Chapter IX: Part I (5)

The monk told him not to have any fear, and said that he would go on the appointed day, and answer the King. When the day came round, the monk dressed himself in the Sangha-raja's robes, and appeared before the King, saying that he was ready to answer the questions.

The King asked him, "How deep is the sea?" He replied, "At first it is knee-deep; as you go on it is waist-deep; further on it is up to the neck; and beyond that it is over the head." The King was satisfied.

He next asked, "How many stars are there?" "Twenty lakshas (two millions)," said the monk. "If you do not believe it, count them." With this answer, also, the King was satisfied.

He then inquired, "Where is the centre of the earth?" The monk took a staff which he had brought with him, and fixed it upright in the ground. "Here is the centre," he said. "Measure each way from it, and you will find the distance the same." The King was satisfied with this answer also.

"Lastly, you must tell me what I am thinking," the King said. The monk replied, "You think I am the Sangha-raja, but I am only one of his monks." So the four questions were all answered satisfactorily.

I heard the following version in Cairo:--

A certain King said to his Chief Minister, "Find me a man who can measure the world and show me the centre of it, and who can count me the number of the stars."

The Minister considered the matter carefully, but could think of no way of complying with the King's orders. At last his wife said, "I can see that something is troubling you. Tell me what it is; perhaps I can assist you." Then he told her the orders of the King, and that he did not know where to look for any one who could do what the King desired. "Go," she said, "to the coffee-dealer's shop. You will find there a man who is always taking hashish. He may be able to help you" [his mental powers being exalted by the drug].

So he went to the coffee-dealer's, and told the hashish-eater his difficulty. "I can soon solve these questions for you," replied the hashish-eater. "Take me to the King."

Thereupon they proceeded to the palace, and the Minister introduced the hashish-eater to the King. He came with a donkey, which was drawing a great load of rope.

"First show me the centre of the world," said the King.

"This place is the centre," said the hashish-eater. "If you doubt it, send your men to drag the other end of this rope up to the sky, and I will prove to you that you are just in the middle."

"Very well," said the King, "that is a satisfactory answer. Now give me the number of the stars."

"Let your people count the hairs on my donkey. You will find that they are exactly equal to the stars in number," said the man. The King admitted that he could not prove that he was answered incorrectly.

The English version is given in the ballad termed "King John and the Abbot of Canterbury," and is found in Bishop Percy's Reliques of Ancient English Poetry (ed. 1844, ii, 328). I give some extracts, etc., for the benefit of readers in Ceylon, because of its resemblance to the second Sinhalese story.

With a view to seizing the Abbot's wealth, the King put three questions to him, the penalty for failing to answer them being beheading. The Abbot received three weeks' grace in which to discover the replies, but the wisest doctors could not assist him:

Away rode the Abbot all sad at that word;
And he rode to Cambridge and Oxenforde;
But never a doctor there was so wise,
That could with his learning an answer devise.

However, as in the Kandian version, the shepherd came to his assistance, and took his place on the appointed day, robed as the Abbot, whose features resembled his, and accompanied by the usual train of servants and monks.

Now welcome, sire abbot, the king he did say,
'Tis well thou'rt come back to keepe thy day;
For and if thou canst answer my questions three,
Thy life and thy living both saved shall bee.

And first, when thou seest me here in this stead,
With my crown of golde so fair on my head,
Among all my liege-men so noble of birthe,
Tell me to one penny what I am worth.

"For thirty pence our Saviour was sold
Amonge the false Jewes, as I have bin told;
And twenty-nine is the worth of thee,
For I thinke, thou are one penny worser than hee."

The king he laughed, and swore by St. Bittel,
I did not think I had been worth so littel!
--Now secondly tell me, without any doubt,
How soone I may ride this whole world about.

"You must rise with the sun, and ride with the same,
Until the next morning he riseth againe;
And then your grace need not make any doubt,
But in twenty-four hours you'll ride it about."

The king he laughed, and swore by St. Jone,
I did not think, it could be gone so soone!
--Now from the third question thou must not shrinke,
But tell me here truly what I do thinke.

"Yea, that shall I do, and make your grace merry:
You thinke I'm the abbot of Canterbury;
But I'm his poor shepheard, as plain you may see,
That am come to beg pardon for him and for mee."

The king he laughed, and swore by the masse,
Ile make thee lord abbot this day in his place!
"Now naye, my liege, be not in such speede,
For alacke I can neither write, ne reade."

Four nobles a weeke, then, I will give thee,
For this merry jest thou hast showne unto mee;
And tell the old abbot when thou comest home,
Thou hast brought him a pardon from good king John.

NO. 19

THE FAITHLESS PRINCESS

In a certain country there is a Prince, it is said. The Prince, saying that women are faithless, does not marry.

The God Sakra having ascertained this, came in the appearance of a man, and asked at the hand of the Prince whether if he created a Princess out of his own very body, and gave her to him, he would be willing to take her in marriage. The Prince said, "It is good."

Afterwards the God Sakra created a Princess from the Prince's body, and gave her to him.

When the Prince and Princess, having got married, had been living together for a very long time, the Princess associated with a Nagaya. [50] When they had been thus for a long time, the Princess and the Nagaya spoke together as to how to kill the Princess's Prince. Then the Nagaya said, "Ask at the hand of the Prince where the Prince's death is. After you have got to know the place where his death is, I will bite [51] him there."

After that, the Princess asked at the hand of the Prince, "Where is your death?" The Prince did not tell her. Every day the Princess was asking it. On a certain day the Prince said, "To-day my death is in my thumb."

Then the Princess told the Nagaya, "He said that his death is in his thumb."

So the Nagaya went [in his snake form, as a cobra], and stopped on the path on which the Prince was going for his bath, in order to bite [51] him.

Afterwards, the Prince's people went first; the Prince went in the middle. Then the people who went first saw the Nagaya, and killed it.

Afterwards, the people and the Prince having returned from bathing, the Prince told at the hand of the Princess, "As we were going to bathe to-day a cobra was on the path; my people killed it." The Princess, clasping her hands with grief, asked, "Where was it?" The Prince told her of the place where the cobra was staying, and she knew that it was the Nagaya.

Afterwards the Princess having given gold to the goldsmith, and having got a waist-chain made, told him to make a case for it. The goldsmith made it, and gave it. Then the Princess went to the place where the cobra was, and cut off its hood; and placing the cobra in the case of the golden waist-chain, the Princess put it round her waist.

Having it there, when they had eaten and drunk in the evening, and lighted the lamp in the house, both of them went into the house.

Then the Princess said to the Prince, "I will ask you a riddle. Should you be unable to explain it, I will kill you. Should you explain it, you shall kill me."

The Prince said "Ha," and both of them swore it.

The Princess saying,

The Naga belt Naga patiya
(Is) the golden waist-chain. Ran hawadiya.
Explain (it), friend. Tora, sakiya.

told the Prince to solve it. For fifteen paeyas (six hours), without extinguishing the lamp, he tried and tried to explain it. He could not. So she was to kill the Prince next day.

A Devatawa (godling) who drank the smoke of the lamp of that house, was there looking on [invisibly] until the lamp was extinguished. After the lamp was put out, having drunk a little smoke, he took a little that was only slightly burnt with him for his wife. The Devatawa and Devatawi lived in an Ironwood tree on the roadside.

This Prince's elder sister, and the man to whom she was given in marriage, having set off to come to the Prince's city, stayed that night at the resting-place under the Ironwood tree.

Then that Devatawa having brought a little of the under-burnt smoke of the lamp, after he had given it to the Devatawi she quarrelled with him until fifteen paeyas (six hours) had gone, saying, "Where have you been?"

The Devatawa said, "Do not quarrel. In such and such a city, such and such a Prince's Princess having associated with a Nagaya, the Prince's people killed the Nagaya. Having cut off the Nagaya's hood, and laid aside her golden waist-chain, putting it round her waist in order to kill the Prince, because of her anger at the killing of the Nagaya, the Princess told a riddle to the Prince. Having sworn that should the Prince be unable to solve it she is to kill the Prince: should he solve it he is to kill the Princess, the Princess said,

The Naga belt
Is the golden waist-chain.
Explain it, friend.

"From the evening, without extinguishing the lamp, he tried to solve it. The Prince could not explain it. After fifteen paeyas had gone by, he put out the light. Up to the very time when he extinguished the lamp, so long I remained there. She said that she will kill the Prince to-morrow."

Hearing it, there stayed below the Ironwood tree the Prince's elder sister, and the man to whom she was given. After having heard it, as it became light, when they were coming along to the Prince's house, they saw from afar that they were going to behead the Prince. The elder sister said from afar, "A! Don't behead him. I will solve that riddle."

Having come near, the Prince's elder sister explained the riddle in the manner stated by the Devatawa. So the Prince was saved, and they beheaded the Princess.

North-western Province.

In Folk-Tales of Kashmir (Knowles), 2nd ed., p. 227, a Fakir split a King, and made a wife for him from half his body, but warned him that she would be unfaithful. She fell in love with one of his wazirs, but they were detected, and she was killed.

NO. 20

THE PRINCE WHO DID NOT GO TO SCHOOL

In a certain country there is a King, it is said, and there are two Princes of the King. The two Princes are sent to school, and as they are going from the palace the two go along together. After they have walked a little way, the younger brother goes along the path to the school, and having arrived at the school, learns his letters and returns home. The elder brother, after playing and playing in the water of the river, puts the school aside, it is said; and having come round that way and joined the younger brother, again comes to the palace with him.

After many days had gone by in that manner, the King one day told the two Princes, "To-day I must look at your lessons."

The younger brother said, "Father-King, I indeed go to the school, and having said my lessons return. Elder brother and I having met here, and set off together, after we have gone part of the way, where elder brother goes I do not know. Having gone somewhere or other, when I have left the school and am returning, elder brother meets me on the road, and we two come again to the palace. I can say my lessons; elder brother indeed cannot."

After that, the King looked into the lessons of the two Princes. When he looked, the younger Prince's lessons were good. When he asked the elder Prince, he knew nothing. So the King settled to behead the elder Prince.

The King had, besides, a Prince older than that Prince. He said to that elder Prince, "Behead this one."

Then the Prince having taken a sword to the chena jungle, and killed a "Blood-sucker" lizard (Calotes sp.), returned after rubbing the blood on the sword, and showed it to the King. "Behold! Father-King, I cut younger brother," he said. Afterwards their mother having cooked a bundle of rice, and given it, and also a sword, to the Prince who was ordered to be beheaded, said, "Go to any place you like."

As the Prince was going away taking the bundle of cooked rice and the sword, he met with a man. The man having uprooted Palmira trees and Coconut trees, was taking them away and tying a fence. Having seen this, the Prince said to that man, "Come thou and go with me."

The man having said "Ha," as the two persons were going along together, another man was cutting the earthen ridges in a rice field. The blade of the man's digging hoe was as large as a liyadda (one of the squares into which the rice field was divided). Having seen that, the Prince said to that man who was cutting the ridge in the field, "Come thou and go with me."

The man having said "Ha," and laid down his digging hoe at that very place, came away with those two persons. As the three were going along together, they saw yet a man ploughing. Having seen that the man ploughed a liyadda at one ploughing (furrow), the Prince said, "Come thou and go with me." The man said "Ha," and laying down his plough at that very place, went with the three persons. The three persons whom the Prince had met with on the way were three giants.

The four persons having gone on and on, went near the house of a Rakshasi at a city. Sitting down there, the Prince said to one of the giants, "There! Go to that house and bring thou cooking pots and fire." So that giant went to the house of the Rakshasi.

As he arrived there, the Rakshasi was pouring water over (i.e. bathing) a child. The giant went near the Rakshasi, and said, "Ane! Give me fire and cooking pots." The Rakshasi told him the way to the house in which she ate human flesh, and said, "There! They are in that house; take them." After that, at the time when the giant was going into the house, the Rakshasi went running and shut the door, so that the giant could not come out.

Those two giants and the Prince remained a long time looking out; the giant did not come. Afterwards the Prince again told a giant to go. The giant having gone, asked the Rakshasi, "Didn't a man come here?"

The Rakshasi said, "He did not come here."

Then the giant said, "If so, give me cooking pots and fire." Then the Rakshasi, in the same manner in which she told that giant, showed him the way to the house in which she ate human flesh. As the giant was going into the house, the Rakshasi, having gone running, shut the door.

That Prince and the third giant having been there a long time, neither of the giants came. Afterwards the Prince told the other giant to go. The giant went, and asked the Rakshasi, "Didn't two men come here?"

The Rakshasi said, "They did not come here."

So the giant said, "If so, give me cooking pots and fire." The Rakshasi, in that very way having told him the path to the house in which she ate human flesh, at the time when the giant was going into it shut the door.

The Prince remained looking out for a long time; the three giants did not come. Afterwards the Prince, taking his sword, came near the Rakshasi, and asked, "Didn't three men come here?"

The Rakshasi said, "They did not come here."

Then the Prince, seizing the Rakshasi's hair knot, prepared to chop at her with the sword. "Give me quickly my three men; if not, I shall chop thy head off," he said.

Then the Rakshasi, saying, "Ane! Do not kill me. At any place where you want it I will assist you," gave him the three men.

After that, the Prince and the three giants having gone away without killing the Rakshasi, the Prince caused the three giants to stay at a city; and having given into their hands a Blue-lotus flower, said, "Should I not be alive, this Blue-lotus flower will fade, and the lime trees at your house will die." So saying, the Prince, taking his sword, went quite alone.

After going a long way he came to a city, and having gone to the house of a Rakshasa, when he looked, the Rakshasa had gone for human flesh as food and only a girl was there. The Prince asked the girl for a resting-place.

The girl said, "Ane! What have you come here for? A Rakshasa lives at this house. The Rakshasa having eaten the men of this city they are now finished."

The Prince said, "I will kill him. Are there dried coconuts and meneri [52] here?" The girl said there were. The Prince told her to bring them, and the girl brought them.

Then the Prince asked, "How does he come to eat men?"

The girl said, "Having come twelve miles--(three gawwas)--away, he cries, 'Hu'; having come eight miles away, he cries, 'Hu'; and having come four miles away, he cries, 'Hu'; and then he comes to this house."

After that, the Prince having spread out, from the stile at the fence, the meneri seed and the dried coconuts, over the whole of the open ground near the front of the house, went to sleep in the veranda, placing the sword near him, and laying his head on the waist pocket of the girl.

Then the Rakshasa, when twelve miles away, cried, "Hu." Tears fell from the girl's eyes, and dropped on the Prince's head. The Prince arose, and said to the girl, "What are you weeping for?"

Then the Rakshasa cried, "Hu," eight miles away. The girl said, "There! The Rakshasa cried, 'Hu,' eight miles away." Continuing to say, "He will cry, 'Hu,' the next time, and then come here," the girl wept.

The Prince, having told the girl not to weep, took the sword in his hand, and while he was there the Rakshasa, crying "Hu," came into the open space near the house.

Then the Prince chopped at the Rakshasa with his sword, and the Rakshasa went backward. Thereupon the Prince said, "Will not even the Rakshasi whom I set free that day without killing her, render assistance in this?"

The Rakshasi came immediately, and struck a thorn into the crown of the Rakshasa's head, and at that very instant the Rakshasa died. After that, the Prince buried the body, and marrying the girl remained there.

When he had been there a long time, a widow-mother came and said to the Prince and the girl, "Children, I will come and live with you, as you are alone." Both of them said "Ha," so the woman stayed there.

After she had lived there a long time, the woman said to the girl, "Daughter, ask in what place is the life of the Prince."

Afterwards the girl said to the Prince, "Mother is asking where your life is."

The Prince said, "My life is in my neck."

The girl told the woman, "I asked him; he said his life is in his neck."

The woman said, "It is not in the neck. He is speaking falsely. Ask again." So the girl asked again.

The Prince said, "My life is in my breast."

The girl told the woman, "He said it is in his breast."

The woman said, "It is not in the breast. Tell him to speak the truth."

Afterwards she said again to the Prince, "Mother says it is not in your breast. She said that you are to speak the truth."

Then the Prince said, "My life is in my sword."

So the girl told the widow-mother, "He said it is in his sword."

When a long time had gone by, one day the Prince, laying down the sword, went to sleep. After the Prince had gone to sleep, the widow woman and that girl having quietly taken the sword, put it in the fire on the hearth. Then as the sword burnt and burnt away the Prince died.

After that, the widow woman took the girl, and gave her to the King, and the woman also stayed at the palace.

Then the Blue-lotus flower which the Prince gave to those three giants on going away, faded, and the lime trees died. When the giants saw this they said, "Ade! Our elder brother will have died," and having spoken together, the three giants came to seek the Prince.

Having come there, and asked the men of the city at which the Prince stayed, regarding him, they went to the house in which he lived, and searched for him. As they were digging in a heap of rubbish, they found that a little bit of the end of the sword was there, and they took it. Afterwards the giants placed it on a bed, and after they had tended it carefully, the sword little by little became larger. When the sword became completely restored, the Prince was created afresh.

Afterwards, when the Prince looked to see if the girl whom he had taken in marriage was there, neither the girl nor the widow-mother was there. Then the Prince went with the three giants to the King's palace, and on looking there they learnt that the girl was married to the King, and that the widow woman also was there. So the Prince said to the widow woman, "Quickly give me the Princess whom I married."

The woman said, "Ane! The Princess whom I knew is not here. She did not come with me."

Then the Prince cut off the woman's head with his sword, and having gone to the King, asked, "Where is my Princess? You must give her to me."

The King said, "No Princess will be here."

Thereupon the Prince cut off the King's head with his sword; and he and the three giants having cut down all the servants who were in the palace, summoning the Princess, remained in that very palace.

North-western Province.

The giving a plant or flower as a life index, which fades when illness or danger besets the giver, and dies at his death, is a very common incident in folk-tales.

In Wide-Awake Stories (Steel and Temple), p. 52--Tales of the Punjab (Steel), p. 47--it was a barley plant.

In Folk-Tales of Bengal (Day), p. 189, a Prince planted a tree as his life index, and said, "When you see the tree green and fresh then you know that it is well with me; when you see the tree fade in some parts, then you know that I am in an ill case; and when you see the whole tree fade, then know that I am dead and gone."

In Tota Kahani (Small), p. 43, when a man was about to leave his wife, she gave him a nosegay of flowers which would retain their freshness if she were faithful to him, and fade if she misconducted herself.

In The Indian Antiquary, vol. xvii, p. 54, a plant was given to each of two persons, as a Prince's life index. He said, "If this plant should fade, know that I am sick or in danger; if it should die know that I also am dead."

The notion that a person's life may be concealed in some external object, usually a bird or a bee, is one of the commonest features of folk-tales.

In the story numbered 24 in this volume, the King's life was in a golden parrot.

In Wide-Awake Stories, p. 59--Tales of the Punjab, p. 52--a Jinni's life was in a bee, which was in a golden cage inside the crop (?) of a Maina [bird].

At pp. 62, 63, Tales of the Punjab, p. 55, a Prince's life was in his sword. When this was placed in the fire he felt a burning fever, and when it was made red-hot and a rivet came out of the hilt, his head came off. Afterwards, when the sword was repaired and repolished, the Prince was restored to life.

At p. 83, Tales of the Punjab, p. 75, the life of a Princess was in a nine-lakh necklace, which was in a box inside a bee that lived in the body of a fish. When asked about it, she first said that her life was in each of the seven sons of the wicked Queen who wanted to kill her, all of whom were murdered by the Queen.

In Folk-Tales of Kashmir (Knowles), 2nd ed., p. 49, the lives of Rakshasas were in seven cocks, a spinning-wheel, a pigeon, and a starling.

At p. 134, the life of one was in a veranda pillar at his house; when it was broken he died.

At p. 383, the life of one was in a queen-bee in a honey-comb hanging on a tree.

In Folk-Tales of Bengal (Day), pp. 2 and 6, the life of a Prince was in a golden necklace deposited in a wooden box which was in the heart of a fish.

At pp. 85 and 86, the lives of seven hundred Rakshasas were in two bees which were on the top of a crystal pillar, deep in the water of a tank. If a drop of their blood fell on the ground, a thousand Rakshasas would start up from it.

At p. 121, the life of a Rakshasi was in a bird that was in a cage. As its limbs were torn off, a corresponding limb dropped off the Rakshasi who had been made the Queen.

At p. 253, the lives of two Rakshasas (m. and f.) were in two bees that were in a wooden box at the bottom of a tank. If a person who killed them allowed a drop of their blood to fall on the ground, he would be torn into seven hundred pieces by the Rakshasas.

In The Indian Antiquary, vol. i, p. 86, in a Dardu legend (G. W. Leitner), the life of a King of Gilgit was in snow, and he could only die by fire.

At p. 117, in a Bengal story (G. H. Damant), the lives of Rakshasas were in two bees in a gourd which was inside a crystal pillar at the bottom of a tank. If one drop of the bees' blood fell on the ground, the Rakshasas would be twice as numerous as before. The bees were killed by being squeezed to death.

At p. 171, in a Bengal story (G. H. Damant), the lives of Rakshasas were in a lemon, and a bird. When the lemon was cut in Bengal, the Rakshasas in Ceylon died. As the bird's wings were broken, the Rakshasi Queen's arms were broken; when the bird died, she died.

In vol. xvi, p. 191, the life of a giant was in a parrot; when it was killed he died.

In vol. xvii, p. 51, a Prince's life was in a sword; if it rusted he was sick, and if it broke he died.

In Folk-Tales of Hindustan, Allahabad (Shaik Chilli), p. 51, the life of a Prince was in the brightness of his sword. When it was placed in a furnace and lost the brightness, he died. A giant who was his friend found it, and discovering that a little brightness remained at the tip, rubbed it until it regained its lustre, on which the Prince revived.

At p. 114, the lives of Rakshasas were in a number of birds; they died when these were killed.

In a tale of the interior of W. Africa in Contes Soudanais (C. Monteil), p. 154, the life of a King was in a little box inside a small goat-skin, which was in a little pot placed inside a large pot. When the King was told this he died.

Doubtless this strange notion of a life safeguarded by being hidden away, is of early date, and may be due originally to the early magical idea prevalent in Egypt, Assyria, and India, that a person might be killed from any distance by piercing the heart of a figurine formed to represent him. This action is mentioned in the Commentary on the Atharva Veda (Bloomfield's translation, p. 359); and in the Rigveda, i, 29, 7 (Griffith's translation), prayer is made to Indra for the destruction of "him who in secret injures us."

In the Jataka story No. 208 (vol. ii, p. 111), a monkey escaped from a crocodile that was going to kill it in order to get its heart, by telling it that monkeys kept their hearts hanging on trees.

In the Maha Bharata, Vana Parva, 135, 52, a Rishi caused buffaloes to shatter a mountain, and thereby killed a child whose life was dependent on its existence, if not supposed to be actually in it.

The recovery of the three giants from the house of the Rakshasi is evidently based on the story of Wijaya, the first King of Ceylon, and Kuweni, a female Yakkha or aboriginal Princess, who, taking the form of a devotee, had captured his followers one by one, and imprisoned them.

The story is given in the Mahavansa, chapter vii, as follows:--"All these persons not returning, Wijaya becoming alarmed, equipping himself with the five weapons of war, proceeded after them; and examining the delightful pond [to which they had gone to bathe], he could perceive footsteps leading down only into the tank; and he there saw the devotee. It occurred to him: 'My retinue must surely have been seized by her.' 'Woman, hast thou seen my attendants?' said he. 'Prince,' she replied, 'what need hast thou of attendants? Do drink and bathe ere thou departest.' Saying to himself, 'Even my lineage, this Yakkhini is acquainted with it,' proclaiming his title, and quickly seizing his bow, he rushed at her. Securing the Yakkhini by the throat with a 'naracana' ring, with his left hand seizing her by the hair, and raising his sword with his right hand, he exclaimed, 'Slave! restore me my followers, or I will put thee to death.' The Yakkhini, terrified, implored that her life might be spared. 'Lord! spare my life; on thee I will confer this sovereignty; unto thee I will render the favours of my sex, and every other service according to thy desire.' In order that she might not prove herself treacherous, he made the Yakkhini take an oath. While he was in the act of saying, 'Instantly produce my followers,' she brought them forth" (Mahavansa, i, p. 32).

The idea of the thorn which was driven into the head of the Rakshasa, is borrowed from magical practice. In the case of a figurine made for the destruction or injury of a person, pins or nails or thorns were run into various parts of the body, one being inserted in the crown of the head. In a variant of the story numbered 73 in this work, a female Yaka was kept in subjection by means of an iron nail that was driven into the crown of the head.

In Indian Fairy Tales (Stokes), p. 12, a pin was fixed in the head of a woman who had been transformed into a bird. When it was drawn out she resumed her human form.

In The Illustrated Guide to the South Indian Railway, 1900, p. 232, it is stated regarding the great stone Bull, 12 feet high, at the Tanjore temple, that "it was popularly supposed by the natives that this bull was growing, and as they feared it might become too large for the mandapam [stone canopy] erected over it a nail was driven into the back of its head, and since this was done the size of the monolith has remained stationary."

NO. 21

NAGUL-MUNNA

In a village there were two persons called Nagul-Munna and Mun-aeta Guruwa. While those two were living there they spoke together, "Friend, while we two are remaining in this way matters are not going on properly." At the time when they spoke thus, Mun-aeta Guruwa replied to Nagul-Munna's talk, and said, "It is good, friend. If that be so let us two cut a chena."

Having spoken thus, the two persons went to the chena jungle, and there being no watch-hut there, built one; and taking supplies week by week, began to chop down the bushes while they were living at the house in the jungle. Having chopped down the jungle, and burnt it, and sown the chena, the millet plants grew to a very large size.

When the two persons were at the watch-hut they remained talking one night for a long time, and said, "To-morrow we must go to the village to bring back supplies." After talking thus, they went to sleep, both of them.

During the time while they were sleeping, Mun-aeta Guruwa's clothes caught fire. Then Nagul-Munna awoke, and jumped down to the ground, and ran away. Mun-aeta Guruwa was burnt in the shed and died. On account of his being killed, through fear of being charged with causing his death, Nagul-Munna bounded off into the jungle, and did not return to the village.

That day the relatives of those people who were in the village, thinking, "Nagul-Munna and Mun-aeta Guruwa will be coming to fetch supplies," getting ready the supplies, stayed looking for them. On that day the two persons did not come; because they did not come two men went from the village to look for them.

The two having gone and looked, and seen that the watch-hut had been burnt, spoke together concerning it: "Both these men have been burnt and died. Let us go back to the village." So they returned.

Nagul-Munna, who sprang into the jungle that night, having come home during the night of the following day, spoke to his wife, who was in the house. The woman, thinking that he had died, was frightened at his speech, and cried out, "Nagul-Munna has been born as a Yaka, and having come here is doing something to me." At that cry the men of the village came running; when they looked he was not there, having run off through fear of being seized.

In that manner he came on two days. The woman, being afraid, did not open the door. On the third day he arose, and hid himself at the tank near the village. While he was there, a tom-tom beater having gone to a devil-dance, [53] came bringing a bit of cooked rice, and a box containing his mask and decorations. [54]

As he was coming along bringing them, this Nagul-Munna having seen him, went and beat the tom-tom beater, and taking the bit of cooked rice and the box of devil-dancer's things, bounded into the jungle. Having sprung into the jungle, and eaten the bit of rice, he unfastened the box of devil-dancer's goods, and taking the things in it, dressed himself in them, putting the jingling bracelets [55] on his arms and the jingling anklets [56] on his legs.

There was a large mask in it. Taking it, and tying it on his face, he went to the village when it became night, and having gone to a house there, broke the neck of a calf that was tied near it, and sprang into the rice-field near by. Having made a noise by shaking the jingling bracelets, and given three cries, "Hu, Hu, Hu," he shouted, "If you do not give a leaf-cup of rice and a young coconut at dawn, and at night a leaf-cup of rice and a young coconut, I will kill all the cattle and men that are in your village, and having drunk their blood, go away."

The men of the village becoming afraid on account of it, began to give rice every day in the way he said. Having given it for about four or five years in this manner, the men spoke together, "Let us fetch a sooth-sayer to seize that Yaka." After having said concerning it, "It is good," they fetched a doctor (Veda).

When the doctor went to the tank to catch that Yaka, Nagul-Munna came, and seizing that doctor, cut his bathing cloth, and having taken him to the place where he was staying, killed him, and trampled on his bathing cloth. Through the seizing and killing of the doctor, the men of the village became afraid to a still greater degree.

After that, having talked about bringing another sooth-sayer they fetched one. In the same manner, when he went to the tank the Yaka killed the sooth-sayer. At that deed the men of the village became more afraid still.

Having fetched a Sannyasi (a Hindu religious mendicant) from Jaffna, they went to him, and told him to seize the Yaka. That man said, "It is good"; and having gone to the aforesaid tank to look for him, the Yaka was in a tree. So the sooth-sayer repeated incantations to cause the Yaka to descend. The Yaka did not descend.

After that, because he did not descend, that person got to know that he was a man, and on his calling "Hu," to the men of the village the men came. Afterwards, seizing Nagul-Munna, who was in the tree, they went to the village.

Because Mun-aeta Guruwa had died, the relatives of Mun-aeta Guruwa came for their [legal] action against him.

Saying that he had cheated them, and eaten food wrongly obtained from them, the men of the village came for their action.

Because he had stolen the rice and the box with tom-tom beater's things in it, the tom-tom beater came for his action.

Saying that he killed the first sooth-sayer, his people came for their action.

The second sooth-sayer's people also in the same way came for their action.

For his killing the calf the owner came for his action.

After all who had brought these actions had came to one spot, the man, saying, "Because my wife told me to cut the chena together with Mun-aeta Guruwa, and through my cutting the chena with him, this happened," killed his own wife.

Then, while he was going for his trial a bear bit that man on the way, and he died.

North-western Province.

In The Orientalist, vol. iii, p. 31, there is a nearly similar story of a tom-tom beater who was supposed to be burnt in his watch hut. In reality, it was a beggar who was burnt. The man being afraid of being charged with murdering him, got hid in the jungle. He came to his house at night, but was supposed to be the Mala upan Yaka, "the evil spirit born from the dead," and was refused admittance by his wife, who gave an alarm. As men were coming on hearing it, he ran off. On another night when he came, his wife assailed him with a volley of invectives, as demon-scarers; so carrying off his dancing paraphernalia, he again retired, and afterwards robbed travellers, and frightened the people till they threatened to leave the district. The King offered a handsome reward for his apprehension, but he tied up a Kattadiya or devil priest who came to exorcise him. In the end he was captured by a Buddhist monk, taken before the King, and after relating his adventures, appears to have been allowed to go unpunished.

In the Jataka story No. 257 (vol. ii, p. 209), there is an account of four actions brought against one man on the same day. It is a folk-tale in Ceylon also.

NO. 22

THE KULE-BAKA FLOWERS

In a certain country a King was ruling; the King was without children. The King having performed many meritorious deeds, five children were born.

When they looked into the Naekata (or prognostics resulting from the positions of the planets) at the time when the children were born, those of four were good, but that of the fifth child was that on seeing him his father's two eyes would become blind. The King told them to take the Prince and put him down in the forest. So having taken the Prince they put him in the forest.

After that, animals having come through the favour of the Prince's guardian deity, gave him milk, and reared him.

After much time had passed, the Prince's father, the King, went to have the jungle driven (for shooting); and having gone, while they were driving the jungle that Prince came, and bounded round the King's enclosure. Then, the King having seen him his eyes became blind, and he went away without his eyes seeing anything. The people who went with the King, lifting him up, carried him to the palace.

Having arrived there, various medical treatments were applied; he was not cured. After that, he caused sooth-sayers to be brought, and after he had asked them regarding it, they said, "By applying medical treatment you will not meet with a cure. In the midst of the Forest of the Gods there is a flower called Kule-baka. Having brought that flower, and burnt it on your eyes, your eyes will see."

Afterwards the King asked the people, "Who is able to bring this flower?" All the people said they could not do it. Then the four eldest Princes of the King, having said, "Let us go," asked permission of the King; the King told them to go. So the four persons having started, went.

As they were going, the four persons went to a city. A courtesan stayed in that city; her name was Diribari-Laka. [57] She gambled (i.e. kept a gambling house). These four persons went to her house, and having gone there prepared to gamble. Then the woman said, "Should you lose by this game, I shall make you four persons prisoners (that is, slaves)." The four persons having said, "It is good," gambled, and all four having lost remained there as prisoners.

The Prince who was in the forest, having got to know all these matters, also set off to seek the flower, and on his way arrived at the city at which the Princes who were made prisoners were staying. This one, having gone to the King of the city, was appointed to do messenger's work there. While he was living thus, this one obtained news that the courtesan was gambling, and thereupon this Prince asked the King for leave of absence. Having obtained it, he went to the house of an old woman near the courtesan's house.

Having gone there, this Prince having fallen down near the feet of that old woman and made obeisance, weeping and weeping, these words are what he said, "Mother, are you in the enjoyment of health? Do not you let your face be even visible (to) scrofulous offspring. When lightning has struck you (may it) take your progeny." [58] Having spoken and spoken with these honours he remained weeping. The woman's child, not of small age, was there, and having said similar things to the child also, and while weeping having paid respect, the woman made that Prince rise, and asked him, "Where were you for such a long period?"

"I was with a King," the Prince said. "Mother, whose is that house?" he asked.

The woman said, "Why, son? Do not say anything about it. That house is the house of a courtesan. There is a gambling game of that woman's, and by it many persons, having lost, remain as prisoners."

The Prince asked, "Mother, how does one win by that game?"

Then the woman said, "A bent lamp having been lighted, is placed at the gambling place. Below the lamp a cat is sitting. While the woman is gambling the cat raises its head; then victory falls to the woman. When another person is playing the cat lowers its head; then defeat falls to that man. If you are to win, having extinguished the bent lamp, and driven away the cat, and brought and placed there another lamp, if you should then play you can win."

After that, the Prince went to gamble. Having gone there, when he was ready to gamble she said, "Should you lose in gambling, you will be condemned to imprisonment; should you win you marry me."

The Prince said, "It is good," and gambled. When he was losing, he extinguished the lamp, and having beaten and driven away the cat, he told the woman to bring another lamp. After that, the woman brought a lamp. Having brought and placed the lamp there, they gambled. The woman having lost all, the Prince won. Afterwards, that woman married this Prince.

During the time while he was living there, as this Prince was starting to go and bring the Kule-baka flower, the woman said, "Don't go."

The Prince said, "I did not come for this gambling; I came for the Kule-baka flower. I must indeed go, after having set off for this purpose," he said. So the Prince went to bring the flower. Before this, he had allowed the imprisoned men to go, and said to the four Princes, "Stop until I return."

Having thus gone, he entered into the midst of a forest. While he was there, human-flesh-eating serpents and forest animals that were in the midst of the forest sprang to devour this Prince, but he made supplication to his deity, so they were unable to do it, and went away.

Then the Yaka who was guarding the Kule-baka garden, having seen the Prince, and having arisen and come near the Prince, asked, "Have you, a man born in the world of men, come into my presence to be a prey to me?"

The Prince said, "My father the King for a fault said he must behead me. On account of it, having made my way into the midst of the forest, I have come to you for you to eat indeed. If you are going to eat me, eat me; if you are going to keep me, keep me alive."

After that, the Yaka asked, "What do you eat?"

The Prince said, "We eat wheat flour, ghi, sugar, and camels' flesh. [59] These indeed we eat."

All these requisites having been brought by the Yaka, after he had given them to the Prince, the Prince made the food, and gave to the Yaka also.

The Yaka having eaten the food, sprang up into the air, and said to the Prince, "I never ate a meal like this. I will do anything you tell me."

Then the Prince said to the Yaka, "Where is the path to go to the Kule-baka garden?"

The Yaka sprang up into the air, and fell on the ground, and beating his head, said, "If you had said so before this, by this time I should have eaten you. What can I do now that I have promised to help you?" Having said, "Go away from here," he told him about the path.

Then the Prince went along it. There, also, a Yaksani [60] (female Yaka) was guarding it, and the Prince came to her. The Yaksani asked the Prince, "Where are you going?"

The Prince said, "Having delayed in the midst of a forest, as I was returning I was unable to find the country with my village. Now I have met with you here."

As he appeared good to the Yaksani she caused him to stay there, and married her daughter to him. The name of the girl to whom the Prince was married was Maha-Muda. [61]

During the time while he was there the Prince remained angry.

The girl asked, "What are you angry for?"

The Prince said, "I must go to look at the Kule-baka garden."

Then the girl spoke about this matter to her mother. So that woman having fetched rats, caused a tunnel to be made by them to the Kule-baka garden. Along that tunnel the Prince went to the flower garden, and having gone there, and plucked the flowers, came back again.

Having returned there, calling Maha-Muda he came to the house of Diribari-Laka. Having arrived there, he burnt on the lower part of the back the four Princes who had remained as prisoners. The Prince who went for the Kule-baka flowers having burnt in this way the four Princes, who stayed as slaves at the house of Diribari-Laka, these four persons were freed from imprisonment.

Then the Prince, Maha-Muda, and Diribari-Laka, taking the flowers, came to the Prince's native country. Having arrived there, he burnt the Kule-baka flowers on the two eyes of his father the King, and the two eyes of the King became well.

After that, the King having asked the Prince regarding these matters, learnt that he was the King's Prince, [and he and his two wives continued to live there with him].

North-western Province.

In Wide-Awake Stories (Steel and Temple), p. 276 ff.--Tales of the Punjab, p. 263, 264--a rat assisted King Sarkap in games at Chaupur (the Pachis game), until it was frightened by a kitten that Prince Rasalu had rescued from a potter's kiln.

At p. 250 of the former work it was predicted that if his father saw the Prince during the twelve years after his birth, he (the father) would die.

In Indian Nights' Entertainment, Panjab (Swynnerton), p. 319, a rat which had been saved from drowning assisted a girl to defeat a Princess at Chaupur, by attracting the attention of a cat that moved the pieces for the Princess. The cat was struck by the girl while trying to seize the rat which she held; when it ran off she won.

In Folk-Tales of Kashmir (Knowles), 2nd ed., p. 149, the cat belonging to a female gambler, at a sign from her mistress, extinguished the lamp whenever the game was going against her.

In Folk-Tales of Bengal (Day), p. 277, a Princess, in order to get back her husband, started a gambling establishment at which they gambled with dice, the stake being one hundred thousand rupees, together with the imprisonment of the loser at her house. Her ruse was successful. A rich merchant's son, the Prefect's son, the Minister's son, and the Prince, all came in turn and lost.

NO. 23

KURULU-GAMA APPU, THE SOOTH-SAYER

In a certain city a man was stricken by a scarcity of food to eat, and he went to another country. Having gone there, during the time while he was residing in a village, the village men asked, "What sooth can you tell?" [62] He said, "I can tell one sooth; to do that sooth I want Jak-tree gum, Coconut oil, and Euphorbia milk" (the milky sap which exudes from cuts or bruises in the bark). Thereupon the men having collected those things that he mentioned, gave them to him.

Then he went and warmed these things [making bird-lime] and placed [limed] twigs, and catching birds and coming with them, he gave them daily, two by two at each house, and thus ate. The man's name was Appu; his village was Kurulu-gama (Birds' village).

While he was continuing to eat in this manner, the men of that village started to go to Puttalam, carrying produce for sale. That man also said, "I also must go." Then the men of the village asked, "You have nothing; what will you take?" Thereupon this one tying up a pingo load of chaff and coconut husks, goes with the men.

Then the men who were going on that journey, having come down to the high road, set off to go. While they were going, the men having said [in fun] "Vedarala" (Doctor) to that man, he kept the name.