in the palace. Having
much thanked that royal party [of guests] and said, "It was for the
sake of finding this one, indeed, that I laid this feast," he sent
the party [of guests] to those cities. This party (the King and Queen)
remained at this royal house.
Western Province.
This story is a variant of the Indian tale of King Nala and Queen
Damayanti. The two dice, Kali and Dwapara, personified, as well as
several Gods, were in love with Damayanti, but she married Nala,
selecting him at a Swayamvara (at which a Princess makes her own
choice of a husband). In order to separate them, Kali entered Nala
when he had neglected his religious practices one day; and he became
a drunkard and a gambler, and thus lost his kingdom, which was won by
his brother at dice. He and his wife wandered away, and after showing
her the path to her father's kingdom, he abandoned her while she was
asleep. He met with Karkotaka, a snake King, and carried him from
a fire which scorched him. The snake then bit him on the forehead,
causing him to become deformed, and gave him garments which restored
his original form when worn; and he entered the service of a King as
cook and horse-keeper. Damayanti joined a caravan, and then became a
palace attendant of a Queen who proved to be her mother's sister. A
Minister of her father's recognised her; and on her story's becoming
known her uncle sent her back to her father. She heard of a clever cook
and horse-keeper whom she suspected to be Nala; when she got a false
notice of a Swayamvara to be sent to the King his employer he made Nala
drive him there. Nala was tested in various ways by Damayanti, who at
last felt sure of his identity; she then sent for him, and Kali having
now left him he told his story, put on his magic garments, and they
were re-united. He afterwards recovered his kingdom from his brother.
In the Sinhalese version which has been given, the dice are not
mentioned, and the reason why Senasura brought about the misfortunes
of the King and Queen,--that is, his jealousy,--is also not explained.
In Folklore of the Santal Parganas (Rev. Dr. Bodding), p. 144, the
story is given without any intervention of the deities or personified
dice. After being abandoned, the Princess was engaged as a servant
at a palace, and the Prince became a groom at the same place. She saw
and recognised him, and afterwards the younger brother restored half
the kingdom to him.
NO. 237
THE STORY OF THE KING
In a certain country, during the time when a King was exercising
sovereignty the King married a Queen, it is said. In the Queen's womb,
begotten by the Great King, three Princes were conceived, it is said.
While the three Princes were in the state approaching full age,
the eldest Prince of the three Princes improved himself in throwing
stones with the stone-bow, it is said. During the time when he was
improving himself thus, he became a very skilful and dexterous person
at stone-bow throwing. After that, the same Prince having abandoned the
stone-bow began the shooting of animals with the bow and arrows. By
that means, having shot at animals and killed animals, while eating
the flesh with good joy and pleasure he passed the time in happiness
with his father the King, and his mother the Queen, and his younger
brothers who were the other two Princes.
At the time when he passed the time thus, his mother reached the
other world. Not much time after it the Great King effected the
wedding festival for yet [another] Queen from another country. The
Queen was a childless proud woman. Because it was so, her happiness
was in passing the time in discourtesy.
Furthermore, by this Queen there not being any notice of the three
Princes, and as she was passing the time in anger and jealousy,
the three Princes spoke together, "When our father the King has
gone to war with any city, we three persons, taking three bags of
masuran and causing a bag of cooked rice to be made ready, will go
to another country."
[After] saying [this], at the time when they are there the King
received the message to go to a war. As soon as he received it, [225]
having spoken to the Princes and the Queen, "Remain in happiness,
looking after the country and the palace," the Great King having been
adorned to go went away.
After he went, the three Princes, making ready the bags of masuran
and cooked rice, and forsaking the country, having started to go to
another country, went off. While they were thus going, a very severe
water-thirst [226] seized the elder Prince. While going seeking water,
perceiving that there was no water he said to the other young Princes,
"Having gone to a high hill or up a large tree, look if there is water
near." Then a Prince having gone up a tree, when he looked said that
very far away a pool of water is visible.
After that, having gone to the quarter in which is the pool and having
met with water, staying there and dividing the bag of cooked rice they
ate. Having eaten and drunk, and having finished, they spoke together,
"Let us three pluck three [lotus] flowers from this pool. [After]
plucking them let us go to three countries. When we have gone there,
should there be harm to anyone whatever of us, the flowers of the
remaining two will fade." Having said [this], the three Princes
[plucked three flowers, and taking them with them] went to three
countries.
After they went there, while the eldest Prince was going on the
road, a palace of great height was visible. When he went to the
palace that was visible, there was a Princess [at it] possessing much
beauty. Having seen this Prince's splendour [227] that very Princess
fell down unconscious, without sense. Afterwards the Prince having
restored the Princess to consciousness, asked, "What happened?"
The Princess having spoken, said, "Having seen your beauty, Sir,
it caused a great dizziness to seize me, and I fell down."
After that, the Prince, begging a little water from the Princess,
drank. After he drank, "Why is there no one in this palace?" he asked.
The Princess spoke, "My father the King, and mother went for bathing
their heads with water. [228] I and the flower-mother alone are
[here]," she said.
When the Prince asked on account of it, "Will the party come
now?" "They will come now quickly," said the Princess.
Then the King and the Queen, [after] doing the head-bathing, came. The
King and the Queen having seen this Prince became greatly afraid. "Of
what country are you, Sir? Who and whose?" they asked the Prince.
The Prince says, "I am a son of such and such a King of such and such
a city," he said.
Because of it, the Great King asked, "Came you with the thought of
perhaps a war, or what?"
Then the Prince said, "No. After my mother died, while I was remaining
in great sorrow, when my father the King, marrying another Queen,
was there, for me a great shame entered my mind because of the
Queen's unseasonable action; and while the King went for a war I
having forsaken my country came to this country."
After that, the truth of it went to the Great King, to his mind. As
soon as it went there, [229] when a [little] time was going by, having
married and given the King's daughter [to him], and made it public
by the proclamation tom-tom, and having handed over the country also,
he decorated them [with the regal ornaments].
While he was exercising the kingship of that country, the other
Princes of the country, having become angry concerning this Prince
and having thought of a means of killing him, said, "We will give the
flower-mother five hundred masuran to give him this small quantity
of poisonous drug, having deceived the Princess by some method or
other." [They said to her], "Should you do as we said, we will give
you these presents." Should she be unable in that manner they told
her to [tell] the Princess to ask where the Prince's life is.
In that way, the flower-mother having prepared a new [sort of] food for
the Prince, and having also put [into it] this drug and deceived the
Princess, at the time when the Prince is eating food she told her to
give him this new food. This having seemed the truth to the Princess,
at the time when the Prince was eating food she gave it. The Prince,
too, having been much pleased with the food, and having eaten and
drunk, finished. Owing to it, anything did not happen.
On the following day the flower-mother says to the Princess, "Where is
the Prince's life?" She told her to ask. When she asked the Prince on
account of it, "My life is in my breast," he said. When she told it
to the flower-mother in the morning, the flower-woman said, "What he
said is false." She told her to ask thoroughly.
At night on the following day, when she asked he asked for oaths from
the Princess, [of a nature to ensure] the impossibility of escaping
from them, that the Princess must not tell it to any person. Afterwards
the Princess swore, "I will not tell it." Then the Prince says,
"My life is in my sword," he said.
On the following day, when the flower-woman asked, having deceived
the Princess, the Princess said, "If you will not tell it to anyone
I will tell you. [For me] to tell it, you [must] take an oath with
me," she said. When the flower-mother swore to it the Princess said,
"The Prince's life is in the Prince's sword."
From the day when she heard the fact for herself, that flower-mother to
an extent never [done] before, began to pile up a heap of firewood and
coconut husks. When the Princess asked, "What is that for?" she says,
"For us to put in the hearth at the time when rain rains," she said.
While not much time was going in that way, one day not having shut
the door of the palace, at night this flower-mother stole the Prince's
sword, put it into that piled up heap of firewood, and set it on fire;
but the handle for holding the sword was left outside the flames. That
fire fell into the heap. [230] At the time when it was thoroughly
burning the Prince's life was becoming ended here. After the sword
was burnt the Prince completely died.
Not allowing them to bury the dead body, the Princess having caused
a coffin to be made, and placed the dead body inside the coffin,
remained in much grief.
While she was thus, the flowers of the Prince's brothers having faded,
when they came seeking him ascertaining the truth they went to the
palace. At the time when they went, having seen the Princess who
was in the palace they asked the Princess, "Why? For what [reason]
are you without cause (nikan) in this great trouble?" they asked.
To that the Princess says, "At the time when a Prince of such and such
a King of such and such a country came to this country, my father the
King having asked the Prince his age, and looked [into his horoscope],
married and gave me to him; and having given him charge to rule the
country also, that person (her father) died," she said. "After that,
while he is exercising the kingship this flower-mother told me to
ask where the Prince's life is. When I asked, the Prince's life is
in the Prince's sword, he said. After that, whether such and such a
thing occurred I do not understand," she said.
When those Princes sought for the sword there was no sword. Afterwards
they looked in that heap of ashes on the fire ground. They met with
only the piece of that hilt for holding. Having met with it, one
person having gone running and having come [after] plucking limes,
began to polish that piece of sword. The other having opened that
coffin (lit. corpse-box) was near it. While he was there, by an
authorisation of the Deity the sword was restored (lit. went right)
better than it was [before]. Then life being as though [re-]established
for the Prince also, he arose.
After that, having investigated about these matters and looked [into
them], perceiving what the flower-mother did he impaled that woman
and killed her. Afterwards these three Princes and the Princess sought
their father the King, and went to [their own] country.
Western Province.
NO. 238
THE KING WHO LEARNT THE SPEECH OF ANIMALS
In a certain country a King was rearing wild animals. The King had
learnt in a thorough manner the speech of animals.
One day at that time the fowls were saying, "Our King assists us
very much; he gives us food and drink." They thanked the King very
much. The King having heard their talk, the King laughed with pleasure.
The royal Queen having been near, asked, "What did you laugh at?"
"I merely (nikan) laughed," the King said. Should he explain and give
the talk to any person the King will die. Because of it he did not
explain and give it. That the King knows the speech of animals he
does not inform anyone.
The royal Queen says, "There is no one who laughs in that way without
a reason. Should you not say the reason I am going away, or having
jumped into a well I shall die."
Thereupon the King, because he was unable to be released from [the
importunity of] the Queen, thought, "Even if I am to die I must
explain and give this."
Thinking thus, he went to give food to the animals. Then it was evident
to those animals that this King is going to die. Out of the party
of animals first a cock says, "His Majesty our King is going to be
lost. We don't want the food. We shall not receive assistance. Unless
His Majesty the King perish thus we shall not perish. In submission to
me there are many hens. When I have called them the hens come. When
I have told them to eat they eat. When I have told them to go they
go. The King, having become submissive in that manner to the thing
that his wife has said, is going to die." The King having heard it,
laughed at it, also.
Then, also, the royal Queen asked, "What did you laugh at?"
Thereupon, not saying the [true] word, the King said, "Thinking of
constructing a tank, I laughed."
Then the Queen said, "Having caused the animals that are in this
Lankawa (Ceylon) to be brought, let us build a tank."
Then the King having said, "It is good," caused the animals to be
brought. The King having gone with the animals, showed them a place
[in which] to build a tank; and telling them to build it came away.
The animals, at the King's command being unable to do anything, all
together began to struggle on the mound of earth. Those which can take
earth in the mouth take it in the mouth. All work in this manner. The
Jackal, not doing any work, having bounded away remained looking on.
After three or four days, the King having gone [there] trickishly
stayed looking on. The King saw that the other animals are all moving
about as though working; the Jackal, only, having bounded off is
looking on.
Having seen it he asked the Jackal, "The others are all working;
thou, only, art looking upward. Why?"
Thereupon the Jackal said, "No, O Lord; I looked into an account."
Then the King asked, "What account art thou looking at?"
The Jackal says, "I looked whether in this country the females are
in excess or the males are in excess."
The King asked, "By the account which thou knowest, are the females
in excess or the males in excess?"
The Jackal said, "So far as I can perceive, the females are in excess
in this country."
Then the King said that men are in excess. Having said it the King
said, "I myself having gone home and looked at the books, if males
are in excess I shall give thee a good punishment."
The King having come home and looked at the books, it appeared that the
males were in excess. Thereupon the King called the Jackal, and said,
"Bola, males are in excess."
Then the Jackal says, "No, O Lord, Your Majesty; they are not as
many as the females. Having also put down to the female account
the males who hearken to the things that females say, after they
counted them the females would be in excess." Then the Jackal said,
"Are the animals able to build tanks? How shall they carry the earth?"
Thereupon the King having considered it, and having said, "Wild
animals, wild animals, you are to go to the midst of the forest,"
came home.
At that time, the Queen asked, "Is the tank built and finished?"
Then the King, taking a cane, began to beat the Queen. Thereupon the
Queen, having said, "Ane! O Lord, Your Majesty, I will never again
say anything, or even ask anything," began to cry aloud.
The King got to know that the Jackal was a wise animal.
Western Province.
Compare vol. ii., Nos. 167 and 168.
In Santal Folk-Tales (Campbell), p. 22, after a King had received
from the Snake King the power of understanding the speech of animals,
he laughed on hearing a dispute between a fly and an ant over some
grains of rice. As the Queen insisted on being told the reason,
to disclose which he had been warned would be fatal to him, he was
about to tell her and then get her to push him into the Ganges, when
he overheard the talk of some goats. A he-goat replied to a she-goat's
request that he would bring her some grass from an island in the river,
that he would not be made like this foolish King who vainly tried to
please a woman and was about to die because of it. The King saw his
foolishness, made the Queen kneel to pay obeisance to him in order
to be told the secret, and then beheaded her.
NO. 239
THE MAD KING
In a certain country there was a King. Madness seized the King. It
having seized him, he caused all the men of the city to be brought,
and seized from them their gains; should the party say even a word
about it he kills them.
Having killed them in this manner, when the city was diminished a
half share, he sent to tell the Treasurer (sitano) to come. He knows
thoroughly that in order to kill that person he had been told to come.
The Treasurer asked at the hand of the Treasurer's wife, "What shall
I do for this?"
Thereupon the woman said, "You having gone, to the talk which the King
says having said nothing [else] in reply, say 'Eheyi' (Yes), [231]
to the whole." Having heard her word the Treasurer went to the palace.
The King asked, "Treasurer, is there rain in your quarter?" The
Treasurer said "Eheyi, Lord."
"Are you well now?" he asked. The Treasurer, not saying another speech,
to that also said, "Eheyi, Lord."
In this manner they talked until the time for eating rice in the day
time. To all he said, "Eheyi."
Then the King said to the Treasurer, "Treasurer, now the time for
eating rice has come, hasn't it?" The Treasurer said, "Eheyi, Lord."
Thereupon the King said, "Treasurer, let us go to bathe." The Treasurer
said, "Eheyi, Lord."
The King said, "Ask for the copper water-pot." The Treasurer said,
"Eheyi, Lord." Having said it and gone, he returned [after] asking for
[and getting] it.
Then the King said, "Get in front." The Treasurer said, "Eheyi, Lord";
having said it the Treasurer got in front. Having gone to the river,
the King took off his clothes, and putting on the bathing cloth,
[entered the water, and] asked the Treasurer, "Treasurer, won't
you bathe?" The Treasurer, having said, "Eheyi, Lord," remained on
the rock.
While the King was talking and going backwards and backwards, he was
caught by an eddy in the water, and went to the bottom. Having sunk,
when he was rising to the surface he said, "Treasurer, I shall die;
draw me out quickly." Thereupon the Treasurer said, "Eheyi, Lord,"
[but did not move]. When he was going to the bottom the next time
the King died.
Then the Treasurer, taking the few royal ornaments, came home. Having
come, he said at the hand of the Treasurer's wife, "The King died,"
[and he gave an account of his death].
Thereupon the woman said, "O fool! I said that indeed. Putting on
those royal ornaments, go to the royal palace and say, 'It is I who
am King; also I killed the King. If ye do not hearken to the things
I say I will kill you also.'"
The Treasurer did in that very way. The whole of the men of the city
were afraid. Well then, the Treasurer exercising the sovereignty over
the city, the Treasurer's wife became the Queen.
Western Province.
THE KAHAWANA SOWING (Variant)
At a certain city there was a foolish King. At the time when the
King says anything he kills the whole of the Ministers who do
not give answer, "Yahapati" (It is good), to it. In this way, by
not remembering to say Yahapati a great number of Ministers tasted
death. [232] By his doing thus, on account of his making this order
[in the end] there was not a Minister for the King.
After that, he caused notice to be given by tom-toms in the city for
a person to come for the ministership (aemaeptiyakama). Because they
were not willing to taste death anybody was unwilling to do it.
At last, a drunken cheat having the name Jobbuwa arrived. "Yahapati;
be pleased to give me the office of Minister," he said. The King
having said, "Yahapati," gave him the office of Minister.
While time was passing, he spoke to the Minister one day, and said,
"Cannot I obtain profit by cultivating kahawanas (coins)?"
"Yahapati; you can get much gain by it," he said.
"If so, for the purpose of sowing them cause a chena to be cut,"
the King said to the Minister.
The Minister, having said, "Yahapataeyi" (It is good), went away, and
firstly having told the Chiefs (pradaninta) of the village to collect
and bring Tamarind seeds, told the villagers to put in order a wide,
level, open place on the border of a certain river. The villagers
having put the Tamarind seeds into sacks and stitched them up,
brought them.
Having cut the chena, after it was completed the Minister having
gone, asked the King for kahawanas [to sow in it]. The King said,
"Take as many as you require for sowing in the chena." The Minister
having brought the kahawanas home, caused the Tamarind seeds to be
sown in the chena.
After they sprouted, the King said he must go to look at the chena. The
Minister inviting the King [to go], having gone in state (peraharin)
with him, and caused the army to stay on one side, the King and
the Minister went into the chena. Because, when the Tamarind seeds
sprouted, many young shoots were of golden colour [233] the King said,
"These are very good."
While he was walking there a long time, having arrived at weariness
the King went to the river to bathe. In that river the water is very
rapid. Because of it, at the time when the King descended into the
water he began to be drawn down into the water. Thereupon, at the
time when the King says, "Take hold of me," the Minister, having said,
"Yahapati," remained looking on.
After the King had been swallowed up in the river and died, the
Minister, having put on the royal ornaments and gone away with the
army, exercised the sovereignty of that city with renown.
Uva Province.
NO. 240
CONCERNING THE PRINCE WITH HIS LIFE IN HIS SWORD
In a certain country there was a King. There were seven Princes for
the King. Having instructed the whole seven, the King tried to fit
them [for their position]. The party without wanting to do anything
whatever passed the days in amusement.
The King thought when he looked [at their idleness], "From this party
of seven persons there is not an advantage," and having punished
(dada gahala) the whole seven, "Go to any kingdom you can; don't stay
in this country," he said.
The seven persons speaking [together] said, "Our father the King told
us to go!" and the whole of them went.
Out of them, the eldest Prince, took six flower seeds. The whole seven
having arrived at a kingdom, to the youngest Prince the eldest Prince
said, "Getting any livelihood you can, remain in this country. At the
place where you stay plant this flower seed for yourself. It having
sprouted, when the flower tree has grown, on the tree a flower will
blossom. At the time when the flower has faded come seeking me." Having
told him thus he made the Prince stay in that country.
In that very way he made the other five stay in five countries. Having
given to those persons five flower seeds, he told them [about them]
in the very way he told that Prince.
To the last country the eldest Prince went. When he was living in
that country doing cultivation work, one day he went to walk in the
midst of the forest. In the midst of the forest there is a house. The
Prince saw it. Having gone to that rock house (cave), when he looked
a Princess was [there].
He asked the Princess, "Are you a human daughter, or a Yaksa-daughter?"
Thereupon the Princess said, "I am a daughter of a King. Having
eaten food at night I went to sleep. That Yaka having brought me,
I am in this rock house. I also do not know a path for going away;
I stay in fear," the Princess said.
Then the Prince asked the Princess, "Will you come to go with me?"
At that time the Princess having said, "It is good," the two together
having bounded off, proceeded to the place where the Prince who went
there stays. During the time while these persons are staying there
obtaining a livelihood, the Prince's life is in his sword. Except
that his brothers know that his life is in this sword, no other
person knows.
The Princess one day went to the river to bathe. While bathing there,
three or four hairs of her head in the Princess's hair knot having
become loosened and having floated, went away in the river. When the
Prince of the King of that country was bathing lower down in the river,
those hairs of her head which went became entangled on the hand of the
Prince. When the Prince, having said, "What is this?" was looking,
it was a sort of long hairs of the head, hair of the head of gold
colour, and about two fathoms' length.
Having seen this hair, and known that these were the very best, like
[those of] a royal Princess, he thought, "I must seek this Princess,"
and went to the palace. Having taken the hairs of the head he showed
them to his father the King. Having shown them he told him to do
whatever [was necessary], and seek and give him the Princess to whom
this hair of the head belongs.
He published by the notification tom-tom that to a person who, having
found, gave her, he will give goods [amounting] to a tusk elephant's
load. An old woman who stayed near there said, "I can." Having told
the old woman to come, the King asked, "What do you want in order to
go to seek the Princess?"
"I don't want anything, O Lord; I only want a boat," she said. So he
gave her a boat.
Having gone to the river taking the boat, the old woman sat in the
boat, saying and saying lamentations, and having floated she went up
[234] the river. Having gone in that way, and tied the boat on that
side, the old woman went to the place where the Princess possessing
that hair, and the Prince, are staying.
When the old woman was going there the Prince was not at home. To
the Princess the old woman said, "Ane! Daughter, there is no person
to look after me. Assist me for the sake of charity," she said. The
Princess becoming grieved at it told the old woman to remain.
After a little, the Prince came home. Having come he asked, "This
mother, a person from where is she? What came she here for?"
Thereupon the Princess also [said], "She came and said, 'There is
no one to give me to eat!' Because of it, I being alone I said,
'Remain with me,'" she said.
While she was [there] in that way, at the time when the Prince was
not [there] the old woman said to the Princess, "You having eaten
and drunk, when you are lying down by way of fun ask the Prince,
'Where is your life?'"
So the Princess asked the Prince, "Where is your life?"
At that time the Prince said, "My life is in my sword."
Through the ignorance of the Princess regarding it, she told that
old woman that his life is in the sword. Well then, the old woman
from that day, having said that it was for putting in the hearth on
rainy days, sought for firewood and heaped it up. When the old woman
is going to sleep, every day having built a bon-fire she goes to sleep.
One day during the day time, having been [there] at the time when
the Prince is not there, she looked where the sword is. Thereupon,
at night a rain began. Having said, "To-day there is rain," she
strengthened the bon-fire. After the Princess and the Prince went to
sleep she brought the sword and put it in the bon-fire.
Having arisen in the morning, when she looked the Prince having died
the Princess began to lament. The old woman also falsely lamented. The
two persons having been lamenting and lamenting a little time, the
old woman, calling the Princess, went to obtain shelter at another
place. Having gone there, and handed over the Princess to the King
of that country, taking the presents also, the old woman went home.
At that time the King told the Princess to take that Prince in
marriage. Thereupon the Princess said, "My Prince is now dead only
two or three days. Because of it I want time for a month." Having
found an upper-story house very near there, he sent the Princess to
stay in the upper-story house in that street.
Having seen that the flowers of the flower trees of the younger
brothers of that Prince had faded, [his brothers] began to seek
him. Seeking him, they went to the place where the Prince is
dead. Having gone, these six persons together said, "Where is the
sword?" and began to seek it. When seeking it, the sword having been
in a heap of ashes they took it. Thereafter having taken the sword to
the river, they cleaned it; at that time life was [re-]established for
that Prince. Then the Prince having arisen spoke to those Princes, and
having said, "Now then, go you to each of the places where you were,"
he did that cultivation work, and remained obtaining a livelihood
[thus].
This one got news that that old woman having taken the Princess
and given her to the King, received for herself presents and
distinctions. At that time sorrow having gone to the Prince he went
to seek the Princess. When [he was] going walking in the street in
which is the Princess, the Princess saw that this one is going. The
Prince did not see her.
At that time the Princess began to write a letter. Having written
the letter, the Princess remained in expectation of the time when
the Prince is coming. The Prince, through news that she is in that
very street, came back. At that time the Princess, having seen that
the Prince is coming, taking the letter dropped it [so as] to fall
in front of him. The Prince having taken the letter, when he looked
at it and read it there was written, "That old woman who stayed near
us having deceived us and having brought and given me to the King,
received for herself presents and distinctions. The King said to me
that he must marry and give me to the King's Prince. Thereupon I said,
'My Prince is not dead a month now.' Because of it, asking for time for
a month, I am staying in another house," there was written. "I said
so through the thought that I shall obtain my Prince again. In three
days more we are going to the church (palliya) to marry. Because of
it, having got a horse carriage should you come on that day to the
church we can escape and go off," there was written.
Thereupon the Prince on the day she told him having got a horse
carriage also, went near the church in the disguise of a horse-keeper,
and halting the carriage, remained [there].
On the wedding day the King, the Prince, the Princess, the whole
of the party, went in a horse carriage. The Princess saw that that
Prince is staying like the horse-keeper, holding the horse. But when
the Princess looking [at him] went into the church, the horse-keeper
[Prince] having remained standing, becoming sleepy reclined a
little. Then the Prince went to sleep.
That Princess having got married and come, and having ascended into
the carriage which the Prince brought, not knowing that the Prince was
asleep struck the horse, and making it bound went off as though she
flew. The other people who were there, not observing the quarter to
which the Princess went, went away. The King and the married Prince
after that sought her; they did not meet with her. The sleeping
horse-keeper Prince having ascertained that the carriage was not
[there], weeping and weeping began to go along the path on which that
Princess went.
When the Princess was going in the midst of a forest wilderness,
Vaeddas having been there came and watched in order to seize
her. Having watched, they said to the Princess, "If thou come not
with us we will shoot and kill thee."
Thereupon the Princess asked, "I can come with one of you. How shall
I come with four or five persons?"
The Vaeddas asked the Princess, "If so, how is it [to be]?"
Thereupon the Princess says, "You having been set in line, all at
one discharge shoot. Having shot, I will join the person whose arrow
should fall far, who came [after] picking up the arrow, and will come
[with him]," she said.
At that time the whole of the party having been fixed in line shot
[for the arrows] to go very far. Having shot, all ran for the purpose
of bringing the arrows. Thereupon the Princess having struck the horse,
driving it off went away without being perceived. The Vaeddas having
got the arrows and come, went away without the Princess.
When she was going to that side from the forest wilderness in which
are the Vaeddas, the Princess thought that should she go by the
carriage she will be unable to escape. So she descended from the
carriage to the ground, and having unloosed the horse drove it into
the jungle. She rolled the carriage over into the jungle.
The Princess having thrown away the Princess's dress, dressing like a
Hettiya went away. In this manner she went to another kingdom. In that
country, establishing shops, there was a rich Hettiya. She approached
near him. At that time the shopkeeper Hettiya having become much
pleased with the [apparent] Hettiya, told him to remain there. Well
then, the shopkeeper Hettiya asked, "Who art thou?"
Thereupon the Princess said, "I am a Hettirala of a country; I came
to establish a shop."
The shopkeeper having heard that word, said, "If so, let us two
trade in partnership." Having said [this] he handed over a shop to
the Princess resembling a Hettiya. He gave for it suitable servants.
At that time this Princess says, "I having come to a new country, when
establishing a shop have the thought to give a dana (free donation
of food), and secondly to establish the shop."
Thereupon the shopkeeper Hettirala having become pleased, and having
said, "Let us two pay the amount that the cost comes to," they gave
the dana.
Then that horse-keeper Prince having come, approached there. The
Hettirala having seen the horse-keeper gave him alms. The [Princess]
Hettirala after the man ate the food put him in a house and told the
servants to shut the door.
During that night having given the dana and having finished, "Whence
are you?" the new Hettirala asked the horse-keeper.
At that time the horse-keeper said to that Hettirala, "Ane! Hettirala,
I indeed am a royal Prince. The Princess whom I had married, driving
off in the horse-carriage came here. I also having become hungry when
coming here [saw that] there was an alms-house. Because of it I came
here," he said.
The Hettirala, having cast off those clothes and put on clothes in
the manner of a Princess, came and asked, "Am I the Princess?"
Having said, "You indeed are my Princess," holding her hand he began
to weep. The clothes that she wore like the Hettirala that Prince
put on. After that, having gone near the shopkeeper Hettirala, they
told him completely the things that occurred to these people. This
Hettirala having become pleased at it told them to stay at that very
shop. The two persons trading at the shop and having become very
wealthy, remained at that very city.
Western Province.
NO. 241
THE ROYAL PRINCE AND THE HETTIRALA [235]
In a certain country both the royal Prince and the Minister-Prince
were joined together by much friendship, it is said. Thus, having
been in that way, one day the royal Prince having talked with the
Minister-Prince, says, "Friend, we two having come to a foreign
country, let us do trading."
The Minister-Prince also having said, "It is good," the two persons
taking as much money as each can carry for the purpose of trading,
set off to go to a foreign country.
During the time when they are going thus, the two having met with a
junction of two roads, the two persons say, "We two having separated at
these roads let us go to two districts." So speaking, having separated
they went to two districts.
Out of them, the royal Prince having arrived at the place where a
courtesan woman is gambling, and having staked with the courtesan
woman this money he brought, gambled. The courtesan woman won the
whole of the money. Well then, the royal Prince having staked the
clothes he was wearing, when he gambled the Prince lost them also.
Well then, the Prince says, "It is good. [236] If so, you and I having
staked ourselves let us gamble."
So speaking, staking each against the other they gambled. Thereupon
the Prince lost. Having shaved the Prince's head, taking him for
the state of labourer, while he was drawing water and washing pots,
when the Hettirala of that village was going by that street he saw the
Prince who was washing and washing pots, and great sorrow having been
produced for the Hettirala, he spoke to the courtesan woman, and says,
"The labourer who is washing these pots is of very white colour. It
is not worth [while] taking this work from him. If you will give me
him I can give him a suitable means of livelihood."
Thereupon the courtesan woman says, "Yes, if there is sorrow for
you concerning him; although I can give him I cannot give him without
payment (nikan). Why? He has let me in [237] for a thousand masuran. If
the Hetti-elder-brother give that money I can give him; if not so,
I cannot give him," the courtesan woman said.
Then the Hettirala says, "It is good. Taking the money from me give
me him."
The Hettirala gave the money; and taking the Prince and having arrived
at his house the Hettirala having spoken to the Prince, asks, "What
can you do?"
The Prince says, "I can do anything."
Thereupon the Hettirala says, "Don't you do work [so as] to become
tired. There are my shops; you can stay at a shop." When he asked,
"Can you [do] letter accounts?" [238] the Prince said, "I can." When
he said it, having said, "If so, go to my shop," he started him,
and having gone with the Hettirala he gave him charge of the shop.
Thereupon the Prince asks, "Do you give the shop goods on credit
(nayata) and the like? How is the mode of selling the goods?"
The Hettirala says, "Yes, give them on credit. When giving them on
credit don't merely give them; [after] writing the name give them."
Thereupon the Prince having said, "It is good," and taking charge,
from that time spoke to men who are going on the road. When the men
came he asked, "Where are you going? Where is your village? What is
your name?" Afterwards he says, "It is good. Taking anything you want,
go." Having said and said it, and having brought in that manner all
the men going on the road, in a week's time he finished the goods
that were in the shop. During the time when he was giving the goods
in that way, should anyone come and having given money ask for goods,
taking the money he gave goods for the money.
When he finished the goods in that manner, the Hettirala, not knowing
[about it], having become much pleased, said, "You are very good,
having looked with this promptitude at the account of the money for
which you sold the goods. Bringing goods afresh will be good, will
it not?"
When he was preparing to look at the accounts, having brought the book
in which he wrote the men's names, and a little money, [the Prince]
placed them [before him]. The Hettirala asked, "What is this?"
Then the Prince says, "Why, what is it you are asking? Have I
blundered? In the book, indeed, the names will be correct; having
indeed written the names I gave the goods. I did not give goods to
even a person without having written the name."
The Hettirala says, "Ane! You are a great fool; you are not a person
who can do trading." Having said [this], the Hettirala, calling the
Prince, went home again.
Having gone [there], when three or four days were going the Hettirala's
wife began to scold the Hettirala, "For what reason are we causing
this one to stay, and undergoing expense by giving him to eat and to
wear?" When she shouted to the Hettirala, "If this thief is sitting
unemployed, this very day having beaten him I shall drive him away,"
the Hettirala asks the Prince, "Child, there are many cattle of mine;
can you look after the cattle?"
At that time the Prince says, "It is good; I can look after cattle."
Thereupon the Hettirala having gone, calling the Prince, to the
district where the cattle are, and having shown him the cattle, says,
"All these cattle are mine. You must look after them, taking care of
them very well. Do not send them into outside gardens. You must tie
the fastening (baemma) well."
Thereupon the Prince says, "It is good, Hetti-elder-brother. Don't be
afraid. Having well tied the fastening I shall look after the cattle."
Having started off the Hettirala and sent him away, the Prince placed
each one of the cattle at each tree, and having tied the fastenings
and tightened them to the degree that they were unable to take
breath, was looking in the direction of the cattle. While he was
there some cattle died, some were drawing the breath (i.e., gasping
for breath). At that time, the time of eating cooked rice went by.
The Hettirala, having remained looking for the Prince's coming at
the time of eating cooked rice during the day, when the time went by
thought, "He is a great fool, isn't he? Having sent the cattle into
the gardens of others they have been seized, maybe." As he did not
come at noon to eat cooked rice, he said, "I must go to look"; and
having come there, when he looked some had died at the very bottom of
the trees to which they were tied, some are drawing and drawing breath.
The Hettirala asks the Prince, "Why, fool, what a thing this is
you did! Do you look after cattle in this way?" Having said [this],
he scolded him.
Thereupon the Prince says, "What is the Hetti-elder-brother saying? The
Hetti-elder-brother said at first, 'Having tied the fastenings well,
look after them, not letting (nendi) them go into the gardens of
others.' I tied the fastenings well, and stayed looking at them. What
is it you are saying? Have I tied them badly? If there is a fault in
the tying, tell me."
Well then, the Hettirala being without a reply to say, [thought],
"Because I told this fool to tie the fastenings well, he, thinking
foolishly, in observance of the order killed my few cattle. I was
foolish; this fool will not have the ability to do this work;" and
he went, calling the Prince again, to the Hettirala's house.
When he is there three or four days, in the very [same] manner as at
first the Hettirala's wife began to scold the Hettirala:--"Having
come calling this thief again, is he simply sitting down? Even for
a day there will not be [the means] here to give this one to eat,
sitting down unemployed. This very day I will drive him from the
house." Having said various things she scolded the Hettirala.
Thereupon the Hettirala having spoken to the Prince asks, "Can you
plough rice fields?"
At that time the Prince says, "It is good. I am able to do that work."
Thereupon the Hettirala says, "It is good. If so get ready to go
to-morrow morning."
Having given the Prince a plough also, and having arisen at daybreak,
the Hettirala set off to go on a journey. Calling the Prince on the
journey on which he is going, and having gone and shown the Prince
the Hettirala's fields, he says, "Look there. From the place where
that egret is perched plough to that side until the time when I have
gone on this journey and come back."
Well then, this Prince says to the Hettirala, "It is good,
Hetti-elder-brother. Let Him go on the journey He is going. [239]
I will plough to the place where the egret is."
Taking over the charge, and having started off the Hettirala and
sent him away, he tied the yoke of bulls in the plough. When he went
driving them to the place where the egret is, the egret having gone
flying perched at another place. Driving the yoke of bulls he went
there also. The egret having gone flying from there also, perched at
another place. Driving the yoke of bulls he went there also. From there
also the egret having gone flying, perched at another place. Thereupon
the Prince, driving the yoke of bulls and having gone to the root of
the tree, taking a large stick and beating and beating the yoke of
bulls, says, "Why, bulls (gonnune)! Go to the place where the egret
is. Should you two not go to the place where the egret is I shall
not succeed in escaping from the Hettirala; to-day there is not any
work [done], and I myself did not eat." Saying and saying [this],
he began to beat the yoke of bulls. While he was there beating and
beating them it became night.
The Hettirala, also, having made that journey, came to the
house. Having come there the Hettirala asks, he asks from the house
people, "Hasn't the fool himself who went to the rice field come?"
Thereupon the house people say, "After he went with the
Hetti-elder-brother in the morning, he did not come back."
The Hettirala says, "Apoyi! As that fool himself came not there will
be some accident or other!"
Quickly having gone running to the rice field, when he looked, at
no place in the rice field had [the ground] been ploughed, and he
does not see the yoke of bulls or the man. When the Hettirala looks
on that and this side, the Prince whom the Hettirala came to seek
having seen him, breaking a large cudgel he began to beat the yoke
of bulls more and more, as though he did not see him.
Thereupon the Hettirala, having heard this noise when he looked,
having heard it and gone running, asks, "Why, fool! What is this you
are doing?"
The Prince says, "Go away, go aside. From the morning itself I drove
and drove this yoke of bulls [so as] to go to the place where the egret
is. They did not go yet. You are good, the way the bulls have been
trained!" Having said [this], the Prince began to scold the Hettirala.
Thereupon the Hettirala says, "Yes, the way that yoke of bulls has
been trained is indeed not good. Because the bulls will not go up
trees those bulls are not good. Afterwards taking a yoke of bulls that
go up trees you can plough. Let us go now, to go home." Having said
[this], he came calling the Prince.
The Hettirala's wife asks, "Even to-day did that fool do even that
work?"
The Hettirala says, "To-day indeed don't speak to that fool. He has
been very angry. Because he was angry I came calling him, without
speaking anything."
Thereupon the woman having been silent that day, on the next day began
to scold the Hettirala and the Prince. The Hettirala having thought,
"Should I remain causing this fool to stay he will cause much loss
to me. Having gone, taking him, and having spoken to my son-in-law,
I must put him in a ship and send him away." Having thought thus,
and having spoken to the Hettirala's wife, he says, "Don't you scold;
I am sending him away soon." Thereupon the woman remained without
making any talk.
Then the Hettirala says, "Taking him I must go to-morrow or the
next day; having prepared a suitable thing (food) for it give me
it." Thereupon the woman having gone, and very well prepared a food
box to give to her daughter and son-in-law, and for these two persons
to eat for food on the road a package of cooked rice, gave him them.
The Hettirala tied them well, and taking also a suit (coat and cloth,
kuttamak) of the Hettirala's new clothes to wear when they got near the
son-in-law's house, and having tied them in one bundle, and called the
Prince, he says, "We two must go on a journey and return. Can you go?"
When he asked the Prince, the Prince says, "It is good; I can go."
The Hettirala having said, "If so, take these two bundles," gave him
the two packages. Just as he is taking the two bundles in his hand,
the Prince asks, "What are these?"
Thereupon the Hettirala says, "One bundle is my clothes; one is things
for us for the road, to eat."
The Prince taking them, when he was starting to go on the journey
the Hettirala's wife gave him yet a package. The Prince asks, "What
is this?"
Thereupon the woman says, "For our son-in-law there is need of snakes'
eggs; in that packet there are snakes' eggs. Having gone, give that
packet into either son-in-law's hand or daughter's hand." The Prince,
taking the packet, put it away.
The Hettirala, dressing well, mounted upon the back of a horse, and
calling the Prince went off. When he had gone a considerable distance,
the Prince alone ate the package which she prepared and gave him to
eat for the road. Taking the food which was in the packet that she told
him to give to the son-in-law, having said they were snakes' eggs, he
ate of them to the possible extent; and having thrown the remaining
ones there and here, and seen an ant-hill on the path when coming,
he broke a stick, and taking it, prodding and prodding [the ground]
round the ant-hill he began to cry out. The Hettirala having turned
back, when he looked the Prince says, "The snakes that were in this
packet, look! they entered this ant-hill!" Thereupon the Hettirala,
ascertaining that he is telling lies, having said, "It is good; if so,
you come on," calling him, goes on.
At that time, the time for eating cooked rice at noon having arrived,
the Hettirala, stopping the horse, said, "Bola, I am now hungry. Take
out even the packet which you brought to eat for the road."
Thereupon to the Hettirala the Prince says, "Hetti-elder-brother,
what is this you say? Because you said, 'They are for the road, to
eat,' I threw them away for the road to eat, and came. For eating
for the road, what shall we eat?"
Well then, much anger having gone to the Hettirala, because there
was not a thing to do he said, "If so, come, to go."
As they were going, the Hettirala, having hunger which he was unable to
bear, says to the Prince, "Bola, can you climb this tree, and pluck a
young coconut for me and give it?" Thereupon the Prince says, "I can."
Having climbed the tree, and gone round the stems of the branches of
the tree, holding two stems firmly, with his two feet he began to
kick down the clusters of [ripe] coconuts into the jungle, and the
clusters of young coconuts into the jungle. Thereupon the Hettirala
having descended from the horse's back, began to shout, "Ha! Ha! Don't
pluck them, don't pluck them!" At that time the person who owned the
place having come, prepared to beat him.
Thereupon the Hettirala says, "It is I who sent him up the tree to
make him pluck a young coconut. He is a great fool; don't beat him."
The man, treating with respect the Hettirala's saying, said, "It is
good. If so, having eaten as many young coconuts as possible, go ye";
and the man went away.
Thereupon the Prince having eaten young coconut with the Hettirala,
when they set off to go the Hettirala says, "Having struck [thy hand]
on my head, swear thou in such a way that thou wilt not go [in future]
by even a foot-bridge (edanda) in which a coconut trunk is laid,
putting [out of consideration] going up a coconut tree."
Thereupon the Prince having struck on the Hettirala's head, swears,
"I will not go up a coconut tree, and I will not go by a foot-bridge in
which a coconut trunk is placed." Having sworn this, they began to go.
When going they met with a bridge in which a great many coconut trunks
were placed. The Hettirala having gone to the other side, spoke to the
Prince, [telling him to follow]. Thereupon the Prince says, "Ane! I
cannot come. Having struck on the head of the Hetti-elder-brother
and sworn, how can I come?"
Thereupon the Hettirala having descended from the back of the horse,
came [across]; and lifting up the Prince and having gone [over],
placed him on the other side. Through that disturbance the cloth that
was on the Hettirala's head fell on the ground. The Hettirala did not
see it. The Prince having seen that the cloth fell, took it with his
foot, and having thrown it into the bush went on.
When going a considerable distance, ascertaining that the cloth on
the Hettirala's head was not [there], he asks the Prince, "My cloth
fell on the ground; didn't you see it?"
Thereupon the Prince says, "The thing which the Hetti-elder-brother
has thrown away when coming, why should I bring? I threw it into the
bush with my foot."
Then the Hettirala says, "Since you threw away the cloth and came,
beginning from this time when anything has fallen from us don't leave
it and come."
The Prince says, "It is good. If so, beginning from this time,
without throwing it away I will bring it."
Beginning from there, taking the horse-dung and earth from the
staling-place he went along putting and putting them in the Hettirala's
clothes box. Having gone there, when they came near the house of the
Hettirala's daughter, [the Hettirala] having spoken to the Prince
asking for the bundle of clothes, he unfastened it. When he looked,
he saw that the horse-dung and mud were in the bundle of clothes,
and much anger having gone to the Hettirala, he said, "Æ! Enemy,
what is this?"
Thereupon the Prince says, "What, Hetti-elder-brother, are you
saying? At first you said, 'Don't throw away anything that falls from
us.' What is this thing you are saying now?"
Then the Hettirala thought to himself the word he said at the beginning
was wrong; bearing it because of it, he says, "With these clothes on
my back I cannot go to the house of son-in-law's people. My clothes
are very dirty. I shall come when it has become night. Thou having
gone immediately (daemmama) say that I am coming." Having said [this],
and told the Prince the road going to the house, he started him.
Thereupon the Prince having gone to that house and having spoken,
says, "The Hetti-elder-brother started and came in order to come
with me. Thereupon he got a stomach-ache. [240] Before this also
[241] he got a stomach-ache. The Hetti-elder-brother having told me
the medical treatment he applies for the stomach-ache, and started
me quickly, sent me to prepare the medicine," he said.
Thereupon the Hettirala's daughter having become much afraid, asked,
"What is the medicine?"
The Prince says, "Don't be afraid; it is not a difficult medicine [to
prepare]. Taking both coconut oil of seven years and the dust of Ma-Vi
(the largest kind of paddy), and having ground them together, when you
have made ball-cakes (aggala), and placed them [ready], it will do;
that indeed is the medicine. Don't give him any other thing to eat."
Thereupon, the Hettirala's daughter very quickly having ground
up coconut oil and Ma-Vi dust, and made ball-cakes, placed them
[ready]. When, after a very long time, the Hettirala came, quickly
having given him to wash his face, hands, and feet, as soon as he
had finished she gave him that ball-cake to eat.
Thereupon the Hettirala thinks, "My daughter and son-in-law having
become very poor, are now without a thing also to eat"; but through
shame to ask he remained without speaking. Well, then, at the
time for eating rice at night, although the whole of the [other]
persons ate cooked rice and finished, she did not give cooked rice
to the Hettirala. Having made ready [the necessary things,--mat and
pillow]--to sleep, only, she gave them.
The Hettirala lay down. Having been in hunger during the daytime and
night, when he had eaten the ball-cakes he began [to experience the
purgative effect of the oil]. After he had [been affected] four or
five times, being without water to wash his hands and feet, having
spoken to the Prince he asks, "Bola, the water is finished; there is
not a means to wash my hands and feet. Didn't you see a place where
there is water?"
Thereupon the Prince says, "I saw it. There is a sort of
water-pot." Having gone to the place where there are pots of palm
juice, and filled a cooking pot, he brought the palm juice, and saying
it was water gave it.
Thereupon the whole of his body having been smeared with the palm
juice, he says, "Bola, this is not water; it is a sort of palm
juice. Seek something to wipe this, and give me it."
Then the Prince having torn in two the pillow that was [there] for
placing the head upon, gave him the cotton to wipe off the palm
juice. When the Hettirala was wiping off the palm juice with the
cotton, the palm juice and cotton having held together, it became
more difficult than it was. Thereupon having become very angry with
the Prince, and having looked to that and this hand, finding a little
water and slightly washing himself he came to the bed, and made ready
to go to sleep. Again [the purgative affected him violently, and
he was compelled to utilise a cooking-pot which the Prince brought
him]. When he was removing it in the early morning, unobserved by
the people at the house, [the Prince] having gone running says to the
Hettirala's daughter, "Look there. Last night it was very difficult
for your father. Having become angry that you did not pay attention
to him he is going away."
Thereupon the Hettirala's daughter having gone, embraced the
Hettirala. When she embraced him, the Hettirala and the Hettirala's
daughter were [befouled by the contents of the vessel].
The Hettirala having become very angry said, "He having done me
much injury until this time, now he smeared this on my body, didn't
he?" Being unable to bear it, and having told his son-in-law all
these matters in secret, "Taking him, we will go away and put him in
a distant country," he said.
The son-in-law having said, "It is good," and having spoken to the
Prince, says, "We two are to go on a journey. The three [of us] having
gone together, let us return." So saying, on the following day after
that, the Hettirala, and the Prince, and the Hettirala's son-in-law,
the three persons together, went to the wharf (naew-totta).
Thereupon the Prince thought, "Now then, it is not good; I must spring
off and go." Having thought [this], when he said to the two persons,
"I must go aside [for necessary reasons]," the two said, "If so,
having gone, come back."
Having gone running from there to the place where the Hettirala's
daughter is, he says, "They told me to ask for the money which he
gave yesterday to be put away, and to go back quickly." Having said
it, asking for [and getting] the money from the Hettiya's daughter,
he bounded off and ran, and in much time arrived at his city.
The Hettirala and the Hettirala's son-in-law having remained looking
till the Prince comes, said, "Let that fool go to any place he
wants." When they went home, ascertaining that he went [after] taking
the money also, [they searched until] they became much fatigued,
but did not succeed in finding him.
The Minister-Prince, who having joined with the royal Prince
went away, [after] trading very well and gaining profit, again
arrived in happiness at the city. Having seen the royal Prince,
while the two are [there], having discussed each other's happiness
and sorrow, and binding their friendship in the very first manner,
when the royal Prince's father the King died, the royal Prince was
appointed to the sovereignty, and gave the post of Chief Minister to
the Minister-Prince.
Western Province.
(By Saddhunanda Sthavira of Ratmalana Wihara.)
In Folk-Tales of Kashmir (Knowles), 2nd ed., p. 149, a young man who
went to gamble lost everything he possessed, and was himself made a
prisoner until he was rescued by his wife.
Regarding some of the Hettirala's experiences, see the story of the
Moghul and his servant, of which a condensed account is appended to
the tale numbered 195 in this volume.
In "The Story of Hokka," given by Mr. W. Goonetilleke in The
Orientalist, vol. i, p. 131 ff., there is the incident of the tying
up of the cattle. The order of the Gamarala was that the man was to
look after them, but the Sinhalese word balapiya means also "look
at," and the servant acted accordingly after tying up the cattle,
the result being that they were too weak to stand when the Gamarala
went to inspect them.
NO. 242
PRINCE SOKKA [242]
At a certain city, a lion having been caught by the King of the city
had been put in a house. While the King's Prince and the Minister's
Prince were playing at ball near the house in which was the lion,
the royal Prince's ball fell into the cage in which the lion is
lying. Thereupon the Prince asked the lion for the ball. Then the
lion said, "Should you let me go I will give the ball." Then the
Prince having said, "It is good," and having cheated him, asking for
[and getting] the ball remained without letting the lion go.
Having come on the following day, while those two were playing at
ball, that day, also, the royal Prince's ball went and fell at the
place where the lion is. The Prince that day also asked the lion for
the ball.
At that time the lion says, "You shall not cheat me as on that day,
indeed; to-day indeed, unless you let me go I shall not give it." Then
the Prince having let the lion go, asking for [and getting] the ball,
played.
The King having come, when he looked the lion was not [there]. "Where
is the lion?" the King asked the party of Ministers. The party of
Ministers said, "By the Prince the lion [was] sent away."
Then the King having said, "Should the disobedient Prince remain at
this palace I will kill him," sorrow seized the Queen regarding it, and
having given the Prince expenses, and given him also a horse, and said,
"Having gone to any country you like, get a living," sent him off.
The Prince having mounted on the horse, when he was going the
Minister-Prince (son of the Minister), the friend of the Prince, asked,
"Where are you going?"
Then the Prince says, "Having been guilty of sending away the lion,
it has occurred that I am to go away, not staying in this country."
Thereupon, the Minister-Prince, having said, "If my friend the Prince
be not here my remaining is not proper," set off to go with the Prince.
Having set out, when the two had gone a little far together, [they saw
that] a letter had been written, and fixed on a tree. Having taken
the letter, when they looked in it there was said that should one
go to the right district good will happen, should one go to the left
district evil will happen. Thereupon, having looked at the letter the
Minister-Prince went to the right district, the royal Prince went to
the left district.
While the royal Prince was going he met with a gambling place. He,
also, having gone there gambled. Having gambled he lost all the money
he took. After that, being without money, while he was staying looking
on, owing to a rich Hettiya's being there he sold him the horse,
and taking the money played [again]. That also he lost.
After that, having written himself as the slave of the Hettiya, and
having said, "Should I be unable to bring back the money I will do
slave work," taking the money he gambled [again]. That also he lost.
At that time, the Hettiya, having mounted upon the horse, calling
the Prince for the horsekeepership went away. The Hettiya having gone
home established the name "Sokka" [243] for the Prince.
That Sokka he told to look after the horse, having well attended to
it and bathed it. That Sokka not giving food and water to the horse,
the horse went decrepit. Owing to it, the Hettirala having become
angry, said, "Sokka, you cannot look after the horse. Because of it,
work you in the flower garden."
Then Sokka says, "Hettiralahami, in our kingdom it was that very work
that was mine. I am much accustomed to it." Having said this he took
charge. [After] taking charge, every day uprooting and uprooting
the best (lit., good good) flower trees (plants) he began to plant
[them afresh].
The Hettirala having gone one day, when he looked saw that all the
flower trees had died. Having said, "Sokka, thou canst not [do] this
work; thou hast completely done for my flower garden," he beat him.
He said, "After that, that work is of no use for thee," and gave him
charge of a plantain garden. Having handed it over he said, "Sell
the plantains; having brought the money thou art to give it to me."
Then Sokka said, "It is good, Hettiralahami; I am accustomed to
that work."
Well then, what does that Sokka do? Leaving aside the ripe plantains,
having cut the immature plantains he takes them to the shop. No one
taking them, having brought them back he throws them away. By this
means, all the plantain garden went to waste.
The Hettirala having gone one day, when he looked the plantain garden
had been destroyed. Thereupon, having called Sokka, and having said,
"Where is the revenue obtained from this? Thou art a Yaka come to
eat me," he became angry, and scolded him.
Having said, "Thou canst not do that work. Look here (Menna); from
to-day attend thou to the grazing of these cattle," he gave him charge
of them.
Then Sokka, having said, "It is good, Hettiralahami. In our country
I do that for a livelihood; I am well accustomed to it," took charge
of them. Taking charge, he went driving the cattle to the jungle.
Having gone there he looked for a bull to eat, and having killed it,
cutting a haunch he came home [with it]. At that time the Hettirala
having seen the haunch of flesh, asked, "What is that, Sokka?"
Then Sokka says, "As I was going a leopard was [there], seizing
a deer. Then I said 'Hu.' Then the leopard sprang off and ran
away. After that, because I was unable to bring it I came [after]
cutting off a haunch."
Thereupon the Hettiralahami said, "Sokka, it is good," and stroked
his head, and said, "Give ye abundantly to eat to Sokka."
By that method he began to bring the haunch every day, one by one. The
Hettirala and the Hetti-woman on those days were very kind to Sokka.
When a few days had gone, because of the eating of the deer's meat
it appeared that the cattle of the herd were finished. Then, having
called Sokka, he asked, "Where are the cattle?"
Sokka says, "I could not drive the cattle to the stalls; they are in
the jungle."
The Hettirala, not trusting the word he said, went into the jungle
to look at the cattle. When he was going, the stench [of the dead
bodies] began to strike him to the extent that he was unable to go
into the jungle. Having gone in, when he looked he saw that there are
the heads and legs of the cattle. "Sokka is good! I ate the meat. I
must kill Sokka," he got into his mind.
The Hettirala had taken a contract to give firewood to a ship. He
told Sokka to cut firewood by the yard account for the ship. Because
he must give firewood once a month, having cut the firewood by the
yard account he was to heap it up. At that time, Sokka, having said,
"It is very good, Hettiralahami," taking that work also, went for
cutting firewood.
The ship came after a month. The Hettirala went and looked, in order to
give the firewood. There were only three or four yards of firewood;
there was no firewood to give to the ship. When the ship person,
having called the Hettirala, asked for the firewood, there being no
firewood to give a great fault occurred. Having fined the Hettirala
he destroyed the firewood contract.
"After Sokka came there was great loss of money; this one lost it. I
must kill him," the Hettirala got into his mind.
Getting it in his mind, he said to the Hetti-woman, "I am going to
the quarter in which younger sister is. Having prepared something to
eat on the road please give me it." The Hetti-woman having prepared
a box of sugared food, and made ready a box of clothes, and tied them
as a pingo (carrying stick) load, placed [them ready].
The Hettirala having arisen at dawn in the morning and mounted on
horse-back, and said, "Sokka, taking that pingo load, come thou,"
the Hettirala went on horse-back in front.
Sokka, while going on and on (yaddi yaddi), ate the sugared food
until the box was finished. When going a little far in that manner,
the whip that was in the Hettirala's hand fell down. Sokka picked it
up and threw it into the jungle.
The Hettirala, having gone a little far, asked, "Where [is the whip],
Bola? You met with it."
Thereupon Sokka said, "I don't know; there is no whip."
Then the Hettirala having become angry, said, "Thou must bring anything
that falls, whether from me or from the horse," and he scolded him.
After that, Sokka picked up the dung which the horse dropped,
and began to put it in the clothes box. In that way and this way,
at noon the time for eating came.
On that road there was a travellers' shed. For the purpose of eating
food at that travellers' shed they halted. Having opened the box in
order to eat, when [the Hettirala] looked there was nothing of food
in the box. "Where is the food that was in this?" he asked Sokka.
Sokka said, "I don't know what was [in it] when it was given to me,
indeed."
The Hettirala being very hungry, and in anger with Sokka also, started
to go. Having gone, when they were coming near his younger sister's
village he said to Sokka, "Go thou, and tell them to be quick and
cook a little food because I am fatigued."
Then Sokka having gone said to the Hettirala's younger sister and
brother-in-law, "The Hettirala is coming; as he has become ill he is
coming. Because of it, he does not eat anything. He said that having
removed the shells from unripe pulse and prepared balls of it, you
are to place them [ready]; and that having killed a fowl for me I
am to eat it with cooked rice, he said. The Hettirala at night is
himself accustomed to salt gruel."
Afterwards that party, having prepared them, gave them in the
evening. The Hettirala because of fatigue having eaten these things
and drunk a great deal of salt gruel, went to sleep. (It is necessary
to draw a veil over the nocturnal difficulties of the Hettirala owing
to the purgative action of his evening's repast. In the morning)
the Hettirala thought to himself, "It is Sokka himself makes the
whole of these traps. Because of it I must kill him."
Well then, having said, "We must go," and having opened the clothes
box, when he looked horse-dung had been put [in it]. Then at the time
when the Hettirala asked, "Sokka, what is this?" he said, "That day
you told me to take anything that falls from the Hettirala or from
the horse. Because of it I put these things away; I put them in that,
without omitting one."
After that, having set off, they went away to go home. Having gone a
considerable distance, when they were approaching the house he said
to Sokka, "Go thou, and as there has been no food for me for two days
or three days, tell grandmother to prepare something for food."
Having said "Ha," Sokka having gone running, says, "Grandmother,
madness having seized him, the Hettirala is coming. No one can speak
[to him]; then he beats them. You will be unable to be rid of it." He
said all these words.
Then the grandmother asked, "What, Sokka, shall we do for it?"
Thereupon Sokka says, "Putting on a black cloth and a black jacket,
take two handfuls of branches, and without speaking having gone in
front of him, please wave them."
Having said it and come running back to the Hettirala, he said,
"Hettiralahami, there is no means of doing anything in that
way. Madness having seized grandmother she is dancing, [after] putting
on a black cloth and a black jacket, and breaking two handfuls of
branches."
When the Hettirala was asking at the hand of Sokka, "What shall
I do for it?" Sokka said, "Breaking two handfuls of branches, and
having gone without even speaking, please strike them on the head
of grandmother."
Thereupon the Hettirala, having gone in that very way, without speaking
began to beat her. The grandmother also began to beat the Hettirala. In
this way constantly for half a day they beat each other. Afterwards
having recovered their reason, when he learnt, while they were
speaking, that it was a work of Sokka's, he thought of injuring him.
On the following day after that, he wrote a letter to the Hettirala's
brother-in-law: "In some way or other please kill the person who
brings this letter." Having said, "Go and give this letter, and bring
a reply from brother-in-law," he gave it into Sokka's hand.
Sokka, taking the letter, went to a travellers' shed on the road. While
he was there yet [another] man came there. Having broken open this
letter and shown it to the man, he asked, "What things are in this
letter?"
The man, having looked at the letter, said, "'The person who brings
this letter has caused a loss to me of three or four thousand
pounds.' Because of it, it is said [that he is] to kill him."
Thereupon Sokka, having thrown the letter away, went to a house,
and asking for pen and ink and having come back, told that man and
caused him to write the [following] letter:--"The person who brings
this letter has been of great assistance to me. Because of it, having
given to him your daughter [in marriage], give him a half share of
your landed property." Having taken it and gone, he gave it.
Thereupon the Hettirala's brother-in-law having looked at the letter
and having been pleased, married to him and gave him his eldest
daughter; [244] and having given him a half share of his money, and
told him to go again to the place where this Hettiya is, sent him away.
Well then, the Prince whom the Hettiya caught, taking his Hetti wife,
went away to the district where the Minister-Prince is.
Western Province.
In the Aventures du Gourou Paramarta (Dubois), p. 312, while the
Guru and his foolish disciples were on a journey, the Guru being
on horseback, the branch of a tree caught his turban, and it fell
down. Thinking his disciples would pick it up he said nothing at the
time. As he had previously told them to do nothing without orders,
however, they left it. When he afterwards asked for it and found
it was not brought, he scolded them, and sent one to fetch it, at
the same time giving them orders to pick up everything that fell
from the horse. While the disciple was returning with the turban he
accordingly collected and stored in it the horse's droppings that
he found on the road, and handed over the bundle to his master. The
Guru made them wash the turban, and told them when they grumbled at
being reprimanded for obeying his orders, "There are articles that
are worthy of being picked up, and others that are unworthy of it."
In Folk-Tales of Kashmir (Knowles), 2nd ed., p. 81, two brothers who
had run away from home came to a place where the road bifurcated,
and found there an inscription on a stone, which contained a warning
that one of the roads should be avoided. The adventurous elder brother
went on this road and was robbed by a witch; the younger one selected
the other, and after being wrecked became a King.
In The Orientalist, vol. i, p. 131 ff., Mr. W. Goonetilleke gave "The
Story of Hokka," in which the man who was sent in advance to announce
the coming of the Gamarala, told the daughter that he could take only
paddy dust. He left in anger on the following morning, and sent Hokka
to let his wife know of his return. Hokka advised her to meet her
husband clothed in rags and sitting on an edanda, or foot-bridge. In
the dusk, Hokka, who was in front, kicked her off, calling her "Bitch,"
and she fell into the stream and was drowned, the Gamarala thinking it
was a dog. The Gamarala had previously mutilated Hokka's elder brother,
as related in No. 195, and Hokka was determined to have his revenge.
The portion omitted on p. 290 will be found at the end of the
Additional Notes, by those who wish to see how the villager treats
such matters.
NO. 243
THE AFFECTIONATE PRINCE
In a certain city there was a King; the King was married. If the
Queen bore a Prince they rear the Prince; if she bore a Princess,
at the very time when she was born, [even] should she be alive,
they bury her. This order is a thing commanded by the King.
The King's Queen formerly having given birth to a first-born Prince,
and having reared him and been satisfied with him, he continued to
stay there. During the time while he was there the Queen bore yet
a Princess.
Then the King told them to bury the Princess. The midwife having given
her into the hand of a man told him to bury her. So the man in order
to bury the Princess took her and went to the burial ground.
At that very time, as the elder Prince of the King, who had been for
sport, was coming back, he saw that this man [after] putting this
Princess into a bundle was going to the ground for new burials;
and he asked the man, "What is that you are going with, [after]
making it into a bundle?"
The man said, "In this bundle is your younger sister, Sir."
Then the Prince said, "Ane! Stop there for me to look at her a
little." So the man stopped.
When this Prince went and looked, she was a Princess who was beautiful
to the extent that through sorrow he could not look at her. Thereupon
asking the man for the Princess, what does this Prince do? Having given
her to another woman, having given sufficient hire for it, he said,
"Having very thoroughly brought her up until she reaches maturity,
not showing her to anyone, hand her over to me." The woman said. "It
is good."
Well then, the Princess in not much time had reached maturity. After
that, this Prince, sewing suitable robes for the Princess, came,
and causing the Princess to put them on went with her to the palace
at which he stayed.
Then the King, having become angry at the Prince, contrived a stratagem
to kill her, that is, he wrote to a great person of the city,
"My Princess is [here]. To kill the Princess make ready an eating
(feast) at your house, and having put poison into the food for the
Princess send a letter to all of us to come for the eating."
So the great man having made it ready just like that, sent a letter
to this King for all who are at the royal palace to come. Thereupon
the King, having looked at the letter, prepared to go there.
This Prince perceived that it was a device which was adopted by
the King for the purpose of killing the Princess. Having perceived
it and told those parties to go before, at the time when they were
going this Prince and his younger sister, both of them, mounted on
a cart (carriage), and went along another path to the midst of a
forest. As they were going on, leaving the forest wilderness behind,
there was a city which a [wild] tusk elephant, having come, is making
desolate. They went to the city. While they were going to the city
it did not become light.
As this Prince and Princess were going, not knowing that there is a
tusk elephant laying waste the city, the tusk elephant walked through
the whole city, and having broken down the houses, while it was coming
to go back to the midst of the forest this Prince and Princess met
it in front.
Having met it, it chased the Prince and Princess along the road. As
it was going chasing them this Prince drew his sword and struck
it. Then the sword went and pierced the stomach of the elephant,
and it died. After it died they stayed that day night at the city.
The King of the city having gone with the city tusk elephant to stay
at night at certain other rock houses (caves), comes to this city
only for hearing law-suits in the daytime. Having come and repaired
the houses which that [wild] tusk elephant had broken, and heard
law-suits, as it becomes night he goes to the rock house.
The King [had] notified by beat of tom-toms [245]: "To the person who
[shall have] killed this tusk elephant I will give a portion from my
kingdom and marry my Princess, and I will send him to stay at this
city." Every one was unable.
On the morning on which this Prince killed the tusk elephant, men
came in order to build [the damaged houses in] the city. When they
looked about that day, they said that the tusk elephant is still
staying there, sleeping; and the men having become afraid, ran away.
After that, a man came, and having slowly come near the tusk elephant,
when he was looking at it perceived that was dead. Thereupon the man
having come near, when he looked [saw that] some one had stabbed the
tusk elephant.
There was a house near by. Having gone near it, when he looked he
saw that a Prince and a Princess were sleeping. Having seen them,
he spoke to the Prince and awoke him, and asked, "How did you kill
this tusk elephant?"
Then the Prince said, "I stabbed it with my sword and killed it."
The man said, "Ane! By favour to me you must stay there a little,"
and having gone he said to the King, "Last night a Prince and Princess
came to our city; and having stabbed the tusk elephant with the sword
and killed it, they are still staying [there], sleeping."
Thereupon the King having come, when he looked they were there. The
King having heard from the Prince about the matter, and having gone
calling them to the palace, and given them food and drink, asked to
marry his Princess to the Prince.
At that time the Prince said, "Until the time when I marry and give
my younger sister I will not marry"; and they went away to yet a city.
When he was going, [persons] are robbing the city of this [other]
King. Because of it, [the King] gave notice by beat of tom-toms,
"Can any one seize them?" Thereupon all said they could not.
This Prince having said, "I will endeavour [to do] this," went
away. While going, he met with a young Leopard, a young Parrot, and
a Kitten. Taking the three and placing them in a cart, while going
on he saw in the midst of the forest a very large house like a prison.
Thereupon the Prince, not going to look at it during the daytime,
waited until it became night; and having gone at daybreak, when he
was looking about, the robbers having come [after] committing robbery
he ascertained that they were making ready to sleep.
Having waited a little time after the men had gone to sleep, when he
looked for an opening, because there was not one, being on the back of
his horse he sprang on the wall. Having sprung on it, when he looked
[he saw that after] putting down their armour on going to sleep,
they were sleeping well. Thereupon the Prince cut them all down,
beginning from one end. One of them having been wounded and got hid
in the room, remained; all the other men died. The blood that came
from them flowed to the depth of the Prince's knee.
After that, having waited until it became light he cut a hole, and
having put the dead bodies into the hole he thoroughly washed the
houses and cleaned them. Because there were many silver and golden
things there he stayed a little time.
While he was staying, one day, having told the Princess to remain
[there], the Prince, taking a gun, went to hunt. At that time the
Parrot, the Leopard, and the Cat went with the Prince.
The three and the Prince, or a person who would send him away, not
being near, that robber who had been wounded that day, and having got
hid remained after the Prince went away, came out into the light;
and asking for cooked rice from the Princess and having eaten it,
became associated with the Princess, and stayed a few days without
the Prince's knowing it, healing those wounds and the like.
Then that robber spoke to the Princess, "Having killed your elder
brother and we two having married, let us remain [here]."
Thereupon the Princess also being willing regarding it, asked the
robber, "How shall we kill elder brother?"
Then the robber said, "At the time when your elder brother comes, say
that you have got fever, and remain lying down. Then he having come
will be grieved. Then say, 'Elder brother, the deity who protects
us--who he is I do not know--said there is a pool in the midst of
this forest. In the pool there is a lotus flower. Unless, plucking
the lotus flower, you come and boil it, and I should drink the gravy,
my fever will not be cured otherwise.'"
The Princess asked the robber, "When he has gone to the pool what
will happen?"
The robber said, "There is a Crocodile in the pool. No one can descend
into the pool. Because the Celestial Nymphs (Apsarases) bathe [there],
should another person go the Crocodile will swallow him."
Then the Princess having become pleased, at the time when the Prince,
having gone for hunting-sport, came back, she remained lying down
groaning and groaning.
The Prince having come asked, "What is it, younger sister?"
The Princess said, "Ane! Elder brother, I have got fever."
Thereupon the Prince through grief that the Princess had got fever
does not eat the cooked rice. Then the Princess said all the words
which the robber told her. So having said, "I will bring the lotus
flower," the Prince went.
Having gone and found the pool, when he looked there was a large
lotus flower in the manner she said. The Prince, putting on the
bathing cloth, [246] and fastening his sword in his waist string,
prepared to descend into the pool.
Thereupon, the three animals that went with the Prince said, "Don't
descend," and began to say it again and again. Out of them the Parrot
said, "Elder brother, having gone flying, I will bring each pollen
grain of the flower. Don't you descend."
The Prince said, "While thou art going and bringing each grain of
pollen it will become night. On that account I will go, and cutting
the flower from the outside will come back"; and he descended into the
pool. As he descended, the Crocodile having come swallowed him. When
it was swallowing him the sword fixed at the Prince's waist pierced
the Crocodile's stomach, and the Crocodile and the Prince died.
Thereupon the three animals which remained on the bank, rolling over
and over on the ground, breaking and breaking up the soil of the earth,
began to cry out.
At that time the Celestial Nymphs came to the pool to bathe. Having
come, and seen the lamentation of these animals, they told the Devatawa
of the pool to come, and splitting open the stomach of the Crocodile
he caused the Prince to be [re]-born. Having come to life, the Prince,
plucking the lotus flower, came to the bank.
Then the four, taking the lotus flower and having come back, and
boiled and given it to that Princess, the false fever of the Princess
was cured. Well then, by that they were unable to kill him.
So the robber asked the Princess, "Now then, how to kill your elder
brother?"
Then the Princess said, "Elder brother having come [after] walking,
goes from this side near the screen to wash his face. You stay on
the other side [of the screen] and cut him with your sword." So he
remained that day in that way.
That day the Prince having come [after] walking did not go to the side
to which he goes before; he went to the other side. At that time the
man having been [there] tried to spring away. Then having cut down
the man with the sword that was in the Prince's hand, he asked the
Princess, "Whence this man?" The Princess remained silent.
Thereupon the Prince said, "I shall not do anything to you; say the
fact." The Princess told him the fact.
Then the Prince having said, "Thou faithless one! Go thou also,"
cut her down with the sword; and taking those things, went with the
three animals to the city where he killed that tusk elephant.
Having gone there, and told the King the manner in which he killed
the robbers, and all the dangers that had befallen him, the King,
having been pleased, married the King's Princess [to him]; and having
given the kingdom also to that very Prince, he remained there.
The Prince having gone to his [father's] city, said to the King,
"Father, having destroyed the word which you, Sir, said, by the acts
that I performed, I was made to ascertain [the wisdom of] it."
Having made obeisance to his father the King, and told him all
the circumstances that had occurred, thereafter he came back with
contentment to that city. Having come, he remained ruling over
that city.
Western Province.
In the Kolhan tales (Bompas) appended to Folklore of the Santal
Parganas, p. 468, a girl and her brother, fearing their father wished
to kill them, ran away and lived in the jungle. While the brother
was hunting, a Raja met with the sister and wanted to marry her;
thinking the youth would object the Raja persuaded the girl to try
to get him killed. She pretended to be ill, and told him she could
not recover unless he brought a flower which grew in a lake. When
the boy was swimming to the flower a gigantic fish swallowed him;
but a Rakshasa friend drank the pool dry, caught the fish, and took
out the boy alive. The Raja carried off the girl, but was defeated
by the youth and Rakshasa and some animal friends, gave the youth
half his kingdom, and married him to his own daughter.
In the actions of the animals, expressive of their grief at the death
of the Prince, there is a striking resemblance to those ascribed to the
Werewolf in William of Palerne (E.E.T.S., ed. Skeat), on discovering
that the child he was rearing was missing:
For reuliche (ruefully) gan he rore · and rente al his hide,
And fret (gnawed) oft of the erthe · and fel doun on swowe,
And made the most dool (sorrow) · that man mizt diuise.
The English translation of this twelfth-century Romance is said to
date from about A.D. 1350.
In vol. i, p. 130, a dog shows its grief by rolling about and howling,
and in vol. iii, p. 446, a man rolls on the ground in feigned sorrow.
NO. 244
THE PRINCE WHO RECEIVED THE TURTLE SHELL
In a certain country there was a son of a King. After this son had
become big to a certain extent, for the purpose of teaching him
he sent him near a teacher; but as time was going on, the teacher,
ascertaining that he could not teach this one, gave notice to His
Majesty the King. Thereupon the King having summoned the Prince near
him, sent him to stay unoccupied (nikan) in the royal house.
During the time while he was thus, the other Princes, having finished
learning the sciences and having again arrived near the King, began
to show him, one by one, their dexterity. Some of them began to make
jests about this ignorant Prince. Thereupon this Prince being much
ashamed, and his father the King also not concealing it, his Prince,
putting on his ornaments and decorating himself with his sword, bow,
etc., having entered a forest wilderness went away.
When he had gone in this manner for a considerable distance through
the midst of the forest wilderness, he saw a house of a cow-herd. The
Prince went to this cow-herd's house, and having told him of his
hunger, asked for a little food.
The cow-herd's wife, having thought that she must take the Prince's
costly ornaments, gave the Prince to eat, drink, and sit, and
[permitted him] to stay; and having told him to unfasten his clothes
and go to sleep, handed over to him a bed also.
Thereupon having thought, "This woman is a most kind person," the
Prince having taken off his ornaments, gave them together with his
weapons to the cow-herd's wife. The Prince having been sleeping,
after his eyes were opened, when he asked for the ornaments from
the cow-herd's wife, without giving them she told the Prince to
dwell there.
Well then, a certain goddess who saw that this young Prince in this
manner was causing the cattle to graze, having shown great compassion
towards him, one day approached near him and said thus, "I will give
thee a turtle shell and a spell. By the power of the spell thou canst
do the thing thou thinkest. Having got inside the turtle shell thou
canst stay there. If not in that way, thou canst become a Prince
decorated with beautiful ornaments. But without saying the spell just
now, thou art to say it when thou hast become twenty-five years of
age," she said.
But this Prince, for the purpose of seeing whether the spell is true
or false, having said it, became a Turtle; and again having said it
became a handsome Prince. After that, until the twenty-fifth year
arrives he put away and hid the turtle shell.
After this time, the Prince having stayed [there] causing the cattle
to graze, when the twenty-fifth year arrived, taking also the turtle
shell he set off in the very disguise of a poor man, and went away
to another country. This Prince having arrived at the house of a
flower-mother who gives flowers to the King of that country, dwelt
[with her] like a son. During the time when he was staying thus,
he got to know the affairs of the royal house.
Out of the King's seven daughters six having contracted marriages,
only the youngest Princess was left. When the husbands of those six
Princesses went hunting, the Prince who stayed near the flower-mother
having gone into the midst of the forest became an extremely handsome
Prince; and having decorated himself with the sword, bow, etc., and
mounted upon a horse, and waited to be visible to the other Princes
who were in the midst of the forest, when they were coming to look
[at him] immediately having become a Turtle he hides in a bush.
When he acted in this manner on very many days, the husbands of the six
Princesses related this circumstance while at the royal house. [Their
account of] this matter the youngest Princess who was unmarried heard.
Thereafter, one day the six Princesses and their husbands also, went to
the festival pool to bathe. The youngest Princess went with these. The
Prince who had become the son of the flower-mother, creating a most
handsome Prince's body, and having gone after the whole of them, waited
[there] to show a pleasure to these Princesses who came to bathe; and
immediately having become a Turtle, got hid at the side of the pool.
Only the youngest Princess saw this circumstance. Having thus seen it,
catching the Turtle and wrapping it in her silk robe she took it to
the palace. After she took it to the Princess's chamber, the Turtle,
having become the Prince, talking with the Princess told her all
his story, and when he told her that he was a royal Prince the two
persons agreed to marry each other.
Beginning from that time (taen), this Prince whom men were thinking was
the son of the flower-mother, by the favour of the Princess began to go
to the floor of the upper story where the Princess resides. During the
progress of time, the King perceived that the Princess was pregnant,
and having menaced the Princess and asked who was the offender
regarding it, ascertaining that he was the flower-mother's son, he
gave the Princess to the flower-mother's son, and turned them out of
the palace.
After this, one day because of a great feast at the royal house, the
King ordered these six Princes to go for hunting, and return. Because
the flower-mother's son was in an extremely poor condition, except
that the other Princes made jests at him they did not notice him. The
other six Princesses ask the Princess of the flower-mother's son,
"Is your husband going for the hunting-sport to-day?"
Then having exhibited a most sorrowful state, the Princess says,
"That I do not know. I must ask my husband, and ascertain."
When the other Princes had ornamented [themselves] for the
hunting-sport, the flower-mother's son, seeking a rust-eaten sword
and rotten bow, went to the midst of the forest, and taking a Prince's
appearance, mounted upon a horse. Having gone [hunting], cutting off
the tongues of the whole of the animals that he hunted [and killed],
and taking only a rat-snake [besides], he returned to the palace
before everybody [in his ordinary form].
The King required to look at the animals which these Princes had hunted
[and killed]. Thereupon, to be visible above the meat procured by the
hunting of the whole of them, [the Prince] placed [on the top of them]
the dead body of his rat-snake. Then the whole of them abused this one,
it is said.
Thereupon this one says to the King, "It was not these Princes; I
killed these animals." Having said, "If these killed them, where are
the tongues of these animals?" he opened [their] mouths and showed
them. Having shown the King the tongues of the animals which he had,
and caused them to see [him in] the likeness of the Prince decorated
with all the ornaments, like the full moon, this flower-mother's son
stood before the King. Thereupon, the King and the other Princes also,
retreated in extreme astonishment.
Thereupon, when he gave the King information of all the account of
this Prince from the commencement, [the King] having handed over the
sovereignty to him he put on the crowns. [247]
Western Province.
NO. 245
CONCERNING A PRINCE AND A KINNARA WOMAN
In a certain country there was a King, it is said. There was a single
daughter of the King's. From many places they spoke of marriage to
that royal Princess, but her father the King did not agree to it.
At last, when a certain royal Prince asked to marry this Princess,
her father the King, having made inquiry, because of his not happening
to be a son of the Chief Queen was not satisfied with it.
But on account of the Prince's possessing a mind extremely attached
to the said Princess, having considered several means of success for
bringing away this Princess, he made a very large brass lamp. The
chamber of the lamp had a size [sufficient] for the Prince to be
concealed [in it].
Having caused the lamp to be constructed in this manner, after the
Prince entered there, having employed four persons they took this
very lamp to sell. In order to go in this way, the Prince said thus
to his servants, "There is necessity for me to enter such and such a
royal house. While [you are] taking this lamp, when anyone [elsewhere]
asks for it, mention a price which it is not worth; but having gone
to the royal house give it at whatever they ask it for," he said.
Thereafter the servants, keeping this word in mind, and the Prince
being concealed [in it], took the lamp to the royal house, it is
said. The King, having seen the lamp and having thought, "This is an
extremely fine lamp. This is suitable for placing in my daughter's
chamber," asked the price of it, it is said. Thereupon the servants
who took the lamp fixed the price at four hundred masuran. And when
the King said, "This is not worth so much; I will give seventy-five
[248] masuran," the servants because of the Prince's word gave the
lamp at that price, it is said.
Thereafter, for the purpose of beautifying the royal Princess's chamber
he placed there this lamp. The Prince, also, having entered the lamp
was [in it].
Although for the care of the Princess many servants were staying there,
the Prince obtained opportunity in order to bring about conversation
with the Princess, it is said. By this method obtaining about a [half]
share of the Princess's food, the Prince remained hidden for a time.
They give the Princess only one quantity of food. It was the custom
once in seven days to weigh this Princess; [249] but as the Prince
was eating a share of the Princess's food, the Princess having become
thin became less in weight.
Having seen that the Princess's weight by degrees was growing less,
the servant women, becoming afraid, informed the King that the
Princess perhaps had some illness. The King also having thought that
the Princess perhaps had some sickness (abadayak), made inquiry, and
having ascertained that she had not a sickness in that way, ordered
them to give additional food on account of it. After this time,
having seen that the Princess is increasing in weight by the method,
at the time when he inquired about it, he ascertained, it is said,
that the Princess had been pregnant for eight months.
After this, although the King investigated by several methods regarding
the manner in which this disgrace occurred to the Princess, he was
unable to learn it. Everyone in the country got to know about this.
In this way, after the King was coming to great grief, he caused
notification to be made by beat of tom-toms throughout the country that
to a person who should seize and give him the wicked man who caused
the disgrace to the royal Princess, he will give goods [amounting]
to a tusk elephant's load.
A certain old woman, having caused the proclamation tom-tom to stop,
said, "I can catch and give the thief," it is said. Thereupon they
took the old mother near the King.
Then the King having spoken, asked, "Canst thou catch and give
the thief?"
"It is so; may the Gods cause me to be wise," the old woman said,
it is said.
"Dost thou require something for it?" he asked.
"[You] must give me a permission for it in this manner," she
said. "That is to say, whether in the [right] time or in unseasonable
time, [250] it is proper that I should receive permission for coming
to any place I please in the palace," she said. And the King gave
permission for it.
The old mother, upon that same permission having come to the royal
house, while conversing in a friendly manner with the Princess
after many days had gone by ascertained that from outside anyone was
unable to approach the palace. But perceiving that some one could
hide inside the lamp that is in the Princess's chamber, one day, in
the evening, at the time when darkness was about to fall, she came
to the Princess's chamber, and having been talking, dishonestly to
the Princess she scattered white sand round the lamp, and went away.
In the morning, having arrived, when she looked she saw the foot-marks
of a person who went out of the lamp, and perceiving that most
undoubtedly the rogue is in the lamp, told the King (rajuhata), it is
said. Thereupon the King having employed the servants and brought the
rogue out, made the tusk elephant drink seven large pots of arrack
(palm spirit), and ordered them to kill him by means of the tusk
elephant.
Having made the Prince sit upon the tusk elephant, they went near the
upper story where the Princess was. The elephant-driver was a servant
who was inside the palace for much time. As he was a man to whom the
Princess several times had given to eat and drink, the Princess said
for the elephant-keeper to hear, "With the tusk-elephant face don't
smash the tips of the cooked rice." [251]
The elephant-keeper also understanding the speech, without killing the
Prince saved him. Although he employed the tusk elephant even three
times, and made it trample on his bonds, at the three times he escaped.
Thereupon the King [said], "This one is a meritorious person;" [252]
and having caused him to be summoned, and made notification of these
things after he came, at the time when he asked, "Who art thou? What
is thy name?" he told all, without concealing [anything]. Thereupon
he married and gave the Princess to the Prince.
While the two persons were living thus, a longing arose for the
Princess to wear blue-lotus flowers. As this time was a season without
flowers, having heard that there would be flowers only at one pool at
a Kinnara village at a great distance, the Prince went there. While
he was there, a Rodi (Kinnara) woman by means of a [knowledge of the]
teaching of the Kala [253] spells caused the Prince to stop there,
it is said.
When time went in this manner without the Prince's coming, the
King started off and sent four Ministers for the purpose of finding
him. The four persons, ascertaining that the Prince had been captured
and taken into the Kinnara caste, went there, and spoke to the Prince.
Perceiving that while by the mouth of the Rodi (Kinnara) [254] woman
the word "Go" was being said, he was unable to go, [255] they spoke
to the Prince, and did a trick thus, it is said; that is, they told
the Prince to say, "Certain of my friends have come; we must give
them amply to eat and drink." "Because of it [be pleased] to tell
the Kinnara woman to cook food amply," they said. When the Prince
told the Kinnari to cook food in that manner she did so.
When the Prince summoned the Ministers to the food, they, the four
persons, putting sand in their waist pockets and mixing it with
the food, endeavoured to eat, it is said. Having done so, the four
Ministers said, "Although we came so far seeking our friend, we were
unable to eat even a mouthful of rice from our friend without sand and
stones [being] in it," and having scolded the Prince they went away. At
that time the Prince appeared as though approaching great grief.
The Rodi (Kinnara) woman who saw this spoke to the Prince, "Go, calling
your friends to come," she said. After the way in which she said this
[word] "Go," the Prince very speedily having started, went with the
four Ministers to his own country. Having gone thus and arrived at the
palace, he told of the beauty of the Kinnara woman, and all his story.
In the meantime the Kinnara woman also having arrived in front of
him, the Kinnara woman having said, "Here he is," when she seized
the Prince's hand the King, having pushed the Rodi (Kinnara) woman
from there, sent her out of the way.
The Kinnara woman because of this trouble drew out her tongue, and
having bit it died, it is said; and after that having cast out the
dead body they burned it. On the grave mound a plant [used as a]
vegetable grew.
Two women of the village near this place came here to break
fire-wood. Because one of the two women had pregnancy longing,
uprooting the plant [used as a] vegetable, she cooked and ate it to
allay the longing. After she ate thus, the woman having given birth
to a female child she grew up extremely beautiful, like the dead
Kinnara woman.
During this time, the Prince in succession to his father-in-law
had come to the sovereignty, it is said. At the time when the child
born like the Kinnara woman had arrived at sufficient age, the King
having come and having seen her when he was going [past], remembered
the dead Kinnara woman, and having tied his affections on the young
woman endeavoured to obtain her, it is said. But her two parents not
being pleased at it, as the King was going to walk away beat him,
and killed him.
After the King died, when the King's men were burying him they gave
the kingship to his son. After this son arrived at the time when
he understood matters, he asked his mother how his father the King
died, and ascertaining it he seized the men of the village at which
they killed the King, and having put them in a ship he launched it
on the sea. The men having cast nets, catching fish [in them] got
their livelihood. After this, having cast the net and made efforts,
catching a hundred Seer fishes they went to the village that was
visible on shore. That village, indeed, is now Migamuwa (Negombo).
Western Province.
The capture of the Prince by a low-caste village girl is apparently
borrowed from Sinhalese history. In the second century before Christ,
Prince Sali, the only son of King Duttha-Gamani, fell in love with a
beautiful village girl of low-caste,--according to tradition a Duraya
girl--married her, and in order to retain her abandoned his succession
to the throne. According to the historians, his infatuation was due to
his grandfather's having been a pious man of low-caste in his former
life, and to the Prince's marrying the girl in a previous existence,
both of them then being of the same caste.
NO. 246
THE WAY IN WHICH THE PRINCE TRADED
In a certain country the son of a King having thought that he himself
earning it he must obtain a living, asked permission for it from his
father the King.
Then the King said, "Son, if the goods that there are of mine will
do without your earning a living and [thus] obtaining it, you can
live happily, enjoying the possession of this wealth which there is,"
he said.
But the Prince, being dissatisfied with it, said to his father the
King, "In order for me to do trading, having loaded goods in a ship
please give me charge of it," he said.
Because of the strong wish of the Prince in this matter, the King
having caused three ships to be constructed, loaded goods in one and
gave the Prince charge of it, and sent the other two ships for the
purpose of his protection.
After these three ships had sailed a considerable distance, a strong
wind struck them; and the two ships which went for his protection
having sunk, the ship in which was the Prince drifted to a shore.
Thereupon the Prince having said, "At what country have we
arrived?" when he began to walk there for the purpose of looking,
he saw a city in which were houses without men, and an abandoned
palace. At that time, in order to find a country in which are men,
he caused a dependant of this Prince to climb up a very high tree;
when he looked he saw at a place not far from there a city at which
men are dwelling, and they went there.
When the Prince asked the men who were at the city the reason of there
being a city with abandoned houses and an abandoned palace, the men
said thus, that is, "Because the King who exercised the sovereignty
over that city did much wrong, a deity having sent a fire-ball [256]
through the whole city once in three months, began to destroy it."
Thereupon this Prince who owned the ship, asking for a very clever
clerk from the Minister who ruled the city, arrived there on the
day on which he sends the fire-ball to destroy the city. When he is
sending the fire-ball the Prince asked the deity, "What is the reason
for sending this fire-ball?"
The deity said, "The King who ruled here stole the goods of such
and such men to these extents, put in prison falsely such and such
men." When he is saying a quantity of such-like matters, the clerk
who went with the Prince wrote down the whole.
Thereupon the Prince said to the deity, "The goods which the King
stole from the men I will apportion and give to them. I will assist the
men who were put in prison without cause. Because of it, henceforward
do not send the fire-ball and destroy the city." When he said it the
deity accepted it.
After that, the Prince having sold the goods that were in the ship
and the ship also, and having assisted the families whom the wicked
King had injured, together with the Minister governed the country.
One day this Prince having gone for hunting-sport, when he was going
hunting, a deer, feeling the wound at the shooting and shooting, ran
off in front. The Prince having run after the deer, became separated
from his retinue. Having seen, when going along, that a very beautiful
Princess is at a rock cave in the midst of the forest, when he asked
her [regarding] the circumstance, she said, "A Yaka brought me and
put me in this rock cave. Once in three months he comes to look
[at me]." Thereupon the Prince, calling for his retinue, and when it
came having gone away taking this Princess, gave her in marriage to
the Minister.
After this, because neither this Princess nor the Minister, both of
them, paid regard to this Prince who had assisted them, the Prince
having become angry went away.
Having gone thus, becoming wearied he went to sleep near a pool
in the midst of the forest. At this time, two robbers having come,
placed [there] a very beautiful Princess on a golden bed, and being
unable to divide them, [each] cried out, saying, "The bed for me;
the Princess for me. Give me them."
Thereupon the Prince, having opened his eyes and said, "Who are
ye?" sprang near them, taking his sword, and said, "I am such and
such a Prince. I will kill you. If I am not to kill you, give me the
Princess, and if ye want the bed take ye it away." The two robbers
having become afraid, taking the bed went away.
This Prince went away, taking the Princess, and having arrived at a
country, dwelt there in misery. At this time, her father the King made
public that to the person who, having found, gave him this Princess,
he will give a share from the kingdom, and marry and give her.
Well then, for the purpose of finding her, a young man from the
Princess's country having walked to all places, at last arrived by
chance at the place where both of them are residing. Recognising the
Princess, and during that day night getting a resting-place there and
having stayed at it, he stole the Princess, and went near her father
the King.
Thereupon the Princess said to her father the King, "Do not give me
in marriage to this wicked one. There is a Prince who at the very
first delivered me from robbers. While that Prince was there [after]
finding me, this wicked one having gone [there], stealing me by force
came away." Thereupon the King commanded them to impale this man,
and kill him.
Through grief at [her loss], that Prince who was [there] having come
after seeking her for three months, [the King] gave him this Princess
in marriage, and gave him the kingship of that country, also.
Western Province.
NO. 247
A PRINCESS AND A PRINCE
In a certain country a King had an only daughter, it is said. The
Princess was a possessor of an extremely beautiful figure. The
King taught her the sciences to the extent to which she was able to
learn. This Princess having arrived at maturity, the King ordained
that a Prince who having heaped up masuran [amounting] to five tusk
elephants' loads, should show [and give] him them, may marry her.
After that, although from several countries Princes came to marry
her because this Princess's figure is beautiful, having been unable
to procure masuran [amounting] to five tusk elephants' loads their
minds became disheartened, and they went away.
At last, out of the seven sons of a certain Emperor-King, one person
said to his father the King, "Father, [257] should you not give me
masuran [equal] to five tusk elephants' loads, undoubtedly, cutting
my throat (lit., neck) myself, I shall die."
The King asked, "What is that for?"
"In such and such a country there is a very beautiful daughter of
the King. To marry her, first it is necessary to give masuran [equal]
to five tusk elephants' loads."
Thereupon the Emperor-King having loaded the masuran into a number
of carts, handed them over to the Prince. Well then, this Prince,
taking the masuran also, approached near the Princess's father, the
King. Having weighed his masuran, when he looked [into the account]
still a few were short. Because of it having sold even the tusk
elephant which the Prince brought, and having righted the five tusk
elephants' loads, after he showed them to the King, the father of
the Princess, he gave the Princess in marriage to this Prince.
Because of this Prince's act, the Princes who having come first to
marry the Princess and having been unable went away, became angry,
and formed the design to steal the Princess for themselves.
After the Prince lived in happiness for a little time at the palace
of the King, the father of the Princess, he asked the King, the
Princess's father, for permission to go to his own country with the
Princess. When he had asked permission even many a time because the
father of the Princess was very unwilling, by very strong effort he
set off to go, together with the Princess.
When going thus, the Princess's father gave her ten masuran. As these
two persons, taking the ten masuran, were going journeying they fell
into a great forest wilderness. Leaving behind the forest wilderness,
when they arrived at another country, because [only] two masuran
remained over for them, getting a living became very difficult.
Thereupon the Princess said to the Prince, "I know the means to earn
our living, therefore be not afraid. For [the value of] the remaining
two masuran bring threads of such and such colours," she said.
The Prince having brought them, the beautiful Princess knitted a scarf
[like one] she was wearing, and having put flower work, etc., [in it],
and finished, gave it to the Prince, and said, "Having gone taking this
scarf and sold it to a shop, please bring and give me the money," she
said. Thereupon the Prince having taken it and gone, and having sold
it for twenty masuran, thereafter bought at the price the requisite
threads of several colours, and gave them to the Princess. Well then,
while the Princess is making ready scarves, having obtained money
and rented a house at the city, she dwelt with the Prince.
While [they were] dwelling thus, a Prince came to the shop at which
she sold the scarves, and buying an invaluable scarf of these, and
ascertaining that it was the scarf woven by such and such a Princess,
asked the shopkeeper, "Who brought and sold the scarves?"
Then the shopkeeper said, "Such and such a handsome man sold them to
me," he said.
Having said, "When will the scarf trader come again to the shop?" and
having ascertained it from the shopkeeper, he came on the day which
the shopkeeper mentioned, in order to meet the Prince scarf trader.
Having come thus, and met with the very Prince who trades in the
scarves, and conversed well, he asked, "Who knits the scarves?"
Then the Prince gave answer, "My wife knits them."
Thereupon the other Prince said, "The scarves are extremely good. I
want to get knitted and to take about ten or fifteen of them."
Having said [this], and having come to the place where this Princess
and Prince are living, and given a deposit of part of the money for
the month, he got a resting-place there that day night.
In this manner getting a resting-place and having been there, in the
middle of the night stealing the Princess, the Prince who got the
resting-place took her to his palace. This Prince, for the Princess
whom he stole and the Prince who was her lord to become unconscious,
caused them to drink a poisonous drug while they were sleeping. This
Prince who stole the Princess was a person who at first having gone to
marry her, was not wealthy [enough] to procure the masuran [amounting]
to five tusk elephants' loads.
Well then, on the day on which he went stealing the Princess, he
received a letter from his father the King, that he must go for a
war. Because of it, having put the Princess whom he stole in the
palace, and placed guards, and commanded that they should not allow
her to go outside it, he went for the war.
While she was [there] in this manner, in the morning consciousness
having come to the Prince who had married the Princess and become
her lord, he opened his eyes, and having seen that the Princess was
not there, as though with madness he began to walk to that and this
hand. While going thus, he went to go by the street near the palace
in which his Princess is put. When going there, after the Princess
had looked in the direction of the street from the floor of the upper
story, she saw that her Prince is going; and at that very time having
written a letter she sent it to the Prince by the hand of a messenger.
In the letter was said, "At night, at such and such a time please
come to such and such a place. Then I having arrived there, and both
of us having joined together, let us go by stealth to another country."
The Prince as soon as he received the letter went near a jungle,
and thinking, "Here are no men," read the letter somewhat loudly.
Then a man who, having gone into the jungle to draw out creepers
and having become fatigued, was lying down near there, heard his
reading of the letter. Because the man heard this matter, in the
night time, at the time which was written in the Princess's letter,
taking a sword also, he went to the place which she mentioned. When
the Princess, too, at the appointed time went to the said place, the
man who went to cut creepers having waited there, seized her hand,
and they quickly travelled away. While they were going, in order that
the guards and city residents should not be able to recognise them,
not doing much talking they journeyed quickly in the darkness, by
the jungle, to the road.
The Prince who was appointed the husband of the Princess, having read
without patience the letter which the Princess sent, arrived at the
place mentioned before the appointed time; and having [sat down and]
leaned against a tree until she comes, after the journey he made
went to sleep. At this time the man who went to cut creepers came,
bringing the sword. If he had met with the Prince, he would have even
killed him, with the design to take away the Princess.
This Princess, together with that man, having arrived at a great
forest wilderness, both persons went to sleep under a tree. After
it became light, having opened her eyes, and when she looked having
seen that she had come with a very ugly man, unpleasing to look at,
becoming very distressed she began to weep.
Then the man said, "After you have now come so far with me, should
you leave me you will appoint yourself to destruction. Because of it,
are you willing that I should marry you?" he asked.
The Princess said, "I am willing; but in our country there is a
custom. In that manner we must keep it," she said.
The creeper cutter agreed to it, that is, the woman and man, both of
them, who are to marry, having looked face to face, with two ropes of
fine thread are to be tied at a post, and after they have proclaimed
their willingness or unwillingness for their marrying, they must
marry. "Well then, because in this forest wilderness there are not
ropes of fine thread, let us tie ourselves with creepers," she said.
Because there was not anyone to tie the two persons at once (eka
parata), the other having tied one person, after this one proclaimed
her or his willingness the other was to be tied. Firstly having tied
the Princess with a turn of creeper, after she proclaimed her consent
he unloosed her. After that, the Princess, having very thoroughly
made tight and tied to the tree the creeper cutter, quickly went away
backward to seek her lord.
While going in that way she met with two Vaeddas. Thereupon the two
Vaeddas, with the design to take this Princess, began to make uproar.
Thereupon the Princess said, "Out of you two, I am willing to come
with the skilful one in shooting furthest," she said.
At that time the two Vaeddas, having exerted themselves as much as
possible, shot the two arrows [so as] to go very far, and to fetch
the arrows went running to the place where they fell. While they were
in the midst of it the Princess went off very stealthily.
The two Vaeddas having come and having seen that the Princess
had gone, began to seek her. When they were thus seeking her, that
creeper cutter whom she had tied and placed there when she came away,
somehow or other unfastening the tying, came seeking the Princess;
and having joined with these Vaeddas began to seek [her with them].
While they were in the midst of it, the Princess having gone walking,
met with a trader. The trader, taking her and having journeyed, at noon
became wearied, and went to sleep in the shade under a tree. Then the
Princess taking a part of the trader's clothes and putting them on,
went like a man, and arrived at a royal palace. The King having said
to this one, "What can you do?" [after] ascertaining it, gave this
one the charge to teach the King's son and also the Minister's son.
During the time while she is thus educating in the sciences these
two Princes, one day the Minister's son, because of an accidental
necessary matter went into the room where this Princess who was made
his teacher is sleeping. At the time when he went, the Princess's
outer robe having been aslant, the Minister-Prince saw her two breasts,
and went seeking the King's son to inform him that she was a woman.
The Princess, ascertaining this circumstance, stealing from the
palace the clothes of a royal Prince and putting them on, went away
very hastily. She went away thus in the disguise of a Prince, by a
street near a palace of the chief city in another country.
Because a handsome husband, pleasing to the mind of the daughter of
the King of that country, had not been obtained by her, she remained
for much time without having married. Although many royal Princes
came she was not pleased with them. But having been looking in the
direction of the street from a window of the upper story floor, and
having seen this Princess of extremely beautiful figure going in the
disguise of a Prince, very hastily she sent to her father the King,
and informed him, "Please give me the hand of that Prince who is
travelling in the street, as my lord-husband."
Then the King, having sent a messenger and caused this Prince to be
brought near the King, and shown him the Princess, said, "You must
marry this Princess. If not, I shall appoint you to death." This
Princess who was in the disguise of a Prince through fear of death
consented to it.
After that, having appointed the wedding festival in a great
ostentatious manner, they married these two persons. In that night
the Princess who was in the disguise of a Prince, having told the
other Princess all the dangers that occurred to her, and told her
that she is a Princess, said to her, "Don't inform any one about it."
Remaining in this manner, the Princess who is in the Prince disguise
began to seek her husband. It was thus:--This Princess having caused
to be made ready a very spacious hall which causes the minds of the
spectators who saw it to rejoice to the degree that from the outer
districts men come to look at it, began to cause donations [of food]
to be given to all who arrive there.
Having caused her own figure to be made from wax, and having put
clothes on it, and established it at a place in front of this hall,
she caused guards to be stationed around, and commanded them, "Any
person having come near this wax figure, at the very time when he
has touched it you are to bring that person near me." She said [thus]
to the guards.
While a few days were going, men came from many districts to look
at this hall. Among them, having walked and walked seeking this
Princess, were her Prince and the creeper cutter, the two Vaeddas and
the trader, the royal Prince and the Minister-Prince. The whole of
them having come and seen this wax figure, touched the hand of the
wax figure. The guards who were stationed there, because the whole
of these said persons touched the wax figure, arrested them and gave
charge of them to the Princess.
Thereupon the Princess commanded them to kill the creeper
cutter. Having censured the Vaeddas she told them to go. To the son of
the King who caused her to teach, she gave in marriage the Princess
whom, having come in the disguise of the Prince, she married. Taking
charge of her own Lord she from that time lived in happiness.
Western Province.
The story of the Prince and Princess (No. 8, vol. i) bears a close
resemblance to this tale in some of the incidents; see also No. 108
in vol. ii.
In the Arabian Nights (Lady Burton's ed., vol. iii, p. 62) the story
of Ali Shar and Zumurrud also contains similarities. When the two had
no other means of support, Zumurrud sent her master or husband to buy
a piece of silk and thread for working on it. She then embroidered it
for eight days as a curtain, which Ali Shar sold for fifty dinars to a
merchant in the bazaar, after she had warned him not to part with it
to a passer-by. They lived thus for a year, till at last he sold one
to a stranger, owing to the urging of the merchants. The purchaser
followed him home, inserted opiates into a half plantain which he
presented to him, and when Ali Shar became unconscious fetched his
brother, a former would-be purchaser of Zumurrud, and they carried off
the girl. By arrangement with an old woman, a friend of the youth's,
she lowered herself from a window at midnight, but Ali Shar, who waited
there for her, had fallen asleep, and a Kurdish thief in the darkness
took her away, and left her in charge of his mother. When this woman
fell asleep she escaped on horse-back in male attire, was elected
King at a city at which she arrived, and by giving a monthly feast
to all comers in a great pavilion that she erected for the purpose,
seized all her captors, and caused them to be flayed alive. At last
she found her husband in this way.
In Folklore of the Santal Parganas (collected by Rev. Dr. Bodding),
p. 301, the marriage of the disguised wife of a Prince to a Princess
occurs. While they were travelling the Prince was imprisoned on a
false charge, his wife dressed as a man, was seen by a Princess who
fell in love with her, and agreed to marry the Princess if according
to the custom of her own country the vermilion were applied to the
bride's forehead with a sword (the marriage to the sword). When she
told the Princess her story the latter informed the Raja, who released
the Prince and remarried his daughter to him.
NO. 248
CONCERNING A ROYAL PRINCESS AND TWO THIEVES
In a certain country there was a King. There was one Princess, only,
of the King's. Except the King's Queen and Princess, only, there was
not any other child. At the time when the Princess was twelve years
old the King died. After he died any person does not go to do the
work at the royal house as in the time when the King was there. By
reason of this, the Princess and Queen are doing the work in the
palace without any one.
When not much time had gone, two men came to the royal house without
[anything] to eat and to wear. At that time this royal Queen asked,
"What have ye come for?"
Thereupon these men said that being without [anything] to eat and to
wear they came seeking a means of subsistence.
Then the Queen said, "It is good. If so, remain ye here." The men
having said, "It is good," stayed there. The work she gave them,
indeed, was [this]: she told one person to cause the cattle to graze;
she told one person to pour water [on the plants] at the flower garden.
After that, the man who looks after the cattle having taken the
cattle to a garden of someone or other and left them, was lying
down under a tree. At that time the owner of the garden having come,
and having beaten him and the cattle, drove them away. After that,
the man having put the cattle somewhere else, [after] causing them
to graze there went to the palace.
The man to whom was given the charge to pour the water, from morning
until evening comes having drawn water, became much fatigued. On the
following day, with the thought of changing [the work of] both persons
that day, he asked the man who went to cause the cattle to graze,
"Friend, how is the work you went for? Is it easy or difficult?"
Thereupon the man who looks after the cattle said, "Ane! Friend,
having taken the cattle and put them in a garden, I lie down. When it
becomes evening I come driving them, and tie them up. Except that,
there is not any difficulty for me," he said. Having said thus, the
man who looks after the cattle asked the man who pours the water,
"How, friend, is your work?"
The man said, "What, friend, is my work? Having poured a bucket or
two of water on the flower trees I simply amuse myself."
Then the man who looks after the cattle said, "If so, friend, I
will pour the water at the flower garden to-morrow; you take the
cattle." Thereupon the man, being thankful, said, "It is good."
On the following day both persons did accordingly. That day, also, he
beat the man who looks after the cattle, in an inordinate manner. The
man who remained at home, having poured water until it became night,
was wearied.
Having seen that these two works were difficult, both these men
in the evening spoke together very softly. The Queen and Princess
having become frightened at it, put all the money into an iron box,
and having shut it and taken care of it, put it away.
These men having heard that noise, and having waited until the time
when the Princess and the Queen were sleeping, these two, lifting
up that box, came away with it. There was a waterless well. Having
said they would hide it in the well, one told [the other] to descend
into the well. What did the other do? Taking a large round stone, he
dropped it into the well, so that the man who was in the well should
die. Having dropped it, the man, taking the cash-box, went somewhere
else. That stone not having struck the man who descended into the
well, with much exertion he came to the surface of the ground, and
when he looked the man was not [there].
On the following day, the Queen having arisen, at the time when
she looked she perceived that the cash-box was not [there]. Having
perceived it, she asked the man who remained [regarding it]. The man
said, "Ane! I don't know."
When the Queen asked, "Where is the other man?" this man said,
"That man himself will have taken it. The man is not here."
The Queen having said, "Well, what can I do?" remained without doing
anything.
The man who stayed at the palace having inquired on the following
day, when he looked about met with the cash-box, [the other man]
having placed it in the chena jungle. Having taken it, he came back
and gave it to the Queen.
Thereupon, the Queen being very thankful, and having married and
given that Princess to the man, he remained [there] exercising the
kingship virtuously, as [was done] before.
Western Province.
In Folk-Tales of Bengal (L. Behari Day), p. 160, two thieves determined
to live honestly, and were engaged by a householder, one to tend a
cow, the other to water a Champaka plant, at which he was told to
pour water until some collected round it. The dry earth absorbed all
he poured, and in the afternoon, tired out, he went to sleep. The
cow taken out by the other man to graze was a wild vicious one; it
galloped about into rice fields and sugar-cane plantations, and did
much damage, for which the man was well scolded, together with fourteen
generations of his forefathers. At last he managed to catch the cow,
and bring it home. Each man told the other of the easy day he had had,
intending to get the other man's work; and at last they arranged to
exchange duties. On the following day, when they met in the evening,
both worn out, they laughed, and agreed that stealing was preferable
to what people called honest labour. They decided to dig at the root
of the plant, and learn why it took so much water. Their subsequent
adventures are given in vol. ii, p. 94. A similar story is given in
Folklore of the Santal Parganas (Dr. Bodding), p. 139, the men being
two brothers who went off and were engaged as labourers, one by an
oilman and the other by a potter.
In The Indian Antiquary, vol. xxv, p. 21, in a story by Natesa Sastri,
two rogues who agreed to work for an old woman had similar experiences,
each boasting of the easy day he had had. In this tale the woman had
secret subterranean channels which carried the water to a field that
she cultivated. Afterwards, as she overheard them arranging to rob
her she buried her treasure in a corner of the house, filled the box
which had contained it with stones and pieces of old iron, told them
she hid it in the well during the dark half of the month (when thieves
might try to take it), and made them carry it there and drop it in. At
night they went to remove it, the man who descended opened it in the
well and found she had tricked them, but being afraid the other would
leave him in the well he emptied it, sat in it, said it was full of
treasure, and told the other to draw it up. The man absconded with it
as soon as he raised it, until a voice told him to walk more slowly,
on which he opened it and found the other rogue in it.
NO. 249
HOW THE NAGAYA BECAME THE PRINCESS
In a certain country there was a royal Prince, it is said. This Prince
one day having gone for garden sport, and while on his return journey
having seen a beautiful woman belonging to a nobleman's family, his
mind was attracted towards her, it is said. When the Prince with his
mind thus greatly attracted towards the woman is feeling keen sorrow,
not obtaining sleep, dwelling foodless, for several days in succession
not having eaten, his body grew extremely emaciated.
At the time when his father the King inquired what were the reasons of
it, he informed him that he wanted to take in marriage a nobleman's
daughter, it is said. The King having heard his word, asked the
assemblage of Ministers whether the transaction was suitable or
unsuitable. And the assemblage of Ministers having said that should
he take [a wife] in marriage in that manner a disgrace will go to the
royal race, he rejected it. But having seen that because of the young
Prince's grief from day to day his body becomes [more] emaciated, his
father the King took and gave him a [bride in] marriage from another
royal family. Yet except that he contracted this marriage because
of the urgent request of his father the King, for himself, indeed,
he did not desire even to look in the direction of the Princess whom
he married.
At the time when he is thus, having concealed from the King that he
does not pay regard to his married wife, since thereafter the Prince
attempted the obtaining of the nobleman's daughter for himself [the
King] ordered the Prince to go out of the country.
The Prince, upon the word of his father the King having mounted on a
ship and become ready to go to the foreign country, put the Princess
whom he took in marriage into a rock house (cave), and having placed
guards around, and made them give her food once in four days, said
thus to the Princess, "When, having gone to a foreign country, I come
again to this country, having borne a Prince like me do thou keep and
rear him virtuously. Should it not be so I will speedily cause thee
to be killed and cut into bits," he said. The Prince said thus with
the intention of indeed killing the Princess. Why was that? Because
from the day when he contracted the marriage there had not been a
[conjugal] association of these two.
Well then, she ascertained that she cannot perform even one of the
orders that were told to the Princess. Well, this Princess's father
had presented and given to her two tunnelling rats. [258] By the help
of these rats having made a tunnel [by which] to go outside from the
rock house, she came out by the tunnel, and making even the guards
her friends, went near a woman who knows extremely clever dances;
and having given money, [after] learning up to the other shore itself
[259] her art of dancing, she went to the neighbourhood [of the place]
from which on the first occasion the Prince was to mount into the
ship, putting on a dress that was attracting the wonder of each of the
persons who saw it, in such a manner that anyone should be unable to
recognise her. Having shown dances in front of the Prince, and caused
his mind to long for her, and that day night having slept with him,
on the following day she went to the house of the King her father.
The Prince having gone to foreign countries, the Princess was living
in happiness at the house of her father until learning news of his
coming again to his own country. Having heard news that the Prince
descended from the ship, and having gone to the rock house together
with the guards of whom at first she was making friends, she remained
[there] in the manner which the Prince ordered on going. Because the
Prince came after a number of years had passed away, she had a fine
infant Prince.
Well then, the Prince, having descended from the ship and having
come with the intention [after] having killed his wife to take in
marriage the nobleman's Princess, opened the door of the rock house,
and at the time when he looked saw that the Princess is [there] with
an infant Prince in the very manner he said. While he was in extreme
anger, the Princess, while in the midst between the Royal Council
and her husband, related the method by which she obtained her child.
After that, when in a very public manner the Prince completely
abandoned his wife her parents did not take charge of her. Because
of it, having gone near an indigent woman she dwelt with her
child. Because the Prince had extreme affection for the child he
thought to take the child [after] having given poison to the Princess
and killed her.
At this time, because the Situ Princess whom the Prince was intending
to take in marriage had been taken and given and settled for another
person, he contracted marriage with another Princess. On the day of
the festival at which he contracts [260] this marriage, on his sending
to his indigent former wife a sort of cakes in which poison was mixed,
when she was partaking of them she performed the act of Yama. [261]
After she died, a Naga maiden began to give milk to the infant. The
Prince having gone on horseback to bring the infant, at the time when
he brought it to the royal house the Naga maiden also went behind
[in her snake form]. The Prince having seen the Naga maiden while
the head part of the Nagaya was inside the doorway and the tail part
outside the doorway, when he cut it in two with his sword the Nagaya
vanished, and the Princess who was the mother of the infant remained
in front [of him]. [262] The Prince ascertaining [thereby] that he
was unable to kill her, established her in the post of Chief Queen.
Western Province.
NO. 250
THE STORY OF THE COBRA'S BITE
In a certain country there was a King, it is said. Belonging to that
King there was only a single son-Prince. He handed over this Prince to
a Royal Preceptor for teaching him the arts and sciences. Although
until this Prince became big to a [considerable] degree he was
learning near the Royal Preceptor, he did not properly get to know
even a single letter.
While he was staying thus, a King of another country sent a letter to
his father the King. Thereupon he gave this letter to the Prince to
read. The Prince, bringing the letter near his forehead, looked at it,
rubbing his eye he looked, (after) running round the house he looked;
but he was unable to read it. The royal retinue who saw this laughed.
At that time anger having arisen in the King concerning this, he very
quickly caused the Royal Preceptor to be brought. He spoke to him
angrily. The Royal Preceptor, becoming afraid [said], "Your Majesty,
your son is unable to learn. Let this [other] child who learnt at the
same time with that Prince, and this child who came to learn after
that, read, if you please;" and he presented two children before
him. Thereupon the two children read the letter with ease. After
that, the King being angry with his Prince, settled to kill him on
the following day.
His mother the Queen having arrived at much grief concerning this, on
the following day, at the point of its becoming light, having tied up
a packet of masuran and given it to him, ordered him to set off and go
away from the country. And the Prince, in the manner his mother said,
taking the packet of masuran set off and went away from the country.
While he was thus going he saw a place where an astrologer, assembling
children (lamo) together, is teaching. The Prince having halted at
that place and spoken to the teacher about learning [under him],
remained there. And although, having stayed there much time, he
endeavoured to learn, while he was there also he was unable to learn.
During this time the astrologer-teacher having become afflicted with
disease, dismissed and started off the whole of the scholars. He
told the Prince to go away. At the time when the Prince was going, he
approached to take permission from the teacher. Thereupon the teacher,
having spoken to the Prince, said, "Learning even the advice which I
now give to yourself, take it and establish it in your mind as long
as there is life." The Prince answered, "It is good."
The advice indeed was this:--"Having gone to a place to which you did
not go [before], should they give any seat for sitting down, without
sitting there at once you must draw out and shake the seat, and [then]
sit down. While you are at any place, should they give to eat, not
eating the food at once, [but] taking a very little from the food,
after having given it to an animal and looked at it a little time you
must eat. Having come to an evil place to take sleep, not lying down
at once you must lie down at the time of being sleepy. Not believing
anything that any person has only said, should you hear it with the ear
and see it with the eye [even], not believing it on that account only,
[but] having inquired still further, you must act."
[After] hearing this advice the Prince having set out from there,
went away. At the time when he had gone a considerable distance,
the Prince became hungry; and the Prince having halted at a place,
said to the house man, "Ane! Friend, I am very hungry. I will give
you the expenses; give me to eat for one meal."
Having said [this], the Prince unfastened the packet of masuran that
was in his hand, and from it gave him a single masurama. The man after
having seen these told his wife about the packet of masuran that
the Prince had. [263] The wife also having become desirous to take
the packet of masuran, told her husband the stratagem to kill the
Prince and take them. Talking in this way, they dug a secret (boru)
hole and covered it, and having fixed a seat upon it made him sit
there to eat food.
The Prince having established in his mind the advice which the
astrologer-teacher gave, drew away and shook the seat; at the time
when he endeavoured to look [at the place] all the things that were
there fell into the secret hole. Having seen this and arrived at fear,
the Prince set off from there and began to go away.
Having thus gone a considerable distance, and having halted at a place
because of hunger, the Prince said to a man, "On my giving the expenses
give me to eat for one meal." Thereupon the man said, "It is good."
Then the Prince, having unfastened the packet of masuran, bringing a
masurama gave it to the man. The man having told his wife also about
the matter of the masuran, they arranged a means to kill the Prince
and take the masuran. Having thought of giving poison to the Prince to
kill him while here, they put poison into the food, and having set a
seat and brought a kettle of water for washing himself, gave it to him.
The Prince, after washing his [right] hand and mouth, having gone
and sat down, according to the advice of the astrologer-teacher
taking from all the food a very little gave it to the dog and cat
that were near the Prince, and remained looking [at them] a little
time. While he was [waiting] thus, in a little time the dog and cat
died and fell down. Having seen this and become afraid, the Prince
set off from there and began to go away.
Having gone on and on in this way, near the palace of another King
through hunger-weakness he fell, and struck the ground. The men who
saw this having gone running, said to the King [that] a man like a
royal Prince had fallen down, and was not far from the palace. The
King gave orders, "Very speedily bring him here." Thereupon the men
having lifted him up, took him to the royal house.
While he was there, when he asked him [regarding] the circumstances,
"I am very weak through hunger; [264] for many days I have not obtained
any food," he said.
"At first having made rice gruel, give ye him a little," the King said.
Thereupon the servants having said, "It is good" (Yahapataeyi),
prepared and gave it. After his weakness was removed in this way,
he asked him [about] the circumstances. Commencing at the beginning,
from the time (taen) when he went near the Royal Preceptor, he told
the story before the King (raju).
Then the King spoke, "Wast thou unable to learn letters? Not thus
should a royal Prince understand. Wast thou unable to learn the art
of swords, the art of bows, etc.?" he asked.
Thereupon, when answering he said he knew the whole of those arts;
only letters he did not know.
At that time the King thought thus, "Because of his not knowing
only letters, ordering them to kill him was wrong, the first-born
son. Remain thou near me," he commanded.
Belonging to the King there was a single daughter only. As there were
no sons he regarded this Prince like a son. When not much time had
gone thus, the King thought of giving [a Princess] in marriage to
him. The King having spoken to him, said thus, "Tell me which place
is good for bringing [a Princess from], to marry to thee." Many a
time he told him [this].
And the Prince when replying on all the occasions said, "I am not
willing to leave His Majesty the King and go away."
Thereupon ascertaining that he says thus through willingness that he
should marry the King's daughter to him, he said, "I am not willing
to give my daughter to thee. Shouldst thou say, 'Why is that?' seven
times now, seven Princes married (baendeya) that person. They having
died, on the following day after the Princes married her it befel
that I must bury them. Because death will occur to thee in the very
same way, I am not willing to give my daughter to thee," he said.
Thereupon the Prince said thus, "To a person for whom death is
not ordained death does not come; death having been ordained that
person will die. Because of that, I am wishful to marry (bandinta)
that very Princess," he said. Then the King fulfilled his wish. Thus
they two having married, according to the custom he sent them away
[into a separate dwelling].
While he was with that very Princess, having remembered the warning
given on that day by the astrologer-teacher, being heavy with
sleepiness while eating betel, he woke up many times. At this time
the Princess had gone to sleep.
[At last] he hears a sound in the house. The Prince having heard it
and become afraid, at the time when he was looking about [after]
taking his sword in his hand, he saw a cobra of a size equal to a
Palmira trunk descending from the roof. This cobra, indeed, was a
young man who had tied his affection to this Princess, a person who
having died through his love [for her] was [re-]born a cobra. Through
anger towards all who marry the Princess he killed them.
The royal Prince having gone aside, in a little time it descended
until it was near the ground. [Then] the Prince by one stroke of the
sword cut the cobra into three pieces. Thus the danger which there
had been for much time that day was destroyed.
On the following day, according to custom with fear the servants
arrived in front of the Princess's house. But the Prince having come
out, placed the three pieces of the cobra upon a post. Thereupon
having been amazed, the royal servants very speedily ran off and told
the King (rajuhata) about this. The King, also, having arrived there
was astonished, and commanded them to take the trunk of the cobra to
the cemetery, and burn it.
During these very days, another King having asked the Great King for
assistance for a war, sent letters. And the King sent this Prince
to the war, with the army. When he had thus gone, in a few days the
Princess bore a son.
The war lasted twelve years. After twelve years, having conquered
in the war he was ready to come to his own country. By this time
the Princess's son had become big. But the people of the country,
not knowing whose son [he was], thought him a person who had married
the Princess. And this news had become spread through the country.
The royal Prince having arrived near his own country, the Prince
got to hear the news; but having remembered the warning of the
astrologer-teacher, he thought that to believe it in the future he
must make inquiry.
Coming close to the royal palace by degrees, he addressed the army;
and thereafter, after he had beaten on the notification tom-tom,
"Assemble ye," having allowed them to go, when it became night he
arrived inside the palace by an outer window. Thus he arrived in the
house called after the Princess.
Having come in that way and seen that a youth was living with the
Princess, he became angry, and said, "I will cut down the two persons,"
taking the sword in his hand. [But] having remembered the warning of
the astrologer-teacher, he said, "Without being hasty I will still
test them," and again he put the sword into the sheath.
At the sound, the [young] Prince who was with his mother opened his
eyes, and having seen his father and become afraid, saying, "Mother,
mother," crept under the bed. The mother, too, having opened her
eyes at this time and when she looked having seen her lord, spoke
[to him]. Thereupon he told the Princess the whole circumstances,
and for the Princess there was great sorrow [at the report spread
regarding her].
On the morning of the following day, the Prince having seen the
Great King told him about the war, and the manner in which he got
the victory in it. And the King, being much pleased, appointed great
festivals at the city; and having decorated the Prince with the Crown
and given him the kingship, the King began to perform acts in view
of the other world.
Western Province.
Compare the advice given to the Brahmana in No. 209 in this vol.,
and the variants appended.
In Folk-Tales of Bengal (L. Behari Day), p. 100, a Queen was married
afresh every day to a person selected by the royal elephant, this
new King each morning being found dead in some mysterious manner
in the bed-room. A merchant's son who had been obliged to leave his
home was chosen as King by the elephant, and heard of the nocturnal
danger. While he lay awake armed, he saw a long thread issue from
the Queen's left nostril; it grew thicker until at last it was a
huge snake. He at once cut off its head, and remained there as the
permanent King.
In the Katha Sarit Sagara (Tawney), vol. i, p. 137, each time the
daughter of a King was married the bride-groom was found dead in the
chamber on the following morning. When royal bride-grooms could be
obtained no longer, the King ordered that from each house in turn a
person of either the royal or Brahmana caste should be brought and
allowed to remain in the room for one night, on the understanding that
anyone who survived should be married to the Princess. All died, until
at last a brave Brahmana from another country offered to take the place
of the son of the widow with whom he was lodging. He remained awake,
and in the night saw a terrible Rakshasa open the door, and stretch
out his arm. The Brahmana at once stepped forward and cut off the
arm, and the Rakshasa fled. The hero was afterwards married to the
Princess. He met with the Rakshasa in the same way at another city,
and learnt from him that by Siva's orders he was preventing the
Princesses from being married to cowards.
In the same work, vol. ii, p. 449, there is an account of a Brahmana
who placed himself under a teacher at Pataliputra, but was so stupid
that he did not manage to learn a single syllable.
In Folk-Tales of Kashmir (Knowles), 2nd ed., p. 32 ff., there is a
variant; see note after No. 209 in this volume. The closest resemblance
is in the episode in which the Prince takes the place of the Potter's
son who was about to be summoned to be married to the Princess whose
husbands had all died on their wedding night. During the night the
Prince was careful not to sleep; he lay down with his sword in his
hand. In the middle of the night he saw two snakes issue from the
nostrils of the Princess, and come towards him. He struck at them and
killed them. Next morning the King was surprised to find him alive,
and chatting with his daughters. The Prince then told the King who
he was, and he became the heir apparent.
In Sagas from the Far East, p. 291, after a certain King died, the
persons who were elected in turn as his successor died each night
without any apparent cause. Vikramaditya and his companion, a youth
who had been reared by wolves, took the place of a youth who had
been chosen as King, and on inquiry learnt that as secret offerings
that were made by the former King to the devas and spirits had been
discontinued, it must be the offended spirits who killed each new King
every night. When the offerings were made the deities were appeased,
and no more deaths occurred in this way.
In the Arabian Nights (Lady Burton's ed., vol. iii, p. 263), there
is an account of a haunted house in Baghdad; any person who stayed
during the night in it was found dead in the morning. This was the act
of a Jinni (demon) who was guarding a treasure which was to be made
over to a specified person only. He broke the necks of all others,
but when the right man came he gave him the treasure.
There is a variant of the first danger from which the youth escaped,
in a Sierra Leone story given in Cunnie Rabbit, Mr. Spider, and the
Other Beef (Cronise and Ward), p. 251. A King who had been falsely
told that his son was likely to depose him, gave him two tasks which
he accomplished successfully, and afterwards caused a deep hole to be
dug, placed broken bottles in the bottom, spread a mat over it, set
a chair on it, and told the boy to sit on it. The boy replied that he
never sat down without first shaking the place. When he beat the mat
with a heavy stick the chair fell into the hole, and the boy escaped.
For the pit-fall compare No. 159, vol. ii, and the appended notes.
NO. 251.
HOW THEY KILLED THE GREAT-BELLIED TAMBI [265]
In a certain country there was a King, it is said. This King's palace
having been dug into by three dexterous thieves, they stole and got
the goods.
Having seized these very three robbers, for the purpose of effecting
their trial they brought them into the presence of the King. When the
King asked these three robbers if they committed the robbery or not,
they said that they committed the robbery. "If you thus committed
the robbery are ye guilty or not guilty persons?" he asked. Thereupon
they gave notice that they were not guilty persons.
When he asked, "How is that?" [they said that], as it was easy for
them to dig into [the wall], because when the mason built the palace
the mortar had been put in loosely, the mason was the guilty person
owing to his doing that matter.
Thereupon the King having summoned the mason, when he asked him
whether, because he put in the mortar loosely, he was guilty or not
guilty, he gave notice that he was not guilty.
When he asked again, "How is that?" the mason said thus, "I had
appointed a labourer to mix the lime. Owing to his inattention when
doing it the mortar had become loose. Because of that, the labourer
is the guilty person," the mason said.
Thereupon having summoned the said labourer, he asked him whether
because he put the mortar in loose (i.e., improperly mixed) he was
guilty or not guilty. Then he gave notice that he was not the guilty
person. How is that? While he was staying mixing the lime, having
seen a beautiful woman going by that road, because his mind became
attached to her the work became neglected. The labourer said that
the woman was the guilty person.
Thereupon having summoned the woman, just as before he asked whether,
regarding the circumstance that having gone by that road she caused
the neglect of the labourer's work, she was guilty or not guilty. She,
too, said that she was not guilty. Why was that? A goldsmith having
promised some of her goods, through her going to fetch them because he
did not give them on the [appointed] day, this fault having occurred
owing to her doing this business, the goldsmith was the guilty person.
Thereupon having summoned the goldsmith, when he asked him just as
before he was not inclined to give any reply. Because of that, the
King, having declared the goldsmith the guilty person, commanded them
to kill the goldsmith by [causing him to be] gored by the tusk of
the festival tusk elephant. He ordered them to kill this goldsmith,
having set him against a large slab of rock, and causing the tusk
elephant to gore him through the middle of the belly.
Well then, when the executioner was taking the goldsmith he began to
weep. When [the King] asked him why that was, the goldsmith said thus,
"Two such shining clean tusks of the King's festival tusk elephant
having bored a hole through my extremely thin body and having struck
against the stone slab, will be broken. Because of sorrow for that
I wept," he gave answer.
"What is proper to be done concerning it?" the King asked.
Then the goldsmith says, "In the street I saw an extremely
great-bellied Tambi. If in the case of that Tambi, indeed, the tusk
elephant gore the belly, no wound will occur to the two tusks,"
the goldsmith said.
Thereupon the King having summoned the great-bellied Tambi, caused
the tusk elephant to gore him through his belly.
The goldsmith and the whole of the aforesaid [persons] went away
in happiness.
Western Province.
In The Indian Antiquary, vol. xx, p. 78, a South-Indian variant was
given by Natesa Sastri. In order to commit robbery, a thief made a hole
through a wall newly built of mud which slipped down on his neck and
killed him. His comrade found the body, and reported that the owner
of the house had murdered him. The owner blamed the cooly who built
the wall; he blamed the cooly who used too much water in mixing the
mud; he attributed it to the potter's making too large a mouth for
the water-pot; he blamed a dancing-girl for passing at the time and
distracting his attention. She in turn laid the blame on a goldsmith
who had not re-set in time a jewel which she gave him; he blamed a
merchant who had not supplied it in time, though often demanded. He
being unintelligent could offer no excuse, and was therefore impaled
for causing the thief's death.
NO. 252
HOW MARAYA WAS PUT IN THE BOTTLE
In a certain country, a woman without a husband in marriage bore a son,
it is said. At that time the men living in the neighbourhood having
come, asked the woman, "Who is thy husband?" Then the woman replied,
"My husband is Maraya." [266]
Maraya having heard this word and being much pleased, thought,
"I must get this woman's son into a successful state."
Having thought thus, after some time had gone, speaking to the son
Maraya said thus, that is to say, "Become a Vedarala. I will give
you one medicine only. Should I stay at the head side of any sick
person, by giving the sick person the medicine the sick person will
become well. Should I be at the feet side you cannot cure the sick
person." After that, this son having gone from place to place and
having applied medical treatment, became a very celebrated doctor.
One day when this Vedarala went to look at a sick person whom he very
greatly liked, Maraya was at the feet part of the sick person. At
that time the Vedarala having thought, "I must do a good work," told
them to completely turn round the bed and the sick person. Then the
head side became the part where Maraya stayed. Well then, when he
had given him the Vedarala's medicine the sick person became well.
Maraya having become angry with the Vedarala concerning this matter,
and having thought, "I must kill him," Maraya sat on a chair of
the Vedarala's.
Because the Vedarala had a spell which enabled him to perform the
matters that he thought [of doing], [267] he [repeated it mentally
and] thought, "May it be as though Maraya is unable to rise from the
chair." Having thought thus, "Now then, kill me," the Vedarala said
to Maraya.
Well then, because Maraya could not rise from the chair he told the
Vedarala to release him from it.
Then the Vedarala said to Maraya, "If, prior to killing me, you will
give me time for three years I will release you," he said.
Maraya, being helpless, [268] having given the Vedarala three years'
time went away.
After the three years were ended Maraya went to the Vedarala's
house. The Vedarala having become afraid, did a trick for this. The
Vedarala said to Maraya, "Kill me, but before you kill me, having
climbed [269] up the coconut tree at this door you must pluck a young
coconut to give me," he said.
After Maraya climbed up the coconut tree, having uttered the Vedarala's
spell the Vedarala thought, "May Maraya be unable to descend from
the tree."
Well then, Maraya, ascertaining that he could not descend from the
tree, told the Vedarala to release him. At that time the Vedarala,
asking [and obtaining] from Maraya [a promise] that he should not
kill him until still three years had gone, having released Maraya
sent him away.
The three years having been ended, on the day when Maraya comes to
the Vedarala's house the Vedarala entered a room, and shutting the
door remained [there]. But Maraya entered straightway (kelimma)
inside the room.
Then the Vedarala asked, "How did you come into a room the doors of
which were closed?"
Thereupon Maraya said, "I came by the hole into which the key is put."
The Vedarala then said, it is said, "If I am to believe that matter,
be pleased to creep inside this bottle," he said.
Well then, after Maraya crept into the bottle the Vedarala tightened
the lid (mudiya) of the bottle, and having beaten it down put it away.
From that day, when going to apply medical treatment on all days
having gone taking the bottle in which he put Maraya, he placed the
bottle at the head side of the sick person; and having applied medical
treatment cured the sick person. In this manner he got his livelihood.
Western Province.
In The Indian Antiquary, vol. i, p. 345, in a Bengal story by
Mr. G. H. Damant, a shepherd discriminates a demon from a man whose
form he has taken,--living with his wife during the man's absence,--by
boring through a reed, and saying that the true person must be the
one who could pass through it. As the demon was passing through it
he stopped both ends of the reed with mud, and killed him.
In the South Indian Tales of Mariyada Raman (P. Ramachandra Rao),
p. 43, a husband was returning home on an unlucky day (the ninth
of the lunar fortnight), with his wife, who had been visiting her
parents. When he left her on the path for a few moments, "Navami
Purusha," the deity who presided over the ninth day, made his
appearance in the form of the husband and went away with the wife. The
husband followed, and took the matter before Mariyada Raman. The judge
got a very narrow-necked jug prepared, and declared that he would give
her to the claimant who could enter and leave the jug without damaging
it or himself. When the deity did it the judge made obeisance to him,
and was informed that the man's form had been taken by him to punish
him for travelling on an unlucky day against the Purohita's advice.
In Folk-Tales of Bengal (Day), p. 182, when a Brahmana returned home
after some years' absence he was turned away by a person of his own
appearance, and the King could not decide the matter. A boy elected
as King by others in their play offered to settle it, and producing a
narrow-mouthed phial stated that the one who entered it should have
judgment in his favour. When the ghost transformed himself into "a
small creature like an insect" and crept inside, the boy corked it
up and ordered the Brahmana to throw it into the sea and repossess
his home. The first part resembles a story in the Kathakoça (Tawney),
p. 41, the interloper being a deity in it.
In the well-known tale in the Arabian Nights (Lady Burton's ed.,
vol. i, p. 33), the receptacle in which the Jinni was imprisoned was
"a cucumber-shaped jar of yellow copper" or brass, closed by a leaden
cap stamped with the seal-ring of Solomon. In vol. iii, p. 54, and
vol. iv, p. 32, other Ifrits were enclosed in similar jars made of
brass, sealed with lead.
NO. 253
THE WOMAN PRE-EMINENT IN CUNNING [270]
At a city there was a very rich Hetti young man. During the time when
he was [there], they brought a bride [271] for the young man. What
of their bringing her! The Hetti young man was [engaged] in giving
goods to many ships. Because of it, while the bride [272] married
(lit., tied) to the Hetti young man was staying at home, the Hettiya
went to give goods to ships. Having gone, [before his] coming back
about six months passed.
At that time, [while he was absent], the Hetti girl who was married
[to him] one day went to the well to bring [water]. When she was going,
a beard-cutting Barber man having stayed on the path and seen this
beautiful woman, laughed. Thereupon the woman, not looking completely
on that hand, looked at him with the roguish eye (hora aehin), and
went to the village.
On the following day also, the Barber having come, just as before
laughed. At that time also the woman, just as before, looked with
the roguish eye, and went away.
The woman on the following day also came in order to go for water. That
day also, the Barber having stayed on the path laughed. That day the
woman having spoken to the Barber, asked, "What did you laugh for
when I was coming? Why?"
The Barber said, "I did not laugh at anything whatever but because
of the affection which you caused."
Thereupon the woman asked, "Were you inclined to come with me?" The
Barber said, "Yes."
Then this woman said, "If you come, you cannot come in that way. [273]
The Great King having gone, after the Second King has come to Ceylon
(Seyilama), after jasmine flowers have blossomed without [being on]
creepers, having cut twenty, having stabbed thirty persons, having
pounded three persons into one, when two dead sticks are being kneaded
into one having mounted on two dead ones, should you come you can
talk with me."
Thereupon the Barber went home, and grief having bound him because
he could not do [according to] the words which this woman said,
he remained unable to eat cooked rice also.
At that time the Barber woman asked, "What are you staying [in this
way] for, not eating cooked rice, without life in your body?"
The Barber said, "I thought of taking in marriage such and such a
Hetti woman. Owing to it the Hetti woman said, 'When the Great King
has gone, when the Second King has come to Ceylon, when the flower
of the creeperless jasmine has blossomed, having cut twenty, having
stabbed thirty, having pounded three persons into one, when two dead
sticks are becoming knocked into one, come mounted on the back of
two dead ones.' Because I cannot do it I remain in grief."
Thereupon the Barber woman said, "Indo! Don't you get so much grief
over that. For it, I will tell you an advice. 'The Great King having
gone, when the Second King came to Ceylon,' meant (lit., said), when
the sun has set and when the moon is rising. 'When the creeperless
jasmine flower is blossoming,' meant, when the stars are becoming
clear. 'Having cut twenty,' meant, having cut the twenty finger [and
toe] nails. 'Having stabbed thirty,' meant, having well cleaned the
teeth (with the tooth-stick), to wash them well. 'Having pounded three
persons into one,' meant, having eaten a mouthful of betel (consisting
of betel leaf, areka-nut, and lime) you are to come. [These] are the
matters she said. [274] Because of it, why are you staying without
eating? If you must go, without getting grieved go in this manner,
and come back."
Thereupon the Barber having gone in that manner, while he was there
yet two [other] persons heard that those two are talking. When they
heard--there is a custom in that country. The custom indeed is [this]:
There is a temple [kovila] in the country. Except that they give
[adulterers, or perhaps only offenders against caste prohibitions
in such cases as this?] as demon offerings (bili) for the temple,
they do not inflict a different punishment [on them]. Because of it,
seizing these two they took them for the purpose of giving [them as]
demon offerings for the temple.
This Barber woman, learning about it, in order to save her husband
undertook the charge of the food offering [275] for the temple,
and went to the temple taking rice and coconuts. Having gone there,
and said that they were for the kapuwa [276] (priest) of the temple,
she came away calling her husband, too.
Then to that Hetti woman this Barber woman [said], "Having said that
you are cooking the food offering (puse) which I brought, stay at the
temple until the time when the Hettirala comes. The deity will not take
you as the demon offering (billa). [277] Your husband having come back
will seek and look [for you]. When he comes seeking, say, 'I having
married my husband, he went away now six months ago. Because of it,
having told my husband to come I undertook the charge for [cooking]
the food offering. [278] Just as I was undertaking the charge he
came. Because of it, not having seen the face of my lord (himiya),
paying respect to the deity I came to cook the food offering.' Continue
to say this."
Thereupon the Hetti woman having done in that very manner, the Hettiya
came. Well then, she having made the woman [appear] a good woman,
[her husband], taking charge of her, came calling her to the house,
and she remained [there] virtuously (honda seyin).
This story was related by a woman in the North-central Province, to
a man whom I sent to write down some stories at a village at which I
had been promised them. Her name, given as Sayimanhami (Lady Simon),
and expressions she used, show that she probably belonged originally
to the Western Province.
It is difficult to understand how the condemned persons escaped. The
interesting fact of the tale is the reference to the presentation of
human offerings at a temple devoted to either one of the demons or
the goddess Kali. The Sinhalese expression, deviyan wahanse, deity,
given in the text, might be applied to either.
In the Katha Sarit Sagara (Tawney), vol. i, p. 91, it is related in
one story that "whenever a man is found at night with another man's
wife, he is placed with her within the inner chamber of the Yaksha's
(Manibhadra) temple." In the morning the man was punished by the
King; the country in which this occurred is not stated, but it was
far from Tamralipta. When a merchant and a woman were so imprisoned,
the merchant's wife, hearing of it, went at night with offerings,
and was permitted to enter. She changed clothes with the woman, and
sent her out; and in the morning, as the woman in the temple was
found to be the merchant's own wife, the King dismissed the case,
and freed the merchant "as it were from the mouth of death." Thus the
usual punishment appears to have been death, as in the Sinhalese tale.
NO. 254
MATALANA
In a certain country there was a man called Matalana, it is said. This
man was the son of the concubine of the King of that country, it is
said. That Matalana from infancy was getting his living by committing
robbery.
Having been committing robbery in this manner, and having arrived at
the age of a young man, Matalana having spoken to his mother, asked,
"Mother, who is our father?"
Thereupon his mother says to him, "Son, thou art not a so-so (ese-mese)
person. The King of this country is thy father."
When his mother said thus, having said, "It is good. If so, I will do
a good work," he began to steal things belonging to the King. During
the time while he is thus committing robbery, the King in various
ways having fixed guards, endeavoured to catch the thief, but he was
unable to seize him.
Matalana getting to know that guard has been very carefully placed at
the royal house, without going for robbery to the royal house began to
steal the goods belonging to the King that are outside. Thereupon the
King, having thought that somehow or other having caught the thief he
must put him in the stocks, and having made the guards stop everywhere,
caused a carpenter to be brought and said, "Having seized the thief who
steals the things that are the King's property, to make him fast in the
stocks make a pair of stocks in a thorough manner. Regarding it, ask
for and take the whole of the requisite things from the royal house."
When the King ordered it, the carpenter, taking all the things suitable
for it and having gone, made the stocks. On the day on which they
were finished, Matalana, having arrived at the carpenter's house,
and having been talking very well [with him], asks the carpenter,
"Friend, what is this you are making?"
Thereupon the carpenter says, "Why, friend, don't you know? These
are indeed the stocks I am making for the purpose of putting in the
stocks the thief who steals the goods belonging to the King," he said.
When Matalana asked, "Ane! How do you put the thief in the stocks
in this," the carpenter having put his two legs in the two holes of
the stocks, to show him the method of putting him in the stocks at
the time while he is making them, Matalana, having [thus] put the
carpenter in the stocks, taking the key in his hand [after locking
them], struck the carpenter seven or eight blows, and said, "[After]
opening a hard trap remain sitting in it your own self, master,"
and saying a four line verse also, [279] went away.
On the following day, when the King came to look at the stocks he
saw that the carpenter has been put in the stocks. When he asked,
"What is this?" he ascertained that the thief named Matalana, who is
stealing the goods belonging to the King, had come, and having put
the carpenter in the stocks and struck him blows went away. Thereupon
the King having said, "It is good, the way the thief was put in the
stocks!" dismissed the carpenter and went away.
After that, Matalana having gone stealing the King's own clothes that
were given for washing at the washerman's house, at night descended
to the King's pool, and began to wash them very hard. The washerman,
ascertaining that circumstance, gave information to the King. Thereupon
the King, having mounted upon the back of a horse and the army also
surrounding him, went near the pool to seize Matalana.
Matalana getting to know that the King is coming, the army surrounding
him, came to the bank at one side of the pool, carrying a cooking pot
that he himself had taken, and having launched [it bottom upwards]
and sent it [into the pool], began to cry out, "Your Majesty, look
there! The thief sank under the water; [that is his head]. We will
descend into the pool from this side; Your Majesty will please look
out from that side."
While he was making the uproar, the foolish King, having unfastened
[and thrown down] his clothes, descended into the pool.
Then Matalana [quickly came round in the dark, and] putting on the
King's clothes, and having mounted upon the back of the horse, says,
"Look there, Bola, the thief! It is indeed he." When he said, "Seize
ye him," the royal soldiers having seized the King, who had unloosed
[and thrown off] his clothes, tied him even while he was saying,
"I am the King." Having tied the King to the leg of the horse on
which Matalana had mounted, and, employing the King's retinue, having
caused them to thrash him, Matalana, in the very manner in which he was
[before], having unloosed [and thrown off] the clothes [of the King],
bounded off and went away.
After that, the retinue who came with the King having gone taking the
[supposed] thief to the royal house, when they were looking perceiving
that instead of the thief they had gone tying the King, were in fear
of death. The King, not becoming angry at it, consoled his servants;
and having been exceedingly angry regarding the deed done by Matalana,
and having thought by what method he must seize Matalana, made them
send the notification tom-tom everywhere.
After that, Matalana, again arranging a stratagem to steal clothes
from the washerman, and preparing a very tasty sort of cakes, hung the
cakes on the trees in the jungle, in the district where the washerman
washes. Matalana, taking in his hand two or three cakes and having
gone eating and eating one, asked the washerman for a little water.
Thereupon the washerman asked Matalana, "What is that you are eating?"
"Why, friend, haven't you eaten the Kaeppitiya [280] cakes that are
on the trees near this, where you wash?" he asked.
Thereupon the washerman says, "Ane! Friend, although I washed so many
days I have not eaten cakes of trees of the style you mention that
are in this district," he said.
"If so, please eat one from these, to look [what they are like]."
When he gave it to the washerman, the washerman having eaten the cake
and having found much flavour in it, [281] says, "Ane! Oyi! Until
the time when I have gone [there] and come [after] plucking a few of
these cakes, you please remain here."
When he said it, having said, "It is good. Because of the heat of the
sun I will stay beneath this tree," Matalana, having sent the washerman
to pluck the Kaeppitiya cakes and return, [after] tying in a bundle
as many of the King's clothes as there were, went away [with them].
When the washerman comes [after] plucking the cakes, either the clothes
or the man he had set for their protection, not being visible, he went
speedily and gave information to the King. The King having become more
angry than he was before, again employed the notification tom-tom [to
proclaim] that to a person who, having seized, gives him this Matalana
who steals the things belonging to the King, he will give goods
[amounting] to a tusk elephant's load, and a share from the kingdom.
Matalana, ascertaining that he sent the notification tom-tom, having
stayed on the path and made the notification tom-tom halt, promised:
"I know Matalana. Within still three months I will seize and give
that Matalana while in a courtesan's house." The notification tom-tom
beater, accepting this word, went, and when he gave information to
the King, the King, because of the anger there was [in him] with this
thief, having become much pleased told him to summon the man to come.
Thereupon, after Matalana came to the royal house, when he asked,
"In about how many days can you seize and give Matalana?" he said,
"In about three months I can."
After that, Matalana having been like a friend of the King until three
months are coming to an end, one day, at the time when the King is
going to the courtesan's house, he said to the King's Ministers and
servants, "To-day I saw the place where the Matalan-thief is. In
order to seize him [be pleased] to come."
Summoning in the night time the whole royal retinue, and having
gone and surrounded the house of the courtesan, and said [the King]
was Matalana, there and then also they seized the King. When they
seized him in this way, the King through shame remained without
speaking. After that, seizing the King and having gone, and having
very thoroughly struck him blows, and put him in prison, and kept
[him there], in the morning when they looked, just as before they saw
that the King had been seized, and struck blows, and put in the stocks.
After all these things, Matalana, having again broken into the King's
house, stealing a great quantity of goods, reached an outside district,
and dwelt there.
Western Province.
This story is partly a variant of No. 92 in vol. ii.
NO. 255
THE FIVE LIES QUITE LIKE TRUTH [282]
A certain King sent for his Minister and informed him that if he
could not tell him next morning five lies so closely resembling the
truth that he would believe them, he should be beheaded.
The Minister went home with a sorrowful heart; he refused to eat or
drink, and threw himself on his bed. His wife came and inquired the
reason for such behaviour. "What has a dying man to do with eating
and drinking?" he replied, "to-morrow morning I must die;" and then
he told her what the King had said.
His wife answered, "Don't be afraid; I will tell you what to say to
the King;" and she persuaded him to take his food as usual.
She then related to him this story:--In a certain country there were
four friends, a carpenter, a goldsmith, an areka-nut seller, and a
dried-fish seller. The three latter persons decided to go and trade,
and for that purpose they requested the carpenter to build them a
ship. The carpenter did so; and understanding that large profits were
to be made in other countries, he also decided to join them.
The four men then wished to engage a servant to cook for them on board
the ship, but they had considerable difficulty in finding one. At
last they met with a youth who lived with an old woman named Hokki,
who had adopted him as her son. The youth was willing to go, and as
there was no one at home to take charge of the old woman after he left,
it was settled that she should accompany them.
Then they all sailed away, the goldsmith taking a number of hair-pins
(konda-kuru) for sale, and the other traders taking areka-nuts (puwak)
and sun-dried fish (karawala). After going some distance the ship
ran on a rock and was totally wrecked, and all the party were drowned.
In his next life the carpenter became a Barbet, which bores holes in
trees, looking for a good tree with which to build a ship.
The goldsmith became a Mosquito, which always comes to the ears and
asks for the hair-pins (kuru-kuru) that he lost.
The dried-fish seller became a Darter, and constantly searches for
his dried-fish in the water.
The areka-nut seller became a Water-hen (Gallinula phoenicura), and
every morning calls out, "Areka-nuts [amounting] to a ship [-load],
areka-nuts!" (a good imitation of the cry of the bird, Kapparakata
puwak', puwak').
And the cook became a Jackal, who still always cries for his mother,
"Seek for Hokki, seek" (Hokki hoya, hoya, the beginning of the
Jackal's howl).
Next morning the Minister told the story to the King, who fully
believed the whole of it. The Minister then explained that it was pure
fiction, whereupon the King instead of cutting off his head gave him
presents of great value.
Matara, Southern Province.
I met with a story of this kind among the Mandinko of the Gambia,
in West Africa, and as it is unpublished I give it here. It was
related in the Mandinka language, and translated by the clerk on the
Government river steamer, the Mansa Kilah.
NO. 256
THE THREE TRUTHS
One day a Hyæna met a Goat by the way. He tells the Goat, "Before you
move from this place you tell me three words which shall all be true,
or I eat you."
The Goat said, "You met me in this place. If you return, [and if] you
reach the other Hyænas and tell them, 'I have met a Goat by the way,
but I did not kill him,' they will say, 'You are telling a lie.'"
The Hyæna said, "It is true."
The Goat said, "If I get out here myself, if I reach the other Goats
at home, and I tell them, 'I met a Hyæna by the way, but he did not
kill me,' they will say, 'You are telling a lie.'"
The Hyæna said, "It is true."
He said to him, "The third one is:--If you see us two talking about
this matter you are not hungry."
Then the Hyæna said, "Pass, and go your way. I am not hungry; if I
were hungry we should not be here talking about it."
McCarthy Island, Gambia.
NO. 257
THE FALSE TALE
At a certain city there was a poor family, it is said. In that family
there were only a man called Hendrik, a female called Lusihami, and
a boy called Podi-Appu. There was a brother younger than Hendrik, it
is said. That person's name was Juwan-Appu. At the time when the two
brothers were getting a living in one house, they having quarrelled,
Juwan-Appu in the day time went away into the country.
While the afore-said three persons are getting a living in that way,
Podi-Appu's father died. The boy was very young. While Lusihami was
doing work for hire, her boy got to be a little big. At that time
the boy is a boy of the size for walking about and playing.
One day, when the boy went to another house he saw that the children
are playing. Having thought, "This boy must go for those games,"
he went there. From that day the boy goes for those games daily.
In another city there is a soothsayer. The soothsayer is a very good
clever person for bringing hidden treasures, it is said, the city in
which the soothsayer stayed not being included in this talk. When he
was going looking in the manner of his sooth, it appeared to him that
there is an outside city at which is a very great hidden treasure. For
taking the hidden treasure it appeared, according to his sooth, that
he must give a human demon offering (nara billak). When he looked
who is the man for the human demon offering, it appeared, according
to the sooth, that he must give for the demon offering Podi-Appu,
being the son of the aforesaid Lusihami.
The soothsayer set off to seek this boy. What did he bring? Plantains,
biscuits, lozenges (losinjar); in that manner he brought things that
gladden the mind of the child.
Having come to the district in which is the boy, walking to the
places where children are playing, when walking in that district
while dwelling there, one day having gone to the place where Podi-Appu
and the like are playing he stayed looking on. Meanwhile, according
to the soothsayer's thought, he had in mind that Podi-Appu was good
[for his purpose].
Next, the soothsayer having gone to one side, taking his medicine
wallet, when he turned over and looked at the book there was mentioned
that it was Podi-Appu [who should be offered].
Afterwards calling the boy near him he gave him sorts of
food. Meanwhile the boy's mind was delighted. Next, he gave him a
little money. To the boy said the soothsayer, "Your father is lost, is
it not so?" he asked; "that is I," the soothsayer said. The soothsayer
by some device or other ascertained that the person's father [283]
had left the country and gone.
Afterwards the boy, he having told that tale, went home and
informed his mother. And the mother said, "Ane! Son, that your
father indeed was [here] is true. For this difficult time for us,
if that livelihood-bringing excellent person were here how good it
would be! You go, and calling that very one return." Afterwards the
boy having gone, came home with the soothsayer.
While both are spending the days with much happiness, one day in the
morning he said, "Son, let us go on a journey, and having gone, come;
let us go," he said.
[The boy] having said, "It is good," with the little boy the soothsayer
went away.
Well then, the boy goes and goes. Both his legs ache. The boy says,
"Father, I indeed cannot go; carry me," he said.
Having said, "It is a little more; come, son," while on the road in
that way the boy, being [almost] unable to go, weeping and weeping
went near the hidden treasure.
The soothsayer, having offered there things suitable to offer, began
to repeat spells. Then the door of the hidden treasure was opened;
the path was [there]. He said to the boy, "Son, having descended into
this, when you are going along it, in the chamber a standard lamp
[284] is burning. Without rubbing that kettle (the round body of the
lamp) with your body, having removed the lamp and immediately for the
light to go out having tilted it from the top, come back bringing
the lamp." Having said [this], he caused the boy to descend inside
the hidden treasure [chamber].
The boy having descended, when he looked about the boy had not
the mind to come from it. He says, "It will be exactly a heavenly
world. I will mention an abridgement of the things that are in it:
golden king-coconuts, golden oranges, golden pine-apples, golden
mandarin-oranges." Having told him in that manner, "I cannot make an
end of them, indeed," he said.
The boy, plucking a great many of them and having gone into the chamber
as the soothsayer said, placing the lamp on his shoulder came away
near the door.
The soothsayer says, "First give me the lamp, in order to get you to
the surface."
The boy says, "I cannot in that way; first take me out," he says.
In that manner there is a struggle of the two persons there. At the
time when they are going on struggling in that way, anger having
come to the soothsayer he moved the door, for it to shut. Then the
boy having got into the middle of [the doorway] the door shut. The
soothsayer went away.
While the boy quite alone is wriggling and wriggling about there,
in some way or other again, as it was at first the door of the hidden
treasure opened. The boy placing the lamp on his shoulder and having
become very tired, [carried away and] put the lamp and book in his
house; and because of too much weariness fell down and went to sleep.
The soothsayer went to his village.
Western Province.
This appears to be the first part of the story of Ala-addin,
transformed into a Sinhalese folk-tale; but the variant quoted below
shows that the general idea is of much older date and of Indian
origin. A variant from the Uva Province is nearly the same, and also
ends with the boy's return home.
In the Katha Sarit Sagara (Tawney), vol. i, p. 558, an ascetic induced
a King to join him in obtaining a magical sword. Accompanied by the
King, the ascetic went at night, and in the King's words, "having by
means of a burnt-offering and other rites discovered an opening in
the earth, the ascetic said to me, 'Hero, enter thou first, and after
thou hast obtained the sword, come out, and cause me also to enter;
make a compact with me to do this.'" The King entered, found a palace
of jewels, and "the chief of the Asura maidens who dwelt there" gave
him a sword, the possession of which conferred the power of flying
through the air and bestowed "all magical faculties." The ascetic
took it from him afterwards, but the King at last recovered it.
NO. 258
THE STORY OF KOTA
In a certain country there were two brothers, it is said. Of these two
the elder one got married. The younger brother had a secret friendship
with his elder brother's wife. One day, the elder brother having
succeeded in ascertaining about this, and having gone summoning the
younger brother into the midst of the forest, cut off his two hands
and his two feet.
Then the younger brother says, "Elder brother, you having cut off my
hands and feet gave me the punishment that is to be inflicted. Please
stop even now," he said.
Thereupon the elder brother, having placed this Kota [285] without
hands and feet in a boat and launched it in the river, sent him
away. Prior to launching and sending him off, because he told him to
bring and give him a Bana [286] book that was at the younger brother's
house, he brought the book and having placed it on Kota's breast sent
him away.
Well then, this boat with Kota also, going drifting by the margin of
the river, two old women having been [there], one said, "That boat
which comes drifting is for me." The other woman said, "Should there
be anything whatever inside the boat it is for me." Well then, when
the boat drifted ashore, out of these two women one took the boat,
one having taken Kota gave him to eat.
During the time when he is thus, having heard that they were beating
a notification tom-tom on the road [to proclaim] that to a person
who having seized gave him the thieves who are stealing flowers in
the King's flower garden, [the King] will give goods [amounting]
to a tusk elephant's load, Kota caused this notice tom-tom to stop,
having said, "I can." Causing them to build a little house in the
flower garden, and he himself having told men, they lifted him up
and went [with him there]; and lying down inside the little house,
on the loft, in a very sweet voice he began to read his Bana book.
At the time when he is saying Bana in this way, at night seven
Princesses having come to pluck flowers, and having heard the sweet
sound of Kota's saying Bana, went near the house and told him to
open the door. Then, because in order to arise he had not two feet
nor also two hands, when Kota said that he was unable to open the
door, one person out of these Princesses having put on a ring able to
display extreme power which she had, caused Kota's hands and feet to
be created [afresh]. Then Kota having opened the door said Bana for
the Princesses.
The Princesses having heard the Bana, when they were going the youngest
Princess on whose hand was the ring went after the whole. Then Kota
having seized the hand of the Princess who went after, and drawn her
into the house, shut the door.
After it became light, having gone taking the Princess, and having
given charge of her to the old woman who took charge of Kota, Kota
went to the royal house to say that he caught the thief who plucks the
flowers. When going there, Kota went [after] putting on the Princess's
ring of power, [287] having given part of [the Princess's] clothes
to the old woman.
Kota having gone, told the King that he caught the thief. He told him
to come with the thief. When Kota came home to bring the thief, he saw
that having cheated the old woman, the Princess [after] asking for [and
getting] her clothes had gone, and had concealed herself; and Kota's
mind having become disheartened, he went away out of that country.
While thus travelling, having seen six Princesses taking water from a
pool that was in the middle of the forest, when Kota went near them
he recognised that they were the Princesses who went to steal the
flowers; and having seen that the Princess whom he seized was not
there, for the purpose of obtaining the Princess he invented a false
story in order to go to the place where they are staying. That is,
this one, having asked the Princesses for a little water to drink,
and having drunk, put into one's water jar the ring of power that
was on his hand, and having allowed them to go, he went behind.
When these six royal Princesses went to the palace of their father
the King, Kota also went. Then when the royal servants asked Kota,
"Why have you come to the royal house without permission?" he said
that the Princesses had stolen his priceless ring. He came in order
to tell the King, and ask for and take the ring, he said. "The ring
will be in one of the Princesses' water jars," he said. But the whole
seven Princesses, ascertaining that it was the ring of the youngest
Princess of them, gave information accordingly to the King. Thereupon
the King having much warned Kota, told him to give information of the
circumstances under which he had come, without concealing them. Then
Kota in order to obtain the youngest Princess told him how he came.
Having said, "If you are a clever person able to perform and give
the works I tell you, I will give [you] the Princess in marriage,"
the King ordered Kota to plough and give in a little time a yam
enclosure of hundreds of acres.
This Kota, while going quickly from the old woman after having left
the country, obtaining for money a pingo (carrying-stick) load of young
pigs that [a man] was taking to kill, for the sake of religious merit
sent them off to go into the jungle. When any necessity [for them]
reached Kota, when he remembered the young pigs they promised to come
and be of assistance to him.
Again, when going, having seen that [men] are carrying a flock of
doves to sell, and a collection of fire-flies, taking them for money,
for the sake of religious merit [he released them, and] they went
away. These doves and fire-flies promised to be of assistance to Kota.
Because he had done these things in this manner, when [the King] told
Kota to dig and give the yams he remembered about the young pigs. Then
the young pigs having come, dug and gave all the yam enclosure. Well
then Kota having [thus] dug and given the yams, pleased the King.
Again, the King having sown a number of bushels of mustard [seed] in
a chena, told him to collect the whole of it and give it to the King.
Thereupon, when Kota remembered about the doves, all of them having
come and collected the whole of the mustard seeds with their bills,
gave him them. Having gone to the King and given that also, he pleased
the King.
At the last, the King having put all his seven daughters in a dark
room, told him to take the youngest Princess by the hand among them,
and come out into the light.
Thereupon, when Kota remembered the fire-flies, the whole of them
having come, when they began to light up the chamber, Kota, recognising
the youngest Princess and taking her by the hand, came into the light.
After that, the King gave the Princess in marriage to Kota. They two
lived happily.
Western Province.
Regarding the ring in the jar of water, and the tasks to be performed
before the Princess could be married, see vol. i, p. 294.
In the Katha Sarit Sagara (Tawney), vol. i, p. 142, a Brahmana who
wished to let his wife, a Vidyadhari who had taken refuge on Udaya,
the Dawn Mountain, know of his arrival, dropped a jewelled ring into
a water pitcher when one of the attendants who had come for water
in which to bathe her, asked him to lift it up to her shoulder. When
the water was poured over his wife she saw and recognised the ring,
and sent for him.
In A. von Schiefner's Tibetan Tales (Ralston), p. 71, Prince Sudhana,
who had made his way to the city of the Kinnara King in search of his
wife, the Kinnari Manohara, met with some Kinnara females drawing
water for pouring over Manohara, to purify her after her residence
with him. He placed her finger-ring in one pot, and requested that it
might be the first to be emptied over her. When the ring fell down
she recognised it and sent for him, introduced him to her father
the King, and after he performed three tasks was formally married to
him. The third task was the identification of Manohara among a thousand
Kinnaris. In this she assisted him by stepping forward at his request.
The incident of the ring sent in the water that was taken for a
Princess's bath, also occurs in Cinq Cents Contes et Apologues
(Chavannes), vol. i, p. 302. She recognised it, and sent for her
husband who had thus notified his arrival in search of her.
THE FLOWER-GARDEN STORY (Variant)
In a certain country there are a King and a Queen, it is said. While
the two persons were acquiring merit for themselves a son was born. The
child having become big, while he was increasing in size [the Queen]
again bore one.
They sent the second Prince to a pansala (residence of a Buddhist
monk) to learn letters. When he was at the pansala the two eyes of his
father the King having been injured (antara-wela) became blind. The
Queen's two eyes also became blind. Owing to it the big Prince told
the younger brother to come.
After he came he said, "Younger brother (Male), the trouble that
has struck us! Do you night and day say Bana." [288] So the younger
brother night and day says Bana.
He called to the elder brother, "Elder brother, come here." The elder
brother asked, "What?" "For us three persons you are unable to provide
hospitality; you bring a wife (hirayak)," the younger brother said. The
elder brother said, "For my ear even to hear that don't mention it
to me."
After that, the younger brother again called the elder brother
near. "For us three persons you are unable to provide hospitality;
you bring a [bride in] marriage." The elder brother on this occasion
(gamane) said "Ha." When he said it, having gone to another city he
asked a [bride in] marriage [289]; having asked he came back. Having
gone again he returned, summoning her. After that, for the four
persons the Prince is providing hospitality.
One day (dawasakda) he having gone to chop the earthen ridges in
the rice field, the Prince's Princess was pounding paddy in order to
[convert it into rice and] cook. To winnow it she leaned the pestle
against the wall; it having fallen upon a waterpot the waterpot
broke. When, having seen it, the Princess was weeping and weeping,
the Prince (her husband) came from the rice field. "What are you
crying for?" he asked.
"Here! (Men), I am crying at the manner you, husband, [290] behaved,"
the Princess said. Afterwards the Princess said, "Go and conduct me
to my village."
When the Prince said, "What shall I go and escort you for? Cook thou,"
he called to the younger brother, "Younger brother, come here." [291]
The younger brother having come, asked, "What?"
"While she is cooking for us let us go to cut a stick," the elder
brother said.
Afterwards the two persons having gone to the chena jungle cut the
stick. After having cut it [292] the elder brother said, "You lie
down [293] [for me] to cut the stick to your length." When he was
lying down the elder brother cut off his two feet and two hands. He
having cut them, when he was coming away the younger brother said,
"If you are going, pick up my book and place it upon my breast." After
having placed it, the elder brother went away [294]; the younger
brother remained saying and saying Bana.
After the elder brother went, seven widow women having gone to break
firewood and having heard that he was saying Bana, the seven persons
came to the place and saw the Prince. "A Yaka or a human being
(manuswayekda)?" they asked.
The Prince asked, "Does a Yaka or a human being ask? The Bana a human
being indeed is saying," he said.
"And human beings indeed ask," the widow women said.
Well, having said thus they came to hear the Bana. While hearing it,
a woman having said, "Ade! We having been here, the gill of rice will
be spoilt [295]; let us go to break firewood," six persons went away.
The other woman saying, "I [am] to go home carrying (lit., lifting)
Kota," and having stayed, lifting him and having gone and placed him
[there], and cooked rice, and given him to eat, while he was [there]
he heard the notification by beat of tom-toms:--"At the King's garden
thieves are plucking the flowers."
On seeing that widow, Kota said, "I can catch the thieves; you go to
the King and tell him."
Then the woman having gone to the place where the King is, the King
asked, "What have you come for?" Well then, the woman said, "There
is a Kota (Short One) with (lit., near) me; that one can catch the
thieves, he says."
The King [asked], "What does he require [296] for it?"
Afterwards she said, "You must build a house."
Then the King having built a house in the flower garden, having taken
Kota the woman placed him in the house. In the evening having placed
[him there], and lit the lamp, and placed the book, she came to
her house.
Well then, when Kota is saying Bana, five Naga Maidens [297] having
come to pluck the flowers hear the Bana. Until the very time when
light falls they heard the Bana. When the light was falling the five
Naga Maidens said, "We [are] to go; we must give him powers (waram)."
That Kota said, "Who said she will give power to me?"
Then out of the five persons one said, "I will give powers for one hand
to be created"; well then, for one hand to be created the Naga Maiden
gave powers. [For] the other hand to be created another Naga Maiden
gave powers. Also [for] the two feet to be created other two gave
powers. The other Naga Maiden's robes (salu) Kota hid himself. Those
four persons were conducted away [298]; one person stayed in that house
(that is, the one whose clothes he had concealed).
After that, the King came to look at the flower garden. Having come,
when he looked [299] the flowers [were] not plucked. Having become
pleased at that he gave Kota charge of the garden, to look after it,
and he gave a thousand masuran, also goods [amounting] to a tusk
elephant's load, a district from the kingdom.
That Kota handed over the district to the widow woman; those
goods [300] [amounting] to a tusk elephant's load he gave to the
woman. Having split his thigh he put those masuran inside it.
Tom-tom Beater, North-western Province.
In the Story of Madana Kama Raja (Natesa Sastri), p. 87, a Prince,
by the advice of an old woman for whom he worked, carried off the
robe of Indra's daughter when she came to bathe in a pool. He handed
it to the old woman, who in order to conceal it tore open his thigh,
placed the robe in the cavity, and stitched up the wound.
NO. 259
THE STORY OF SOKKA
In a certain country there was a man called Sokka, it is said. For
the purpose of this man's living, catching a monkey (Wandura) and
having made it dance, he began to get money. [After] getting money
in that way, when Sokka, drinking arrack (palm spirit) very well,
is walking to that and this hand, the monkey sprang off and went away.
After that, Sokka, having by means of the money which remained again
drunk arrack very well and become drunk, fell into the ditch. Thereupon
many flies began to settle on this man's body. This Sokka having
become angry at it, when he struck at the flies with both hands a
great many flies fell dead.
In a little time his intoxication having evaporated his sense
came. Thorough sense having come in that manner, when he looked
round about he saw near him the quantity (rasiya) of flies that had
died. While he was there, thinking, "Æyi, Bola, at one blow with my
hand they were deprived of life to this extent; isn't it so?" a very
foolish man who dwelt in that village came to go near this Sokka.
The man having seen Sokka asked, "Friend, what are you doing?"
Thereupon Sokka says, "Ade! What art thou saying? I being a person
who has now killed ten or fifteen, thou art not enough even to put
on my bathing-cloth for me." [301]
This foolish man having become frightened by the very extent [of the
deaths] that he heard of in this word of Sokka's, began to run off. As
he was running he met with yet a man who is going on the road; he asks
at the hand of this foolish man, "What, friend, are you running for?"
Then this fool says, "Friend, a man who killed ten or fifteen men tried
to kill me. Because of it I am running through fear," he said. At that
time that man also, through the extent [of the deaths] that he heard
of in that speech having become afraid, began to run off. As these
two persons were running they said thus to the men going on the road,
that is, "On the road there is a great murderer. Don't any one go."
After that, having [thus] made Sokka a great furious one, it became
public. The King of the city also got to know of it. Well then,
the King having caused this Sokka to be brought, [said], "You are a
dexterous swordsman and a dexterous fighter, they say. Is it true?"
Then Sokka says, "O King, Your Majesty, when I have struck with one
hand of mine, should there be ten or fifteen staying on that side
the men fall dead."
Thereupon the King asks Sokka, "If you are a dexterous man to that
degree, will you come to fight with the first dexterous fighter of
my war army?"
Sokka says, "When ten or fifteen are dying by one hand of mine,
what occupation is there [for me] with one! I am now ready for it."
The King says, "When for three days time is going by, on the third
day you having fought in the midst of a great assembly, the person
out of the two who conquers I will establish in the post of Chief of
the Army (Sena-Nayaka)." Sokka was pleased at it.
The King having put these two persons into two rooms, placed
guards. While they were thus, Sokka having spoken to the dexterous
fighter, says, "You having come for the fight with me will not
escape. To this and this degree I am a dexterous one at fighting. Fight
in the midst of the assembly, and don't be shy."
The dexterous fighter having become frightened at Sokka's word,
got out of the chamber by some means or other, and not staying in
the city, bounded off and went away. [302]
When the third day arrived, the whole of the forces dwelling
in the city assembled together to look at the fight of these two
persons. Thereupon, only Sokka arrived there. Then when Sokka became
more and more famous the King was favouring him.
During the time while he is thus, a war arrived for the King. The
King says to Sokka, "We must do battle with a war army of this
extent. Because of it, having gone together with my war army can you
defeat the enemies?" [303]
Sokka says, "I don't want Your Honour's army. Having gone quite alone
I can defeat them."
Thereupon the King said, "What do you require?"
Sokka, asking for a very rapidly running horse and a very sharp-edged
sword, mounted upon the back of the horse, and having bounded
into the middle of the hostile army who were building the enemy's
encampment, driving on the horse to the extent possible, he began
to cut on that and this hand (e me ata). Sokka having cut down as
many as possible, stringing a head, also, on his very sword, came to
the royal palace. Thereupon, the forces (pirisa) who were building
the encampment, thought, "If so much damage came from one man, how
much will there be from the other forces!" Having thought [this],
they bounded off and ran away.
Then the King having been pleased, married and gave his daughter,
also, to Sokka, and gave him much wealth also.
During the time while Sokka is dwelling in this manner at the royal
house, Sokka thought to drink arrack, [after] going and taking the
ornaments that his wife is wearing. Having thought it, as though he had
an illness he remained lying on a bed, not eating, not drinking. [304]
Thereupon his wife having approached near him asked the cause of
the illness.
At that time Sokka asks, "Dost thou think that I have obtained thee
(ti) without doing anything (nikan)? To obtain thee I undertook a
great charge. The charge is that thou and I (tit mat) having gone to
such and such a mountain must offer gifts."
Thereupon the Princess says, "Don't be troubled. To-morrow we two
persons having gone [there], let us fulfil the charge," she said.
Sokka having become pleased at it, on the following day, with a great
retinue also, they went to fulfil the charge. Having gone in this
manner, and caused the whole of the retinue to halt on the road,
these two persons went to the top of the mountain. Sokka thereupon
says, "I have come here now for the purpose of killing thee, so that,
having killed thee, taking thy ornaments I may drink arrack."
Then the Princess asked, "If I and the ornaments belong to Your Honour,
[305] for what purpose will you kill me?"
At that time Sokka said, "[Even] should that be so, I must kill thee."
The Princess thereupon says, "If Your Honour kill me now, fault will
occur to you at my hand; because of it please bear with me until the
time when you forgive me," she said.
Having said thus while remaining in front of him, and having knelt,
she made obeisance. Then having gone behind his back, and exhibited
the manner of making obeisance, she seized his neck, and having pushed
him threw Sokka from the mountain, down the precipice. Sokka having
become scattered into dust, died.
After that, the Princess turned back with her retinue, and went to
the royal palace.
Western Province.
In The Orientalist, vol. ii, p. 176, the foolish Adikar (Minister)
mentioned in the first note after the folk-tale numbered 229, was sent
(on account of his destruction of the lion) at the head of an army,
against an enemy who had defeated the best generals. His horse bolted
and carried him towards the enemy's troops, who ran off when they
observed his approach. He then rejoined and brought up his men,
captured the contents of the camp, returned to the King with it,
was handsomely rewarded, and retained the royal favour until his death.
In The Jataka, No. 193 (vol. ii, p. 82), a woman in order to kill her
husband pretended that she had taken a vow to make an offering to a
hill spirit, and said, "Now this spirit haunts me; and I desire to
pay my offering."
They climbed up to the hill-top, taking the offering. She then declared
that her husband being her chief deity she would first walk reverently
round him, saluting him and offering flowers, and afterwards make
the offering to the mountain spirit. She placed her husband facing
a precipice, and when she was behind him pushed him over it.
In No. 419 (vol. iii, p. 261), it was a robber who took his wealthy
wife who had saved his life, to a mountain top, on the pretence of
making an offering to a tree deity. They went with a great retinue,
whom he left at the foot of the hill. When they arrived at the
precipice at the summit, he informed her that he had brought her in
order to kill her, so as to run off with her valuable jewellery. She
said she must first make obeisance to him on all four sides, and
when she was behind him threw him down the precipice, after which
she returned home with her retinue.
In Old Deccan Days (M. Frere), p. 209, a potter who had caught a tiger,
and had consequently been appointed Commander-in-Chief, made his wife
tie him firmly on his horse when he was ordered to defeat an enemy's
troops. His horse bolted towards the enemy. In the hope of checking it,
he seized a small tree which came up by the roots, and holding this
he galloped forward, frightening the opposing force so much that they
all ran away, abandoning their camp and its contents. Peace was made,
and he received great honours.
In Indian Nights' Entertainment (Swynnerton), p. 210, the same story
is given, the hero being a weaver.
In Sagas from the Far East, p. 181, a poor weaver who had asked to
marry the daughter of the King of India, was sent to attack an enemy
who was invading the kingdom. His troops refused to fight under him,
so he went on alone. His horse bolted towards the enemy, he seized a
young tree which was pulled up by the roots and with which he knocked
down several of the opposing troops. The rest fled, throwing away
their arms and armour, and he loaded a horse with it and returned to
the King in triumph. Afterwards he killed by accident a great fox and
seven demons, became the King's son-in-law, and ruled half the kingdom.
In The Indian Antiquary, vol. xiv, p. 109, in a South Indian story by
Natesa Sastri, a man who had accidentally saved a Princess whom some
robbers were abducting, was sent to attack the enemy's troops who had
invaded the kingdom. The horse given to him was wild, so he was tied
on it. It galloped towards the enemy, swam across a river at which he
seized a palmira tree that was about to fall, and the enemy, seeing
him approaching with it, ran away. This version is also given in The
Orientalist, vol. ii, p. 102 ff., by Miss A. R. Corea. According to
this Sinhalese tale the man succeeded to the throne at the death of
the King, having previously been made Commander-in-Chief.
In Cinq Cents Contes et Apologues (Chavannes), vol. i, p. 50, a woman
who wished to kill her husband pretended to have a headache, for which
it was necessary to offer prayers on a mountain to a local deity. She
accompanied her husband to a precipice, made him stand facing the sun,
went round him several times, and then pushed him over. He was saved
by falling into a tree.
In vol. i, p. 112, a woman who had fallen in love with a cripple
determined to kill her husband, who had saved her life. On the pretence
of assisting him to collect fruits she accompanied him up a mountain
and seized an opportunity to push him over a precipice. He was saved
by a local deity.
In vol. ii, p. 140, there is an account of the weaver who frightened
the enemy's troops when those of his own side were being defeated;
these returned and gained a complete victory. The man was made
Minister, with rank next the King.
NO. 260
THE GIANT AND HIS TWO FRIENDS
In a certain country a Prince was born to a King, it is said. For
the purpose of giving milk to the Prince he caused a wet-nurse
[306] to be brought. Because the nurse's milk was insufficient for
the Prince, he caused yet [another] person to be brought. That also
being insufficient he caused yet [another] person to be brought. In
that manner having caused seven wet-nurses to be brought, the whole
seven gave milk to the Prince. That milk also being insufficient,
for the day he gave him also the cooked rice from a quarter [bushel]
of rice, and a quarter of a goat, to eat. Having eaten this food,
during the time when the Prince became somewhat big [so as] to walk
here and there, he gave him the cooked rice from a half bushel of
rice and the meat of a goat, to eat. Until the time when ten years
were completed for the Prince he gave food thus.
At that time the Prince began to jump that side and this side in the
river. That circumstance was published in all cities. During the time
when it was thus published, the people of the cities were collected
together to look at this Prince. Thereupon, when the Prince was jumping
to that bank of the river, while in the midst of the great multitude
he fell into water of about two fathoms. Thereupon the Prince, having
swum with great shame and having gone to the bank, again jumped to
this bank. That time he fell into water of about three fathoms. At
that time the Prince becoming very highly ashamed, not speaking at all,
went to the royal house, and having been adorned with the five weapons,
[307] entered the midst of the forest and went away.
While going thus a little far he met with an old mother. Thereupon this
Prince speaks to the old woman, "Ane! Mother, I am very hungry. Prepare
and give me a little cooked rice to eat," he said. When he said so,
the old woman, calling the Prince and having gone to her house,
and given [him] a sort of vegetable stew to eat, says, "Ane! Son,
to cook and give boiled rice I cannot get water. The crocodile in the
river has fallen mad. I cannot go also into the midst of the forest
to get firewood, the leopard having fallen mad. Should you bring and
give firewood and water I can cook and give cooked rice," she said.
Thereupon the Prince having said, "It is good," and taken his sword,
and gone into the midst of the forest, when [he was] breaking firewood
the leopard came and sprang [at him]. After that, the Prince having
chopped with the sword and killed the leopard, cutting off his tongue
and breaking as much firewood as he can bring, brought it and threw
it down at the old woman's house.
Thereafter, having taken his sword and the water-pot, at the
time when he is going near the river the crocodile came springing
[at him]. Thereupon, having chopped it with the sword, he cut the
crocodile into four or five [pieces], cutting off its tongue also;
and having come back [after] taking also a pot of water he gave it to
the old woman; and having told her to make ready and give the food,
because of pain in the body of the Prince, as soon as he had reclined
a little he went to sleep.
While he was there for a little time, the old woman having seen that
a man is lifting up the leopard which the Prince killed, and going
away [with it], having spoken to the Prince, says, "Son, a man,
killing the leopard which had fallen mad is taking it to the royal
house. The King had appointed that to a person who, having killed,
gave the leopard and the crocodile, he will give much wealth. The
King having given much wealth to the man, at the time when you went
into the midst of the forest didn't you meet with the leopard?" Having
said it, she told him the whole of these matters.
After that, the Prince, not speaking at all, went to the royal house
behind the man who is lifting and going with the leopard. The man
having gone to the royal house, and made obeisance to the King, [and
shown him the leopard], said, "O King, in the midst of the forest I
killed the leopard that had fallen mad. Regarding it, please give me
the wealth that Your Honour has appointed."
Thereupon the King being much pleased, at the time when he is preparing
to give the wealth this Prince went near the King, [and said],
"O Great King, I killed this leopard. This man, taking the carcase
of the leopard I killed, came to obtain the wealth for himself. If
this man killed it be good enough to look where this leopard's tongue
is. I have killed not only this leopard. The crocodile, too, that had
fallen mad in the river will be [found to be] killed." Having said,
"Here, look; the two tongues of those two," he gave them to the
King. The King, too, having taken the two tongues and looked at them,
believed that he killed the leopard, and having killed the man who
told the lies gave much wealth to this Prince.
The Prince, bringing the wealth and having given it to the old
woman, and been there two or three days, the Prince went to
another district. While going thus he met with a dried areka-nut
dealer. Thereupon the two persons having become friends, while they
were going along they met with an arrow maker. The three persons
having joined together, talk together: "Friend, what can you do?"
Thereupon the dried areka-nut dealer says, "Having uttered spells
over this dried areka-nut of mine, when I have struck it having gone
everywhere it comes again into my hand. After that, I can do what I
have thought (hitu andamak)," he said.
When they asked the arrow maker, he informed them that, in the very
way which the dried areka-nut dealer said, with the arrow also he
can display power.
After that, the Prince says, "The cleverness of you two is from the
dried areka-nut and the arrow; my cleverness is from the strength of
my body. Should I think of going in the sky further than ye two, having
sprung into the sky I go," he said. Thereupon those two persons having
made obeisance to the Prince, the whole three went to one district.
In that village, at a great wealthy house, an illness due to a
demon (yaksa ledak) having been caused in a young woman, they had
been unable to cure her. These three persons at that very house got
resting-places. These three persons ascertaining this circumstance,
the Prince having performed many demon ceremonies and cured the young
woman's demon illness, married and gave the young woman to the dried
areka-nut dealer; and having planted a lime seedling in the open
ground in front of the house, he says, "Some day, should the leaves
of this lime tree wither and the fruit drop, ascertaining that an
accident has occurred to me, plucking the limes off this tree come
very speedily seeking me." Having made him stay there he went away
with the arrow maker.
When going a little far, anciently a great collection of goods having
been at yet [another] house, and it afterwards having reached a state
of poverty, the principal person of the family having died, they got
resting-places at the house, at which there are only a daughter and a
son. At the time when these two asked the two persons of the house,
"Is there nobody of your elders?" they told these two the whole of
the accidents that had happened to the people.
Thereupon the Prince, having spoken to the arrow maker and made him
halt there, just as in the former way planted a lime seedling; and
in the very manner of the dried areka-nut dealer having given him
warning, the Prince went away quite alone.
Having gone thus and arrived at a certain village, when he looked
about, except that the houses of the village were visible there
were no men to be seen. Arriving at a nobleman's house [308] in
the village, a house at which there is only one Situ daughter,
this Prince got a resting-place. Having given the resting-place,
this Situ daughter began to weep. Thereupon this Prince asked,
"Because of what circumstance art thou weeping?"
Thereupon this Situ daughter says, "My parents and relatives a certain
Yaka ate; to-day evening he will eat me too. Through the fear of that
death I weep," she said.
At that time the Prince says, "Putting (taba) [out of consideration]
one Yaka, should a hundred Yakas come I will not give them an
opportunity [309] to eat thee. Don't thou be afraid." Having satisfied
her mind he asks, "Dost thou know the time when the Yaka comes?"
Thereupon the Situ daughter said, "Yes, I know it. When coming, he
says three [times], 'Hu, Hu, Hu'; that is, when he is setting off,
one Hu, and while near the stile, one Hu, and while near the house,
one Hu; he says three Hus."
Thereupon the Prince asked, "Are there dried areka-nuts?"
Afterwards the Situ daughter said, "There are."
"If so, filling a large sack please come [with it]," he said.
The Situ daughter having brought a sack of dried areka-nuts gave
them. The Prince also having put them down thinly at the doorway,
the Prince sitting inside the house and taking his sword also in his
hand, waited.
Thereupon he said the Hu that he says when setting out. At that time
the Situ daughter in fear began to weep. When the Prince is saying and
saying to the Situ daughter, "Don't cry," he said "Hu," the other Hu
near the stile. In a little time more having come to the open ground
in front of the house saying a Hu, when he was springing into the
house the Yaka fell on the heap of dried areka-nuts. At that time the
Prince with his sword cut the Yaka into four or five [pieces]. [310]
Taking in marriage the Situ daughter, while he was dwelling there
a long time, to take in marriage the Situ daughter they began to
come from many various countries, because the Situ daughter is very
beautiful.
Out of them, a Prince caused the notification tom-tom to be beaten
[to proclaim] that should anyone take and give him the Princess who
is at the nobleman's house in such and such a village, he will give
him much goods. Thereupon a certain woman having said, "I can obtain
and give her," stopped the notification tom-tom, and having gone to
the royal house, asking for three months' time went to the village
at which that Prince and Princess are, and having become the female
servant at that house, remained there.
Meanwhile this woman asks the Princess, "Ane! Please tell me by what
means your lord displays strength and prowess to this degree," she
asked with humility.
Thereupon the Princess said, "Don't you tell anyone; our Prince's
life is in his sword."
That woman from that day began to collect coconut husks and coconut
shells. The Princess having seen it asked, "What are you collecting
those coconut husks and coconut shells for?"
Thereupon the woman said, "Ane! What is this you are asking? For
houses, on the days when it rains is there not much advantage in
[having] coconut husks?" And the Princess having said, "It is good,"
did nothing. While she was thus, the three months were passing away.
One day, when this Prince and Princess were sleeping, in the night
this woman, stealing the sword that was upon the Prince's breast and
having put it under those coconut husks and coconut shells that she
had previously collected, set fire to the heap. When the sword was
becoming red [hot] the Prince became unconscious.
Before this, this woman had sent a message to the Prince who caused
that notification tom-tom to be beaten, to come with his retinue,
taking a ship. That very day at night the retinue came. After that
Prince became unconscious, this retinue having taken that Princess
by very force, put her in the ship to go to their city.
That Prince's two friends having arisen in the morning, and when they
looked, having seen that the leaves had faded on the lime trees and
the fruits had dropped, plucking the limes off them came seeking the
Prince. Having come there, when they looked, except that the Prince
is unconscious there is no one to see. Having seen that a bonfire is
blazing very fiercely, they quickly poured water in the bonfire and
extinguished the fire. When they were looking, the sword having burnt
[away] (piccila) a little was left. Having got this piece of sword
these two persons took it away. Having cut the limes, when they were
rubbing and rubbing them on it, by the influence of the Prince the
sword became perfect.
At that time the Prince arose in health; and when he is looking
perceiving that the Princess is not [there], he went running with those
two persons to the port, and saw that at the distance at which it is
[just] visible the ship is going.
This Prince asked these two, "Can you swim to that ship?"
Thereupon these two persons said, "If you, Sir, will swim we also
will come."
Then the Prince asked, "When you have gone to the ship how many men
can you cut down?"
The dried areka-nut dealer said, "I can cut until the time when the
blood mounts to the height of a knee." The arrow maker also said, "I
can cut until the time when the blood mounts to the height of a hip."
Thereupon the Prince having said, "If you two will cut until the blood
is at the height of a knee, and until the blood is at the height of
a hip, I will cut until the blood is at the height of a shoulder,"
the whole three persons sprang into the river. Having gone swimming
and mounted upon the ship, the areka-nut dealer, taking the [Prince's]
sword and having cut the dead bodies until the blood is a knee [deep],
gave the sword to the arrow maker. The arrow maker taking the sword
and having cut dead bodies until the blood is a hip [deep], gave the
sword to the Prince. The Prince having cut the men until the blood
is shoulder deep, and having cast the dead trunks into the river,
causing the ship to turn arrived with the Princess at his village.
Having come there, the Prince [and Princess] resided there in
health. Those two persons having gone to the cities at which each of
them (tamu tamun) stayed, passed the time in health.
Western Province.
NO. 261
HOW THEY FORMERLY ATE AND DRANK
In a certain country there was a very important rich family, it is
said. In this family were the two parents and their children, two
sons only.
In the course of time the people of the family arrived at a very poor
condition, it is said. During the time when they are thus, the mother
of these two young children having gone near a shipping town, [311]
winnowed the rice of the ships and continued to get her living. One
day when she was winnowing the rice of a ship, quite unperceived by
her the ship went to sea [with her on board].
During the time when he was thus unaware to which hand this woman
who was the chief support [312] of the family--or the mother--went,
the father one day for some necessary matter having gone together
with the two sons to cross to that other bank of the river, tied
one son to a tree on the bank on this side and placed him [there];
and having gone with the other one to the bank on that side, and tied
the son to a tree there, came to take the other son [across]. While
on the return journey in this way, this old man having been caught
by a current in the river, and been taken by force to a very distant
country, went to a village where they dry salt fish.
An old woman having seen the two children who had been tied on the
two banks by him, unfastened their bonds (baemi); having heard [from
one of them] about their birth and two parents, learning all the
circumstances, she employed some person and caused even the child
who was on the bank on that [other] side to be brought, and reared
both of them.
During the time while the father of the two children was getting
his living, drying salt fish, the King of that country died. Well
then, because there was not a Crown Prince [313] of the King of the
country, according to the mode of the custom of that country having
decorated the King's festival tusk elephant and placed the crown
on its back, they sent it [in search of a new King]. And the tusk
elephant having gone walking, and gone in front of that poor man who
was drying salt fish, when it bent the knee he mounted on the back
of the tusk elephant, and having come to the palace was appointed to
the sovereignty.
After he was thus exercising the sovereignty a little time, it became
necessary for this King to go somewhere to a country, and having
mounted on a ship it began to sail away. The two sons who belonged in
the former time to this King, who were being reared by the old woman,
having become big were stationed for their livelihood as guards on
this very ship. Their mother who was lost during the former time,
earned a living by winnowing rice on this very ship.
Well then, while these very four persons remained unable to get
knowledge of each other, during the night time, when the ship is
sailing, in order to remove the sleepiness of the two brothers who
were on the ship as guards, the younger brother told the elder brother
to relate a story. And when the elder brother said, "I do not know
how to tell stories," because again and again he was forcing him to
relate anything whatever, he said, "I do know indeed how to relate
the manner of [our] ancient eating and drinking."
"It is good. If so, relate even that," the younger brother said.
Thereupon, the elder brother, beginning from the time when their
parents were lost, told the story of the manner in which they formerly
ate and drank, up to the time when they came for the watching on
the ship,--how the two persons, eating and drinking, were getting
their living.
These two persons' mother, and the King who was their father, both
of them, having remained listening to this story from the root to
the top, at the last said, "These are our two sons." Having smelt
(kissed) each other, all four persons obtaining knowledge of each
other after that lived in happiness, enjoying royal greatness.
Western Province.
In Folk-Tales of Kashmir (Knowles), 2nd ed., p. 154, a defeated
King who was driven into exile with his wife and two children,
engaged a passage by a vessel, but it sailed away with the Queen
before the others got on board. She was sold to a merchant whom she
agreed to marry if she did not meet with her husband and children
in two years. The King, while returning for the other child after
crossing a river with one, was carried away by the current, sank,
and was swallowed by a fish, and saved by a potter when it died on
the bank. He became a potter, and was selected as King by the royal
elephant and hawk. A fisherman who had reared the two sons became a
favourite, and the boys were kept near the King. When the merchant who
bought the Queen came to trade, these youths were sent to guard his
goods. At night, on the younger one's asking for a tale his brother
said he would relate one out of their own experience, and told him
their history, which the Queen overheard, thus ascertaining that
they were her sons. By getting the merchant to complain to the King
about their conduct she was able to tell him her story, on which he
discovered that she was his wife, and all were united.
In Folklore of the Santal Parganas (collected by Rev. Dr. Bodding),
p. 183, while a Raja and his wife were travelling in poverty the
Queen was shut up by a rich merchant. At a river the Raja was swept
away while returning for the child left on the bank, and afterwards
selected as King by two state elephants. The children, reared by an
old woman, took service under him, were appointed as guards for the
merchant's wife (the former Queen) when she was brought to a festival,
and were recognised by her. The merchant complained of the guards,
and on hearing their story the King discovered that they were his
sons and the woman was his wife. In a variant the children were left
on one bank of the river, and a fish swallowed their father, the boys
being reared by a cow-herd.
In the Arabian Nights (Lady Burton's ed., vol. iii, p. 366), a ship
in which were an indigent Jew and his wife and two sons, was wrecked,
one boy being picked up by a vessel, and the others cast ashore in
different countries. The father secured buried treasures which a
voice disclosed to him on an island, and became King there; the sons,
hearing of his generosity, came to him and received appointments,
but did not know each other. A merchant who came with their mother
was invited to remain at the palace, the youths being sent to guard
his goods and their mother at night. While conversing they found they
were brothers; their mother, overhearing the story, recognised them,
got the merchant to complain of their improper conduct, and on their
repeating their history the King found they were his sons. The mother
then unveiled herself, and all were united.
NO. 262
THE GOURD FRUIT DEVIL-DANCE
In a certain country a Gamarala cut a chena, it is said. Having planted
a gourd creeper in the chena, on it a gourd fruit fruited. The gourd
fruit, when not much time had gone, became very large, and ripened.
The Gamarala, being unable to bring it alone, summoned several men
of the village, and having given them to eat and gone with the men,
and come back [after] plucking the fruit, and cut open the "eye"
(at the end of the neck), placed it [for the contents] to rot. After
it rotted he [cleaned it out and] dried it, so as to take it for work
(use), and put it on a high place (ihalakin).
In order to perform a devil-dance (kankariya) for the Gamarala,
having given betel for it and told devil-dancers (yakdesso) to come,
one day he made ready [for] the devil-dance. Having made ready that
day, when they were dancing a very great rain rained, and the water
was held up so that the houses were being completely submerged.
At that time all the persons of this company being without a quarter
to go to, all the men crept inside the Gourd fruit, and having blocked
up with wax the eye that was cut open into the Gourd fruit, began to
dance the devil-dance inside it.
Then the houses, also, of the country having been submerged, the
water overflowing them began to flow away. Then this Gourd fruit also
having gone, went down into a river, and having gone along the river
descended to the sea, and while it was going like a ship a fish came,
and swallowed the Gourd fruit.
Having swallowed it, the fish, as though it was stupefied, remained
turning and turning round on the water. While it was staying there,
a great hawk that was flying above having come and swallowed that fish,
became unconscious on a branch.
Then a woman says to her husband, "Bolan, [after] seeking something for
curry come back." At that time, while the man, taking also his gun,
is going walking about, he met with that hawk which had swallowed
the fish. He shot the hawk.
Having shot it and brought it home, he said to his wife that she was
to pluck off the feathers and cook it.
Then the woman having plucked off the feathers, when she cut [it
open] there was a fish [inside]. Then the woman says, "Ade! Bolan,
for one curry there are two meats!" [314]
Taking the fish she cut [it open]; then there was a Gourd
fruit. Thereupon the woman says, "Ade! Bolan, for one curry there
are three meats!" When she looked the Gourd fruit was dried up.
After that, having cooked those meats (or curries) and eaten,
on account of hearing a noise very slightly in that Gourd fruit,
taking a bill-hook she struck the Gourd fruit.
Thereupon the whole of those men being in the Gourd fruit, said,
"People, people!" and came outside. Having got down outside, when they
looked it was another country. After that, having asked the ways,
they went each one to his own country. And then only the men knew
that light had fallen [and it was the next day].
Western Province.
In the Katha Sarit Sagara (Tawney), vol. ii, p. 599, a fish swallowed
a ship, with its crew and passengers. When it was carried by a current
and stranded on the shore of Suvarnadwipa, the people ran up and cut
it open, and the persons who were inside it came out alive.
In Cinq Cents Contes et Apologues (Chavannes), vol. iii, pp. 229 and
244, two infants who were thrown or fell into the water of rivers
were swallowed by fishes and rescued alive after seven days, in the
first instance by the child's father, and in the second by the King
of the country in which the fish had been caught.
NO. 263
THE ASCETIC AND THE JACKAL
In a certain country, in the midst of a forest a pack of Jackals
stayed, it is said. One out of the Jackals having gone near villages
one day for the purpose of catching and eating the fowls and various
animals, at the time when he was walking about having arrived at a
shed in which was some toddy (fresh palm-juice), and having drunk
toddy until his belly fills, after he became drunk fell down at one
place and stayed [there], it is said.
When he was staying thus, the Jackal went very thoroughly asleep, it
is said. Having stayed in this way, when it was just becoming light
the Jackal's eyes were opened. Well then, at that time the Jackal was
unable to go to the pack. Because of what [reason] was that? Because
the eyes of the whole of the persons in the village were opened. Owing
to it he got into a jungle near by, and when he was there an extremely
old ascetic came to go by the place where the Jackal is.
The Jackal having seen the ascetic and spoken to him, says,
"Meritorious ascetic, having been in which district are you, Sir,
coming? I have sought and sought a meritorious person like you, Sir,
and [now] I have met with you; it is very good," he said.
When the Jackal spoke thus the ascetic asks, "On account of what
matter dost thou speak to me in that manner?"
When he asked him thus, the Jackal says, "I did not say thus to you,
Sir, for my profit. I had sought and sought an excellent person like
you, Sir. A quantity of my masuran are in the midst of such and such a
forest. To give those masuran I did not meet with a good person like
you, Sir. For many days I was watching and looking on this search,
but until this occurred I did not meet with a meritorious excellent
person, except only you, Sir. I am very happy to give the masuran to
you, Sir," he said.
The ascetic having been much pleased, asks the Jackal, "Regarding it,
what must be done by me for thee?"
When he said [this] the Jackal says, "I don't want you, Sir, to do
any favour at all for me. If I am to give the masuran to you, Sir,
please carry me to the place where the masuran are," he said.
Thereupon the ascetic, carrying in his arms the Jackal, went into the
midst of the forest where he said the masuran are. When he went into
the midst of the forest, the Jackal having spoken to the ascetic, says,
"Look, the masuran are here; please place me here," he said.
Thereupon the ascetic placed the Jackal on the ground. The Jackal
then says, "Taking your outer robe, Sir, and having spread it on
the ground, please remain looking in the direction of the sun, not
letting the eyelid fall. Having dug up the masuran I will put them
into your robe, Sir," he said.
When the Jackal said thus, the ascetic, through greed for the masuran,
without thinking anything having spread the robe on the ground,
was looking in the direction of the sun. When he was looking thus
for a little time, the Jackal having dunged into the robe, and for a
little time more having falsely dug the ground, said to the ascetic,
"Now then, be pleased to take the masuran."
Thereupon when the ascetic through greed for the masuran looks in
the direction of the robe, because of the sun's rays his eyes having
become weak, the Jackal dung that he had put [there] appeared like
masuran. [315] Making [the robe] into a bundle he went away.
The Jackal having bounded off, went into the midst of the forest.
Western Province.
This tale agrees in some respects with the Jataka story No. 113
(vol. i. p. 256), in which the person who carried the Jackal was a
Brahmana, who, however, was not told to look at the sun, as in the
Sinhalese tale No. 65, in vol. i, of which this is a variant.
SOUTH INDIAN STORIES
NO. 264
CONCERNING THE BLIND-EYED MAN
In a certain country there was a blind man. The man had married a
fine handsome woman. While the two persons were staying a little
time begging, and seeking and getting a living, having said that
country was not good and having thought of going to another country,
one day the blind man said to his wife, "While we are staying in
this country we have much inconvenience. Because of it let us go to
another country." Thereupon the woman, too, said of it, "It is good."
After that the two persons having set off, journeyed through the
middle of a forest wilderness. At that time a Hettiya, also, of that
city having quarrelled with his father, he also, as he was going to
another country travelled on the path in the midst of the forest on
which this blind man and his wife are going. The Hettiya encountered
that blind man and his wife on the road. Thereupon, while this Hettiya
was talking with the two persons he asked, "Where are you two going
in the jungle in this forest wilderness?"
Then this blind man and his wife said, "We are going to another
country for the sake of a livelihood."
The Hettiya said, "It is good, if so. I also having quarrelled with
our father am going to another country. If so, let us all three go
[together]."
Thereupon all three having said, "It is good," while they were talking
and journeying, because the blind person's wife is beautiful to the
Hettiya his mind became attached to her, like marrying her. Because
the Hettiya was a young man to the blind person's wife, also, her
mind became attached to him.
When these two persons, thinking in this manner, were going a little
far, the Hettiya spoke to that woman, unknown to the blind person,
[316] "Let us two go [off together]." Thereupon the woman gave her
word, "It is good."
To drop the blind person and go, the scheme which the woman told
the blind person [was this]: "Ane! Husband, there is a kind of
fruit-tree fruits in this forest wilderness which it gratifies me to
eat. Therefore you must give permission to me to eat them and come
back." Having said [this] she made obeisance.
At that time the blind man, thinking it is true, said, "It is good. I
will remain beneath this tree; you go, and having eaten the fruit come
quickly." Thereupon the woman, saying, "It is good," while the blind
person was continuing to stay there went with the Hettiya somewhere
or other to a country.
This blind man remained night and day in hunger beneath the tree,
for six days. After that, yet [another] Hettiya, while going to the
village of the woman who had married that Hettiya, tying up a packet
of cooked rice also, to eat for the road, travelled with his wife by
the middle of that forest wilderness.
Thereupon the Hettiya met with that blind-eyed man. So the Hettiya
spoke to his wife, "There is a man near that tree. Let us go near,
and [after] looking let us go." The woman said, "It is good."
Then the two persons having gone near that blind person, asked,
"Who are you?"
Then the blind person made many lamentations to that Hettiya:
"Ane! Friend, I am a blind person. I having spoken with my wife about
going to another country, while we were going in the middle of this
forest wilderness, my wife got hid and went off with yet [another]
man. I am now staying six days without any food. You arrived through
my good luck. Ane! Friend, having gone, calling me, to the country
to which you are going, send me to an asylum. [317] If not, in this
forest wilderness there is not any all-refuge." [318]
Thereupon the Hettiya, having become much grieved, unfastened the
cooked rice that the party brought to eat for the road, and having
given the blind person to eat, as they were going, inviting the
blind person, to the city to which the party are going, he told
that Hettiya's (his own) wife to come holding [one end of] the blind
person's walking-stick (to guide him).
Then the Hetti woman said, "Ane! O Lord, should I go holding this
blind person's leading stick they will say I am the blind man's
wife. I have heard that kind of story before this. But if you, Sir,
say so, I will come holding it."
The Hettiya said, "No matter, come holding it."
While [she was] thus holding it, calling him they went to the city
to which the party are going. Having gone [there] and told the blind
man to stay [with them] that day night, they gave him amply food
and drink, and the mat also for sleeping on. Next day after light
fell having said to the blind person, "Now then; there! You having
gone into that street and begged, seeking something, eat," with much
kindness they started him.
Then the blind person having gone near the royal house at that city,
said, "Ane! O Deity, [319] when I was coming away with my wife
by the middle of a forest wilderness, a Hettiya having quarrelled
with his father, and said that he was going to another country, and
for six days having not a meal, as he was coming fell behind us. We
gave him the cooked rice that we brought for our expenses, and came
calling him [to accompany us]. As though in that way the assistance
were insufficient, the Hettiya uprooting my wife also [from me] said
he will not give her to me, and drove me away. To whom shall I tell
this suit? Do you investigate only suits for rich persons? Do you
not institute suits for poor persons? Now then, how shall I obtain
a living?" Having said [this] he began to weep.
At that time the [royal] messengers having gone, told it to the
King. Thereupon the King also having become grieved regarding it,
sent messengers and caused the Hettiya who came with the blind person,
and his wife, to be brought.
Having heard the case, he said, "This young Hettiya did not take a wife
[for himself]; he took the blind person's wife," and ordered them to
behead the Hettiya. [320] Having said, "The woman having come in diga
[marriage] to the blind person and in the meantime having endangered
him, went with another man," he ordered them to put her in a lime-kiln
and burn her. Having given a little money to the blind person he told
him to go.
Thereupon the blind person, taking the money also and having gone
outside the royal palace, was saying and saying, "Ane! O Gods, what
is it that has occurred to me! At the time when I remained for six
days in the midst of the forest, this Hettiya and his wife having
met with me while they are coming, and given food to me who was in
hunger for six days, brought me to this city, and let me go. I having
told all these (lit., these these) lies [in order] to take the woman,
I was not allowed to take the woman, nor were the two persons allowed
to live well together. The foolish King without giving me the woman
ordered them to kill her. Now then, where shall I go?"
At that time a man having heard him, quickly went and said to the King
that this blind person says thus. Then the King quickly having caused
the blind person to be brought, and having released the Hettiya and
the woman from death, and given presents to the two persons, and sent
them away, ordered the blind person to be killed.
Immigrant from Malayalam, Southern India. (Written in
Sinhalese, and partly related in that language.)
This story is given in Tales of the Sun (Mrs. H. Kingscote and Natesa
Sastri), p. 165.
NO. 265
THE DESTINY PRINCE
In a certain country a King had two Princes. After the two Princes
became big, calling them near the King the King asked both, "Is
Destiny the greatest thing or not?" [321]
At that time the big Prince said, "Destiny is the greatest (widi
lokuyi)"; the young Prince said, "It is insufficiently great (madi
lokuyi)." Because the big Prince said, "Destiny is the greatest,"
the King commanded that they should behead and kill him. Thereupon
the Prince's mother, having given him a little money, and said,
"Son, go thou to a country thou likest," sent him away. Then the
Prince having looked for a country to proceed to, went away.
When he is going on the path, the men whom he meets ask, "Where
are you going?" Thereupon the Prince, not saying another speech,
gives answer to the talk, saying, "Destiny." However much they speak,
this Prince, except that he says, "Destiny," does not give a different
reply. While giving replies in this manner, this Prince walks through
various countries.
In yet [another] city, a daughter of the King, and a daughter of the
Minister, and a daughter of a rich Hettiya called the Money Hettiya,
these three having been born on one and the same day and the three
having gone to one school learning letters, after they became big
gave presents to the teacher.
What of their giving presents to the teacher! Regarding the teacher's
instructing these three children, it was in name only. There was a
chief scholar; it was the scholar indeed who taught the letters to
all these three children. Notwithstanding that it was so, they did
not give him presents or anything.
Because of it he being grieved at it, and thinking that if there should
be a word which the King's daughter says, the Minister's Princess
and the Money Hettiya's daughter hearken to it, he sent a letter in
this manner to the royal Princess: "O Royal Princess, except that I
taught you three persons the sciences [for him], our teacher did not
teach them. Having tried so much and taught you three, at your not
thinking of me I am much grieved." He wrote [thus] and sent it.
The royal Princess had ordered the Minister's daughter and the Money
Hettiya's daughter every day in the morning to come to the royal
palace. Therefore the two persons, having stayed at home only at night,
in the morning arrive at the royal palace.
One day, while these very three are stopping and playing at the royal
palace, a man brought a letter and gave it into the royal Princess's
hand. Thereupon the royal Princess having broken open the letter,
when she looked [in it] the party's second teacher [had written]
that he was displeased.
Then the Princess said thus to the Minister's daughter and the Money
Hettiya's daughter: "Look. Omitting to give our presents or anything
to our second teacher who took much trouble and taught us, and having
given presents to our big teacher, when coming away we did not even
speak, he has written. It is indeed foolishness at our hand. Because
of it, let us write anything we want to send, and send a letter [to
him]. Having sent it let us give anything he asks for," she spoke
[to them]. [Thus] speaking, she wrote and sent: "Anything you ask we
will give. Please write what thing you want."
Thereupon, the letter having gone the party's second teacher received
it. Having received it, owing to the form of the letter that person
writes, "I want nothing. Because you three said you will give anything
I want, I am coming to marry you three persons. What do you say about
it?" He wrote and sent [this].
The letter having gone, the royal Princess, together with the other
persons also, received it. When they looked at the letter, the party
perceived that the letter they wrote was wrong. Perceiving it, the
royal Princess said, "Comrades, [322] the word that we wrote and sent
was wrong. The second teacher has sent letters [asking] how he is to
come to marry us three. Because we made a mistake, and as we cannot
tell lies, let us appoint a day and send [word]." Thereupon the two
persons gave permission for such a word [to be sent].
She wrote and sent the letter: "To-morrow night, at twelve, you must
come to the palace; at one you must come to the Minister's house;
at three, you must come to the Money Hettiya's house." Having written
it, [after] sending it in this manner the three persons making ready
distilled Attar water [323] and several sweet drugs to put on his
body when he comes, and priceless food, waited for him.
That day, that royal Prince who is walking along saying "Destiny,"
coming to the city at night time and having become hungry, remained
sleeping near the gate [324] of that palace. The second teacher
loitered a little in coming. After the royal Prince had gone to sleep
during the whole night [up to midnight], placing food and fragrant
sorts on a tray in her own hands, and having come near the gate of the
palace and felt about, when [the Princess] looked the Prince who says
"Destiny" was there.
At that time the royal Princess, thinking he was the second teacher,
said, "What are you sleeping for? Get up."
That Prince, saying, "Destiny," being unable to arise [through
sleepiness,] remained lying down. Thereupon the royal Princess,
touching his body with her hand, made him arise; and having given him
this food to eat, and having sprinkled distilled Attar water on his
body, and having complied with immoral practice, [325] the Princess
went to the palace. Then the Prince who says "Destiny" was sleeping
[again] near the gate of the palace.
At that time the second teacher came. Having come there, he asked that
Prince who says "Destiny," "Who are you, Ada?" Then that Prince said,
"Destiny." "What is, Ada, Destiny?" he asked. Then again he gave
answer, "Destiny." At this next occasion, having said, "What Destiny,
Ada!" he pushed him away.
Thereupon the Destiny Prince [having gone] near the gate of the
Minister's house, was sleeping [there]. Then the Minister's daughter
having come, asked, "Who are you?" The Prince said, "Destiny."
Then the Minister's daughter said, "What is it you call Destiny? On
account of the letter you sent, the royal Princess and we two also,
having spoken have made ready. Eat these things quickly; I must go."
Thereupon the Prince said, "Destiny." Then the Minister's daughter
having touched him on the body and caused him to arise, gave him
the food to eat, and having put distilled Attar water and several
sweet drugs on the Prince's body, and complied with immoral practice,
went away. The Destiny Prince went to sleep there.
At that time the second teacher, having stayed looking about near the
palace and the Princess not being [there], thinking he must go even to
the Minister's house, came to the Minister's house. At that time the
Destiny Prince was there. The second teacher having gone, asked this
one, "Who are you, Ada?" He said, "Destiny." Thereupon having said,
"What Destiny! Be off!" and having beaten him he drove him away. Having
driven him away the second teacher stayed there looking about.
The Destiny Prince having gone to the house of the Money Hettiya,
there also stayed sleeping near the gate. Then the Hettiya's daughter
having come with sandal-wood scent and distilled Attar water, asked,
"Who are you?" At that time the Prince said, "Destiny."
The Hettiya's daughter having said, "What Destiny! Get up," touched his
body, causing him to arise; and having given him food also, putting
distilled Attar water on his body, complied with immoral practice,
and went into the house. The Destiny Prince went to sleep there.
That second teacher having stayed looking about at the Minister's
house, and having said [to himself] that because the Minister's
daughter did not come he must go even to the Money Hettiya's house,
came there. At that time, the Destiny Prince was sleeping there also.
Then the second teacher asked, "Who are you, Ada?" Thereupon the Prince
said, "Destiny." Saying, "What Destiny, Ada!" and having struck him a
blow, he pushed him away. Thereupon the Destiny Prince having gone,
remained sleeping in a grass field more than four miles away. That
second teacher having stayed there watching until it was becoming
light, went to his city.
On the following day morning this fragrance [from the scents sprinkled
on the Prince] having gone through the whole city, when the King was
making inquiry [he learnt] that this Princess, too, had put on this
scent. Thereupon the King thought, "Besides the Minister no other
person comes to my palace. It is a work of his, this," he got into
his mind.
The Minister thinking, "Besides the King no other person comes to
my house; this is a disgraceful step (kulappadiyak) of the King's,"
got angry.
The Money Hettiya, thinking, "Except that the King comes, no one else
comes to my house; because of that, this is indeed a disgraceful step
of the King's," got angry.
After that, the whole three having met at one place, speaking about
this, when they were making inquiry the fragrance of the distilled
Attar water on the body of the Destiny Prince came [to them]. Then
seizing him and having come back, for the fault that he committed
they appointed to kill him.
At that time the royal Princess and the other two persons having
come before them, said, "It is not an offence [of his]. After you
kill that man please kill us three"; [and they gave a full account
of the matter]. Before they said this word the Destiny Prince said
even more words than anyone was saying and saying.
After that, the King also having freed him from death, asked the
Destiny Prince, "Of which village are you; of which country?"
Then the Destiny Prince said, "I am of such and such a city, the son of
the King. One day our father the King asked me and my younger brother,
'Is Destiny the greatest thing or not?' Thereupon I said, 'Destiny is
the greatest'; younger brother said, 'It is not the greatest.' Because
I said, 'Destiny is the greatest,' he appointed me for death. I
having run away from there, I dwelt in this manner, walking through
a multitude of cities. When they were speaking, I replied, 'Destiny.'"
At that time the King and Minister, including also the Hettiya,
speaking together, said, "This will be done to this one by the
Gods. Therefore let us marry these three to this one; we did not
marry and give the three to him."
They married them accordingly, [and] the King handed over charge of
the King's kingdom [to him]. After that, he remained exercising the
kingship in a good manner, with justice.
Another King having gone to the city in which the King the Prince's
father stayed, [after] fighting him and taking the city, banished the
King and his Queen and Prince. After that, the three persons having
come away arrived at the city where the Destiny Prince was ruling, and
stayed there, obtaining a living by breaking firewood and selling it.
The Destiny Prince one day walking in the city, when returning saw
that this King his father, and younger brother, and mother are selling
firewood. Having seen them, and having come to the palace without
speaking, he sent a messenger to tell the three firewood traders to
come. The messenger having gone told the three firewood traders that
the King says they are to come. Thereupon the three persons becoming
afraid, and thinking, "Is selling firewood of the jungle of the Gods
and getting a living by it, wrong?" in fear went to the royal palace.
Then the Destiny Prince asked, "Of what city are you?"
The party said, "We were exercising the kingship of such and such a
city. Another King having gone [there], oppressing us and seizing the
kingdom, told us to go away. Because of that, having come away and
arrived at this city, we remain getting a living, breaking firewood
in the jungle."
Thereupon the Destiny King asked, "When you were staying at that city
how many children had you?"
The firewood trader said, "I had two Princes."
Then the Destiny King asked, "Where then is the other Prince? Did
he die?"
The firewood trader said, "That Prince did not die. One day, when I was
asking that Prince and this Prince, 'Is Destiny the greatest thing or
not?' the Prince said, 'Destiny is the greatest'; this Prince said, 'It
is insufficiently great.' Because of it I sent him out of the kingdom."
Thereupon the Destiny Prince, saying, "It is I myself who am that
Prince," told them the circumstances that had occurred to him. Both
parties after that having become sorrowful, remained living [there],
protecting that city in happiness.
Immigrant from Malayalam, Southern India. (Written in
Sinhalese, and partly related in that language.)
In the Jataka story No. 544 (vol. vi, p. 117), the King of Videha
sums up the Hindu belief in predestination from the day of a person's
birth, as follows: "There is no door to heaven: only wait on destiny:
all will at last reach deliverance from transmigration."
His daughter afterwards illustrated the Buddhist doctrine that a
person's destiny depends on his acts and thoughts in his present life
as well as in previous ones:--"As the balance properly hung in the
weighing-house causes the end to swing up when the weight is put in,
so does a man cause his fate at last to rise if he gathers together
every piece of merit little by little."
The Maha Bharata (Santi Parva, cclviii), states that all gods must
inevitably become mortals, and all mortals must become gods; and also
(ccxcix) that whatever one's lot may be it is the result of deeds
done in previous lives.
The inevitable action of Karma is well exhibited in a story in
Folk-Tales of the Telugus (G. R. Subramiah Pantulu), p. 59, in
which when the God Siva and his wife Parvati saw a poverty-stricken
Brahmana on his way home, and the latter wished to give him riches,
Siva remarked that Brahma had not written on his face [at his birth]
that he must enjoy wealth. To test this, Parvati threw down on the
path a heap of a thousand gold muhrs (£1,500). When the Brahmana
got within ten yards of it, he was suddenly struck by the idea that
he would see if he could walk along like a blind man, so he shut his
eyes, and did not open them until he had gone past the money.
In the Katha Sarit Sagara (Tawney), vol. i, p. 280, a Princess who had
arranged through a confidante to meet a man in a temple at night, met
there instead a Prince who was accidentally spending the night there,
and without recognising who he was, accepted him as her husband, and
afterwards returned to the palace. On the following day the Prince
appeared before the King, who formally bestowed the Princess on him,
one of the Ministers remarking to the King, "Fate watches to insure
the objects of auspicious persons."
In Folk-Tales of Kashmir (Knowles), 2nd ed., p. 327, a King asked his
two daughters which was the greater, Karma (fate, as the effect of
acts in previous lives), or Dharma (righteousness). The younger said
"Karma," the elder, "Dharma." He was so angry that he married the
younger one to a young Brahmana thief; but he became very wealthy
in a miraculous manner, and afterwards invited his father-in-law
to a feast at which he was waited on by his daughter, the disgraced
Princess, whom he did not recognise. At the end of it she told him
who they were, and he promised to give the kingdom to her husband.
In The Kathakoça (Tawney), p. 82, a Princess had as her companions
the daughters of a merchant and a gardener who were born on the same
day as herself. When the Princess was married she requested that her
two comrades might be married to the same young man, and this was done.
No. 266
THE TEACHER AND HIS PUPIL
In a certain country there were a woman and her two children. After
the woman's husband went and died, there not being any all-refuge
(saw-saranak) for the woman and children, after the children became
big they remained without learning.
Thereupon the men of that country said to the woman, "Your children
are male children, are they not? Because of it, make efforts and
teach them. Should the persons learn a little it will be good for you."
And the woman accepting this very speech, as she had nothing
for expenses for teaching the children she went near a teacher,
and said, "Ane! Mr. Teacher, from anyone whatever I have no
all-protection. Therefore I have nothing to pay for an expense. Because
of it, you, Sir, by favour to me having taught these two children,
you taking one child be good enough to give me one child."
The teacher also being pleased regarding it, said, "It is good," and
took charge of the two children. [After] thus taking charge of them,
although having made efforts he taught both children, and the young
child, having more intelligence than the teacher, learnt, the other
elder child was unable to learn even a little. Because he could not
learn he sent him to look after the teacher's cattle.
After the young child had thoroughly learned, the teacher, thinking
a deceitful thought, for the purpose of causing the young child to
remain and of sending the elder child home, taught the young child in
this manner: "Child, I am sending a letter to your mother to-morrow
[as follows]; 'Your young son indeed knows nothing; the elder child
is learning very thoroughly. Because of it, having come [for him],
go back summoning him [to accompany you].' When I have sent the
letter your mother will come to-morrow. Then, putting on bad clothes,
you remain, smearing cow-dung and the like on your hands. The elder
child I shall dress well, and send to stay [at home]," he said.
Because the young child was unable to say anything at that time on
account of the teacher's word, he said, "It is good." After it became
night, taking the disguise of a bird and having gone that night to his
mother's house, and taught her [as follows], he came back:--"Mother,
to-morrow our teacher will send you a letter [to this effect]: 'Your
elder child is learning well; the young child indeed cannot [learn]
anything. Because of it, you having come call the elder child and
go.' In that way he will send the letter. Elder brother was unable
to learn anything, therefore I am learning in a thorough manner. On
account of it, to-morrow, when you are coming, our teacher, with the
thought to cause me to stay, having smeared cow-dung on my body and
put on me bad clothes, will put good clothes on elder brother. Then
teacher will say, 'Look here. This big child indeed is learning a
little; the young child cannot [learn] anything. Having put aside
the young child for me, even to look after the cattle, call the big
child and go.' Then you say, 'No, Mr. Teacher, you, Sir, having made
such efforts, I do not want the child whom you have taught. Should
you give me the young child it will do.' Somehow having made efforts,
asking for me come [home]."
And the teacher on the following day having written in the above-said
manner, sent a letter. At that time the woman arrived at the teacher's
house. After that the teacher said, "Your big child is learning the
arts and sciences better than I; the young child knows nothing. Because
of it, having caused the young child to stay to attend to the grazing
of the cattle for me, you go back, summoning the elder child [to
accompany you]."
At that time, the woman said, "Ane! Teacher, you, Sir, having made such
efforts, be good enough to take for yourself the child who has embraced
[the learning]. Should you give me the young child, it will do."
Thereupon the teacher said, "No, you are a poor woman, are you
not? Because of it, calling the elder child go."
Then the woman having said it in the very [same] way as before,
calling the younger child went away.
At that time the teacher having become angry regarding the young
child, said: "Son of the courtesan! It is a work of yours, indeed,
this! Somehow or other, should I be able I will take you."
The young child having gone to his mother's house, the child
said to his mother, "Mother, there is no way for us to obtain a
livelihood. Because of it, I will create myself a vegetable garden. You
having uprooted the vegetables and tied them in bundles, place them
[aside]. Men will come and ask for vegetables. Give the vegetables;
do not give the cord that is tied round the vegetables," he said.
Thereupon, having said, "It is good," she did so, not giving the
cord. Having sold the vegetables, for a few days they obtained
a livelihood.
After that, the child said to his mother, "Mother, now then, there is
no way for us to obtain a livelihood. Because of it, I will become a
fighting-cock. Men having come and given the price you say and say,
will take the cock. Don't you give the cord only, with which the cock
has been tied. Should you give it the men will capture me."
His mother said of it, "It is good."
After that, having become the fighting-cock, while he was so,
certain men having come asked for the fighting-cock. After that,
saying a great price and having given the cock, taking the cord that
had tied the cock, and the money, with the money for a little time
they obtained a livelihood.
After that the child said to his mother, "Mother, because we have
nothing for food or drink I will become a horse. Our teacher will
come to take me. You give only the horse; don't give the cord."
After that having become the horse, while he is it the teacher who
taught him came. Having come and having offered a price for the horse
he gave the money. Having given it, when he was preparing to bring
away the horse that woman said she could not give the cord.
At that time the teacher said, "I cannot give you the cord. I gave
the money for the cord with it"; and not having given the cord to the
woman, holding the cord and having mounted on the back of the horse he
made it bound along without stopping, as though killing it. Causing
it to bound along in this manner, when he was near a piece of water
the horse, being unable to run [further], taking the appearance of
a frog sprang into the water.
The teacher became angry at it, and having collected a multitude of
men besides, taking a net tried to catch the frog. At that time the
frog having become a golden finger-ring, and crept inside [a crevice
in] a stone step at the place where the royal Princess bathes at that
tank, remained [there]. Although that teacher with extreme quickness
made efforts to find the frog he did not meet with it.
After that, a royal Princess and a female slave having come to the
pool, when they were bathing the ring having been at the angle of the
stone the female slave met with it. Having met with it she showed
it to the royal Princess. Thereupon the royal Princess, taking it,
put it on her hand. Placing it on her hand, and having bathed and
finished, she went to the palace.
The Princess having been sleeping, eats the evening food at about
twelve at night. That day, in the night, the female slave, having
taken cooked rice and gone to the royal Princess, and having placed
it on the table, and made ready betel and areka-nut for the betel box,
and placed it [ready], went to sleep.
After all went to sleep, that ring, having loosened itself from the
hand of that Princess and having become a man, and eaten a share from
the cooked rice that was for the Princess, and eaten also a mouthful of
betel, and come near the bed on which the royal Princess is sleeping,
expectorated [326] on the Princess's clothes, and having come to her
finger, remained like a ring on her hand.
The Princess having arisen to eat the cooked rice, when she looked
[saliva stained red by] betel [and areka-nut] had been expectorated
on her clothes. Having said, "Who is it?" and having gone, when she
looked at the cooked rice at that time a half of the cooked rice had
been eaten. After that, not eating the rice, and thinking, "By whom
will this work be done?" she went to sleep. Regarding this she did
not tell anyone else.
On the following day, also, in that way she went to sleep. That day,
also, that ring having gone in that manner and eaten the cooked rice,
and eaten the betel, and expectorated on the clothes, and gone [back]
to the finger, remained [there]. The Princess that day also having
awoke, when she looked, that day also, having eaten half the cooked
rice and betel, he had expectorated on the clothes.
On the following day, with the thought, "Somehow or other I must
catch this man who comes," having pricked the Princess's finger with
a needle and put a lime fruit on it, except that she simply stays
closing her eyes, by its paining she remained without going to sleep.
That day, also, that ring, with the thought, "This Princess will have
gone to sleep," having loosened itself from the finger, when he was
becoming ready to eat the cooked rice the Princess having come and
said, "Who are you?" seized him.
Thereupon the youth having told her all the circumstances, while
staying there became the ring. The magic-performing boy, as it appears
to him by the various sciences, said to the Princess, "The teacher who
taught me the sciences will come here to-morrow to perform magic. I
shall become a good beautiful necklace on your neck. He having come,
and having thoroughly performed magic for the King's mind to become
pleased, will think of getting presents. Then the King will ask,
'What dost thou want?' At that time that person will say, 'We indeed
do not want any other thing; should you give that Princess's necklace
it will be enough.' Then the King will tell you to give it. Thereupon,
you, as though you became angry, having unfastened it from the neck
and crushed it in the hand, throw it away into the open space in front
of the palace. When throwing it there one grain will burst open. Then
that magician, taking the appearance of a cock, will pick up each
grain [of corn out of that one] and eat it. Then you remain treading
on one grain [of corn] with your foot. Having been treading on it,
when [the cock], having eaten all, is coming to an end, raise the
foot. Then I having become a jackal, catching the cock will eat it."
To that speech the Princess said, "It is good."
On the following day, in the above-mentioned manner that magician
came. In that way doing magic, he asked for that necklace as a
present. The Princess did just as that youth said. At that time a
grain burst. Thereupon the magician, having become a cock, ate the
grains [of corn which came out of it]. Then the Princess having come,
remained treading on one with the foot. The cock having eaten the
grains, when they were becoming finished the Princess raised the
foot. At that time the grain seed that was under the foot having
become a jackal, caught and ate that cock.
After that, the King, ascertaining that the youth was cleverer than
that magician, having married and given to him the King's Princess,
gave him the sovereignty also. After that, causing to be brought
there the youth's mother and his elder brother also who stayed near
the teacher, he remained exercising the kingship in a good manner.
Immigrant from Malayalam, Southern India. (Written in
Sinhalese, and partly related in that language.)
THE TEACHER AND THE BULL (Variant a)
In a certain country there was a most skilful teacher. One day when
this teacher went to walk in the village, having seen that there were
two sons of a widow woman at one house, asking for these two children
from the woman for the purpose of teaching them the sciences he went
away [with them].
The teacher began to teach these two the sciences. But perceiving
that the elder one could not learn the sciences he taught him the
method of cooking, and the younger one the sciences. After he had
taught these two the sciences it was [agreed] that the mother should
select the person [of them] whom she liked.
When their learning was near being finished, the younger one having
gone home said, "You ask for me; elder brother knows how to cook,
only."
The mother having said, "It is good," after their learning was finished
the teacher told the mother to take the person she liked. That day
she brought away the younger one. The teacher, perceiving the trick
that the younger one had done for him, was displeased.
The widow woman was very poor. One day the boy said, "Mother, let us
sell cattle"; and taking a [charmed] cord and having given it to his
mother, he said, "Having fixed this cord to my neck, at that time I
shall become a bull. At the time when you sell the bull do not give
the cord to anyone."
When the woman put the cord on her son's neck he became a most handsome
bull. Having taken the bull to the city and sold it, she brought the
cord home. At the time when the merchant [who had bought the bull]
looked in the evening, the bull had broken loose and gone away.
After having done thus many a time, the merchant related the
circumstance to the teacher of that district. The teacher, knowing
the matter, said, "Having brought the bull together with the cord,
place it and tie it at the side of a jungle."
That woman on the following day having taken the bull [for sale],
he gave about double the price he was paying for the bull, and having
brought the cord also, tied it at the side of a jungle, [and informed
the teacher].
While it was [there], in the evening the teacher having approached
it in a leopard-disguise killed the bull.
Uva Province.
THE BRAHMANA AND THE SCHOLAR (Variant b)
At a certain city there was a famous Brahmana. He taught a certain
youth the whole of his science. After the scholar learnt the science
the Brahmana became angry [with him]. While the time is going on thus,
the Brahmana thought of killing the scholar. The scholar also got to
know about it.
While they were at a certain place, these two persons having struck
[each other] on the face, the Brahmana chased the scholar along the
path. The scholar being unable to run [further], took the appearance
of a bull, and ran off. The Brahmana, also, bringing a leopard's
appearance, chased him. The scholar being unable to run thus, becoming
a parrot began to fly. The Brahmana, also, becoming a hawk began to
go chasing it. At last the parrot, being unable to fly, entered the
palace of a certain King by the window. The Brahmana, also, bringing
a youth's appearance became appointed for looking after the oxen of
a house near by.
In this royal palace there was a Princess. The parrot having been
during the day time in the disguise of a parrot, in the night time
took also the appearance of a Prince. In the night time, in the
appearance of a Prince he went near the Princess. Having been thus,
in the day time, at the time when the parrot is bathing daily a cock
comes. The parrot having gone away immediately got hid.
Having been thus, and being unable to escape, one day at night having
uttered spells over and given [the Princess] three Mi [327] seeds,
he said that at the time when the cock comes she is to break them
in pieces.
On the following day, at the time when [the parrot] was bathing, the
Brahmana came in the disguise of a cock. Thereupon she broke up the
three Mi seeds. Immediately a jackal having come, seizing the neck
of the cock went off [with it].
After that, the Prince, marrying the royal Princess, in succession
to the King exercised the sovereignty over the city.
Uva Province.
This story with its variants is the first tale of The Story of Madana
Kama Raja (Natesa Sastri), p. 2. The two sons of a deposed King who
became a beggar were educated by a Brahmana on the understanding that
he should keep one of them. By the younger son's advice he was selected
by the parents, his brother being too stupid to learn anything. He
first became a hen which the King bought for a hundred pagodas; in the
night she became a bandicoot, a large rat, and returned home. Then he
became a horse which the Brahmana bought for a thousand pagodas, and
rode and flogged till it was exhausted. At a pool the spirit of the
Prince entered a dead fish, and the horse fell down lifeless; then to
save himself he entered a dead buffalo which thereupon became alive,
and lastly a dead parrot which when pursued by the Brahmana in the form
of a kite took refuge in a Princess's lap, and was put in a cage. On
two nights while she slept the Prince resumed his own shape, rubbed
sandal on her, ate her sweetmeats, and returned to the cage; on the
third night she saw him and heard his story. As predicted by him, the
Brahmana came with rope-dancers, and as a reward for their performance
demanded the bird. By the Prince's advice the Princess broke its neck
when giving it, and his spirit entered her necklace. She broke it,
casting the pearls into the court-yard, where they became worms. When
the Brahmana while still in the swing took a second shape as a cock
and began to pick up the worms, the Prince became a cat and seized
it. By the King's intervention the enemies were reconciled, the Prince
married the Princess, and afterwards recovered his father's kingdom.
In Indian Nights' Entertainment (Swynnerton), p. 216, the first part
is similar, the teacher being a fakir. The youth turned himself into
a bull which was sold, without the head-stall, for a hundred rupees,
disappeared, and became the youth again. When he next changed himself
into a horse the fakir chased it; it became a dove and the fakir
a hawk, then it turned into a fish and the fakir a crocodile. When
near capture the fish became a mosquito and crept up the nostril of
a hanging corpse; the fakir blocked the nostril with mud and induced
a merchant to bring him the body. Then follow some of the Vikrama
stories, and at last at the corpse's request the merchant removed
the mud, and the youth escaped. The fakir then accepted the boy's
challenge that he should be a goat and the fakir a tiger, and one
should devour the other. The goat was tied outside the town at night,
men who were stationed to shoot the tiger when it came, fired, and
both animals were killed.
In Folklore of the Santal Parganas (collected by Rev. Dr. Bodding),
p. 134, a Queen bore two sons owing to magical aid given by a Jogi,
who was to have one of them as a reward. The clever younger one whom
he wanted ran off. The man first chased him as a leopard, then they
were a pigeon and hawk, a fly and egret. The fly settled on the rice
plate of a Queen; when the Jogi induced her to throw the rice on the
ground the boy became a coral bead in her necklace. The man then got
her to scatter the beads on the floor, and while as a pigeon he was
picking them up, the boy took the form of a cat and killed it.
In the Katha Sarit Sagara (Tawney), vol. i, p. 342, a man became an ox
when a witch tied a string round his neck, and regained his shape when
it was removed. On p. 340 the animal was an ape; when the string was
taken off a spell was also necessary to restore the man's form. In
vol. ii, pp. 157, 168, a man was similarly turned into a peacock,
and resumed his shape when the thread was removed.
In Sagas from the Far East, p. 2, the elder son of a Khan studied
without result under seven magicians for seven years; the younger
son acquired their mystic knowledge by peeping through a crack in
the door. The elder one afterwards sold the younger to them in the
form of a horse; as they were killing it he entered a fish, which as
seven larger fishes they chased. Then he became a dove, which when
seven hawks pursued it took refuge in Nagarjuna's bosom and told him
its story. When the seven men asked for his rosary he put the large
bead in his mouth as requested by the youth, and biting the string,
let the others fall, on which they became worms that seven cocks
began to pick up. On the large bead's falling it changed into a man
who killed the cocks with a stick; they became human corpses.
In the same work, p. 273, when the father of Vikramaditya went to fight
a demon he left his body near an image of Buddha for safety. On his
younger wife's burning it on a pyre, he appeared in a heavenly form and
stated that as his body was destroyed he could not revisit the earth.
In the Arabian Nights (Lady Burton's ed., vol. i, p. 118)
a Princess-magician summoned an Ifrit (Rakshasa) who had turned a
Prince into an ape, and with a sword made from a hair of her head
cut him in two as a lion. They then became a scorpion and python,
a vulture and eagle, a black cat and wolf. The cat became a worm
which crept into a pomegranate; when this broke up and the seeds fell
on the floor, the wolf (Princess) became a white cock which ate all
but one that sprang into the water of a fountain and became a fish,
the cock as a larger fish pursuing it. At last they fought with fire
in their true forms, and were reduced to ashes.
In the same work, vol. iv, p. 492, a magician warned a Prince not
to part with the bridle of a mule which was a metamorphosed Queen,
but her old mother bought the animal and got the bridle with it. When
she removed the bridle and sprinkled water on the mule it became the
Queen again at her orders.
In the Katha Sarit Sagara, vol. i, p. 420, the Asura Maya showed a
King his former Asura body. The King magically re-entered the body,
abandoning his own frame, and the dead Asura arose. He embalmed
and kept his human body, saying that it might prove useful to
him. Apparently this approaches the Egyptian belief in the return of
the soul to its body after death. Mr. Tawney referred such ideas in
China to Buddhist influence.
In the same work, vol. ii, p. 353, a decrepit old hermit who
had magical power left his own body, and entered that of a boy of
sixteen years who was brought to be burnt, after which he threw his
old abandoned body into a ravine, and resumed his ascetic duties as
a youth.
In Dr. De Groot's The Religious System of China, vol. iv, p. 134 ff,
instances are quoted from Chinese writers, of bodies which had been
reanimated by souls of others who died, and it is stated that "it is
a commonplace thing in China, a matter of almost daily occurrence,
that corpses are resuscitated by their own souls returning into them."
In the Rev. Dr. Macgowan's Chinese Folk-lore Tales, p. 109, the spirit
of a King who was murdered by being pushed into a well three years
before, appeared to a monk, gave an account of the murder, and said,
"My soul has not yet been loosed from my body, but is still confined
within it in the well." The body was taken out, and revived when a
few drops of the Elixir of Life were applied to the lips. (See also
the first note on p. 376, vol. ii.)
In Folk-Tales of Kashmir (Knowles), 2nd ed., p. 71, a cord placed
round the neck of a Prince by the daughter of a sorceress changed him
into a ram; when it was accidentally removed he became a Prince again.
In The Kathakoça (Tawney), p. 38, a Vidyadhara gave a Prince the power
of entering another body. When he utilised it, it was given out that
he was dead. His spirit returned to his own body by its own volition.
SINHALESE TEXTS OF STORIES
The texts of a few of the stories in the second and third volumes
are appended at the suggestion of Professor Dr. Geiger of Erlangen,
who has expressed the opinion that they will be of interest to
philological students, retaining as they do some old grammatical
forms and expressions which elsewhere have been abandoned. They are
fair examples of the Sinhalese tongue which is found in the villages,
and the dialogues in particular give the language exactly as it is
spoken in them. I regret that the size to which the work has grown
compels me to restrict the number of stories thus given in Sinhalese.
In order that the texts should possess a representative character,
stories by different narrators have been selected. The village
orthography has been carefully adhered to except in instances where
a consonant has been accidentally omitted, or has been duplicated
in carrying forward part of a word to the next line. Where a missing
letter has been thus inserted by me it is enclosed in square brackets.
The stories were written in pencil, always in unbroken lines, without
separation into words and sentences, and without punctuation except
an occasional full-stop. For convenience of reference, however,
I have marked the dialogues and sentences as in the translations.
My acquaintance with Pali and Elu is too slight to enable me to make
special observations on the grammatical forms met with in the stories
generally. I therefore merely note a few peculiarities, most of which
I think are not included in Mr. Gunasekara's Grammar.
In the nouns and pronouns a genitive form in ae or lae is often
employed in both the singular and plural numbers. Thus, among numerous
other instances, in the singular we have:--Diribari-Lakalae gedara, the
house of Diribari-Laka (i, 177, line 14); nændamamalae gedara giyaya,
[they] went to the house of [his] mother-in-law and father-in-law (ii,
404, line 14); unnæhælae akkalae gedara sitinawa mama dækka misa,
tamuselae dihata nam giye nae, except that I saw [he] is at the
gentleman's elder sister's house, [he] did not go to your quarter,
indeed (ii, 214, variant); mi pætikkilae gamata gihin, having gone
to the f. mouseling's village (i, 310, line 2); rassayae gedara,
the rakshasa's house (iii, 122, note); umbalae gamata, to your
village; ummbalae gedara, your house; umbalae piya-rajjuruwo, your
father the king; as well as the titles of Nos. 127 and 216. In the
plural:--Mewwae ingan kiyapan, tell [us] the limits of these (ii, 241,
line 5); umbalae piya-rajjuruwanda enda bae, umbalae piya-rajjuruwo,
etc., your father the king cannot come, your father the king, etc. (i,
267, line 30); ayiyalae gaenu, the elder brothers' wives; mama danne
nae ewae wagak, I don't know anything of those [matters]; umbalae mas,
your flesh. (See also No. 207 below.)
Hotae (vol. ii, 214, line 24) is perhaps a special plural form. I
was informed that the word gara, a kind of demon, has two plurals,
garayo and gærae; I do not remember other instances.
As a termination, ae usually takes the place of a in such words as
kawaddae, [328] kawdae, kiyatadae, kohedae, kohomadae, mokaddae,
mokak weladae, mokatadae, monawadae; we have also such forms as,
awæn passe, baendæn passe, damamuyæyi, giyæn pasu, issaræhæta,
kapanneyæyi, nikæ hitapan, palapannæyi, weyæyi, wunæyin pasu.
There are numerous instances in which a noun or pronoun as the subject
takes an instrumental position, always governed by wisin or wihin,
by; this is a common feature in Hindustani and Gujarati also. In
translating such sentences I have occasionally made use of the passive
verb when it appeared to suit the context--(as in the last paragraph
of No. 98)--in order to retain the preposition. I may here mention
that the passive form with laba is practically never used by the
villager; there are not half a dozen sentences in which it occurs in
the stories. The following are a few examples of the subject in the
instrumental position--or, rather, governed by wisin or wihin:--
Vol. i, 247, line 19: Rajjuruwo wihin wandura allanda niyama-keruwaya,
(by) the king ordered [them] to seize the wandura.
Vol. ii, 126, line 15: Itin weda wisin kiyanne, well then, (by) the
veda says; line 31: Ewita raja wisin noyek tanantra di, thereupon
(by) the king having given several great offices.
Vol. ii, 137, line 3: Kumariyak genat dunna rajjuruwoyi dewinnanseyi
wihin, a princess brought and gave (by) the king and queen.
Vol. ii, 147, line 5: Mama wisin dæn maranawaya, (by) I shall now kill
[you].
Vol. ii, 206, line 3: Purusaya wisin ... kiwaya, (by) the husband said.
Vol. ii, 258, line 12: Raksayak wisin aragana giyaya, (by) a rakshasa
took away.
Vol. iii, 22, line 12: Ayet nariya wisin gona langata gihin, (by)
the jackal having gone again near the bull.
Other instances are: Anit badu horunda baena wisin dunna, the other
goods (by) the son-in-law gave to the thieves. Raja wisin æhæwwa,
(by) the king asked. Raja wisin asa, (by) the king having heard
[it]. Some examples are noted in the stories also.
In the Sinhalese Mahavansa, c. 37, v. 10, wisin is employed in the
same manner; in the Swapna-malaya occurs the line, Satten kiwu e bawa
pandi wisina, truly said regarding it (by) the pandit.
As in Elu works, there is much irregularity in the indefinite forms
of the terminations of feminine nouns, but very rarely in those
of masculine nouns, and never in neuter nouns, although these
last are irregular in Elu. Thus we have quite usually gaeniyak
instead of gaeniyek, a woman, but always minihek, a man. Similar
forms are:--diwidenak, a leopardess; duwak, a daughter; eludenak,
a f. goat; girawak, a parrot; kaputiyak, a f. crow; kellak, a girl;
kenak, a person; kumarikawak, kumarikawiyak, kumariyak, a princess;
manamaliyak, a bride; miminniyak, a f. mouse-deer; mi-pætikkiyak,
a f. mouseling; yaksaniyak, a yaksani.
Similarly, in Mah. ii, 37, 159, we have dewiyaktomo; in Thup. (1901),
p. 50, putakhu, p. 60, wandurakhu; in Amawatura (1887), i, p. 23,
ajiwakayakhu, p. 31, dewduwak.
With regard to the general use of the word atin,--which, in order
to retain the expression, I have translated, "at the hand of,"
[329]--this has virtually the power of a postposition commonly meaning
"to," "of" or "from," and more rarely "by." [330] The following
are examples:--E miniha æhæwwa me gaeni atin, the man asked (of)
this woman. E kumarayage kiri-appa atin kiwa, [he] told (to) the
prince's grandfather. Sitanange gaeni atin kiwa, [he] told (to) the
treasurer's wife. Welihinni me kolla atin æhæwwa, the f. bear asked
(of) this youth. E minissu atin rilawat illuwa, (from) the men the
monkey also begged. Ura atin æhæwwa ara hat dena, (of) the boar asked
those seven. Gamarala ... ketta atin kiwa, the gamarala told (to)
the girl.
The same use of this expression is found in Elu:--Amawatura, i, p. 24,
raja ... uyanpalla atin asa, the king having heard from the gardener;
Thup., p. 40, bodhisattwayo atin tun siyak la, (by) the Bodhisattwa
having put three hundred (masuran).
One of the commonest forms of the conjunction "and" is ignored by
the grammars. In these stories there are many hundreds of instances
in which "and" is represented by the particle yi or uyi, suffixed to
each conjoined word. When the word ends in a vowel, yi is suffixed;
when it terminates in a consonant, uyi, the pronunciation of this
being practically wi. Some examples have been given in the stories;
a few others are:--gætayi gediyi maluyi, immature fruits and [ripe]
fruits and flowers; hettiyage walatayi hettiyatayi, to the hettiya's
slave and the hettiya; kolayi potuyi, leaves and bark; minihayi
gaeniyi e bælliyi, the man and woman and the bitch; molgahayi
wangediyayi kurahan-galayi bereyi, the rice pestle and rice mortar
and millet stone (quern) and tom-tom; rilawayi pætiyayi ammayi, the
monkey and youngster and [his] mother; talayi aluyi, sesame and ashes;
udetayi haendaewatayi, in the morning and evening; yanawayi enawayi
[they] are going and coming; duwekuyi putekuyi, a daughter and a son;
girawekuyi, ballekuyi, balalekuyi, a parrot and a dog and a cat;
akkayi mayi, elder sister and I; umbayi mamayi, you and I,--(but tit
[331] mat, thou and I).
As in ordinary Sinhalese, many words that are well known as pairs are
commonly written without conjunctions, as amma-appa, mother and father,
(also, ammayi appayi or ammayi abuccayi); akko-nago, elder sisters and
younger sisters; ayiyo-malayo, elder brothers and younger brothers;
aet-maet, far and near; rae-dawal, night and day; hawaha-ude, evening
and morning; at-kakul, hands and feet; gankumburu, villages and rice
fields; ganu-denu, taking and giving; batmalu, boiled rice and curry,
(but also batuyi maluyi).
Usually when a particle, especially yi, is suffixed to a noun or
pronoun ending in a long vowel, this is shortened, in accordance with
the common village pronunciation, as in several of the examples given
above. Thus miniha, with yi or ta, becomes minihayi, minihata; amma
and ayiya, with yi or la, become ammayi, ammala, ayiyayi, ayiyala;
mal-amma, with ta, is mal-ammata; girawa, nariya, and hawa, with yi,
become girawayi, nariyayi, and hawayi; dewinnanse, with yi or ta,
becomes dewinnanseyi, dewinnanseta.
There are a few instances of a form of verbal noun derived from a
participial adjective, which is not mentioned by Mr. Gunasekara. In
vol. iii, 146, line 5, we have dipuwa, evidently equal to dipu ewwa,
the things [she] gave. In vol. i, 274, line 14, there is also,
me nuwara hitapuwo okkama yaka kaewa, [a] yaka ate all those who
stayed at this city. In vol. iii, 79, line 20, the same noun occurs
in the form hitapuwanda, those who were [there]. At p. 370, line 6,
we have pala tanbapuwa wagayak kanta dila, having given [him] a sort
of vegetable stew to eat. See also uyapuwæn p. 428, line 12.
From another form of the participial adjective we have in vol. iii,
66, line 38, redda allagattuwo, those who took hold of the cloth. In
the same vol., p. 228, line 1, there is, mæricci minissu malawungen
nækita ena ratakut ædda, dead men having arisen from the dead will
there be a country, also, to which they come? On p. 315, line 11,
there is, ita wisalawu dutu dutuwange sit pina-wana ... salawak, a very
spacious hall, which causes the minds of the spectators who saw it to
rejoice. In the Swapna-malaya the same expression occurs:--dutuwanhata
anituyi me sinat, for the beholders this dream, too, is inauspicious.
There are several examples of a peculiar form of subjunctive, one of
which has been given in vol. ii, 323, note 1. Some others are:--apage
piya-rajjuruwo awotin umba kayi, should our father-king come [he]
will eat you; e beheta e kumari atin dæmmotin, should the princess
apply the medicine with [her] hand; kiri tikak biwotin misa, unless
[I] should drink a little milk; yan wædak kiwuwotin, should [he] tell
[you] any work. In the work Swapna-malaya there are other similar
expressions, such as, pibidunotin, pibidunahotin, dutotin, dutuwotina;
the second of these exhibits the uncontracted form.
A short form of participle is often employed, with either a present or
a past signification. As a present participle:--balla burana enawa,
the dog comes growling; budiyana innakota, when [they] are sleeping;
eka balana hitiya, [he] remained looking at it; kumaraya budiyana
indala, the prince having been sleeping. With a past participial
meaning:--atu mitiyak kadana issarahæta pænna, breaking a bundle of
branches [he] sprang in front; ewwa kadana æwit, having come [after]
plucking them; kændana æwidin, having come [after] calling [her]; okke
isa tiyana budiya-gatta, placing [his] head on [her] waist-pocket,
[he] slept; wastuwa hoyana enda, to come [after] seeking wealth.
There is often omission to mark the long vowels, many of which,
however, are shortened in the pronunciation of the Kandian
villagers. As regards spelling, I have noted the following variations
of the word gos, having gone:--gosin, gosin, gohin, gihin, gihun,
gihun, guhin, gusin, gehun, gehun, ginun.
I also here mention the marked avoidance of the use of the personal
and possessive pronouns of the third person, and of the guttural n,
the palatal ñ, and the cerebral n, as well as the employment of the
binduwa in the story No. 207, "The Turtle Prince," for all forms
of mute n when followed by any consonant. Its use in this manner in
this story, as well as in others sometimes, may indicate the origin
of the curled form of the attached semi-consonantal n of all classes,
which originally appears to have been a degraded form of the binduwa
written hurriedly and united by an upstroke to the next letter. The
abandonment of the first two forms of n is, I venture to think,
an advantage in every way, since the class of these letters, and
especially of the first one, would rarely be mistaken in Sinhalese,
whatever form be used, and every step towards simplification of the
alphabet under such conditions is an improvement. On the other hand,
the class of t or t, d or d, is never mistaken by these villagers,
except in the word katantaraya (which is sometimes written katantaraya)
and in another word or two; but la usually takes the place of la,
and sa of s'a.
In his Sumero-Accadian Grammar, Mr. Bertin has classified the
grammatical elements of a sentence under seven headings:--s, the
subject; o, the object; i, the indirect object; r, the reason
for the action; c, the complement, or manner of the action; d,
the determinative of time (dt), place (dp), or state (ds); and v,
the verb, with or without pronouns and particles; together with q,
any qualificative which explains or specifies these elements, as the
words, 'of honour,' in the expression, 'sword of honour.'
With this classification, the ordinary formula of the arrangement of
a complete sentence in Sinhalese is, dt--dp--s--r--ds--i--o--c--v. In
the stories, however, the order of the components is most irregular,
and very rarely quite accords with this, although most of the sentences
partly adhere to this sequence. I have not met with all the elements
in one sentence, partly because of the constant omission of the
pronouns. The accompanying few examples show the want of uniformity
in the arrangement; their order follows the position in which s occurs:
s--dt--ds--v--c. Ibba hat-awuruddak weli weli hitiya diya nætuwa,
the turtle a seven-year having dried and dried up, stayed water
without.
dt--qs--qi--r--o--v. Ewita e nuwara rajjuruwo wena nuwarawalwala
rajunda kæmata enda liyun æriyaya, at that time the city king to
other cities' kings for the eating to come, letters sent.
dt--s--ds--o--v--i. Ewita berawaya issara wagema salli illuwaya
gamaralagen, at that time the tom-tom beater, in the former very
manner, money asked-for from the gamarala.
dt--r--qs--o--v. Me dawaswaladima, maha rajagen yuddayakata udaw
illa, wena raja kenek liyun ewweya, during these very days, from
the great king for a war assistance having asked, another king
letters sent.
r--dt--s--v. E kumarikawata dæn bohoma dawasaka hita pissurogayak
saedila, for the princess, now many a day since, an insanity
having been developed.
dt--c--i--s--v--o. Etakota hinen gaenita dewatawa kiwa, "Tota,
etc.," then, by dream, to the woman the dewatawa said, "For
thee, etc."
dt--qo--i--v--qs. Itapasse rajjen palatakuyi ætek-barata wastuwayi
dewinnanseta dunna kumarayage piya-rajjuruwo, after that, from
the kingdom a district and to a tusk-elephant-load wealth, to
the queen gave the prince's father-king.
i--o--v--s. E kumarayanta kaema uyala-denne mal-amma kenek,
to the princes food having-cooked-gives a flower-mother.
i--ds--o--v--s. E kumarayata, masuran haddahak dila, kumariyak
genat-dunna rajjuruwoyi dewinnanseyi wihin, to the prince, masuran
seven thousand having given, a princess having-brought-gave the
king and queen (by).
The following transliteration has been adopted in these texts, being
the same as in the translations of the stories, with the exceptions æ,
ae, and sa.
Initials: a, a, i, i, u, u, e, e, o, o, au, æ, ae.
Gutturals: ka, kha, ga, gha, na.
Palatals: ca, cha, ja, jha, ña.
Cerebrals: ta, tha, da, dha, na.
Dentals: ta, tha, da, dha, na.
Labials: pa, pha, ba, bha, ma.
Semi-vowels: ya, ra, la, wa, la, n.
Sibilants, etc.: sa, sa, sa, ha.
Semi-consonants thus: ng, nd, nd, mb.
NO. 81
CONCERNING A ROYAL PRINCE AND A PRINCESS
RAJA-KUMARAYAKUT KUMARIKAWAK GÆNA
Ekomat eka nuwaraka raja kenekuyi waduwekuyi henayakuyi hitiyaya. Me
tun denage pirimi daruwo tun denek sitiyaya. Me lamayi tun dena
yodunak ipita nohot hatara gawuwakin ipita guruwarayek la[n]gata akuru
iganaganda hæriyaya. Me tun dena eka aewara nuwarin pitat-wela akurata
giyama ara raja-kumarayat henakollat denna guhin akuru kiyala enakota
waduwage puta tawama maga yanawa. Ara denna bohoma kadisarakamin
yanawa. E nisa waduwage puta ohuge piya atin kiwuwa "Api tun dena eka
aewara nuwarin pitat-wela giyama ara denna issara-wela guhin akuru
kiyalat enawa. Ekama dawasakwat eka aewara guhin akuru kiyala enda
bæri-unaya." Næwata waduwage putata da[n]du monara yantreyak tanala
dila eya eka pædagana guhin akuru kiyala enakota ara denna tawama
yanawa akurata. Eka dawasak raja-kumaraya waduge putata kiwuwa "Ane
yaluwe matat denawada da[n]du monara yantre pædala balanda" kiyala
æhæwuwaya. Ewita waduwage puta "Hondayi" kiyala lanu da[n]ge pagana
hæti kiyala dunnaya. Kumaraya lanu da[n]ge allanakotama da[n]du
monara yantre guhin ahase walakulwala ræ[n]dunaya. Ewita e nuwara
rajjuruwot senawat baya-wela hit[iy]a. Næwata e nuwara saestra-karayot
ganitak-karayot ekatu-karala æhæwuwa "Me kumaraya kawadata da[n]du
monara yantre ænna pat-weyida." Ewita saestra-karayo kiwuwa "Tun
awurudu tun masayak giya tæna æwit mude wætenawaya." Ewita rajjuruwo
æmættayinda kiwuwa "E awurudu ganan dawas ganan ayiru-karagana indala
muda watakara dæl damana i[n]dala kumaraya wætena wahama goda-ganda
onaeya" kiyala niyama-keruwaya. Næwata kumaraya da[n]du monara yantre
lanu allana welawata pat-bahinda patan-gattaya. Wenin nuwaraka sohon
bumiyaka nuga uksayak pitata da[n]du monara yantre pat-unaya. Ewita
kumaraya da[n]du monara yantre gaha uda tiyala gahen bæhæla e
nuwarata guhin æwidinda patan-gattaya. E nuwara rajju[ru]wanne
kumarikawat tawat kumarikawo samaga wilaka nana welawata me
kumarayat æwidagana yana welawata kumarikawa dutuwaya. Dækapu wahama
kumarikawa hituwa "Kumaraya kara-kara bæ[n]da-gannawa nam ho[n]dayi"
kiyala. Kumarayat hituwa "Me kumari mata kara-kara bæ[n]da-gannawa
nam ho[n]dayi" kiyala. Denna dennata hita-gatta misa kata-karaganda
maruwak næti nisa kumari e wile manel malak kadagana eka ise tiyala
ibala hita næwata podi-karala pagala dæmmaya. Kumari mehema keruwe
kumaraya sarana-pawa gattahama eyata yatahat-wela kikaru-wela,
inna bawa dænendayi. Kumarayata eka terila hitata gattaya. Næwata
kumaraya e nuwara æwidagana yana welawata kumari inna maligawa
sambu-unaya. Kumaraya tika welawak etana inna welawata kumarikawa
udu-mahan-talawe janeleyak ærala widiya diha bala inna welawata me
kumaraya inna bawa dækala kata-keruwaya. Ewita kumarayata kiwuwa "Oba
ræ unayin passe mama me janele ærala tiyanawa. Oba waren." Næwata
kumaraya maligawe serama nida-gattata passe æwit balapuwama janele
ærala tibunaya. Kumarita kata-karala maligawata ætul-unaya. Næwata
denna kata-baha-karala kumaraya eli-wenda palamuwen maligawen
pita-wela guhin ræ wena kal i[n]dala ayet enawaya. Ewita kumari
kumaraya maligawema tiyaganna pinisa e nuwara acari minihekuta rahase
enda kiyala masuran dahasakut dila miniha ho[n]data diwurawala kumari
kiwuwa "Loku pan-kandak tanala eka ætule minihekuta inda tanala ekata
yaturu iskuppu karakawala wikunanda genena hætiyata raja-wasalata
ænna waren genahama mama rajjuruwanda kiyala mama gañan." Ewita
gurunnæha guhin kumari kiyapu hætiyata pan-kanda tanala rajjuruwo
la[n]gata genawaya. Næwata kumari æwit "Meka mata onae" kiyala ænna
guhin maligawe tiya-gattaya. Gurunnæhæta rajjuruwo masuran pan siyayak
dunnaya. Næwata ara kumaraya pan-kanda atulata damala hitiyaya. Nobo
dawasak yanakota kumari bada-gærbba unaya. Kumari badin inna bawa
rajjuruwanda dænila maligawa wateta mura tiyala a[n]da bera prasidda
kala me hora allanda rajjuruwot mura-karayot puluwan ussaha-keruwa
hora allanda numut bæri-unaya. Eka kanawændum gaeniyak kiwuwa
"Mata allanda puluwani hora allanda mata hawaha udæhana kumari
inna maligawata yanda denawa nam." Ewita rajjuruwo e gaenita tisse
de wele yanda ida dunnaya. Kipa dawasak yana welawata ara pan-kanda
ætule minihek inna bawa me gænita dænila dawasak hin wæli pottaniyakut
æragana guhin kumari ekka kata-kara kara hitapu gaman wæli pottaniya
pan-kanda wateta damala tuni-karala awaya. Kumarita meka soya-ganda
bæri-una. Ara gæni pahuwa da udema guhin bæluwama kumarayage adi
tibunaya ara wælle. Dutu wahama gæni guhin rajjuruwo ekka kiwuwa "Mama
hora ælluwa. Yan balanda." Mæhælli guhin "Onna oya pan-kanda ætule
tamayi hora inne" kiyala rajjuruwanda pennuwaya. Ewita rajju[ru]wo
pan-kanda kadala bæluwama hora hitiyaya. Næwata rajjuruwo niyama-keruwa
horata wada-karala ænna guhin kapala damanda kiyala wada-karuwanda
kiwaya. Ewita wada-karuwo kumaraya bæ[n]dagana wada-bera gahagana ara
sohon bumiyata anna giyaya. Ewita kumaraya kiwuwa wada-karuwanda "Yam
kenek maranawa nam eyata hitu de kanda bonda dila neweda maranne. E
nisa mama me nuga gahata guhin nuga gedi dekak kala enakal obala
me gaha wateta ræggana hitapalla. Mata wena pænala yanda tænak
næta." Ewita wada-karuwo "Ho[n]dayi" kiyala kumaraya gahata goda-wela
ara da[n]du monara yantreta goda-wela ahasata pæddaya. Wada-karuwo
balana hitiyakota kumaraya igilila giyaya. Næwata wada-karuwo
rajjuruwannen soli wæteyi kiyala katussek allala kapala kaduwe le
gagana guhin rajjuruwanda pennuwa hora kapala dæmmaya kiyala. Eda
hita kumari soken kanne bonne nætuwa hitiyaya. Kipa dawasakata passe
kumaraya da[n]du monara yantre pædagana æwit kumari inna maligawa
uda hitawala ulu ahak-karala kumarayage ate tibunu peræs-munda kumari
inna tænata ætæriyaya. Kumarayage saluwakut ataeriyaya. Ewita kumari
kumaraya bawa dænagana redi ihalata wisu-keruwaya. At-wæla bæ[n]dagana
bahinda ewita kumaraya bæhæla kumarita kiwuwa "Mama maranda sohon
bumiyata ænna giya. Mama wada-karuwo rawatawala gahata goda-wela mage
da[n]du monara yantre gaha uda tibuna mama ekata goda-wela pædagana
giyaya." Næwata kumarit kumarayat dennama giyaya. Yana welawata
kumarita dasa masa sampurna-wela hitiyaya. Yana welawata bade ruda
allanda patan-gattaya. Næwata da[n]du monara yantre maha himalekata
pat-karala winadiyata atu-geyak tanala kumari wæduwaya. Ewita
kumaraya kiwuwa "Mama mehe guhin gindara tikak aragana ena kal
hitapan" kiyala kumarita kiyagana da[n]du monara yantre pædagana
kumaraya giyaya. Guhin pol-lellakata gindara aragana pædagana muda
mædin ena welawata pol-lella dala da[n]du monara yantreta gindara
allala daewaya. Næwata kumaraya æwit mude wætunaya. Ara palamu
kiyapu awurudu gananat edata kammutu-wela tibunaya. Mude dæl damana
hitapu aya kumaraya wætunu wahama goda-gattaya. E kumaraya e nuwara
uyan-wattak wawagana etana hitiyaya. Ara himale wadapu kumarita kisi
sawu-saranak nætuwa inna atara e himale tapas rakina tapasa kenekuta
me duka penila kumari inna tænata æwit kata-keruwaya. Ewita kumari
tapasayo dutuwata passe hite tibunu karadare tikak arila tapasa-inda
kiwuwa "Mama me wanantare æwidala palawæla tikak soyagana ena turu
me lamaya bala-gannawada" kiyala æhæwuwa. Næwata tapasayo kiwuwa
"Mama lamaya ælluwot mata kilutayi. E nisa oba mæssak tanala eka
wælakin ellala mæsse wælak bæ[n]dala lamaya mæsse budi-karawala hita
palayan. Lamaya a[n]dana welawata mama æwit wæla gawin allala hollanñan
ewita lamaya nawatinawa æta." Tapasayo kiyapu hætiyata karala kumari
palawæla soyagana kaewaya. Eka dawasak kumari lamayata kiri powala
mæsse budi-karawala palawæla soyanda giyaya. Næwata ara lamaya
mæssen peralila bimata wætila a[n]dana welawata tapasa-inda æhila
æwit bæluwama lamaya peralila bima wætila hitiyaya. Ewita tapasa-inda
lamaya allanda kiluta nisa malak kadala malata sattak kriya-karala "Me
lamaya wagema lamayek mæwiyan" kiyala hituwaya. Næwata e wagema lamayek
mæwunaya. Kumari æwit balapuwama lamayi dennek innawa dækala kumari
tapasa-ingen æhæwuwa "Mokada ada lamayi dennek." Næwata tapasayo kiwuwa
"Mama enakota lamaya wætila a[n]da a[n]da hitiya. Mata lamaya allanda
kiluta nisa mama e wagema lamayek mæwuwaya." Næwata kumari kiwuwa
"Mata oya wacane wiswasa-karanda bæriya. Ehe nan ayet lamayek mawanda
onae mata balanda." Ewita tapasayo kiwuwa "Obata eka lamaya tanaganda
tiyena amaruwe hætiyata tun denek unama kopamana amaruwakda." "Kamak
næta. Mawala dendeyi. Mata tanaganda puluwani." Ewita tapasayo malak
kadala sattak kriya-karala mæssa uda tiyapuwama e wagema lamayek
mæwunaya. Næwata kumari santosa-wela lamayi tænuwaya. Næwata lamayi
tænila e lamayi wihin wanantare æwidala palawæla soyagana æwit mawuta
dila kanda patan-gattaya. Eka dawasak me tun dena æwidagana yana
welawata loku gangawak sambu-unaya. Balapuwama ga[n]gen egoda loku
uyan-wattak penenawaya. Ewita me tun dena "Pinanda pulu wanda" kiyala
hu[n]gak durata pinala apahu æwidin "Heta udema emu" kiyagana tika
tika palawæla soyagana guhin mawuta dila pahuwa da udema dunu italut
æragana tun denama ga[n]ga gawata giyaya. Guhin tun denama pinagana
uyan-wattata guhi[n] bæluwama noyek palawæla jati tibunaya. Næwata
me tun dena kadala kana welawata e uyana rakina uyan-gowuwo dækala
duwagana æwit allanda tænuwaya. Ewita me tu[n de]na dunu æraga[na]
widinda tænuwaya. Næwata uyan-gowuwo pænala duwagana guhin rajjuruwo
atin kiwuwaya. Me tun dena puluwan tarama kala hu[n]gak kadagana
ekan-wela giyaya. Ewita rajjuru[wo] uyan-gowuwanda kiwuwa "Hetat me
horu awot wahama mata dannawapallaya." Pahuwa dat ara tun dena æwit
kadana welawata uyan-gowuwo guhin kiwuwa. Ewita rajjuruwo dunu italut
aragana æwit widdaya. Widapuwama itale guhin ara kumarayo la[n]ga apahu
bala wætunaya. Næwata e gollat rajjuruwanda widdaya. Et e hætiyatama
itale guhin rajjuruwo la[n]ga apahu bala wætunaya. Næwata de-gollama
lan-wela hita kata-keruwaya "Meka loku pudumayak une. De-gollagen
katawat wædune næti kariya loku pudumayak. E nisa de-gollama yan
panditayo la[n]gata meka toranda." Ewita de-gollama guhin panditayinda
kiwuwa me unu kariya. Ewita panditayo torala kiwuwa rajjuruwanda
"Tamunnanse dænata tun hatara awuruddakata ihatadi kumarikawak
kændana hitiya. E kumarige tamayi me tun dena tamunnanseta jataka
daruwo. E nisa dewiyo wihin meka pennala inne. Kumarikawa inna tænakin
guhin kændana endeyi" kiyala panditayo rajjuruwan[da] kiwaya. Næwata
rajjuruwanda matakwela winadiyata næwak sarasagana panca-suriya
(sic) naden ara kumari inna wanantareta guhin kumari a[n]da-gahagana
æwit kumarit kumarayo tun denat rajjuruwot e uyane hitiyaya kiyala
tibenawaya.
Cultivator, North-Central Province.
NO. 126
THE STORY OF THE SEVEN WICKED WOMEN
NAPURU GAENU HADDENAGE KATANTARAYA
Ekomat eka rataka akko nago haddenek at-wæl bændagana yanakota gaeniyak
linda gawa indala æhæwwa "Kohedae tamala yanne" kiyala. Etakota
e akko nago haddena kiwa "Api ayiyo malayo haddenek hoya-ganda
yanawa" kiyala. Etakota me gaeni kiwa "Mage innawa ayyo malayo
haddenek. Yamalla ehe nan ape gedara" kiyala e haddena kændana gihin
gewal hatakata ærala wi petti hatak bala dunna. E haddena e wi tambala
me gaenita "Naene mewwa bala-ganin" kiyala wi wanala e haddena dara
pare giya. E gihin kata-wuna "Naena maranda api upaharana karamu"
kiyala. Rilawek hitiya e rilawa alla-gana gedara genawa. Me nagata
budi gihin maha warusawak wæhæla wi okkama agare giya. Ara haddena
æwidin bælukota wi okkama agare gihin. Ita passe e haddena aye
wi bala e wi kækulen kotanakota ara nagata æhæruna. E æhærila ara
haddena atin æhæwwa "Naene bat tiyeyi" kiyala. Etakota e gaenu kiwa
"Bat tiyenne api ateyæyi hæliye newe tiyenne" kiyala. E gaenu kalimma
kotaleta kæbilicca katu kudu-karala damala tiyayi wi kotanne. Passe
ara naena gihin bat kala "Naene watura dilala" kiyala me gaenu kiwa
"Api ateyæyi tiyenne geyi kotale tiyanawa anna bipan" kiyala. Passe
e naena kotale anna diya bonakota kæbilicca katu ugure rænduna. Me
haddena kata-wuna "Okige ayiyala awot nan maranda bæri-weyi. Enda
issara maramu" kiyala e kata-wela naenayi ara rilawayi mallakata
damala bændala yata-liye elluwa. E ellala e haddena wi kotamin hita
haddena hat parak gahanawa mol-gaswalin e mallata. E gahana gane ara
rila pæna pæna ara malle inna gaeni suranawa. E surala passe mallen
le bahinawa. Etakota e haddena "Itin inda narakayi mundala damamu"
kiyala malla mundala e naena pilikannata dæmma. Etakota e naenage
ayiyala gedara awa. E æwidin wædimal ayiya æhæwwa "Koyi ape naga"
kiyala. Etakota me gaenu haddena kiwa "Api danne nae. Rodi passe gihin
kula wætila on pilikanna diha anda anda innawa" kiyala. Passe wædimal
ayiya gihin "Mokadae nage umbata wune" kiyala æhæwwa naga atin. Nagata
kata-karanda bae kæbilicca katuwak ugure ræ[n]dila tiyana nisa. E
ayiyala haddenama gihin kata-keruwa. Kata-keruwe næti nisa wædimal
ayiya kiwa "Me naga kapanda katadae pustuhan" kiyala. Anit ayiyala
pas denama bae kiwa bala ayiya kiwa "Mata nan pustuwani" kiyala. E
kiyala bat gediyak uyawagana nagat kændana kaduwat aragana bat gediyat
aragana himalekata giya. E gihin nagata kiwa "Nage umbe oluwe ukunan
balanda budiya-ganin ko" kiyala. Passe naga budiya-gatta itin ayiya
ukunan bindinda patan-gatta. Etakota nagata budi-giya. Passe e ayiya
nagage oluwa himimma bima tiyala emin para gærendiyek kapala kaduwe
le gagana gedara inna ættanda kaduwa pennuwa. Passe ara naga æhærila
bælukota ayiya nae wanantare. Itin anda anda bat gediyat anna parakata
pænala yanda patan-gatta. E gihin raksaya kana nuwara kiyala nuwarak
tiyanawa e nuwara dan-sælak tiyanawa etenda gihin eli-bæssa. Etanin
ara bat gediya kala dan dena ættanda ek-wela dan denda patan-gatta. Me
ayiyala haddenageyi gaenu haddenageyi okkagema æs kana-wuna. Ita
passe e ættandat aranci-wuna raksaya kana nuwara dan-sælak tiyanawa
kiyala. Ita passe ewun daha-hatara denama e dan-sæla gawata giya. Ara
naena digekut gihin darawekut wadalat innawa. Me gollata kaema dila
ara naenayi naenage lamayayi budi-yenda tanakota e lamaya kiwa
naenata "Amme mata ahanda kata-wastuwak kiyapan" kiyala. Etakota
e naena "Pute mama monawadae danne mata wecci ewwa nan kiyaññan"
kiyala. Etakota puta kiwa "Hondayi kiyapan" kiyala. Passe me naenata
wecca karana serama kiwa. E kiyana ewwa ara ayiyala haddenata æhila
"Ane ape naga ada ape warune kiyanne" kiyala sadu-kara dipu parama
ayiyala haddenagema æs paeduna. Gaenu haddenage æs paedune nae. E
ayiyala haddenat naga inna nuwarama hitiya. Gaenu haddena badi-ginnema
indala un maerila giya. Nimi.
Cultivator, Hiriyala Hat Pattu District, North-Western Province.
NO. 134
THE STORY OF THE RAKSHASA AND THE PRINCESS
RAKSAYAGEYI KUMARIKAWAGEYI KATANTARAYA
Ekomat eka rataka rajjuruwo kenekuyi dewinnanse kenekuyi innawa
lu. E dewinnanse kumarikawak wæduwa. E ratema raksayekuyi raksiyekuyi
innawa. E raksit raksayek waeduwa. Ara kumarikawage handahane tibuna
raksayekuta kasata bandinawa kiyala ara raksayage handahane tibuna
kumarikawak kasata bandinawa kiyala. E dennama hungak loku-wunata
passe rajjuruwoyi dewinnanseyi mæruna ara kumarikawa witarayi
maligawe inne. Raksayata hitapu deyak mawanda puluwani. E raksaya
hituwa "Maligawayi maligawe tiyana raja wastuwayi serama næti-wenda"
kiyala e hætiyatama næti-wuna. Kumarikawata inda tænak nætuwa anda anda
innakota raksaya etenda æwit kumarikawa atin æhuwa "Mokada andanne"
kiyala. Etakota kumarikawa kiwa "Mama andanne mata inda tænak nae kanda
deyak nae e nisa" kiyala. Ita passe raksaya kiwa "Mama kae-ændima
deññan. Ape gedara enda puluwanda" kiyala. Etakota kumarikawa kiwa
"Puluwani" kiyala. Ita passe raksayayi kumarikawayi raksayage gedara
awa. Etakota raksaya atin æhæwwa raksayage amma "Kawdae pute oye"
kiyala. Etakota kiwa "Amme ahawal rajjuruwanne kumarikawa mama kændana
awa umbata lehuwak karawa-ganda" kiyala. Ita passe raksi "Ha hondayi"
kiyala kumarikawa raksinge wæda-kariyak wage serama wæda kumarikawa
lawwa karawagana innakota raksita hit-una "Kumarikawa kanawa nam"
kiyala. E hitila dawasakda raksi mini kanda yanda tanakota kumarikawa
ati[n] kiwa "Mama enakota diya kalagedi hatak genat tiyala dara miti
hatak genat tiyala wi hæli hatak tambala kotala gewal hate goma gala
uyala mata nanda watura unu-karala tiyapiya næt nam to kanawa" kiyala
raksi mini kanda giya. Ita passe kumarikawa anda anda sitiya. Etakota
raksaya æhuwa "Mokada to andanne" kiyala. Kumarikawa kiwa "Amma mata
meccara wæda kiyagana giya. Ewwa mama kohomada karanne" kiya. Etakota
raksaya kiwa "To ekata hæka-wenda epa. Amma æwadin ahapuwama e wæda
okkama keruwa kiyapiya" kiyala. Ita passe kumarikawa raksaya kiyapu
hætiyatama karabana indala raksi atin e wæda keruwa kiyala. Raksi
e wæda harida kiyala balapuwama serama hari. Itin kumarikawa kanda
hætiyak nae raksita. Ita passe raksige nangata wacanaya æriya "Maligawe
kellak innawa e kella mata kanda hætiyak nae koyi wædak kiwwawat e wæde
hariyatama karala tiyanawa. Itin kohomada kanne. Mama me kella umba
langata ewaññan etakota umba kapan" kiyala. E raksi kumarikawa atin
kiwa "Ape nangalae gedara gihin ehe mage pettiyak tiyanawa. Eka genawe
næt nam to kanawa" kiyala. Ita passe kumarikawa kadulla langata æwit
anda anda innakota raksaya etenda æwidin æhæwwa "Mokadae to andanne"
kiyala. Etakota kumarikawa kiwa "Amma mata kiwa pinci ammalae gedara
pettiyak tiyanawa. Gene[n]da kiyala næt nam kanawa kiyala pettiya
pare giyama pinci amma mama kanawa æti. Ada nam mata berenda bae"
kiyala. Ita passe raksaya "Pinci amma lipata pimba pimba innawa
pettiya dora langa tiyanawa. To duwagana gihin pettiya aragana wara"
kiyala. Passe duwagana gihin kumari baelu wita e raksi lipata pimba
pimba innawa pettiya dora langa tibuna. Kumarikawa geta gihin pettiyat
aragana duwagana awa. Raksit passen panna-gatta kanda bæri-wuna. Ara
raksita etaninut kanda hætiyak nae. Ohoma ohoma hungak kalak innakota
raksayata mangulak æhæwwa. E ahala raksit mangule yanda dodu-wela
kumarikawa atin kiwa "Api manamali kændana enakota gedara hondata
hari-gassala mesa putu hadala mangul-karayinda tæmma uyala tiyapiya"
kiyagana raksi mangule giya. Raksaya pahu-wela indala kumarikawa atin
kiwa "To karabana indala amma kiyapu wæda okkama keruwa kiyapiya"
kiyala raksayat mangule giya. Passe kumarikawa karabana indala manamali
kændagana mangul-karayo awata passe raksi kumarikawa atin æhæwwa "Mama
kiyapu wæda okkama keruwada keruwada" kiyala. Ita passe kumarikawa
"Ow" kiwa. Raksi bælukota e wæda serama hari etaninut kanda hætiyak
nae. Passe e manamalita igænnuwa "Pute on oye kella umbata puluwan
nan kapan mama puluwan hætiye kanda tænuwa" kiyala. Ita passe e kella
puluwan kanda tænuwa kumarikawa kanda bæri-wuna. Ohoma ohoma hungak
kal innakota raksayayi kumarikawayi hængila giya. E gihin kumarikawage
raja maligawa tibuna hætiyatama mawala e denna maligawe hitiya. Nimi.
Cultivator, Hiriyala Hat-Pattu District, North-Western Province.
NO. 207
THE TURTLE PRINCE
IBI KUMARAYA
Ekomat eka nuwaraka hitanan dennek gedarawal dekaka hitinawa. E
innakota e hitanan dennata dewinnansela dennakut hitinawa. E inna atara
eka dewinnanse kenek gaenu daruwo hat denek wæduwa anik dewinnanse
pirimi daruwo haya denakut ibbakut wæduwa. Etakota ema hitano denna
kata-kala "Massine obe daruwoyi mage daruwoyi pitata kasata no-bæ[n]da
api apima denu ganu karagamu" kiwa. "Ehenan waedimal daruwo denna
kasata ba[n]dimu" kiya kasata bænda. Deweni daruwo dennat kasata
bænda. Tunweni daruwo dennat kasata bænda. Hatara-weni daruwo dennat
kasata bænda. Pasweni daruwo dennat kasata bænda. Haweni daruwo dennat
kasata bænda. Hatweni daruwo denna kasata ba[n]dinta hætiyak næta. E
næti kariya nan "Massine mage duwa bohoma alankara æti duwa. Ema nisa
obe bala daruwa nan ho[n]da næta" kiwa. "E ho[n]da næti kariya nan
mokadae kiwot obe daruwa ibba ema nisa bae" kiwa. Etakota anik massina
kiyanawa "Massine ehema kiyala bæ. Mage bala daruwa wana ibba kiyanawa
'Mama appucciye mata e magula næt nan mama li[n]data payinawa noyekut
perali-karanawa' kiyala ibba kiyanawa. Ema nisa obe daruwama kasata
ba[n]dinda onae" kiyanawa. "Ehema bæri nan daru kipa denagema kasata
katu-gamu" kiyanawa ibbage appa. Etakota kiyanawa "Ehe nan massine
kasata katu-gaemen kamak nae mage duwa ibbata denawa" kiwa. E dila
kasata bænda. E kasata bæ[n]dala innakota ema nuwara rajjuruwannen
yeduna "Rassayae gedara inna gini kukula genat denta kata puluwanda"
kiya yeduna. Ema rajjuruwannen genat dunnu kenekunda noyek tanantara
denawa kiya anda-bera gæsuwa. Deweni "Mage rajjayat denawa" kiya
yeduna. E wacane ibbata dæni "Amme oba gosin kiyapan rajjuruwo dækkin
"Mage puta wana ibbata puluwani" kiyala kiyapan "gini kukula genat
denda." Etakota rajjuruwo kiwa "Obe putata enda kiyapan heta ude"
kiwa. Pasuwa da ude ema ibba gosin kiyanawa "Mata gini kukula genat
denda puluwani saddawasata." Etakota rajjuruwo kiwa "Ibba tiya kawuru
genat dunnat tanantara saha mage rajjayat denawa." Ibba gedara æwit
ibbage gaenita kiwa "Mata bolan bat gediyak uyala genen" kiwa. Etakota
ibbage gaeni æsuwa "Obata bat gediya mokatadae" kiya æsuwa. "Mata
rajjuruwannen yeduna rassayæ gedara inna gini kukula genat denda
yeduna. Ema nisa bat gediya uyapan" kiwa. Etakota "Bat gediya uyala
denda nan puluwani oba kohomadæ ænna yanne" kiwa. Etakota ibba kiwa
"Bat mallakata damala maye pite tiyala bæ[n]dapan mata ænna gihaeki"
kiwa. Pite tiyala bændæn passe ema ibba gamana gosin magadin mahamidi
gæsicci rodakata giya. E gosin bat gediya una ibi hættaya galawa tiya
bat gediya kaewa. Kala ahak-wela ibi hættaya hanga gamana giya. E
gamana yanakota magadi rae wela kanawændun ammage gedara giya. E gosin
"Amme mata nawa-tænak denda onae" kiwa. Etakota kanawændun ammandi kiwa
"Nawa-tænak nan denda puluwani" kiwa "kanda denda deyak nae." "Ehe nan
kaemen kamak nae nawa-tæna witarak dunnot ati" kiwa. Etakota kanawændun
anmandi æsuwa "Oba kohedae pute yanne" kiyala æsuwa. Etakota kiwa
"Rassayæ gedara mini kukula pare yanawa" kiwa. Kanawændun ammandi
etakota kiwa "Pute oba karabagana gamata palayan. Boho rasi gananak
senaga metana nawa-tæne hitala gini kukula pare giya. Giya misa
gini kukula ænna awe nae. Ema nisa oba yanda epa. Etakota kiwa "Oba
amme koccara kiwat mama nan yandama onae. "Maye kima no salaka oba
yanawata passe me man uyapu kudu-hunusal tikak kala palayan." Etakota
kiwa, "Ada oba kudu-hunusal iwuwa misa aye obata kudu-hunusal uyanda
hanba-wenne nae" kiyala kiwa. Ema wahama kækulu hal mæwuna. "Pute oba
dunnu warama wage mamat obata waramak denñan. Oba rassayae gedara
gosin ena welawata rassaya nawatagana eyi. E etakota me gal-kæte
ænna gosin 'Ci kanda mæwiyan' kiyala damapan kanda mæweyi. Rassaya
kanda diga ihalata gosin pahalata bahinakota obata etakota hungak tæn
gi-haeki." Etanine warama æragana yanda yanakota magadin rae una. Rae
unæn pasu ayet kanawændun anmandi kenekunnge gedarata giya. Kanawændun
anmandi æsuwa "Kohedae pute oba me rae unu mana yanne." Etakota kiwa
"Mama rassayae gedara gini [332] kukula pare yanawa" kiwa. "Oba oye
gamana yanda epa gini[332] kukula pare yana senaga yanawa misa enne
nae." "Kohetma e waga mata nan kiyanda epa mama nan gini[332] kukula
pare yandama onae. Mama mehe awe nawa-tænak onae wela." "Nawa-tæna
nan denda puluwani. Kanda denda deyak nae" kiyala kanawændun anmandi
kiwa. "Kaemen kamak nae mata nawa-tæna dunnot æti" kiwa. Nawa-tæn
karaya balana iddin kanda baeri handa kudu-hunusal uyapuwæn tikak
kanda dunna. "Amme obata kudu-hunusal ada iwuwa misa aye uyanda
hanbawenne nætuwa mama waramak denñan" kiyala "Kækulu hal mæwiyan
kiyala kiwa. "Ehe nan pute obata man waramak denñan kiyala menna
me una kotuwa ænna gosin rassaya oba pare nawatana enda enakota 'Ci
una mæwiyan' kiyala una kotuwa damapan. Etakota una wæta mæweyi. Una
pa[n]dura diga rassaya ihalata gosin pahalata enakota obata hu[n]gak
tæn ae-haeki." Etanin pasuwa da yanda yanakota magadi rae una. Rae wela
ayet kanawaendun anmandi kenekunne gedarakata giya. E gosin nawa-tænak
illuwa. "Me rae wunu mana oba kohedae yanne" kiyala æsuwa. Etakota
kiwa "Mama rassayae gedara gini kukula genenda yanawa" kiwa. "Kola
das mala das yanawa misa e giya ætto giya misa awe nae. Ema nisa
oba yanda epa." "Mama nan gini[332] kukula pare yandama onae. Mata
metana inda nawa-tæna denda onae." Etakota kiwa "Denda nan puluwani
kanda denda denda deyak nae." "Mata kaemen kamak nae mata nawa-tæna
dunnot æti." Kanawændun anmandi wisin kudu-hunusal tikak uyala
kanda dunna. "Amme obata aye kudu-hunusal uyanda læbenne nae mama
ho[n]da waramak den[ñ]an." Kækulu hal mæwenda waramak dunna. "Oba
dunnu waramata wada mama denñan waramak. Rassayage gedara gosin gini
kukulat ænna enakota rassaya kanda duwagana eyi. E enakota menna me
a[n]guru kæte ænna gosin 'Ci gini mæwiyan' kiyala damapan, gini wæta
mæweyi. Etakota rassaya æwit gindarata pani. Karabana hemihita gedara
waren." E æwadin ibi hættaya tiyana tænata gosin ibi hættaya æ[n]gata
porawagana gamata awa. E æwadin rajjuruwanda gini kukula bara-dunna. E
denakota rajjuruwo kiwa "Ada hitan mage rata saha wastu samaga tota
barayi." "Oyita wada wastu mata tiyanawa mata epa" kiwa. Ema rajjuruwo
wisin e wastu puja-karanda banak niyama-kala. E bana ahanda ibbage
[gae]ni saha tawat gænu bana ahanda yanakota anik ena gaenu kiyanawa
"Ibbæ gaeniye bana ahanda yanda wara." E gihin bana ahanakota ibba
ibi hættaya galawala bana ahanda giya. Etakota ibbi gaeni kalpana-kala
"Maye minihamayi me" kiyala. Kalpana-wela gedara æwadin bælu kala ibi
hættaya tiyanawa dækala eke tibba wastuwa ænna ema hættaya lipata
dama bana ahanda giya. Ibbae gaenige miniha gedara æwit bælukota
ibi hætte nae. Geta wela karabana hitiya. Ibbæ gaeni sellamen gedara
awa. Wena gaenu "Ibbae gaenige ada occara tiyana sellama mokadae" kiya
æsuwa. "Mage sellama gedara gihama dæneyi." Ibbae gaenit samaga wena
gaenu e wacane balanda ibbæ gaenige gedara awa. Æwadin bælukota ibbæ
gaenige miniha raja kenek samanayi. Me katantaraya hitanawaru dennage.
Tom-tom Beater, Hiriyala Hat-Pattu District, North-Western Province.
NO. 216
THE STORY OF GOLU-BAYIYA
GOLU BAYIYÆ KATHAWA
Eka rataka sitiya lu Gonaka Bokka kiyala minihek. E Gona Bokkage
malayo dasa denek sitiya lu. Malayo dasa dena katha-karala "Apata
Gona Bokka ayiyagen apata kisi prayojanak næta. Apata wædapala karana
apata amaruyi. Ekata api dasa denatama eka magulak genamu" kiya
hita "Otannapahuwa kiyana gamata yan" kiya gamata bala malaya giya
lu. E Otannapahuwata magulak ahanta giyaya. Ita passe anik nawa dena
katha-karanawa lu "Ape ayyata 'Gona Bokka' kiyanakota apata gena gæni
kiyayi bola Gona Bokka ki[ya]na nama wansa næti ewuntayi kiya. Apata
gena gæni yayi. Ekata Golu Bayiya kiyamu" kiya. "Ape Golu Bayi ayatat
ape [na]m makanta demu" kiya katha-karagana innawa lu. Etakota kipa
dawasak maga gewagena hæmatama bala malaya æwit hita kiwa lu "Ayiyanela
Otannapahuwe mama ahanta giya Gæni nan wanse ho[n]dayi. 'Bala
pætiyakuta magul denne kawudæ. Wædimal sahodarayinta ekkenakunta
enta kiyapan' kiya-ewwaya." Ita passe e daha dena katha-karanawa lu
"Api dasa denata wædimal Golu Bayi ayiya magul ahanta arimu" kiyala
katha-karanawaya. Itin e Golu Bayiya kiyana ætta maha modayek lu. Ita
passe ara dasa dena "Ayye api kiyana deta obat enawa nam api ekolohama
eka magulak kændagana inta obat warenna" kiyala kata-karanawa lu. Ita
passe Golu Bayya kiwa lu "Ho[n]dayi mama yaññan" kiya. Bat gedi[ya]k
uyawagana pitat-wela giya lu. Yanawa yanawa. Para no-danna nisa gihun
galak uda wanantare i[n]dagana bat gediya kæwaya. Kala innakota
wenin rataka gæniyak duppat wela enta enawa lu para diga. Æwit e
Golu Bayiya inna gala gawa i[n]da-gattaya. In pasu gæni ahanawa lu
"Oba koyi rateda koyi gameda" kiya gæeni miniyagen æsuwaya. In pasu
miniya kiwa lu "Mama magulak ahanta Otannapahuwata yanawaya" kiya
kiwaya. Ita pasu gæni kiyanawa lu "Anicchan dukkhan e game æsu gæni
mamayi. Mama mage de-mawu-piyo wæræddak-wela pænnuwaya. E nisa mama
kanta bonda dena tænakata yanawaya" kiwuwaya. In pasu Golu Bayiya "Gæni
ho[n]da nisat palamu ahala tiyena nisat mama Otannapahuwata no-gohinma
kændagana yanda onæya" hita e paredi hamba-wunu gæni kændagana gamata
awaya. Æwit malayalata kiyanawa "Mama Otannapahuwata giyaya. Malawali
onna gæni" kiya "siyallatama kændagamu" kiyala kiwaya. Ita pasu anik
dasa dena nu-dutu nisa eda patan gæni pawagana hitiyaya. Pawagana kipa
dawasak inna atara e bala dasa dena katha-karanawa lu "Ape magul ayiya
tanikarema kisi kenekma nætuwa kændagana awaya. Ape ayiya kale ho[n]da
hapankamayi. E nisa api siyalu wædapala karamu. Ape gaeni nilantarayen
ape Golu Bayi ayiyata rakinta baradi api wædapala karamu. Ayiya
gæni rækapan" kiwaya. "Ho[n]dayi mama rakimi" kiya gæni yana ena
tænata adi haema tænakata gaeni ya nan e Golu Bayiyat yanawaya. E
atara ek dawasak wela[n]damata ek miniyek e gamata awaya. E miniyage
nama Gætapadayaya. E Gætapadaya kipa dawasak ema gedara wela[n]dam
kara kara ema gedara maduwe sitiyaya. Sitina ataradi ema Gætapadaya
kiyana miniyata me Golu Bayiyage gæni ek-unaya. E inna atara palamu
ki dasa dena wædata giya dawasakadi pera ki Golu Bayiyata Gætapadaya
kiyanne "Mama ada hinayak dutuwaya. Mokada. Asawal tæna pare gonek
mærila innawa dutuwaya." Eka balala enta Golu Bayiyata Gætapadaya
kiwaya. Golu Bayiya e gona balanda gi atara Gætapadaya gaenit ænna
gedara tibu badut æna dennama pala-giyaya. Golu Bayyae katawa.
Tom-tom Beater, Hiriyala Hat-Pattu District, North-Western Province.
NO. 225
THE WAX HORSE
ITI ASWAYA
Ekamat eka rataka raja kenekuta putrayek upanna lu. Brahmanayin
genwa me kumarayage handahana liyawanta baradun wita kumaraya
wædi-wiya pæmununama rata æra-yanta tibena bawa rajjuruwanta dænun
dunnama rajjuruwo kumarayawa udu-mahal-tale kamarayaka ita su-rækiwa
inta sælæssuwa lu. Me ladaru kumaraya taramak loku wi keli-sellam
adiyehi yedi dawas yawana kalayedi withiye wikunanta gena-yannawu iti
aswayek dæka uwa aragana denta kiya piya-rajjuruwanta sæla-kala kalhi
piya-rajjuruwo aswayawa mila di rægena tama putrayata dunna lu. Me
aswaya piyapat dekakin yuktawu guwanehi igilenta puluwankama æti ekek
wiya. Me aswaya gattata pasu swalpa kalayak sita kumaraya taramak loku
wunama kisiwek-hatawat no-hangawa iti aswayage upakarayen igili yanta
giya lu. Itin sastrakara-Brahmanayinge kimat sæbae wiya. Kumaraya
aswayage balayen igilligana gos tawat raja kenekunge maligawata
mal amuna dena mahalu ammandi kenekuge gedarata giya lu. Mehidi
iti aswayawa kotanada sangawa mal-ammage gedara sitimin raja gedara
toraturu siyallama mal-ammagen asa dæna-gatta lu. Mese dænagana tika
kalak sita rajjuruwange diyaniyan sitina udu-mahal-tale kamara adiya
dænagana laksanawu kumarikawak sitina kamarayakata ratri kalayedi
iti aswayagen gos kumarikawata genat tibuna kaema bimadiya ka bi
kipa dawasakma no-hangawa yanta giya lu. Kumarikawada kamarayata ae
nida-gattata pasu kawuru-namut æwit gihin tibena bawa dæna pasuwa da
no-nida bala sitiya lu. Ewita kumaraya æwit kaema bimadiya anubhawa
karana-kota kumari kaduwa eka atakin aragana kumarayawa eka atakin
alwagena "Topa kawudæyi" kiya æsuwa lu. Kumarayat raja pawulakata ayiti
kenek bawa danwa ae samaga katha-bas-kota yalu-wi aewa kara-kara
bandintat giwisagana ita pasuwa dawaswaladit enta patan-gatta
lu. Itin me kumariwa saema dawaswalama udeta kirana siritak tibuna
lu. Kumaraya enta wunata pasuwa dawaswaladi kumarige bara kramayen
wædi-wegana gos ae bada-gæbbarin siti bawa rajjuruwo dænagana kumari
samaga amatyayage mitra-satthawayak ætæyi sita amatyayawa maranta
niyama-kala lu. Amatyayada ita sokayata pæmina sitina kalayedi
rajjuruwange anikut duru æwi[t] "Ita sokayakin sitinne mandæyi"
kiya amatyayagen æsu wita siyalu toraturuma owunta dænun dunna
lu. E kumarikawan ræs-wi æmættayawa galawana pinisa mese upakramayak
yeduwa lu enam amatyayage nam dosayak næta kawuru-namut pita-kenek
mona upakramayakin namut kumari samipayata enawa ætæyi sita nana
suwanda pæn oruwe wisa dama raja wasala doratuwe tibena pokune mura
tibba lu. Kumaraya æwit kumarige kamareta yanta prathama suwanda pæn
naewama ohuta wisa pattu-wi duwagana gos pokune pænnama murakarayo
ohuwa alla-gatta lu. Me kumarayawa alwagana gos rajjuruwanta karana
terum kara-dunnama æmættayawa bera kumarayawa maranta niyama-kala
lu. Kumarayawa wada-karuwo genayana wita "Mage wastuwak tibenawaya
eka topata aragana dennan (sic)" kiya gahakata nægi ehi kola aturehi
palamuwen taba sangawa tibuna iti aswayawa aragana igilli-diwwa
lu. Mese madak dura gos næwati ratri kalayehi næwatat raja wasalata
æwit kumariyawat anda-gasagana maha wanantarayak mædin yanakota
kumarita bada-rudawa sædunama bimata bæsa aewa nawatwa ita onae karana
behet adi upakarana gena ena pinisa swamipa gramayakata gos iti
aswayawa kadayak langa taba tawat kadekata gihin enakota kade langa
gindarak tibi iti aswayawa diya-wi gos tibuna dutuwa lu. Iti aswaya
næti-wunayin pasu kumariya siti tænata me kumarayata yanta bæri-wuna
lu. Kumarida wanantrayedi putrayek wada "Asat-purusawu kumarayage
putrayawat mata epaya" kiyala daruwawat dama gam samipayakata ae
giya lu. Me kumarige piya wanantaraye dadayamata giya kalayedi me
ladaruwawa sambhawi raja gedarata genat æti-kala lu. Me ladaruwage
maw wana kumarikawi kanya pantiyakata bændi wasaya-karana kalayedi
me æti-karagatta lamaya wædi-wiya pæmina saranayak soya gos tamagema
maeniyo dæka aewa kara-kara bandinta adahas kala lu. Mese sita tun
dawasakma sarana wicaranta yanta pitat-wuna wita marggayedi bada
wi tun dawasedima hæri awa lu. Eka dawasak aswaya pita nægi sarana
wicaranta yana gamanedi kurul pætaw wagayak aswayata paegi kirilli
kumarayata mese bænna lu enam "Mu muge mo ganta yanawa madiwata mage
pætaw tikat mara-dæmmaya" kiya bænna lu. Me dawasedi bada wuna nisa
apasu hæri æwit ita pasuwa da giya lu. Eda yanakota elu pætiyekwa
aswayata paegi eludenat "Muge amma ganta yanawa madiwata ape pætaw
mara-dæmuwaya" kiya bænna lu. Tunweni dawasedit yanakota pera sema
bada wuna lu. Me kumaraya mese kanya pantiyenma saranayak sewwe
ohu hadagat purusayek nisa kisikenek sarana no-dena bæwinya. Mita
pera eka dawasak sellampaledi "Awajatakayayayi" anikut lamayin
wisin kiwama ohuwa æti-karagatta rajjuruwangen ohuge de-maw-piyo
koyidæyi asa wanantaraye sita ohuwa genat hadagat bawa dænagana
tibuna lu. Itin tunweni dawasedit bada wela e gæna no-salaka sarana
wicaranta gos tamage maeniyo bawa madakwat no-dæna aege utpattiye sita
kanya pantiyata a kalaya dakwa waga tu[n]ga asa "Wanantaraye ahawal
palatedi samba-wi tibenne mawa tamayi e nisa me mage maeniyo tamayi"
kiya. Dænagana aranci karagana gos tamage piyawat soyagana æwit
ohuge siyawu hewat ohuge maeniyange piya wana rajjuruwange aewaemen
rajjayatada pat-wi raja pawulakin kara-kara bænda yahatin kal yæwwa lu.
Ratmalana, Western Province.
Corrections.--Page 424, line 7, for pustuhan read puluhan.
Line 9, for pustuwani read puluwani.
APPENDIX
ADDITIONAL NOTES, AND CORRECTIONS, VOLUME I.
Page 21, line 4. For trades read traders.
Page 27, line 19. For Ratemahatmaya read Ratemahatmaya.
Page 40. Tamalitta. In the Katha Sarit Sagara, vol. i, p. 329, note,
Mr. Tawney stated that the Tamalitta district probably comprised the
tract of country to the westward of the Hughli river, from Bardwan
and Kalna on the north to the Kosai river on the south.
Page 41. Lata. A country of this name is stated in a note in the
same work in vol ii, p. 221, to have comprised Khandesh and part
of Gujarat. It was a seat of the fine arts, and its silk weavers are
mentioned in an inscription of 473-74 A.D., some of them having settled
at Mandasor in the western Malwa (Ind. Ant., vol. xiv, p. 198). The
Lala of Wijaya's father was evidently a different district. It is
probably due to the similarity of the names of these two districts--the
letters t and l being interchangeable--that Wijaya was supposed to have
sailed for Ceylon from a port on the western coast of India, to which
a resident in Lata would naturally proceed on his way to that island.
Page 49. According to the Maha Bharata, the Kali Yuga is followed by
the Krita Yuga.
Page 51. In Folklore of the Santal Parganas (Rev. Dr. Bodding), p. 401,
the sky was formerly quite close to the earth; but one day when a
woman after a meal threw out her leaf-plate a gust of wind carried
it up to the sky. The supreme deity, the Sun, objected to be pelted
with dirty leaf-plates, so he removed the sky to its present position.
Page 53, note 3. Delete the second sentence.
In Old Deccan Days, p. 169, the Sun, Moon, and Wind went to dine
with Thunder and Lightning. The Sun and Wind forgot their mother, a
star; but the Moon took home food for her under her finger-nails. The
mother cursed the Sun and Wind, but blessed the Moon, her daughter,
and promised that she should be ever cool and bright.
Page 66. After Katha Sarit Sagara in the last note, add vol. i.
In the same work, vol. i, p. 489, a King caused his portrait to
be painted, and sent the artist to show it to another King and his
beautiful daughter, and also to paint a likeness of her and return
with it. She and the King were afterwards married. In vol. ii, p. 371,
a King sent an ambassador to show a portrait of his son, and ask for
a Princess in marriage for him.
In Folklore of the Santal Parganas, p. 251, a Raja with five daughters
determined to marry them to five brothers, and the Princes' father had
a similar intention. Emissaries from both met at a river, the Princes
and girls were seen, and the wedding day fixed. When his brothers went
the eldest Prince gave them his shield and sword, and told them to
perform the ceremony for him by putting the usual vermilion mark of
Indian brides on his bride's forehead with the sword. Unlike the girl
in the Sinhalese story, she at first refused to allow the ceremony to
be performed, but in the end consented. On the return journey sixteen
hundred Rakshasas devoured all the party except the eldest Princess,
who was preserved by the Sun God, Chando. Her husband killed them,
and brought the party to life.
On p. 302, there is another account of a sword marriage, the bridegroom
being a Princess disguised as a Prince.
Page 71. In the Maha Bharata (Vana Parva, cxcii) King Parikshit
married a Frog Princess who must never see water.
In Folk-Tales of Kashmir (Knowles), 2nd ed., p. 49, a Prince received
from a Rakshasi, thanks to a changed letter, a jar of soap that when
dropped became a mountain, a jar of needles that when dropped became
a hill bristling with needles, and a jar of water which when poured
out became a sea. He used these only for conquering other countries.
In Kaffir Folk-Lore (Theal), pp. 82, 87, the magic obstacles also
occur. In the former instance, some fat which was given was to be put
on a stone; the cannibal pursuers then fought for the stone. In the
latter case, a girl carried an egg, a milk-sack, a pot, and a smooth
stone; her father pursued her. When thrown down, the egg became a
mist, the milk-sack a sheet of water, the pot became darkness, and
the stone a rock over which the man could not climb.
Pages 73, 74, 304, 306, and Index. For tuttu read tuttu.
Page 92. In Chinese Folk-Lore Tales (Rev. Dr. Macgowan), p. 25, a
person called Kwang-jui purchased a fish and set it free in the river
in which it was caught. It proved to be the River God in disguise, who
afterwards saved Kwang-jui when he was stabbed and thrown into a river.
In Folklore of the Santal Parganas, p. 239, two Princes who had saved
some young birds by killing the snake which annually ate those in
the same nest, were given food by their parents, and informed that
he who ate the first piece would marry a Raja's daughter and he who
ate the second piece would spit gold. These results followed.
Page 107. In the same vol., p. 189, a dwarf a span high let a buffalo
hide fall among some thieves who were dividing their booty under the
tree in which he was hidden; they ran off and he took home the gold
they had left, and informed his uncles that he got it by selling his
buffalo skin. They killed all their buffaloes and were laughed at
when they took the hides to sell. They then burned his house down,
after which followed the pretended sale of the ashes, etc., as in
a Bengal variant. In Campbell's Santal Folk Tales, p. 30, the story
is similar, the persons cheated being the father-in-law (a King) and
brothers-in-law, who were drowned when they were put in the river in
bags, in order to find cattle such as the boy obtained from a cow-herd
by changing places with him.
At p. 204 of Folklore of the Santal Parganas, a mungus-boy propped the
dead body of his mother against a tree as a drove of pack-bullocks
was approaching. When she was knocked down he charged the drovers
with causing her death, and got their cattle and goods as compensation.
Page 112. For his vicious tricks the brothers of the same mungus-boy
carried him off in a palankin to drown him. While they were searching
for a deep pool, a shepherd came up with a flock of sheep. The boy
cried out that he was being carried off to be married against his
will, and would change places with anyone. The shepherd, thinking it
a cheap marriage, took his place and was drowned, the boy driving
off his sheep. After some days he reappeared, and said he got the
sheep in the pool into which he was thrown, but in the deeper parts
there were oxen and buffaloes. The brothers in order to get these
took palankins, and were pushed into the water in them by the boy,
and were drowned. At p. 242, there is the incident of the pretended
rejuvenation of the wife by beating her. The man who saw it stole
the club and afterwards beat his own wife severely without success.
In the Kolhan tales (Bompas) appended to the same vol., p. 455,
a jackal got a drum made out of the skin of a goat of his which the
other jackals killed and ate; he stated that he found it in the river,
where there were many more. The other jackals jumped in to get them,
and were drowned.
In the Arabian Nights (Lady Burton's ed., vol. 4, p. 367) a woman
was sentenced to be tied on a cross by her hair, with ten men as
guards. While the guards slept, an ignorant Badawi, coming that
way, spoke to himself of his intention to taste honey fritters,
and believed the woman when she informed him that she was to be freed
after eating ten pounds of the fritters, which she detested. He offered
to eat them for her, took her place, and she rode off on his horse,
dressed in his clothes.
Page 128. In Folklore of the Santal Parganas, p. 226, a potter's
wife who gave birth to a boy while digging clay, decided to take home
her basket of clay, and leave the child, which was found and reared
by a tiger. On p. 289, a woman who had borne twins in the jungle
while collecting fruit, left them, and took home her basket of fruit
instead. They were found and reared by two vultures, rejoined their
parents, and being discovered by the birds were torn in two during
the struggle for them.
Page 133. In Cinq Cents Contes et Apologues (Chavannes), vol. iii,
p. 29, the King of Videha sent to the King of Kasi, as a present,
a casket containing two poisonous snakes. When the King opened it
the venom of the snakes blinded him.
Page 136. In Folklore of the Santal Parganas, p. 348, a deaf Santal
who was ploughing at cross roads was asked by a Hindu where the roads
went, and not understanding the language thought he was claiming the
bulls of the plough. After the question had been repeated several
times he began to think the man really had a claim to them, so to
avoid being beaten he unyoked them and handed them over to the man,
who went off with them. The next mistake was about the food brought by
his mother to the field; she complained of it when she returned home,
and scolded her daughter-in-law.
Page 145. In the Maha-Bharata (Adi Parva, cxlii), a Rakshasa called
Vaka protected a country, but required daily one cart-load of rice,
two buffaloes, and a man, as his supply of food. One of the five
Pandava Princes, Bhimasena, at his mother's request took the place
of a Brahmana whose turn had come to be eaten, ate up the food in
front of the Rakshasa, and then threw him down and broke his neck.
Page 159. In the Maha Bharata (Udyoga Parva, cix) it is stated that
the residence of the gods who subsist on smoke is in the south. In
Kaffir Folk-Lore (Theal), p. 22, it is said that "the hunger of the
spirit is allayed with the smoke" of the burnt offerings of animals.
Page 166. In the Katha Sarit Sagara, vol. i, p. 86, Siva gave two
red-lotus flowers to a man and his wife, saying that if one of them
proved unfaithful the other's lotus would fade. In vol. ii, p. 601,
a man said that his wife had given him a garland which would not fade
if she remained chaste.
In a Khassonka story in Contes Soudanais (C. Monteil), p. 134, a lion
gave a herb to his friend who had become King, telling him that while
it was green and fresh the lion would be alive, but when it withered
and became yellow he would be dead.
In Kaffir Folk-Lore (Theal), p. 81, a boy who was about to visit
cannibals stuck his assagai in the ground, and said, "If it stands
still, you will know I am safe; if it shakes, you will know I am
running; if it falls down, you will know I am dead."
In Sagas from the Far East, p. 106, six friends separated at a place
where six streams met, and each one planted at his stream a tree that
would wither if evil befel him. When five returned and saw that the
tree of the sixth had withered they went in search of him.
Page 167. In Folk-Tales of Kashmir, 2nd ed., p. 73, the life of a
sorcerer was bound up in an earthen pot which he left with his sister;
when it was broken he died.
In Folk-Tales from Tibet (O'Connor), p. 113, the life of an ogre was
in a boy seated in an underground chamber, holding a crystal goblet of
liquor, each drop of which was the spirit of a person whom the ogre
had killed. At p. 154, the life of an ogre was in a green parrot in
a rock cave.
In the Arabian Nights, vol. 5, p. 20, the soul of a Jinni was in the
crop of a sparrow which was shut up in a box placed in a casket; this
was enclosed in seven others, outside which were seven chests. These
were kept in an alabaster coffer which was buried in the sea, and
only the person wearing Solomon's seal ring could conjure it to the
surface. The Jinni died when the sparrow was strangled.
In a story of Southern Nigeria (The Lower Niger and its Tribes,
Leonard, p. 320) the life of a King was in a small brown bird perched
on the top of a tree. When it was shot by the third arrow discharged
by a sky-born youth the King died.
Page 173, line 4 from bottom. For burnt read rubbed.
Page 177, line 18. For burnt read rubbed.
To the last note, add, A young man lost all he had, and was then made
a prisoner.
Page 178. In Folklore of the Santal Parganas, p. 245, a Raja became
blind on kissing his youngest son. He ordered him to be killed, but
his mother persuaded the soldiers to take him to a distant country
instead; there he married the Raja's daughter, and in order to cure
his father went by her advice in search of a Rakshasa, whose daughter
he married. The two returned with a magical flower of hers and a hair
of the Rakshasa's head, calling on the way for his first wife. By
means of the hair a golden palace was created, and when his father's
eyes were touched with the flower they were cured.
Page 185. In the notes, lines 10 and 11, the letters v and h in jivha
should be transposed.
In Folklore of the Santal Parganas, p. 207, the King's money was stolen
by two palace servants. After a soothsayer who was called had eaten
the food they brought, he said, "Find or fail, I have at any rate had
a square meal." The thieves' names being Find and Fail they thought he
knew they were guilty, begged him not to tell the Raja, and disclosed
the place where the money was buried. The soothsayer read a spell over
mustard seed, tapped the ground with a bamboo till he came to the spot,
and dug up and handed the money to the Raja, who gave him half.
In Sagas from the Far East, p. 58, in a Kalmuk tale, an assumed
soothsayer recovered a talisman that he saw a Khan's daughter
drop. Through overhearing the conversation of two Rakshasas he was
able to free the Khan from them, and at last by his wife's cleverness
was appointed to rule half the kingdom.
In Chinese Nights' Entertainment (Fielde), p. 18, a poor man,
overhearing his wife and son's talk about food, pretended that
he could find things by scent, and told his wife what food was in
the cupboard. The news spread, and he was ordered to discover the
Emperor's lost seal. He feared punishment, and remarked, "This is
sharp distress! This is dire calamity!" Hearing this, two courtiers,
Sharp and Dyer, told him they had thrown the seal into a well, and
begged him not to betray them; he recovered the seal. The Empress
then hid a kitten in a basket, and asked what it contained. Expecting
to be beheaded, he said, "The bagged cat dies." When the basket was
opened the kitten was dead.
Page 190. In the Katha Sarit Sagara, vol. i, p. 211, a woman having
told a man that she wished to give her husband who was impaled a
drink of water, he bent down and she stood on his back. On looking
up he saw that she was eating the man's flesh. He seized her by one
foot, but she flew away, leaving her jewelled anklet, which he gave
to the King, who married him to his daughter. When the Queen wanted
a second anklet the man met with the Rakshasi again at the cemetery;
she gave him the anklet and married her daughter to him.
In Folk-Tales of Kashmir, 2nd ed., p. 334, a Prince while keeping
watch over a dead body, cut off the leg of an ogress who came. When
he gave the King her shoe he was rewarded.
Page 196. The escape of the Prince by sending his foster-brother finds
a parallel in a story recorded in the Sinhalese history, the Mahavansa,
chapter x. The uncles of Prince Pandukabhaya had endeavoured to murder
him because of a prophecy that he would kill them in order to gain the
sovereignty, and he had taken refuge among some herdsmen. The account
then continues in Dr. Geiger's translation, p. 69:--"When the uncles
again heard that the boy was alive they charged (their followers)
to kill all the herdsmen. Just on that day the herdsmen had taken a
deer and sent the boy into the village to bring fire. He went home,
but sent his foster-father's son out, saying: 'I am footsore, take
thou fire for the herdsmen; then thou too wilt have some of the
roast to eat.' Hearing these words he took fire to the herdsmen:
and at that moment those (men) despatched to do it surrounded the
herdsmen and killed them all."
In the Katha Sarit Sagara, vol. i, p. 162, a King and Queen ordered
their cook to kill the person who brought a message, and sent a
Brahmana with it. On the way, the King's son told him to get a pair
of ear-rings made, took the message, and was killed by the cook.
In the Kathakoça, p. 172, a merchant who wished to get a youth killed,
sent him with a letter to his son ordering poison (vishan) to be
given to him. While the youth was asleep in the temple of the God
of Love, the merchant's daughter Visha came there, read the letter,
corrected the spelling of her name, and her brother married her to the
youth. Eventually, the merchant's son was killed by mistake in place
of the youth, who became the heir, and the merchant died of grief.
In Cinq Cents Contes et Apologues (Chavannes, extracted from the
Chinese Tripitaka), vol. i, p. 165, we find the Indian form of the
whole story. A wealthy childless Brahmana householder adopted an
abandoned infant (the Bodhisattva), but when his wife was about to
be confined he left it in a ditch, where a ewe suckled it till the
shepherd returned it to him. He next left it in a rut in a road,
but when many hundred carts came next morning the bulls refused to
advance until the child was placed in a cart. A widow took charge
of it, the householder regretted what he had done, rewarded her, and
regained it. Finding after some years that the boy was more intelligent
than his own son, he abandoned him among some bamboos, but men seeking
firewood saved him. When the householder heard of him he felt remorse,
paid the men well, and took him back. Again becoming jealous of his
intelligence and popularity, he sent him to a metal founder with a
note in which the man was ordered to throw into his furnace the child
who brought it. On his way the householder's son, who was playing with
others at throwing walnuts, told him to collect his nuts, delivered
the letter, and was thrown into the furnace. The householder feared
some accident, but arrived too late to save him. Determined to kill
the elder boy he sent him with a letter to a distant dependant, who
was ordered to drown him. On the road the youth called at the house
of a Brahmana friend of the householder, where during the night the
host's clever daughter abstracted and read the letter, and replaced
it by one giving instructions for the immediate marriage of the youth
to her, and the presentation of handsome wedding presents; this was
done. When he heard of it the householder became seriously ill; the
couple went to salute him, and on seeing them he died in a fit of fury.
Page 198. In Sagas from the Far East, p. 201, in a Kalmuk tale, a
woman picked up some tufts of wool, said she would weave cloth and
sell it until an ass could be bought for her child, and would have a
foal. When the child said he would ride the foal, his mother ordered
him to be silent and to punish him went after him with a stick;
as he was trying to escape the blow fell on his head and killed him.
In the Arabian Nights, vol. 5, p. 388, there is a story of a Fakir
who hung over his head a pot-ful of ghi which he had saved out of
his allowance. With the money for which he could sell it he thought
he would get a ewe, and gradually breeding sheep and then cattle,
would become rich, get married, and have a son whom he would strike
if he were disobedient. As he thought this he raised his staff, which
struck and smashed the pot of ghi; this fell on him, and spoilt his
clothes and bed.
Page 200. In the Katha Sarit Sagara, vol. ii, p. 60, a foolish King
who wished to make his daughter grow quickly, was told by his doctors
that they must place her in concealment while they were procuring the
necessary medicine from a distant country. After several years they
produced her, saying that she had grown by the power of the medicine,
and the King loaded them with wealth. This story is given in Cinq
Cents Contes et Apologues, vol. ii, p. 166.
Page 206. In Reynard the Fox in Southern Africa (Dr. Bleek), p. 33,
there is a Hottentot variant. The clothes of a tailor had been torn
by a Mouse which denied it and blamed the Cat; the blame was passed
on to the Dog, the Wood, the Fire, the Water, the Elephant, and the
Ant. The tailor got the Baboon to try them; in order to catch the
real culprit it made each one punish the other.
In a Sierra Leone story in Cunnie Rabbit, etc. (Cronise and Ward),
p. 313, a boy killed a bird with a stone and his sister ate it, giving
him in exchange a grain of corn. White ants ate this and gave him a
waterpot. This was swept away by the water, which gave him a fish. A
hawk took it and gave him its own wing, which the wind carried off,
giving him in exchange much fruit. A baboon ate this and gave him
an axe; the Chief took this and satisfied him by presenting him with
money and slaves.
Page 208, line 6 of notes. For crane read egret.
Page 212. In Folktales of the Santal Parganas, p. 338, the hare,
wanting a dinner of rice cooked with milk, lay down while watch
was kept by its friend the jackal. Men taking rice put down their
baskets and chased the hare, the jackal meanwhile removing the
rice. In this way they got also milk, firewood, a cooking-pot, and
some leaf-plates. The jackal brought a fire-brand, cooked the food,
and hurried over his bath, at which the hare spent a long time. While
it was away, the jackal ate as much rice as he wanted, and filled up
the pot with filth over which he placed the remaining rice. When the
hare discovered this he threw the contents over the jackal, and drove
it away.
Page 215. In the same work, p. 339, the animals were a leopard
and a he-goat which occupied its cave and frightened it by saying
"Hum Pakpak." The leopard returned with the jackal, their tails tied
together, but when the goat stood up and the leopard remarked on the
dreadful expressions it used in the morning, they both ran away and
the hair was scraped off the jackal's tail.
In Folk-Tales from Tibet, p. 76, two jackals with three cubs occupied
a tiger's den, frightened it by telling the cubs they would soon be
eating tiger's flesh, and it returned with a baboon which laughed
heartily at the story. The jackal called out to the baboon to bring
up the tiger quickly, and said they had expected two or three at
least. The tiger bolted and bumped the baboon to death, their tails
being twisted together.
In Les Avadanas (Julien), No. cxxii, vol. ii, p. 146, the animals are
a tiger and stag which frightened it in the same way when a monkey
was leading it in search of an animal to kill. It said, "I never
would have believed the monkey was so wicked; it seems he wants to
sacrifice me to pay his old debts."
In Folk-Tales from an Eastern Forest (Skeat), p. 45, in order to save
an elephant a mouse-deer frightened a tiger. An ape went back with
the tiger, the mouse-deer said it refused to accept only one tiger
when two had been promised, and the tiger ran away.
In Old Hendrik's Tales (Vaughan), p. 19, in a Hottentot variant a
wolf and baboon, their tails tied together, were about to punish the
jackal. When the female jackal made the cub squall, the male jackal
said he had sent the baboon for wolf-meat and he was now bringing
one. As he moved towards them, the wolf bolted, dragging the baboon,
which got a kink in its tail.
In Reynard the Fox in Southern Africa, p. 24, there is another
Hottentot story, the animals being a leopard and ram. When the
former ran off, a jackal took it back, fastened to it by a leather
thong. As they drew near, the leopard wished to turn back. On the
ram's praising the jackal for bringing the leopard to be eaten when
its child was crying for food, it bolted and dragged the jackal till
it was half-dead.
Page 225, first line. For Crows' read Parrots'.
Page 227. In Sagas from the Far East, p. 309, when a wise parrot saw a
man take a large net to spread over their tree, the parrots roosted on
a rock. Refusing the leader's advice to move again they were netted,
and escaped as in the Sinhalese story, when the bird-catcher counted,
"Seventy-one."
Page 230. Mr. Pieris has pointed out in his recent work, Ceylon,
vol. i, p. 554, that Nayide was formerly an honorific title of the
sons of Chiefs. It is not now so applied.
Page 233. See also The Jataka, No. 546 (vol. vi, p. 167), where one
of the tasks of Mahosadha was to overcome the difficulty said to
have arisen through the royal bull's being in calf; he settled it by
a question.
In Folklore of the Santal Parganas, p. 49, an oilman claimed that his
bull bore a calf that a man left near it. The calf-owner was assisted
by a night-jar and a jackal, which after pretending to sleep related
their dreams; the former had seen one egg sitting on another, the
latter had been eating the fishes burnt when the sea got on fire. When
the jackal explained that they were as probable as the bull's bearing
a calf, the man got it back.
Page 240. In Les Avadanas, No. lvi, vol. i, p. 199. a turtle escaped
when a boy at a man's recommendation threw it into water to drown
it. This is given in Cinq Cents Contes et Apologues, vol. ii, p. 230,
in which work also two forms of the earlier part of the Sinhalese
tale appear. In vol. i, p. 404, a single large crane carried away the
turtle in its bill. While passing over a town the turtle continually
asked "What's this? What's that?" At last the crane opened its mouth
to reply, and the turtle fell and was killed and eaten. In vol. ii,
pp. 340 and 430, the birds were two wild-geese, and the turtle let
itself fall when it spoke. It was killed by the fall in one variant,
and by children in the other.
In Sagas from the Far East, p. 215, in a Kalmuk tale, a frog advised
a crow that had caught it to wash it before eating it. When the crow
put it into a streamlet it crept into a hole in the rock and escaped.
Page 244. In Folklore of the Santal Parganas, p. 329, the animals
which raced were an elephant and some ants. Whenever the elephant
looked down it saw two ants on the ground, and at last it died of
exhaustion. The challenging ants never ran; ants were so numerous
that some were always to be seen.
In The Fetish Folk of West Africa (Milligan), p. 214, a chameleon
challenged an elephant to race through the forest. After starting
it turned back, having arranged that others should be at the end of
each stage.
Page 240. In Kaffir Folk-Lore, p. 187, when a lion who had been
cheated by a jackal chased it, the jackal took refuge in a hole under
a tree, but the lion seized its tail as it entered. The jackal said,
"That is not my tail you have hold of; it is a root of the tree." The
lion then let go, and the jackal escaped into the hole.
Page 248. The same portion of the tale is found in the Jataka story
No. 321 (vol. iii, p. 48).
Page 251. The incident of the crows on the floating carcase is given
in the Jataka story No. 529 (vol. v, p. 131).
Page 253. In the title, for Kadmbawa read Kadambawa.
Page 259. In Folk-Tales of Kashmir, 2nd ed., p. 322, ten peasants
who counted themselves as only nine, remained weeping until a man
told them to put their skull-caps down and count them.
Page 263. In Folklore of the Santal Parganas, p. 352, while three
men were sitting under a tree a stranger came up, placed a bunch
of plantains on the ground before them, bowed, and went away. Each
claimed the obeisance and plantains, and called the others fools;
they related their foolish actions in the matter of their wives,
and at last divided the fruit equally.
Page 275, line 20. For Rakshasi read Rakshasi.
Page 277. In The Kathakoça (Tawney), p. 164, a Prince whose eyes had
been plucked out heard a Bharunda bird tell its young one that if
the juice of a creeper growing at the root of the Banyan tree under
which he sat were sprinkled on the eyes of a blind Princess she would
regain her sight. He first cured himself with it, and afterwards the
Princess, whom he married.
Page 279, line 19. For paeya (twenty minutes) read paeya (twenty-four
minutes).
Page 282, line 4. For footing and footing read clearing and clearing.
Page 283. In Folk-Tales of Kashmir, 2nd ed., p. 186, a jackal whose
life a farmer had spared persuaded a King to marry his daughter to
him. He explained away the man's want of manners, and burned his
house down when the King was on his way to visit it.
Page 299. Add footnote. Large crocodiles that lived in the ocean are
mentioned in the Arabian Nights, vol. 5, p. 14. Sir R. Burton stated
in a note that the crocodile cannot live in sea water, but it is well
known that a large and dangerous species (C. porosus) is found in
the mouths of rivers, where at times of drought the water in some
sites is almost pure sea water. When I resided at Mount Lavinia,
about seven miles south of Colombo, one of these crocodiles found
its way into the sea there during some floods, and lived in it for
a week or ten days. Residents informed me that others had been known
to remain in the sea there for several days.
Page 300, first line. After 15 insert, and in Indian Fairy Tales
(Stokes), p. 182.
Page 301. In a variant by a person of the Cultivating Caste, N.W.P.,
a Queen sent her three sons to bring three turtle doves from the Pearl
Fort (Mutu Kotte). On the way, while the youngest Prince, aged seven
years, was asleep his eldest brother blinded him with two thorns
(timbol katu); but after he had been abandoned he learnt from the
conversation of two Devatawas, who lived in adjoining trees, that by
eating the bark of one of their trees he would be cured. After being
twice again blinded in this way and regaining his sight, he killed
a cobra that each year destroyed and ate the young of two Mainas
(starlings, Saela-lihiniya) which had a nest on a tree. He climbed up
to the nest, had similar experiences to those related in the story,
was carried to the Pearl Fort by a Maina, and brought away three
turtle-doves.
In Indian Fairy Tales (M. Stokes), p. 160, a Prince had three tasks
before marrying a Princess; he was to crush the oil out of eighty
pounds of mustard seed, to kill two demons, and to cut a thick tree
trunk with a wax hatchet. Ants did the first task, two tigers killed
the demons, and with a hair from the head of the Princess fixed along
the edge of the hatchet he cut the tree.
In Folklore of the Santal Parganas, p. 45, a girl was given three
tasks by her sisters-in-law. (1) To collect a basket of mustard seed
when sown; pigeons picked it up for her. (2) To bring bear's hair for
an armlet; two bear cubs helped her to get it. (3) To bring tiger's
milk; two tiger cubs got it for her. Three other tasks do not resemble
those of the Sinhalese tale. In Campbell's Santal Folk Tales, p. 119,
a variant occurs in which bear's milk replaces the hair.
In the Kolhan tales (Bompas) appended to the former vol., p. 481, a
Potter was sent by a Raja for tiger's milk, which he obtained by the
aid of the cubs. On p. 469 a girl was ordered by her sisters-in-law
to collect pulse sown in a field; pigeons helped her to do it. She
then went for bear's milk, which a she-bear gave her.
In Folk-Tales from Tibet, p. 98, a boy by killing a dragon saved
three young gryphons that were in a nest on a cliff. When they told
their parents, the gryphons fed him, and the male carried him to the
Fairy King.
In A. von Schiefner's Tibetan Tales (Ralston), p. 72, the Kinnara
King gave Prince Sudhana three tasks to perform before marrying his
daughter. The last was her identification among a thousand Kinnaris;
she assisted him by stepping forward.
Page 307. In Folk-lore of the Telugus (G. R. Subramiah Pantulu),
p. 48, a poor Brahmana who had been presented with a pot of flour,
thought he would buy a kid with the money he would get for it, and
gradually obtain cattle till he was worth three thousand rupees. He
would then marry, and have an affectionate son, and keep his wife
under control by an occasional kick. As he thought this he kicked,
broke the pot, and lost the flour in the dust.
In the Hitopadesa a Brahmana who got a pot containing bread thought
he would get ten cowries for it, buy larger pots, and at last become a
rich dealer in areka-nuts and betel leaves. He would marry four wives,
the youngest being his favourite; and the others being jealous of
her he would beat them with his stick. He struck the blow with his
stick and smashed his pot.
In Folklore of the Santal Parganas, p. 140, a man who was carrying
some pots of oil for two annas, thought he would buy chickens with one
anna and gradually obtain cattle and land, and get married. When his
children told him to wash quickly on his return from work, he would
shake his head, and say, "Not yet." As he said this he shook his head,
and the pots on it fell and were smashed.
In Folk-Tales from Tibet, p. 31, a foolish young Mussalman who
was promised a hen in return for carrying a jar of oil, thought he
would become rich in the same way, and get married. When his child
was naughty he would stamp his foot; he stamped as he thought it,
and the pot fell and was broken.
Page 311. In Sagas from the Far East, p. 92, in a Kalmuk tale, the
wife of a person who usually had the form of a white bird, burned his
feathers, cage, and perch while he was absent in his human form at a
festival. On his return he informed her that his soul was in the cage,
and that he would be taken away by the gods and demons.
At p. 221, also in a Kalmuk tale, a man received from the Serpent-King
a red dog which laid aside its form and became a beautiful maiden
whom he married. Every morning she became a dog, until one day when
she went to bathe he burned her form,--apparently the skin.
At p. 244, in a Mongolian account of Vikramaditya it is stated that
Indra gave his father the form of an ass, which he left outside the
door when he visited his wife. She burned it, and he remained a man.
In Reynard the Fox in Southern Africa, p. 52, a lion who had eaten
a woman preserved her skin whole, and wore it and her ornaments,
"so that he looked quite like a woman." He went to her kraal, and at
last was detected through part of the lion's hair being visible. The
hut was removed and a grass fire made over the sleeping lion.
In Kaffir Folk-Lore (Theal), p. 38, when a girl who had married
a crocodile licked its face at its request, it cast off its skin,
and became a powerful man.
Page 315. In China it is believed that only wicked persons are struck
by lightning. Doolittle's Social Life of the Chinese (Paxton Hood),
p. 557. In The Kathakoça, p. 159, three persons who expressed evil
thoughts were struck by lightning. In Cinq Cents Contes et Apologues,
vol. i, p. 104, a Queen who caused the Bodhisatta, in the form of an
elephant, to be destroyed in order that she might have his tusks,
was killed by a thunderbolt when she looked at them. In vol. iii,
p. 125, a man who was about to kill his mother was similarly destroyed.
Page 318. In the Arabian Nights, vol. 4, p. 383, a girl in Baghdad
pretended that while drawing water for a man her finger-ring fell
into the well; when he threw off his upper clothes and descended she
left him there. As the owner's groom was drawing water afterwards the
man came up in the bucket, the groom thought him a demon, dropped the
cord, and the man fell down again. The well-owner got him exorcised,
but he came up again when the bucket was raised, and sprang out amid
shouts of "Ifrit!"
Page 319, last line. For greul read gruel.
Page 320, line 9. For don't read Don't.
Line 31. For plantains read plantains'.
Page 321. In Les Avadanas, vol. ii, p. 51, and Cinq Cents Contes et
Apologues, vol. ii, p. 183, a man who drank water that was flowing
through a wooden pipe twice ordered the water to stop when he had
finished. He was called a fool, and led away.
In the latter work, vol. ii, p. 269, there is an account of the boy
who killed the mosquito that had settled on his sleeping father's head.
Page 327. Add to second note, In the Katha Sarit Sagara, vol. ii,
p. 497, the assessors at a trial acted as judges, but the sentence was
pronounced by the King,--as in The Little Clay Cart, also. Compare
also the orders of King Mahinda IV (A.D. 1026-1042) regarding the
judicial powers of a court of village assessors, consisting of
headmen and householders. They were required to try even cases of
murder and robbery with violence, and to inflict the death penalty
(Wickremasinghe, Epigraphia Zeylanica, vol. i, p. 249).
Page 329. In The Indian Antiquary, vol. iii, p. 28, in a Maisur story
by V. Narasimmiyengar, the Bharatas' Government took as its share or
tax the upper half of a root crop, and got only leaves and stalks. For
the next year, when the Government announced that the root part of
the crop would be taken, the cultivators sowed paddy, ragi (millet),
wheat, etc., and the tax collector got only straw.
In Campbell's Santal Folk Tales, p. 93, a tiger and crane joined
together, and planted a garden with turmeric. The tiger had the first
choice of his share of the crop, and decided to take the leaves,
leaving the roots for the crane. When the crop was gathered and the
tiger found his share was valueless he quarrelled with the crane,
which pecked his eyes and blinded him.
Page 335. A variant regarding a Maditiya tree (Adenanthera pavonina)
was related by a Tom-tom Beater of the North-Western Province. A man
told the King that he had planted a golden seedling, and was given
food and drink and ordered to take great care of it. When a flood
carried it away he lamented and rolled about in assumed grief before
the King, who after pacifying him ordered him to plant another golden
seed. He made the same cryptic remark to his wife as in the other tale.
Page 338. In Folklore of the Santal Parganas, p. 260, the incident
of the sickle that had fever occurs, but the person who left it to
reap the crop was an intelligent man who pretended to be stupid so
as to trick a farmer.
Page 341. In two Sinhalese variants of the North-Western Province,
the animal which the man saved was a crocodile, and the first animals
applied to for their opinions were a lean cow and a Naga raja or
cobra, both of which advised the crocodile to kill the man. When
the jackal was appealed to it sat upon an ant-hill to hear the case,
got the crocodile and man to come there out of the water, and then
told the man to kill it with a stick, after which it ate the flesh.
In Folk-Tales from Tibet, p. 12, a musk-deer that let a tiger out
of a house was seized by it, and appealed to a tree, a buffalo cow,
and a hare. The two former condemned it; the hare induced the tiger
to re-enter the house, shut the door, and left it to die of starvation.
In Reynard the Fox in Southern Africa, p. 11, there is a Hottentot
variant. A white man saved a snake's life by removing a stone that
had fallen on it. When it was about to bite him it agreed to obtain
the opinions of some wise people. A hyæna when asked replied, "What
would it matter?" A jackal when questioned about the matter refused to
believe that the snake would be unable to rise when under the stone,
got the man to replace the stone on it, and then told him to leave
it to escape by itself. On p. 13, in a variant, application was first
made to a hare and afterwards to these other animals.
I am indebted to my friend Mr. McKie, of Castletown, for an Eastern
Bengal variant recently published in an Isle of Man paper. A benevolent
Brahmana saved a tiger that was stuck in the mud of a tank. As the
tiger was then about to eat him he appealed to a Banyan tree and
an old pot, both of which condemned him. When the opinion of the
jackal was asked for, it wished to see the place where the tiger was
stuck fast, got the animal into its original position, and then ran
off accompanied by the man. The tiger sank more deeply in the mud,
and perished. A variant of this story is given in Campbell's Santal
Folk Tales, p. 40, the pot being replaced by a cow, and the Brahmana
by several men, who at last stoned and killed the tiger.
In Folklore of the Santal Parganas, p. 150, the Panjab form of the tale
is given, in which the bride saved the man. In the same vol., p. 313, a
leopard which was about to eat a man who had saved its life, agreed to
make inquiry if this was fair. The water and tree recommended that he
should be eaten, but the jackal induced the leopard to enter the man's
sack as before, and then told the man to smash its head with a stone.
Page 346. In Folk-tales of the Telugus, p. 72, the story is told
of a crane and some fish, to which it stated that it was doing
penance, predicted a twelve years' drought, offered to carry them
to an adjoining lake, and ate them. The crab is not introduced into
this story.
In the Arabian Nights, vol. v, p. 391, no bird is mentioned. The
fishes applied to the crab for advice on account of the drought, and
were recommended to pray to Allah, and wait patiently. They did so,
and in a few days a heavy rain refilled their pond.
Page 349, in last line of Notes. For ka, doer, read eka, one.
Page 354. In A. von Schiefner's Tibetan Tales, p. 344, there is a story
like that in The Jataka, the animals being an old cat that pretended
to be doing penance, and five hundred mice; the cat seized the last
mouse as they returned to their hole. The mouse chief exposed its
false penance.
In Cinq Cents Contes et Apologues, vol. ii, p. 414, the same story is
given, the animals that were eaten being rats. In vol. iii, p. 139,
a heron suggested that it and other birds should live together; during
their absence it ate their eggs and young ones. They noticed this,
and scolded and left it.
Page 358. In Folklore of the Santal Parganas, p. 23, the last incident
regarding the boy and the leopard occurs with little variation.
In Campbell's Santal Folk Tales, p. 42, the daily fights of a tiger and
lizard are described, the latter being victorious each time. When the
tiger was carrying off a man whom it intended to eat it was frightened
away by being told that he had the lizard with him.
Page 363. The jackal's instruction to the lion to eat while seated
is in accordance with the rules given in the Maha Bharata (Anusasana
Parva).
Page 366. There is a variant in the Sierra Leone district, given in
Cunnie Rabbit, etc., p. 265. The surviving wife of two ill-treated
the other's daughter, and sent her to get the devil to wash their
rice stick. She behaved civilly to some hoe handles tied in a bundle
which spoke to her, and to a one-eyed person,--(both being forms
assumed by the demon),--and removed insects from the devil's head; he
washed the rice stick for her, and told her to take four eggs from his
house. She selected small ones, threw them down, one after another,
on her way home, as he told her, and received houses, servants,
soldiers, wealth, goods, and jewellery. She also, as instructed by
him, pounded rice on her dead mother's grave, and sang, calling her
back to life. When the other woman's daughter was sent she behaved
rudely to all, and selected four large eggs, out of which came bees
that stung her, snakes that threatened her, men who flogged her,
and fire which burned up her house, her mother, and herself.
Page 368. In last line of text, for tika read tika.
Page 377. In Cinq Cents Contes et Apologues, vol. iii, p. 250, a man
was told when buying a demon (Pisaca) that he might be killed by him
if he did not provide continual work for him. He did the work of ten
men, and was employed for some years, his master becoming rich in
consequence. One day when he forgot to provide work for the demon
the latter put his master's son in a pot and cooked him.
Page 379. After the first note, add, See also the Katha Sarit Sagara,
vol. ii, pp. 242, 258.
Page 381. In Folklore of the Santal Parganas, p. 341, there is the
story of the jackal who escaped from the crocodile; when he said it
must be a fool to seize a root instead of his leg it released him.
In The Indian Antiquary, vol. iii, p. 10, in a Bengal story by
Mr. G. H. Damant, the crocodile seized the jackal's leg, and let go on
being told it was a stick for measuring the height of the water. It
then waited in the jackal's house. He noticed this, and addressed
the house, "O house! O house of earth! What have you to say?" The
crocodile grunted in reply, and the jackal ran off.
In Folk-Tales from Tibet, p. 145, a tortoise [turtle] wishing to punish
a monkey, hid in the cave they both occupied. The monkey, suspecting
it, called out "O great cave! O great cave!" When he repeated it and
remarked on the absence of the usual echo, the tortoise repeated the
words, and the monkey escaped.
In Old Hendrik's Tales, p. 107, there is a Hottentot variant. The wolf,
in order to settle some outstanding scores, got hid in the jackal's
house during his absence; but the jackal, seeing his footprints,
suspected this, and called out, "My ole house! My ole house!" When
no reply came on his repeating it, he said he knew Ou' Wolf must be
inside, or the house would say "Come in," as usual. On the wolf's
repeating the words he laughed, and ordered it out.
Page 384, line 16. For burning read rubbing.
(I have been unable to examine the volumes of The Indian Antiquary
after 1897.)
VOLUME II.
Page 13, footnote. For modaya read modaya.
Page 20. The second footnote should be deleted, and in the story
the last paragraph but one should be:--Thereafter, this Prince and
Princess having caused that widow woman to be brought, and having
tried her judicially (naduwa ahala), subjected her to the thirty-two
tortures, etc.
Messrs. H. B. Andris and Co., of Kandy, have been good enough to
send me a list of the thirty-two tortures, compiled from Sinhalese
manuscripts. As I think such a list has not been published I append
it here, with the English equivalents.
The Thirty-two Tortures.
1. Katu-saemitiyen taelima. Flogging with the thorny scourge.
2. We-waelen taelima. Flogging with cane.
3. Atak digata aeti muguruwalin taelima. Beating with clubs (or
mallets) of the length of a hand.
4. Ata kaepima. Cutting off the hand.
5. Paya kaepima. Cutting off the foot.
6. At-pa de-kotasama kaepima. Cutting off both the hands and the feet.
7. Kana kaepima. Cutting off the ear.
8. Nasaya kaepima. Cutting off the nose.
9. Kan-nasa de-kotasama kaepima. Cutting off both the ears and
the nose.
10. Ise sama galawa ehi kadi-diya waekkerima. Removing the skin of
the head and pouring vinegar there.
11. Ise boralu ula sak patak men sudu-kerima. Rubbing gravel on the
head, and cleaning it like a chank or leaf (of a manuscript book).
12. Mukhaya de-kan langata ira tel-redi purawa gini tibima. Splitting
the mouth near the two ears, filling it with oiled cloth, and
setting fire [to this].
13. Siyalu sarira tel-piliyen wela gini tibima. Twining oiled cloth
round the whole body and setting fire [to it].
14. Hastayan tel-redi wela gini taebima. Twining oiled cloth on the
hands and setting fire [to it].
15. Sriwayehi patan hama galawa kendayehi taebima. Removing the skin,
beginning at the neck, and placing it on the calf.
16. Tana mattehi patan sama uguluwa isehi taebima. Causing the skin
to be plucked off, beginning at the top of the breasts, and
placing it on the head.
17. Bima howa dedena de-waelamiti yahul gasa wata-kota gini
dael-wima. Causing [the person] to lie on the ground, striking iron
pins through both elbows, and making flames of fire round [him].
18. Bili-katuwalin paehaera sam mas nahara uguluwa-daemima. Removing
skin, flesh, with fish-hooks, and causing the tendons to be plucked
completely out.
19. Kahawanu men sakala sarirayehi mas kaepima. Cutting the flesh
from the whole body [in pieces] like kahapanas (coins).
20. Sakala sariraya kendila ksharawu karan gaelwima. Making incisions
in the whole body and causing salt corrosiveness to sink [into
them].
21. Ek aelayakin bima howa kanehi yawul gasa karakaewima. Causing
[the person] to lie on the ground in a trench, striking iron pins
(or rods) in the ear, and turning them round.
22. Sarirayehi aeta-mas podi-kota piduru su[m]buluwak men
kerima. Bruising the flesh on the bones in the body, and making it
like a straw envelope.
23. Kakiyawana-lada tel aengehi isima. Sprinkling boiling oil on
the body.
24. Sayin pidita sunakhayan lawa mas anubawa-kerima. Devouring the
flesh by means of dogs suffering from starvation.
25. Katu-bere peralima. Rolling [the person] in the drum containing
thorns.
26. Sakrame karakaerima. Turning [the person] round on the wheel.
27. Æsak uguluwa anik aesata penwima. Plucking out an eye, and showing
it to the other eye.
28. Æha maeda yahul gasa karakaewima. Striking an iron pin into the
middle of the eye, and turning it round.
29. Ænga-mas kapa baeda kaewima. Cutting off the flesh of the body,
frying it, and making [the person] eat it.
30. Buta-seyyawen hinduwa nul gasa waeyen saehima. Setting [the person]
in the attitude in which goblins recline (i.e., on the back),
marking [the body by means of blackened] strings (as sawyers do),
and slicing off [the projecting parts] with the adze.
31. Diwas-ula induwima. Setting [the person] on the impaling stake.
32. Kaduwen isa kapa-daemima. Cutting off the head completely with
the sword.
Page 26, note. For Tisse de wele read Tisse de wele.
Page 32, line 19. After footnote add, and Part II, p. 164.
Page 34, line 36. For seven read four.
Page 36, note, and p. 116, note. For Sitana read Sitana.
Page 46, line 23. For the figure, read a "Sending" (sihaerumak). Other
Sendings are mentioned in vol. iii, pp. 178 and 250.
Page 47. To the first note, add, See also Cinq Cents Contes et
Apologues, vol. iii, p. 92.
Pages 70, 71. For tuttu read tuttu.
Page 80. Add, In Campbell's Santal Folk Tales, p. 127, a simpleton
who accompanied some thieves placed boiling rice and milk in the open
mouth of a man who said in his sleep, "I will eat."
Page 89, line 14. For through read though.
Page 97, footnote. For No. 263 read No. 262.
Page 108. Add, In Cinq Cents Contes et Apologues, vol. ii, p. 413,
a sheep with its wool on fire owing to a blow with a fire-brand, set
the hay on fire at the quarters of the royal elephants. In vol. iii,
p. 145, a ram set fire to a village in the same manner.
Page 119, note. For Honda read Honda.
Page 126, line 13. For the read her.
Page 136, footnotes, line 20. For 248 read 247.
Page 160, second footnote. For 212 and 241 read 211 and 240.
Page 165 and p. 169, footnotes. After 237 insert 240.
Page 168, footnotes. After 208 add 240.
Page 171. Add, In Campbell's Santal Folk Tales, p. 21, a man falsely
claimed the reward for killing a demon whom two brothers had shot;
when they exposed him he was beaten. On p. 59, a youth who was sent
in search of the bones of an elephant that he had thrown across the
Seven Seas, was joined by a giant who was fishing with a Palmira palm
as a rod and an elephant as a bait. Afterwards they added to their
party another who held a Banyan tree as a shade for his ploughmen.
Page 184, line 24. For ambuda baendaganda read ambuda baendagana.
Page 202, line 24. For four read three. According to Clough, the yama,
or watch, is one of four hours, but the Swapna-malaya makes it three:--
Dawasakata paeya saeta For a [whole] day, paeyas sixty
Weya, yamada atakata. Occur, and watches up to eight.
In tis paeyaka raekata From them, thirty paeyas for a night,
Yama satarak weya niyatata. [Or] watches four, occur for certain.
Page 213. Regarding the Ridi, Tavernier remarked (Voyages, 1679, i,
p. 589), "This money is called Larin, and is of the same standard
as our écus. Five pieces are worth our écu." On p. 591, vol. ii, he
noted that, "The rupee of gold ... is worth in the country [India]
fourteen rupees of silver. We reckon the rupee of silver at thirty
sols. Thus the rupee of gold comes to 21 livres of France.... All the
gold and silver which enters on the lands of the Great Mogol is refined
to the highest standard (au dernier tître) before being coined."
Our sovereign contains 113 grains of fine gold; and as the full
weight of the gold rupee or muhr (mohur) of the Mughal rulers was
175 grains, its full value as fine gold was £1 11s. of our money. At
the mean weight of the gold (167.22 grs.) in 46 coins, as recorded in
Hobson-Jobson, p. 438, the value would be £1 9s. 7 1/4d. By Tavernier's
reckoning (at 21 livres) the full value was £1 11s. 6d. One-fourteenth
of £1 11s. is 26.57d.; this was therefore the value of the silver
rupee of the Mughals, which had the same weight as the gold coin. With
the muhr at £1 11s. 6d. the value of the rupee would be 2s. 3d. At
26.57/30d., the French sol was worth 0.885d. Bernier remarked (Travels,
Constable's translation, p. 200) that the value of the silver rupee was
about 30 sols, and on p. 223, about 29 sols, Tavernier also agreeing
that the actual value should be under 30 sols; in the latter case the
sol would be equal to 0.916d. Taking the average value at 0.9d., and
20 sols to a livre, the value of the livre was 1s. 6d. Three livres
were equal to one écu (4s. 6d.), one-fifth of which, as noted above,
would make the value of the larin 10.8d. This was not an accurate
estimate of its value, since according to Tavernier (i, p. 136) 46
livres 1 1/2 deniers (each = one-twelfth of a sol) were the exact
equivalent of a Persian toman of that period, which was thus worth £3
9s. 2 1/4d. of our money; and as 80 larins made one toman (i, p. 136;
ii, p. 590) the true value of the larin in Persia (and India) in the
middle of the seventeenth century was 10.375d. This would require the
silver in it to weigh 76.08 grains. According to Dr. J. G. Da Cunha,
Sir John Chardin stated that the value was two and a half shahis, or
11 sols 3 deniers, that is, 10.122d.; but by Tavernier's reckoning (i,
p. 135) two and a half shahis would be worth 10.406d. Tavernier added
that from Baghdad to Ceylon all business was done in larins. W. Barret
writing in 1584 on Money and Measures (Hakluyt), remarked of them,
"These be the best currant money in all the Indies."
Dr. Davy stated (Travels, etc., p. 181) that fifty ridis were equal
to about twenty-nine shillings (1820); thus the value of the coin
was then only about seven pence in Ceylon.
Although Prof. Rhys Davids mentioned (Coins and Measures of Ceylon,
p. 35) that five ridis were spoken of [about 1870] as the equivalent
of a rix-dollar--both coins being then out of circulation--thus making
the value of the ridi less than fivepence, he gave the weight of three
of these coins as being from 72 1/2 to 74 1/2 grains. Dr. Da Cunha
gave a weight of 68 1/2 to 72 grains (Contributions, etc., part 3,
p. 10). With an allowance for wear, it is therefore probable that
the Persian weight of 76 grains was adhered to in Ceylon, and also
in India.
In answer to my inquiry, Messrs. H. B. Andris and Co., of Kandy,
have confirmed the statement made to me elsewhere, that the later
value of the ridi in Ceylon was one-third of a rupee,--"panam pahayi
salli hatarayi," five panams and four sallis.
Prof. Rhys Davids noted that Pyrard stated the value of those made
early in the seventeenth century in the Maldives, to be about eight
sols, that is, 7.2d. It is not clear why the money had the low values
recorded above, unless the quality of the silver had deteriorated. In
Ceylon, in Knox's time all the coins were tested in the fire.
According to the Mahavansa, King Bhuvaneka-Bahu VI in about A.D. 1475
constructed a relic casket out of seven thousand coins which are termed
rajata in the Pali original, and ridi in the Sinhalese edition, both
words meaning silver. As there appear to have been comparatively few
other silver coins in the country, none, so far as is known, having
been coined since the beginning of the previous century, these were
probably larins.
The next reference to the coin in Ceylon goes back to about the same
date; it is given by Mr. Pieris (Ceylon: the Portuguese Era, i, p. 50),
apparently taken from the manuscript history of de Queiroz. King
Dharma Parakrama-Bahu in 1518 related to the Portuguese Governor of
Colombo that in his youth a certain man who had killed another did
not possess the fifty larins which would have ransomed his life,
and therefore he was executed. One would understand from this that
these coins were plentiful in the island before A.D. 1500.
In the same work (i, p. 298) it is recorded that in 1596 the Portuguese
captured five elephants laden with larins. Diogo do Couto mentioned
that while besieged in Kotte in 1565, the Portuguese made some larins,
"there being craftsmen of that calling" (Ferguson's translation,
p. 233), thus confirming Knox's statement that this money was coined
in Ceylon.
The Massa or Masurama which is mentioned so frequently in the stories
is probably in most cases a copper coin, but gold and silver massas
were also issued. In vol. iii, pp. 136, 137, line 31, 150, 1. 24, 387,
1. 29, the coins appear to have been gold massas. It is apparently
the gold massa which is referred to in Mah. ii, 81, v. 45, where it
is stated that King Wijaya-Bahu (A.D. 1236-1240) paid 84,000 gold
kahapanas to transcribers of "the sacred book of the law." Perhaps,
also, in the stories the kahapanas may have been golden massas or
double massas. Compare vol. i, p. 348, and vol. iii, p. 263, line 33,
and see below.
The commoner or standard coins of all three denominations have
practically the same weight, which in the heavier examples is usually
about 66 or 67 grains, though a few gold and silver coins exceed
this weight, two silver ones of Nissanka-Malla, from Mahiyangana
wihara, for which I am indebted to Prof. C. G. Seligmann, averaging
77 1/2 grains. Out of 150 copper coins only one turned the scale at 69
grains. If we assume that the Indian copper scale of General Cunningham
was followed, and that, with allowance for wear and oxidation, the
correct original weight of all three classes was 72 grains, a massa
of fine gold would be worth 12s. 8.92d. of our money. Compared with
the Persian larin, the value of the silver massa of 72 grains, if
fine silver, would be 9.82d., or 1/15.56 of the gold one. Respecting
the copper coin, Dr. Davy stated early last century (Travels, p. 245)
that the ridi (or larin) was then equivalent to sixty-four "Kandian
challies," that is, as he also terms them, "Dambadinia challies,"
the common village name of the copper massas; at this ratio the
silver massa of 72 grains would be equivalent to 60.57 copper massas,
each being worth 0.162d., or about one-sixth of a penny. [333] Late
in the fifteenth century the Indian ratio of the value of copper to
silver appears, according to Thomas, to have been 64 to 1, and at
the beginning of the sixteenth, according to Whiteway, 80 to 1. [334]
I have met with no villager who knew what the coins termed kahawanuwa
(kahapana) and masurama were.
Messrs. H. B. Andris and Co., of Kandy, have been good enough to
send me the following table of the old values of Sinhalese coins,
kindly supplied by the "High Priest" of the Malwatta Wihara, at Kandy,
on what authority I am unaware:--
4 salli = 1 tuttuwa.
8 tuttu = 1 massa. [? 20 tuttu].
5 mahu (or masu) = 1 kahawanuwa. [? 2 masu].
In the latter half of last century, twelve salli, or four tuttu, made
one copper panama, sixteen of which went to a rupee; the intrinsic
value of this being 1s. 10 1/2d., the salliya was worth 0.117d.,
or nearly half a farthing. In the absence of more ancient data,
applying this value to the coins in the table the ancient tuttuwa
would be worth 0.468d., the massa 3.744d., and the silver kahawanuwa,
1s. 6.72d., a little less than the value of two silver massas of 72
grains. A double silver massa, which would appear to be this coin,
has been discovered by Col. Lowsley; [335] its weight was not stated.
With regard to the values of other coins, Capt. Percival wrote in
1803 that the rix-dollar "goes for about two shillings sterling;
and four of them are equivalent to a star pagoda [the Tamil varakam,
Sin. waragan], a Madras coin worth about eight shillings sterling"
[in Ceylon; in India its official value was always three and a half
rupees].
Page 229. Add, In Cinq Cents Contes et Apologues, vol. iii, p. 226,
a man observed that birds that visited an island, inaccessible to man,
in which there were great quantities of jewels, roosted at night in
tall trees planted by him. He prepared some exquisite food for them
with which they satiated themselves, afterwards vomiting pearls that
covered the whole ground. He collected them, and became very wealthy.
Page 238, line 11. For paelas read hæliyas (large pots); and delete
the following note in brackets.
Page 257, first note. See also Campbell's Santal Folk Tales, pp. 8
and 9. In the same work, p. 25 ff., there is an account of a boy one
span in height. See also ante, note to p. 107, vol. i.
Page 261. Add, In Campbell's Santal Folk Tales, p. 19, some tigers
who wanted to catch two men who had taken refuge on a palm tree,
asked how they had ascended; they replied that they stood on each
other's shoulders. When the tigers did the same, one of the men called
to the other to give him his battle-axe, so that he might hamstring
the tailless tiger (which was at the bottom). It jumped aside, and
all fell down, and ran off.
Page 266, note. For Bastda or Bastdara read Banda or Bandara.
Page 274. Add, In Campbell's Santal Folk Tales, p. 12, a man who
was in a tree was carried away in a bag by a demon. He escaped by
putting a stone in it during the temporary absence of the demon, and
was brought a second time. When the demon's daughter admired his long
hair he informed her that it became long by being pounded, on which
she put her head down to have her hair lengthened; he then killed her,
cooked her, and the demon and his friends who came for the feast ate
her. The man wore the daughter's clothes and was not recognised.
Page 281, line 37. For tadak read tadak.
Page 303. K. Raja-Sinha had a three-tiered hat (Knox, p. 34).
Page 319, line 24, and Index. For Amrapali, read Amrapali.
Page 321, note. For ewidinawa read aewidinawa. According to
Mr. Gunasekara's Grammar, p. 452, this means, "the bees come as far
as two miles."
Page 324, line 12. After two feet insert (do paya).
Page 344, line 37. Add, In vol. ii, p. 125, a lion was killed by the
poisonous breath of a man-snake, and in vol. iii, p. 70, a lion and
elephant perished in the same manner.
Page 374, line 11. For 137 read 117.
Page 398. Add, In Campbell's Santal Folk Tales, p. 12, a horse thief
saddled and rode a tiger until daylight, thinking it a horse. On p. 46
it was a simpleton who rode. The tiger unwillingly returned with a
jackal and bear, each holding the preceding one's tail. When they
reached the thicket where the man was supposed to be, the tiger's
courage gave way, and he bolted, dragging the others after him. A
variant is given on p. 49, also.
Page 408, line 7. For While read while.
Page 433, line 7 of Sinhalese text. For deggatten read daeggatten.
VOLUME III.
Page 29, note 1. Through the kindness of Messrs. H. B. Andris and
Co., I am able to add the following information regarding Kandian dry
measures, chiefly furnished by Mr. A. J. W. Marambe, Ratemahatmaya of
Uda Bulatgama. In the Kandian districts only heaped dry measures are
employed, that is, the grain or whatever is being measured is raised
up above the edge of the measure in as high a cone as is possible
while pouring it out loosely.
Kandian Dry Measures.
2 heaped pat (pl. of pata) = 1 heaped manawa [336]
(0.01146 c. ft.).
2 heaped mana = 1 heaped naeliya (0.02292 c. ft.).
2 heaped naeli = 1 heaped seruwa (0.04584 c. ft.).
28 heaped seru (or 32 cut seru) = 1 imperial or cut bushel
(1.28366 c. ft.).
5 heaped seru = 1 standard kuruniya or lahe.
10 heaped kuruni, lahas or las = 1 paela.
4 pael = 1 amuna.
20 amunu = 1 yala.
A seruwa is a quart. Although the standard Kandian kuruniya is said
by Mr. Marambe to be one of five heaped seru, there are others,
according to him, of 4, 6 and 7 heaped seru, the latter being said
to be employed in the Wanni or northern districts. In the interior
of the North-Western Province, to the north and east of Kurunaegala,
where most of the folk-tales were collected, the kuruniya was said to
contain four heaped seru, according to which the local amuna would
be 5.71 bushels. The Kandian amuna, at five seru to the kuruniya,
would be equal to 7.1 bushels. An amuna of land is the extent sown by
one amuna of seed, and varies according to the quality of the soil,
less seed being needed for good land than poor land, where the plants
are small. In the North-Western Province, an amuna of rice field is
about two and a quarter acres, the amount of seed varying from two
to three bushels per acre. One and a half heaped seru of kurahan
(small millet) yield an amuna of crop in good chena soil; the yield
from one heaped seruwa of tana, an edible grass cultivated in hill
chenas, varies from one to two amunas; for the same out-turn with
meneri four seru of seed are necessary.
OMITTED INCIDENTS.
The incidents which were omitted in vol. ii and vol. iii are as
follows:--
Vol. ii, p. 260, line 3. Then at dawn, at the micturition time,
urine having become oppressive (bara-wi) for the Tom-tom Beater,
he spoke to the Gamarala. At that time the Gamarala having become
frightened said, "The Rakshasa will eat us both; don't speak." Then
the Tom-tom Beater, having remained on the upper-story floor,
urinated. The urine came and fell on the body of the Rakshasa who
was sleeping on the ground. At that time the Rakshasa having arisen
asked the Gamarala's daughter. "What is the juice?" Then the girl said,
"For the purpose of smearing the walls during the day-time, I put some
water upon the upper floor. It will have been upset (namanda aeti)
by the rats." Thereupon the Rakshasa silently went to sleep.
Then the Tom-tom Beater still [another] time became [obliged] to go
outside. [337] At that time having spoken to the Gamarala he told
him. The Gamarala said, "Don't talk." Thereupon the Tom-tom Beater
evacuated. Then the filth having gone, fell on the Rakshasa's body. The
Rakshasa having arisen, at the hand of the girl, having scolded her,
asked, "What is this?" Thereupon the girl says, "I put some cow-dung
on the upper-story floor; it (lit. they) will have fallen." Then the
Rakshasa without speaking went to sleep.
Vol. iii, p. 290, line 4. Thereupon, in the night, for the Hettirala
it became [necessary] to go outside.[337] So he spoke to Sokka, "I
must go outside." Then Sokka cried out, "I cannot [find a utensil]
in this night." When he was beseeching him to go to the door, having
sought for a cooking-pot from there he gave him it.
During the whole thirty [paeyas] of that night the Hettirala began
to have diarrhoea. Then at dawn, when the Hettirala was saying,
"Sokka, take away and put down this closet utensil (muttiya),"
Sokka began to cry aloud, "I will not." Then at the time when the
Hettirala was asking Sokka, "What shall I do for this?" Sokka says,
"Putting on a cloth from the head [downwards], and placing the closet
utensil in your armpit, go in the manner of proceeding to go outside,
and having put it down please return." After that, the Hettirala having
done thus, when the Hettirala was going Sokka went and said at the hand
of the Hettirala's younger sister, "The Hettirala having become angry
is going, maybe. Please go and take him by the hand." The woman having
gone running and said, "Elder brother, where are you going?" caught him
by the hand. Then the closet utensil having fallen on the ground, and
the bodies of both persons having been smeared, both went and bathed.
NOTES
[1] Lit., with (ekka), a common form of expression.
[2] Lit., from the hand of the Hare.
[3] Pin sidda-weyi, a common expression of beggars when asking alms.
[4] In the Katha Sarit Sagara (Tawney), vol. i, p. 285, it is
stated that "an evil omen presenting itself to people engaged in
any undertaking, if not counteracted by delay and other methods,
produces misfortune." One of the other methods was a drinking bout
(see the same work, vol. i, p. 331).
[5] That is, "I lost the deer in order to save the packet of rice."
[6] Sunday is not a good day for beginning any new work; of course this
has no connection with the idea of the Christian sabbath. Wednesday
and Saturday are the most unlucky days of the week. Thursday is the
luckiest one for all purposes. (See vol. ii., p. 192.)
[7] Partially trained cart-bulls, the little black humped ones, often
pretend to be dead in order to avoid drawing a cart, and I have seen
a wounded jackal and crocodile escape after behaving in this manner;
I am not aware that deer act thus. (See Tennent's Nat. Hist., p. 285.)
[8] Another title is, "The Story of the Female Turtle Dove."
[9] Bassia longifolia.
[10] An imitation of the notes of the Turtle Dove (Turtur suratensis).
[11] Ketupa ceylonensis. The tree is Hemicyclia sepiaria.
[12] The Sinhalese names are, Muna-Rawana, Pari-kewulla, Dikaetaya,
Goluwa, Atawanna, Nadakara-Panikkiya, Baka-modaya.
[13] The ordinary call of this Fish-Owl; to be sounded through
the nose, with the lips closed, the second note on a lower key than
the first.
[14] Wansadipatiyek.
[15] Delight-making Princess.
[16] See p. 64.
[17] About 2,800 acres, at two and a half bushels of sowing extent
per acre. The yala is 20 amunas, each 5.7 or 6 bushels.
[18] In Cinq Cents Contes et Apologues (Chavannes), vol. ii, p. 339,
a jackal's heart broke into seven pieces on hearing several lions roar.
[19] Katussa.
[20] The Monitor Lizard (Varanus dracaena).
[21] Daboia russelli, the most venomous snake in Ceylon.
[22] Lit., by the Mungus.
[23] A dry measure said by Clough to be about three pints wine
measure. See the Additional Notes at the end of this volume.
[24] Karagama Devi pal, eka mage duwa pal, hatara pata naeliyen
dek, deka, deka, deka. Lit., "the protection of Karagama Devi,"
etc. The oaths of this kind most commonly heard are amma pal, "by [my]
mother," and aes deka pal, "by [my] two eyes." But ammappa pal, "by
[my] mother and father," and maha polowa pal, "by the great earth,"
are not unusual.
[25] Gatta nan di, gatta nan di. All these are imitations of the
voices of croaking frogs, the first being the rapid and shriller
cries of the small frogs, and the second the deeper and slower calls
of the larger frogs.
[26] In Cinq Cents Contes et Apologues (Chavannes), vol. iii, p. 115,
the King of the demons is called Pañcika. Professor Chavannes noted
that in the Divyavadana, p. 447, he has the title Yaksha-senapati,
General of the Yakshas.
[27] A pool containing lotuses.
[28] In The Jataka, No. 506 (vol. iv, p. 283), the life-index of a
serpent King was a pool, which would become turbid if he were struck
or hurt, and blood-red if a snake-charmer seized him. In Folklore of
the Santal Parganas (Rev. Dr. Bodding), p. 321, the life-index of a
cow was some of her milk, which would become red like blood if she
were killed by a tigress, as she expected.
[29] The narrator explained that this was in early times. He stated
that they do not eat human flesh now; it is done only by Rakshasas.
[30] Where bushes or reeds are in the water near the shore, fishing
is usually done by means of a baited hook at the end of a short
fishing line attached to the extremity of a number of canes tied end
to end. These float on the surface of the water, and are gradually
pushed forward until the bait is in an open space in the water.
[31] "Soft are the six seasons of woman"; but the text is so full of
mistakes that it is possible this may be intended for Sarasayu-wiri,
"the bee's life is delicate," or Sarasayu-wiri, "soft are the six
seasons of Love."
[32] See also A. von Schiefner's Tibetan Tales (Ralston), p. 134,
in which the names are omitted.
[33] See Ancient Ceylon, p. 100.
[34] Dippitiyalage gedara.
[35] Pamula pettiya. See vol. i, p. 183, footnote.
[36] See vol. i, p. 10, on the small size of modern windows in the
villages.
[37] A very common exclamation of grief, surprise, or sometimes
annoyance. The relative addressed is always either the father, the
mother, or the elder brother, in such cases.
[38] Hatara-maha Lula. I am doubtful regarding the meaning of
maha; it appears to be derived from Skt. ma, to measure or be
contained. According to Clough, lula is a snare or wicker fish-basket,
perhaps from the Skt. lu, to cut or destroy. See final note.
[39] This would include the bathing of the whole body.
[40] The word ge, house, is used in the villages for "room." In this
case the "house" was the trap.
[41] Toge amma tangi, toge appa tongi; tangittongit.
[42] Apparently, he thought she would be reborn on the earth again,
with her former appearance.
[43] Wal-bowa, a domestic cat that has become wild, or the descendant
of such a cat.
[44] After the manner of the Muhammadans, who chant prayers in the
evening after sunset, and later on in the night.
[45] More correctly spelt Bhasmasura. See another legend of him in
Ancient Ceylon, p. 156.
[46] The village spelling.
[47] Ci, an exclamation of disgust. "Hole, don't," appears to be
the meaning.
[48] Bandayi pollayi.
[49] Pala yanda.
[50] The text has Ansca, evidently intended for Anicca. This is part
of a Buddhist exclamation in Pali, Aniccan dukkhan, "transient is
sorrow," often used colloquially to express astonishment. A Buddhist
monk of my acquaintance invariably used it to express even slight
surprise at anything, strongly accenting the last syllable of the
first word; in fact, all is usually pronounced as though it formed
only one word. See also p. 71 below.
[51] This appears to be the meaning.
[52] As a preliminary proceeding, the bridegroom gives the bride a
new cloth to put on.
[53] Kandeyayi henayayi. Kandeya, he of the hill = hakura.
[54] This is a very disrespectful exclamation when addressed by a
woman to a man, or an inferior to a superior. A Tamil head-mason once
complained to me of the manner in which one of his men, a person of
lower caste, had addressed him, and concluded by remarking, "He will
say 'Ade!' to me next."
[55] A drove of pack-oxen, driven in this instance by "Moormen"
(Marakkala men). This method of transporting goods is still practised
in districts deficient in cart roads.
[56] See p. 138, vol. ii.
[57] Karola, for karawala.
[58] An Oak-like tree, Schleichera trijuga.
[59] Mukunu-waella kola, apparently Alternanthera sp., termed by
Clough Mukunu-waenna or Mikan-pala.
[60] In the text the expression is mangula, feast; this word is
sometimes used to denote the bride, as well as the wedding feast or
the wedding itself. In a story not published we have, haya denekuta
mangul genat innawa, for six persons brides have been brought.
[61] The yala being twenty amunas, the total area was the extent
that would be sown with 1,212 amunas, each being six bushels (or 5·7
bushels in the district where the story was related). At two and a
half bushels per acre this would be about 2,900 acres.
[62] Lit., Can he work. The same form of expression is used by
the Irish.
[63] Bali aerumak, conducted by a person termed Bali-tiyanna. The
patient and a friend sitting on each side of him or her, respond
in a loud voice, "Ayibo, Ayibo!" (Long life!) at each pause in the
invocations. The wish of long life is addressed to the deity of
the planet.
[64] See vol. ii, p. 187.
[65] Jivan keruwa, made magical "life" or power in it, by means
of spells.
[66] Gamarala kenekunne; this plural form is often used for the
singular. A few lines further on we have, redda aendapu kenekundayi.
[67] Probably said sarcastically; he may have had a bad figure. This
kind of sarcastic talk is very common in the villages.
[68] A coconut shell slung from cords, for use as a water-vessel
(mungawe).
[69] Lit., "them," kiri, milk, being a plural noun.
[70] Compare the similar account on p. 296, vol. i. In Clough's
Dictionary, Giju-lihiniya (lit., Vulture-glider or hawk) is termed
Golden Eagle, a bird which is not found in India or Ceylon. Apparently
the word is a synonym of Rukh (the Æt-kanda Lihiniya), which in
the second note, p. 300, vol. i, is said to be "of the nature
of vultures." In Man, vol. xiii, p. 73, Captain W. E. H. Barrett
published an A'Kikuyu (East African) story in which when a man took
refuge inside a dead elephant the animal was carried off by a huge
vulture to a tree in the midst of a great lake. The man escaped by
grasping one of the bird's tail feathers when it flew away, and being
thus carried by it to land, without its knowledge.
[71] Ottu-wela, having pushed against.
[72] Lit., to be (re-)born.
[73] The narrator, belonging to a village in the far interior,
evidently thought a shark is a small fish, little larger than those
caught in the tanks. Compare also No. 214, in which a Queen carries
a shark home to eat.
[74] Their idea apparently was that when at the point of death he
would speak the truth, and they would thus learn if he were likely
to be useful to them.
[75] Ammayi abuccayi.
[76] Ne owun dennata talanne.
[77] Lit., Not for us.
[78] Owanda.
[79] Bere tadi-gahan[ne] naehae, newe talanne.
[80] Raksa kara-gannawa nae.
[81] Goda aragana.
[82] Lit., "tying the hand"; the little fingers of the bride and
bridegroom are tied together by a thread in the marriage ceremony.
[83] Lit., "Water-thirst."
[84] In the text this sentence follows the next one.
[85] Lit., a tri-ennium, a three-year, tun-awuruddak. This is an
invention of the woman's; there is no custom of the kind in Ceylon.
[86] Ewunda okkotama.
[87] Rajjuruwanda hemin.
[88] Bappa, the father's younger brother.
[89] The consent of the parent or legal guardian was the only essential
for a legal marriage, according to the ancient customs.
[90] Ki-roti. I do not know the cake, nor the meaning of the first
syllable unless it be derived from kshira, milk.
[91] Ape ewundaeta, a pl. hon. form. Husbands and wives do not usually
mention each other's names; the wife is commonly termed ape gedara eki,
"she of our house" (as in No. 125), or the mother of the youngest
child if there be one, or "she of ours," or merely "she."
[92] C is pronounced as ch in English.
[93] See notes of variants appended to No. 139, vol. ii.
[94] That is, the food materials.
[95] Daekun tibbata passe.
[96] Awot enne nae; nawot eññan.
[97] Because Kitul fibre is like hair which is hanging loose.
[98] Siwsaeta kala silpaya.
[99] Saluwak.
[100] The text of this story is given at the end of this volume.
[101] Hitanan dennek.
[102] Gini kukula, the fire [coloured] Cock.
[103] Rassayae gedara.
[104] Tiya, putting [out of consideration].
[105] Gediyak, a round lump, made into a package.
[106] Premna latifolia.
[107] Kaekulu hal, rice from which the skin has been removed without
first softening it in hot or boiling water. It is used for making
milk-rice (kiri-bat), but not usually for rice used with curries,
as the grains are apt to coalesce when cooked.
[108] Kola das, mala das.
[109] As on p. 70, vol. i.
[110] Lit., "man," the word translated "wife" in this story being
also literally "woman." These words are commonly employed with these
meanings by the villagers.
[111] Nanga russayak, Ironwood tree.
[112] Umbala hitilla.
[113] The magical power lay in the Naga gem that was set in the
ring. See notes, vol. i, p. 269, regarding the stone.
[114] Compare the story of Prince Lionheart in Tales of the Punjab,
p. 42 ff.
[115] The milky sap which exudes from cuts in the bark or leaves. It
is acrid, and blisters the skin if left on it.
[116] An ex-monk.
[117] Gaemmaedde.
[118] Umba mewwa damma-dipan.
[119] Ekan-karawanda.
[120] Baeri-wuna, were unable (to be remembered), or omitted.
[121] The food was to be eaten by any poor people who came for it. Of
course the deities required only the essence.
[122] Ara deviyoyi senawayi et giya.
[123] That is, three and a half times the extent usually cleared by
one man for the season's crop.
[124] Æddeya. See note, vol. i, p. 193.
[125] Lit., it is not for me to stay.
[126] A common custom in the royal fields, I believe. Villagers
employed on my works sometimes impressed wayfarers in this manner,
as a joke.
[127] Amu koyamata.
[128] Dalu goyan.
[129] Apparently "The Ace," with a personal suffix; but his real
meaning was, "He who goes about cheating" (a + sri + ya).
[130] Wiyan. This work is always done by the local washerman, who
supplies the cloth for it.
[131] Pamula pettiya. See note, vol. i, p. 183.
[132] This is an old notion. In A Catena of Buddhist Scriptures (Beal),
p. 74, it is stated, "Again, there are different kinds of kalpa trees
which produce garments, from which they can select every sort of robe
to wear."
[133] Pala-gatta.
[134] Danu rukadayak.
[135] Ate kiri bonawa, usually meaning sucking the thumb.
[136] Damapu para.
[137] Dunnakuyi, igahakuyi, italayakuyi.
[138] Ewaessa mama, mother's brother.
[139] Dadayan para.
[140] This may be the modern Balalli-waewa, on the
Padeniya-Anuradhapura road.
[141] Dippitiyalage gedara.
[142] Laka wata baedi [*] sawaran!
Ane! Mage Laka wata baedi sawaran!
[*] There is a play on this word, baedi meaning jungle, while bae[n]di,
which is sometimes written baedi, means tied, bound. A meaning might
be, "The savages of the jungle around Lanka (Ceylon)."
[143] A line of hairs from the throat to the navel is said to be
considered a thing of beauty.
[144] Bada is for banda.
[145] The text is given at the end of this volume.
[146] Makanta, to obliterate, but the meaning of the narrator appears
to be more nearly expressed by the word I have inserted.
[147] When a woman has more than one husband (brothers always), she
goes through the marriage ceremony with the eldest, and is formally
given to him only.
[148] Apparently the fire originated accidentally, and the man was
afraid of being charged with murdering the beggar. Compare story
No. 21, vol. i, of which the Western Province has a variant.
[149] Manda walaka. In village talk and writing, the semi-consonants
n, n, and n are often inserted in words in which they do not occur
in ordinary Sinhalese; on the other hand, these letters, and m as a
semi-consonant, are often omitted in writing words in which they are
always pronounced.
[150] Wiyan baendala.
[151] Hayiyen hayiyen.
[152] Hamunduru namak, a Buddhist monk.
[153] Tract "assigned for the exclusive use of the grantee," and his
descendants. See Wickremasinghe (Epigraphia Zeylanica, vol. i, p. 244).
[154] Mist Mother. In the Rig Veda, v, 32, 4, Sushna, the Danava,
is termed Child of the Mist.
[155] This episode is given in No. 138, vol. ii.
[156] Ursha = vrisha.
[157] Required as an offering to the demon in charge of the hidden
treasure. Compare No. 196.
[158] At deka gawin allagatta.
[159] This reply is intended to show that the boys do not deserve
sympathy.
[160] To taniyenda awe?
[161] E tiyaddin, "placing it" [aside or out of consideration].
[162] See footnote, vol. ii, p. 369.
[163] The Yaka who gives effect to evil magic spells and charms,
and to the evil eye and evil mouth, that is, evil wishes and curses.
[164] Jivan karala.
[165] In Folk-Tales of Kashmir (Knowles), 2nd ed., pp. 411, 412, a
Prince who was going for a magical sandal-wood tree, fed two tigers
which protected it, with the leg of a sheep, and the serpents with
bread and curdled milk, after which they did not attempt to harm him.
In Ceylon, it is believed that the demons who protect the treasure,
or those who are summoned by means of evil invocations in other cases,
take at first various forms of animals; and it is imperative that
these animals must be fed with appropriate food, otherwise the demon
would be able to destroy the persons engaged in the business.
[166] Kollanta himin.
[167] Æwadin ahakwela.
[168] Probably Gaja-Bahu I, A.D. 113-135.
[169] The Hitopadesa relates this of a traveller near Ujjain.
[170] The narrator explained that when the rain came the snake would
twist about inside the elephant's head, and drive it mad.
[171] Obata mokada, tik; mama oda, tik. The tik represents the stamp
of the hare's foot, or a snort, perhaps.
[172] Each person who receives a packet is considered to be invited.
[173] Kalavaedda (Paradoxurus musanga).
[174] The text is given at the end of this volume.
[175] This incident is also related on pp. 62 and 63 of vol. i.
[176] In No. 245 the Princess was weighed once a week.
[177] Lit., ran flying.
[178] Kanya pantiyak; apparently they were courtesans or dancing girls.
[179] Hadagat purushayek.
[180] Mesopotamian Archæology (Handcock), pp. 295, 329.
[181] Tun-mulu-Toppiya, the one with the three-cornered hat.
[182] Lit., Come to go.
[183] Ese-mese.
[184] Bohoma durata, lit. very far.
[185] Lit., We having gone, will come.
[186] That is, the amount of the seed being first deducted, a certain
share of the produce would be taken by the cultivator--sometimes
one-half or one-third,--the rest going to the owner of the land,
in this case the King.
[187] Gedarawal ganettama. Gane or gana = gahana, multitude; compare
kadawal ganema, vol. i, p. 86, line 17.
[188] Issara weccahama.
[189] Umbalat ekkenek mage ina gawin alla-ganilla (hon. pl.); gawin,
"near," is commonly used for "at" or "by," as in ata gawin allagana,
seizing the hand (vol. i, p. 127, line 23).
[190] A breed of black fowls is considered to have the tenderest
flesh of all; the flesh is very white, but the bones are black on
the surface.
[191] Contraction of Bolan, apparently; a Low-country expression.
[192] These adventures of the corpse remind one of the Hunchback of
the Arabian Nights, but they are Indian episodes.
[193] Issarawela magane; i gawata appane; itat passe lunu
huppane. magane = mage + anaya or ane.
[194] When money stolen from me was buried, the leader of the thieves
removed it during the same night, and buried it at a fresh place in
the jungle.
[195] Lit., having killed, gave.
[196] That is, at the front end of the pole; the other man held the
rear end on his shoulder, and was thus guided by it along the path
which his eyes could not distinguish.
[197] Or nobleman.
[198] Puta saha Maeniyo; in the folk-tales the word meaning "son"
is always spelt thus, with long a.
[199] Pitimma
[200] That is, as a punishment for some fault of theirs they had
killed the wrong person.
[201] Aet maet.
[202] That is, blowing the glowing fire-sticks into flames.
[203] A demon expeller of low caste.
[204] Manuksa duwek: in the reply the first of these words is manussa.
[205] Yodi, an expression often applied jestingly to a child, or a
person who thinks herself strong.
[206] In Sagas from the Far East, p. 22, a Khan's son with a friend
had killed two serpent deities which ate the people, when he went to be
their prey in the place of his father. His friend then suggested that
they should return home, but the Khan's son replied, "Not so, for if
we went back to our own land the people would only mock us, saying,
'The dead return not to the living!' and we should find no place
among them." In vol. i, p. 77, of these Sinhalese tales, a man asks,
"Can anyone in the other world come to this world?" But other Sinhalese
stories show that there is, or was, a belief that people who have died
may sometimes reappear on earth immediately, in their previous form,
and not merely as new-born children, the common idea, as on p. 308,
below. See Nos. 191 and 210. For the text of the sentence see p. 416.
[207] Siti tanaturak.
[208] Evidently a post in which he had the title of Raja, and not
the general government of the whole country. A ruler termed "the
Eastern King" (Pacina Raja) is mentioned in an early inscription
(Dr. Müller's, No. 34A); as no such title is found in the histories,
he may have been a district governor. The hero of this story appears
to have received a somewhat similar post.
[209] The Sinhalese title is, "The Story of the Ship and the Hettiya."
[210] A quarter of a rupee, which in Ceylon was subdivided into one
hundred cents about forty years ago.
[211] Or, "having been in a great astonishment, speedily having gone,"
etc. The text is Mahat pudumayakin inda wahama gos.
[212] In the paintings on the walls or ceilings of Buddhist temples,
many Yakshas are represented as having the heads of animals, such
as bears, dogs, snakes, and parrots, with bodies like those of
human beings.
[213] Lit., "these," hal, rice, being a plural noun.
[214] Sitanan kenek.
[215] Rilawa, the brown monkey, Macacus pileatus. A variant terms it
a Wandura (Semnopithecus).
[216] The title of a superior chief in the Low-country, equivalent
to the Ratemahatmaya of the Kandians.
[217] Baeri-wela tiyenawa.
[218] That is, the spaces in the stick walls were merely closed with
leafy twigs.
[219] Jatiya-jamme.
[220] Talattaeni minissu.
[221] Kasi aettek, wansadipotiyek.
[222] Narakatiyak.
[223] The deity of the planet Saturn.
[224] Daboia russelli.
[225] Laebunu wahama.
[226] There being several thirsts besides that caused by want of
water,--such as thirsts for spirituous liquor, power, knowledge,
happiness, etc.--the villager usually defines the former as
water-thirst, diya or watura-tibbaha.
[227] Tejase daeka.
[228] Paen is-nanayata. It includes the bathing of the whole body.
[229] E giya wahama.
[230] That is, the fire burned into the midst of the heap, where the
sword was placed.
[231] A very respectful form of affirmative.
[232] Maerum kaewoya, ate dying.
[233] It is evident that some kahawanas were golden ones. See also
vol. i, p. 348, and the Appendix, p. 454.
[234] In the MS. the words are gañga-pahalata, 'down the river,'
an evident mistake, as the hair passed down with the current.
[235] The Sinhalese title is, "The Royal Prince and the
Minister-Prince" (aemati-kumaraya).
[236] This means here, "No matter."
[237] Mata ahuwela tiyenne.
[238] Akuru ganan, that is, "Can you keep accounts?"
[239] The third person used honorifically instead of the second.
[240] Bade gayak saedunaya.
[241] Mita palamuwenut.
[242] The Sinhalese title is, "Concerning the Royal Prince and the
Minister-Prince."
[243] Soka + eka, the one of sorrows; he was not aware that the
sorrows were to be his own.
[244] This incident occurs in Folklore of the Santal Parganas
(Rev. Dr. Bodding), p. 261, the young man being a servant who was
playing tricks on a farmer and had burnt his house down.
[245] Anda bera gaesuwaya, beat the proclamation tom-toms.
[246] Ambuñda gahagana.
[247] Ceylon was formerly sometimes termed Tri-Sinhala, because it
was divided into three districts, Pihiti-rata, the northern part,
containing the capital; Malaya-rata, consisting of the mountainous
part; and Ruhunu-rata, the southern part, round the hills. It is
very doubtful if the supreme King ever wore a triple crown that
symbolised his rule over the three districts; on the other hand,
a triple head-covering like the Pope's tiara was certainly known,
and is represented in the frontispiece to Ancient Ceylon.
[248] Tun pas-wissak, lit., three [times] a five [and] twenty.
[249] Compare No. 225.
[250] Welawe ho awelawe ho.
[251] Æt-muhunin bat munu bindinta epaya.
[252] Because he thought the elephant was supernaturally prevented
from killing him.
[253] Apparently from Skt. kal, to impel, hold, fasten. (See p. 340.)
[254] The narrator thought that Rodiyas are Kinnaras.
[255] That is, she said the word with a mental reservation that he
should be unable to act accordingly.
[256] Gini gediyak.
[257] Piyaneni.
[258] Uman-miyo. Compare p. 81, vol. ii.
[259] Para-teratama, completely, from top to bottom.
[260] Lit., ties.
[261] The God of Death.
[262] Compare the similar incident in vol. i, p. 133.
[263] Lit., that was near the Prince.
[264] Lit., "For me [there is] much hunger-weakness."
[265] Moorman, a Muhammadan trader.
[266] Mara, the God of Death, or Death personified.
[267] Compare the Kala spell in No. 245 of this vol., and the notes,
p. 342, vol. ii. and p. 70 in this vol.
[268] Baeri taena, in a position of inability [to do anything].
[269] Bada gala, that is, by clasping his arms round it and rubbing
his body on it, as he "swarmed" up it.
[270] Prayoga parannawanta gaeni.
[271] Mangulak, a word which usually means a [wedding] feast, but is
often used in the villages to signify the bride.
[272] Kasade, literally "marriage," here also used to signify the
bride.
[273] That is, merely because he was inclined to go.
[274] The narrator omitted to make the woman explain the last two
cryptic sayings. The final one, that he was to go mounted on the back
of two dead ones, of course means that he was to wear a pair of shoes
or sandals.
[275] Puseka, also puse later on. Doubtless this is the Tamil pusei
(Skt. puja), one meaning of which is food given as a religious
offering. Puseka is puse + eka, one, used in such instances to express
the definite article, as in koteka, the coat.
[276] Kapiwata in the text. The meaning is uncertain, kapi being a
monkey, a sacred animal at Hindu temples.
[277] Perhaps because she would acquire sanctity through cooking the
consecrated food.
[278] That is, made a vow to present or cook a food offering.
[279] Not given by the narrator.
[280] A jungle bush or small tree on which lac is formed, Croton
lacciferum.
[281] Lit., much flavour having fallen.
[282] This story appeared in The Orientalist, vol. ii, p. 54.
[283] The son's father's brothers are called his fathers in Sinhalese,
the father's sisters being, however, his aunts, not mothers.
[284] Kot vilakku panak.
[285] Lit., "short person."
[286] Buddhist Scriptures, and other religious works.
[287] Bala-aeti mudda, power-possessing ring.
[288] That is, recite the Buddhist Scriptures, apparently with a
view to their parents' recovering their sight as a reward for his
religious zeal.
[289] Magulak aehaewwa.
[290] Hura. To screen herself she blamed him for leaving her alone with
the younger brother, thus suggesting that he had behaved improperly
to her.
[291] Male, mehe waren ko; ko is intensitive, making the order more
imperative, like our "I say."
[292] Kapala hitan.
[293] Budiya-ganin.
[294] Yanda giya.
[295] Waeradeyi, will go wrong.
[296] Onaenne = onae wenne.
[297] Naga-kanyawo.
[298] Aeradi-wuna ahakata; I am not sure of the exact meaning.
[299] Balapuwama.
[300] In these stories I have translated wastu as "goods," this being
in the plural number, and wastuwa as "wealth."
[301] Ambude gahagantawat. Compare p. 297, note.
[302] Up to this point the story is a variant of the tale called
"Sigiris Siñño the Giant," in vol. i, p. 312.
[303] The meaning is, "Can you take my war army and defeat the
enemies?" To express this in Sinhalese the narrator should have said,
"Taking my war army, can you," etc.
[304] Noka nombi.
[305] Numba-wahanse.
[306] Kiri-maw, milk-mother.
[307] Sword, spear, bow, battle-axe, and shield (Clough).
[308] Situ gedaraka.
[309] Lit., leave place to them.
[310] A similar episode occurs in vol. i, p. 163.
[311] Naew-patunak.
[312] Pradha stri.
[313] Otunna-himi-kumarayek, lit., a Crown-Lord-Prince.
[314] Eka maluwakata malu dekayi. The chief ingredients of curries
are all termed malu or malu by villagers, whether meat, fish, or
vegetables. The same word also means "curry."
[315] Gold, according to a variant of the N.W. Province. Some of
these coins were made of gold. See Appendix.
[316] Pottayata hemin.
[317] Seyilamakata.
[318] Saw-saranak, refuge from all things.
[319] Deviyane, honorific title of a King.
[320] Lit., to cut the Hettiya's neck.
[321] Widi lokuda madi lokuda, lit., Is Destiny great or insufficiently
great?
[322] The word in the text is golle, "O party."
[323] Attara pini-diya.
[324] Gettuwa.
[325] Anacara darmme yedi. In the two later instances the second word
is darmmayehi.
[326] Leaving a red mark like blood, owing to the areka-nut he
had chewed.
[327] Bassia longifolia.
[328] A form, kawadda, may indicate the intermediate stage; I think
it occurs only once.
[329] See Gunasekara's Grammar, p. 180.
[330] Thup., quoted in the next paragraph. See vol. iii, p. 169,
line 18.
[331] Although Mr. Gunasekara states (Gram., p. 162, footnote) that
ti is not used colloquially, the word is several times found in these
tales, and I have heard it employed by villagers.
[332] Corrected in MS., from Mini; apparently either word is correct.
[333] This is the intrinsic value compared with our money; the
purchasing value may have been thirty times as high in the stories,
in which a masurama was paid for a day's food of rice and curry,
and a country pony was bought for fifty.
[334] A pound of copper was priced at 9.8d. of our money; the present
wholesale values (July 9, 1914) are--silver, 25 7/8d. per oz. (Troy);
copper, £62 5s. per ton, the ratio being 41.566.
[335] Numismatic Chronicle, 1895, p. 221.
[336] Apparently the same as the hunduwa (Tamil sundu), the colloquial
term.
[337] Eli-bahinda, a word which when thus used is well understood to
refer to a necessary natural function.
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