Village Folk-Tales of Ceylon, Volume 2 (of 3)

Chapter XVI: Part 16

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When he said it the King caused the notification tom-toms to be beaten, and told all the Vaeddas of that country to come. Then all the Vaeddas came. After they came the King said, "On such and such a mountain a Peacock lodges. Catching the Peacock come back."

Then the Vaeddas having gone tried to catch it; the Vaeddas were unable to catch it, so the Vaeddas told the King, "We cannot catch it." Then the King having become angry with the Vaeddas said, "Without staying in my country go ye to another country." So the Vaeddas went away.

Out of them one Vaedda stopped and said to the King, "O Lord, Your Majesty, I will go quite alone and come back [after] catching it."

Then having said, "It is good," the King asked, "To catch the Peacock what are the things you want?"

The Vaedda said, "I want, for five days, food-expenses and a pair of noose-posts." So the King gave them.

Then the Vaedda, taking the articles also, went near the mountain. Having gone there, he stayed for three or four days to get to know the time when the Peacock comes and goes for food; he learnt the times when the Peacock comes and goes. [After] learning them having fixed the pair of noose-posts in the morning before it became light, he made the peahen [which he had caught and brought with him] call in the very same manner as at first. Then the Peacock came and perched on the pair of noose-posts [and was caught]. Thereupon the Vaedda, taking the Peacock, came near the King. The King took the Peacock, and gave the Vaedda many presents and distinctions. Having given them he kept the Peacock.

When it had been there in that way a considerable time, a King of another country, taking his army also, came to seize that city. At the time when he came, this King having prepared to go to the war and having come carrying the Peacock, said, "Should I win in this war I will free thee; if not, I will kill thee."

Then the Peacock said, "Taking my feather, and placing it on your head, and tying it there, should you go you will win." So the King having gone in that manner conquered in that war.

Having conquered he came to the palace, and having come near the Peacock, he says, "By thy power, indeed, I conquered in this war." Having said, "Because of it, half the kingdom is for thee, the other half for me," dividing the kingdom he remained there.

North-western Province.

In The Jataka, No. 159 (vol. ii, p. 23), and also No. 491 (vol. iv, p. 210), there is a story of a Golden Peacock. "The egg which contained him had a shell as yellow as a kanikara bud; and when he broke the shell, he became a Golden Peacock, fair and lovely, with beautiful red lines under his wings." We learn that "when day dawned, as he sat upon the hill [at Dandaka], watching the sun rise, he composed a Brahma spell to preserve himself safe in his own feeding-ground." It was as follows:--

There he rises, king all-seeing,
Making all things bright with his golden light.
Thee I worship, glorious being,
Making all things bright with thy golden light.
Keep me safe, I pray
Through the coming day. [343]

During the reign of six Kings it could not be captured on account of the spell, but at last a hunter with the assistance of a tame peahen owing to whose presence the bird forgot to utter the spell, succeeded in catching it in a spring net. [344] The Peacock proved to the satisfaction of the King that he had been a devout monarch himself in a former life, keeping the five Precepts, and after being rewarded with an existence in the heaven of Sakra had been re-born on earth as a Golden Peacock. After this he was allowed to return to "the golden hill of Dandaka." The bird admitted that "all who eat of me become immortal and have eternal youth." In the second story the Peacock was released by the hunter, whom he converted to Buddhism.

In all the earlier part of this Jataka tale there is no trace of Buddhism; the Peacock was a sun worshipper, pure and simple. It is evident that the latter part has been tacked on to it in order to give it a Buddhist complexion.

It is possible, therefore, that the Sinhalese form of the tale preserves an early version which the composer of the Jataka story modified to suit his purpose. See my note in vol. i, p. 240, on the story of the Jackal and the Turtle.

NO. 171

THE STORY OF THE BRAHMANA'S KITTEN

In a certain country a Brahmana reared a kitten, it is said. He said that he reared the kitten in order to give it [in marriage] to the greatest person of all in this world.

After the kitten became big he took it to give to the Sun, the Divine King. [345] Having taken it there he gave it to the Sun, the Divine King.

The Sun, the Divine King, asked, "What is the reason why you brought this kitten?"

Then the Brahmana said, "Rearing this kitten since the day when it was little, [346] I have brought it to give to the greatest person of all in this world."

Then the Sun, the Divine King, said, "Although I fall as sun-heat (awwa) like fire, into the world, there is a greater person than I. Mr. Rain-cloud [347] having come, when he has spread his car for himself I am unable to do anything. The gentleman is greater than I. Because of it, having taken it give it to the gentleman."

After that, the Brahmana having taken the kitten gave it to the Rain-cloud.

Then the Rain-cloud asked, "What is the reason why you brought this kitten?"

Then the Brahmana said, "I reared this kitten since the day when it was little, to give it [in marriage] to the Sun, the Divine King. When I brought and gave it to the Sun, the Divine King, he said, 'There is a greater person than I. Give it to Mr. Rain-cloud.' Because of it, I brought this kitten to give it to you to marry."

Then the Rain-cloud says, "I, the Rain-cloud, having come, what of my car's spreading out and remaining! The Wind-cloud having come, and smashed and torn me into bits, throws me down. He is greater than I. Because of it give it to him."

After that, the Brahmana having taken the kitten gave it to the Wind-cloud. Then the Wind-cloud asked, "What did you bring this kitten for?"

Then the Brahmana said, "I reared this kitten since the day when it was little, to give it [in marriage] to [His Majesty of] the Sun race. The Sun, the Divine King, told me to give it to the Rain-cloud. The Rain-cloud told me to give it to the Wind-cloud. Because of it, I brought it to give it to you to marry."

Then the Wind-cloud says, "I, the Wind-cloud, having gone, what of my going throwing down the Rain-cloud and smashing the trees! I am unable to do anything to the Ground [348] Ant-hill. However much wind blows, the Ant-hill does not even shake. Because of it he is greater than I. Take it and give it to him."

After that, the Brahmana having taken the kitten gave it to the Ground Ant-hill. Then the Ground Ant-hill asked, "What have you brought this kitten for?"

Then the Brahmana says, "I reared this kitten to give it [in marriage] to His Majesty the Sun. When I brought it near the Sun, the Divine King, he told me to give it to the Rain-cloud. The Rain-cloud told me to give it to the Wind-cloud. The Wind-cloud said, 'There is a greater than I, the Ground Ant-hill. Give it to him.' Because of it I brought it to give it to you."

Then the Ground Ant-hill said, "The Sun, the Divine King, can do nothing to me, the Rain-cloud can do nothing to me, the Wind-cloud can do nothing to me, but there is a greater person than I, the Bull (gon-madaya). He having come and gored me, smashes me and throws me down. Because of that give it to the Bull."

After that, the Brahmana having taken the kitten gave it to the Bull. Then the Bull asked, "What did you bring this kitten for?"

The Brahmana says, "To give this kitten [in marriage] to His Majesty the Sun, I reared it since the day when it was little. When I brought it there, the Sun, the Divine King, told me to give it to the Rain-cloud. When I brought it near the Rain-cloud he told me to give it to the Wind-cloud. When I brought it there he told me to give it to the Ground Ant-hill. When I brought it there he said, 'The Bull is greater than I; give it to him.' Because of it I brought it to give it to you."

Then the Bull says, "There is a greater person than I, the Leopard. It is true that I trample on the Ant-hill, and gore it and throw it down; but the Leopard chases me, and tears me, and eats my flesh, therefore he is greater than I. Because of it give it to him."

After that, the Brahmana having taken the kitten gave it to the Leopard. Then the Leopard asked, "What did you bring this kitten for?"

The Brahmana says, "This kitten reared I to give [in marriage] to His Majesty the Sun. Well then, having walked from there in this and this manner, the Bull told me to give it to you. On account of that I brought it to give it to you."

Then the Leopard says, "The Cat is greater than I; my Preceptor is the Cat. He taught me to climb up trees, but I have not yet learnt how to descend. [349] Because of it give it to the Cat."

After that, the Brahmana having taken the kitten gave it to the Cat. Then the Cat asked, "What did you bring this kitten for?"

The Brahmana says, "For you I did not rear this kitten. Having reared it to give [it in marriage] to the most powerful person of all in the world, I took it to give to the Sun, the Divine King. Then he told me to give it to the Rain-cloud. When I took it near him he told me to give it to the Wind-cloud. When I took it near him he told me to give it to the Ground Ant-hill. When I took it near him he said, 'There is a greater person than I, the Bull.' When I took it near him he told me to give it to the Leopard. When I took it near him the Leopard said, 'Because the Cat is my Preceptor give it to the Cat.' Therefore I brought this kitten to give it to you."

After that, the Cat having said, "It is good," marrying the kitten it remained there.

North-western Province.

In the Literary Supplement to The Examiner of Ceylon for 1875, it was stated that the cheetah (leopard) applied to the cat to teach him the art of climbing, but the cat forgot to show him how to descend. From that time the cheetah never spares the cat if he can catch him, but out of veneration for his old teacher he places the body on some elevation and worships it [that is, makes obeisance to it], instead of eating it. (Quoted by Mr. J. P. Lewis in The Orientalist, vol. ii, p. 149).

In the short tales at the end of The Adventures of Raja Rasalu, (Panjab, Swynnerton), p. 179, the tiger was taught by the cat. When he thought he had learnt everything the cat knew, the tiger sprang at it, intending to eat it; but the cat climbed up a tree, and the tiger was unable to follow it. The story is repeated in Indian Nights' Entertainment, p. 350.

In the Katha Sarit Sagara (Tawney), vol. ii, p. 56, an ambitious Candala girl who determined to marry a universal monarch saw the supreme King bow down to a hermit. She followed the latter, but when he prostrated himself at a temple of Siva she attached herself to that God. A dog behaved in such a manner at the shrine that she followed the dog, which entered a Candala's house and rolled at the feet of a young Candala; the girl therefore was married to him.

In the same work, vol. ii, p. 72, a hermit transformed a young mouse into a girl, and reared her. When she had grown up he offered her to the Sun, saying he wished to marry her to some mighty one. He was referred in turn to the Cloud and the Mountains, but the Himalaya said that the Mice were stronger than he and dug holes in him. She was then transformed into a mouse once more, and married a forest mouse. This latter form of the tale is given in The Fables of Pilpay, in which it was the girl who wished to be married to a powerful and invincible husband.

In Folklore of the Santal Parganas (collected by Rev. Dr. Bodding), p. 168, the parents of a beautiful girl of a semi-aboriginal caste determined to marry her to the greatest person in the world. They took her in turn to the Sun, the Cloud, the Wind, the Mountain, and the Ground Rat. When they applied to the rat it informed them that their own people were more powerful than the rats, as they dug out and ate them; so in the end the girl was married to a man of their own caste.

NO. 172

THE STORY OF THE MANGO BIRD

In a certain country a hen bird is eating the mangoes at a Wild Mango tree, it is said.

While a man was chopping the earthen ridges in the field at which is the Wild Mango tree, having seen the Mango Bird [350] the man went up the tree, and having caught the Mango Bird and descended from the tree to the ground, struck the Mango Bird on the root of the tree. Having struck it he asked the Mango Bird, "Mango Bird, was that day good [or] is to-day good?" [351]

Then the bird says,

"Both that day was good and to-day is good
Through eating the mangoes of a Mango tree,
And looking if hardness in Mango root there be."

After that, the man having placed the Mango Bird in a gap in the earthen ridge in the rice field, in which there was water, asks the bird, "Mango Bird, was that day good, [or] is to-day good?"

Then the bird says,

"Both that day was good and to-day is good
Through eating the mangoes of a Mango tree,
Looking if hardness in Mango root there be,
And 'mid the lower lands the frolic watery."

After that, as the man was coming home taking the bird, there was a grass field by the path. Having struck the bird [on the ground] in the field, the man asked, "Mango Bird, was that day good, [or] is to-day good?"

Then the bird says,

After that, the man having taken the bird, as he was going home struck the bird on the road stile, and asked, "Mango Bird, was that day good, [or] is to-day good?"

Then the bird says,

After that, the man having taken the bird, as he was going to go (sic) into the house struck it on the door-frame, and asked the bird, "Mango Bird, was that day good, [or] is to-day good?"

Then the bird says,

After that, the man, having [broken the ligature round the end of a torch, and] lighted the torch, and set the bird upon [the flame, to singe off the feathers], asked, "Mango Bird, was that day good, [or] is to-day good?"

Then the bird says,

"Both that day was good and to-day is good
Through eating the mangoes of a Mango tree,
Looking if hardness in Mango root there be,
'Mid the lower lands the frolic watery,
Keeping up old customs on the grassy lea,
Finding that the road stile would be crossed by me,
Learning the defects of the door-frame's carpentry,
Fracture of the tying of the torch by thee."

After that, the man cut up the bird with the bill-hook, and says, "Mango Bird, was that day good, [or] is to-day good?"

Then the bird says,

"Both that day was good and to-day is good
Through eating the mangoes of a Mango tree,
Looking if hardness in Mango root there be,
'Mid the lower lands the frolic watery,
Keeping up old customs on the grassy lea,
Finding that the road stile would be crossed by me.
Learning the defects of the door-frame's carpentry,
Fracture of the tying of the torch by thee,
Looking the smith's bill-hook's cutting to see."

After that, the man put the bird in the cooking vessel, and having placed it on the hearth [to cook], asked, "Mango Bird, was that day good, [or] is to-day good?"

Then the bird says,

After that, this man, having apportioned the cooked rice on the plate, and having apportioned the flesh of the bird, while he was eating [it] asked, "Mango Bird, was that day good, [or] is to-day good?"

Then the bird says,

Sir, behold! Be good enough to remain looking out."

Having said [this], the Mango Bird flew out of the man's nose. The man died just as the bird was flying away.

North-western Province.

The Sinhalese query and rhyme are:--

Ætamba kirilliye, edada honda adada honda?
"Edat hondayi, adat hondayi,
Ætamba gahaka aetamba kaen,
Ætamba mule hayiya baelin,
Owiti maenda paen keliyen,
Pitiye sameyan keruwen,
Man-kadulle yana eññan deggatten,
Uluwasse wadu-hadukan iganagatin,
Hulu-atte baemma kaedin,
Aciriye kaette kaepun baeluwen,
Badahaelaye walande indun baeluwen.
Ralahami, On! Bala-inda hondayi."

There is a variant in the Sierra Leone district, given in Cunnie Rabbit, Mr. Spider, and the Other Beef (Cronise and Ward), p. 160. A devil who lived near a town had forbidden traps to be set in the "bush" [forest and bushes] there. A stranger set a trap, and caught a pigeon. The pigeon then told him to carry it to his house. When he had done this, it told him to kill it; then to pluck off its feathers; then to clean it; to put the pot on the fire; to cut it up; to cook it immediately; to put in salt; to put in pepper; to taste the food; and lastly it told him to eat it up. He complied with all the instructions. In the evening he went to the "bush" again. When he opened his mouth to speak, the bird flew out, the man died, and his body was carried off by the devil.

In a Soninka story of Senegambia in Contes Soudanais (C. Monteil), p. 145, there are incidents of the same type. A hunter met with a female gazelle, which recommended him to look for a larger animal. He fired at it, but it did not fall. Then he killed it with a charmed bullet, saying, "Eh! Who is the stronger?" The animal replied, "Oh, oh! It is not finished!" It made the same remark when he cut its throat, when he skinned it, and also when he carried it home and learnt that his wife and son had died of colic. The man said no more words, but cut it up and placed it in a pot on the fire, on which it repeated the words. After cooking it for some hours he found the meat as hard as at first, and it murmured, "It is not finished." Neighbours seeing him cooking all day inquired what was in the pot. A voice came from it, "An antelope that won't be cooked. It is not finished." At last the man threw a magical powder into the pot, and the meat then became cooked, and he ate it without any ill result.

NO. 173

HOW THE PARROT EXPLAINED THE LAW-SUIT

In a certain country there is a King, it is said. For the King there is not a Queen. Near the royal palace there is a widow woman; the King is associating with that widow woman. The King gives the woman at the rate of five hundred masuran a day.

While they were living in that way, another man thought of conversing much with that woman. Having thought it, one day the man having come near the woman, says, "Ane! Every day in a dream I am conversing much with you regarding the doubt in my mind."

Then the woman said, "If so, seeking five hundred masuran come and converse much with me."

After that, the man, seeking five hundred masuran, came on the following day. Having come there he gave the five hundred masuran into the hand of the woman. After that, the woman, taking the masuran and having placed them in the house, says to the man, "Ha; now then, should we converse much in the dream it is so much, should we converse in reality it is so much (that is, they are equal). Now then, our talk is finished; go you away." Having said it she neither gave the masuran nor conversed much with the man; she drove the man away.

After she drove him away the man instituted a law-suit before the King who associates with the woman. After he instituted it, when hearing the action the King, because he is associating with the woman, declared judgment for the woman to win, and the man's [claim] came to be rejected. While the Parrot which had been reared in the palace was [there], this man's [claim] comes to be rejected.

On account of it, the Parrot having gone there said to the King, "How was the way the woman won that law-suit? Is it not as though one saw a reflection below the water, what one says in a dream?" Having said [this], the Parrot explained the law-suit, and the five hundred masuran became the property of the man.

Owing to it, the woman, through enmity against the Parrot, catching the Parrot and having given the Parrot into the hand of her girl (daughter), said, "Pluck this Parrot and cook it, and place it [for me to eat] when I come." Having said [this] the woman again went to the palace.

The girl, having plucked the Parrot and finished it and placed the Parrot there, went into the house for the bill-hook in order to cut up the Parrot. At the place where the Parrot was put there was a covered drain. The Parrot having gone rolling and rolling over fell into that drain. When that girl, taking the bill-hook to cut up the Parrot, came there, the Parrot was not [there]. After that, the girl through fear of that woman having killed a chicken which was there, cooked it, and placed [it ready].

That woman having come and said, "Where is it? Quickly give me the Parrot's flesh," asked for it. Then that girl brought the fowl's flesh and gave it.

Well then, that woman while eating the fowl's flesh, says, "Is it the Parrot's flesh! This I am eating is indeed the mouth that cleared up the law-suit! This I am eating is indeed the Parrot which said that he ought to give the masuran to that man!" Saying and saying it, she ate all the flesh of the chicken. When she was saying these things that Parrot stayed at the end of the drain; keeping them in his mind he remained silent.

When cooking at the house, having washed the cooking pots they throw down the water at the end of the drain in which is the Parrot. Having squeezed coconut [in water, to make coconut milk], they also throw the coconut refuse there. When the Parrot, continuing to eat these things, was there a considerable time the Parrot's feathers came [again].

The woman thoroughly performed meritorious acts. The woman, having told a carpenter, causing a statue of Buddha to be made and placing the statue in the house, makes flower offerings evening and morning to it.

After that, the Parrot having gone near a Barbet, said, "Ane! Friend, you must render an assistance to me."

The Barbet asked, "What is the other assistance?"

Then the Parrot said, "In the house of such and such a woman there is a statue of Buddha made of wood. You go and prepare a house (chamber) in it of the kind that I may be inside it. When I have gone inside it block it up."

Afterwards the Barbet having said "Ha" and come with the Parrot, the Barbet dug out a house in the statue of the size that the Parrot can be in it. At the time when the Parrot crept into it, having blocked it up from the outer side so that they were unable to know the place where it was dug, the Barbet went away.

After that, when the Parrot was there a considerable time, that woman every day in the morning and evening having come near the statue, and said stanzas, and made flower offerings, goes away. The Parrot every day remains listening.

One day the woman having come and said stanzas, when she was making the flower offerings the Parrot being inside the statue said, "Now then, indeed! You are near going to the God-world. Still you have been unable to do one [really] meritorious act. Just as you are doing that meritorious act they will take you to the God-world while you are alive."

Then the woman thought, "After the speaking of the statue, I am indeed near going to the God-world." Thinking it, she asked, "What is that meritorious act?"

Then the Parrot said, "Having taken only this statue of Buddha half a mile (haetaekma) away and placed it there, and put all the other things in this house, and locked the house up, and sat outside, and set fire to this house, that indeed is the meritorious act."

After that, the woman having taken the statue of Buddha and placed it half a mile away, and come back, and put all the other things into the house, and shut the door of the house, and locked it, the woman, sitting outside, set fire to the house. While the house is burning the woman is looking on, having said, "To take me to the God-world they will come at this very instant, they will come at this very instant."

Then the Parrot, having been inside the statue of Buddha, came out, and having come flying says to this woman, "Haven't you gone yet to the God-world? There! Look! It is indeed in the God-world that that fire is blazing. Thou atest my mouth? For thy eating the mouth of the Parrot which explained the law-suit, this is what the Parrot did. There!"

Having said [this] the Parrot flew away and went to the flock of Parrots.

North-western Province.

In Old Deccan Days (M. Frere), p. 118, a woodcutter dreamt that he married a dancing-girl and gave her a thousand gold muhrs. A dancing-girl who heard him say this determined to try to get the money from him, so she claimed him as her husband, demanded it from him, and took the matter before the Raja. Her friends having supported her statements the Raja could not decide the case, but a merchant's clever parrot (Vikrama Maharaja in disguise) gave judgment in favour of the woodcutter. When the girl afterwards obtained the parrot as a reward for her dancing, she ordered her maid to cook it. While the servant went for water after plucking it, the parrot got into the drain for kitchen refuse, the servant substituted a chicken for it, and the dancing-girl ate this, jeering meanwhile at the parrot. After its feathers grew again, it flew off and perched behind the statue of the deity in a temple. When the girl prayed to be transported to heaven, the parrot replied, "Your prayer is heard," and told her to sell everything, give away the money, break down her house, and return in seven days. She obeyed, and was accompanied by a crowd when she returned. Then the parrot flew over her head, told her it was a chicken she ate, and jeered at her. She fell down, dashed her head on a stone, and died.

In Folk-Tales of the Telugus (G. R. Subramiah Pantulu), p. 17, a courtesan demanded one hundred pagodas from a Brahmana who had seen her in a dream. He appealed to the King, who promised to give her payment. He caused the money to be hung from the top of a post, and told her to take it out of a mirror placed beneath.

In the Tota Kahani (Small), p. 14, a merchant who had left his parrot in charge of his house heard on his return from a journey that his wife had misconducted herself. Thinking the parrot had informed him she plucked out its feathers and threw it out, pretending the cat had run off with it. The parrot lived in a tomb at a cemetery on fragments of food left by travellers. When the merchant drove his wife away she went to the cemetery, and heard a voice--the parrot's--from a tomb telling her she should be reconciled to her husband after shaving her head and fasting for forty days. She did this; the parrot then told its master the wife's story was true regarding its being eaten by a cat, and that God had sent it to reconcile the husband and wife. The husband then brought her home again.

In A. von Schiefner's Tibetan Tales (Ralston), p. 163, when a merchant who had made a bet of five horses that a courtesan could not induce him to visit her, stated that he had been with her in a dream, she claimed the horses. The King was unable to give a decision, but the Minister's wife settled the matter by allowing her to see the reflection of the horses at the edge of a sheet of water.

In the same work, p. 172, after the King of Videha had married the daughter of the King of Pañcala, the latter induced his daughter to send him a clever parrot that was assisting the former King against him. He plucked it bare, threw it out of the window, a falcon caught it, and being promised daily food placed it in a temple, where it got hid and ordered offerings to be made daily by the King, who thought this was the deity's voice. When its feathers had grown, it induced the King, Queen, Prince, and Ministers to come with shaven heads to receive forgiveness of their sins, and then it flew aloft jeering at them.

NO. 174

THE PARROT AND THE CROW

A crow beginning to roost at the house at which a Parrot roosts, when much time had gone, as those two were talking together the Crow asked the Parrot, "Friend, what do you eat?"

Then the Parrot said, "I eat fruits possessing a good flavour."

Having said, "If so, I also must eat the [same] kinds of fruits," the Crow went with the Parrot to the midst of the forest. When it was eating fruits for many days, as the Crow was unaccustomed to that food, not having eaten the food [before], it arrived at great privation.

Thereafter, at the time when the Parrot asked at its hand [regarding it], the Crow says, "This food, indeed, not being customary for me, from somewhere or other having found flesh you must give me it. If not, I shall now eat the flesh of your body," it said.

The Parrot said, "If so, stay there a little until I have sought for flesh and returned," and went to seek flesh. Having gone, and walked and walked, being unable to find and take a little flesh from anywhere, it came to the royal house, and when it looked a piece of meat had been hung up in the cooking house.

Having seen it, the Parrot went near the Crow and said, "Friend, there was not flesh anywhere, only inside the [cooking] house at the royal house a piece of meat has been hung. I will go on the wall and cut the string of the piece of meat. When I cut it you, taking it, fly away."

The Parrot having gone, cut the string that was tied to the piece of meat. When it was falling on the ground, the Crow, taking the piece of meat, flew away. Having gone it ate it with pleasure.

That day the cooking man, being without meat to cook for the King, went to the King and said, "There is no meat to cook for you, Sir, to-day. In this manner a Crow took it away." Thereupon he told him to seek the Crow and shoot it.

Thereupon this Crow having said, "This Parrot is better than I for walking and seeking food," frightened it, and said that it was better for seeking and bringing meat; and it employed the Parrot, and making it seek meat began to eat [in that way].

Then this Parrot for the purpose of causing this Crow to be killed having settled upon the roof of the house of the man whom [the King] told to shoot and kill that Crow, spoke to him.

The man saying, "A Parrot that speaks well!" went to catch it. The Parrot having stayed looking, without going away, until the time when it is caught, said at the hand of the man, "Should you come with me, I will show and give you the Crow which ate that King's meat."

Having said "It is good," the man went on the ground. The Parrot having gone [through the air] above, remained talking and talking with the Crow. Thereupon the man shot the Crow; the Parrot flew off and went away.

The King asked, "How did you shoot to-day the Crow that you were unable to shoot for so many days?"

The man said, "A Parrot settled on the roof of my house. Having remained there while I went to catch the Parrot, the Parrot said to me, 'I will show you the place where the Crow is.' Afterwards, having gone with the Parrot I shot the Crow."

Thereupon the King, in order to ask the Parrot about these matters, told him to seek the Parrot, and come back. He was unable to find the Parrot.

Central Province.

NO. 175

THE CROW AND THE DARTER

In a country, at the time when a Crow is walking about and seeking food, having seen a Darter [352] eating small fishes, [353] and gone near the Darter, he said, "Friend, because there is no food for me assist me."

Thereupon the Darter having said, "It is good; I will give you food," and having constructed the nest on the high ground at the side of the tank at which the Darter stays, and told the Crow to be in the nest, the Darter brought small fishes, and gave [them to him] near the nest.

When he was [there] a long time eating the fishes, the Crow, having thought of going to his country in which he stayed [before], said to the Darter, "Friend, I must go to my village," he said.

The Darter says, "Why are you going?" When he asked, "Can't you remain and eat the small fishes I give?" to say otherwise, because there was not a fault of the Darter's the Crow says, "Friend, because there is one fault at your hand I must go," he said.

[As an excuse] for the Crow to go, because there was no fault he says to the Darter, "Friend, every day at the time when you go to seek fish, drawing up your anus to me you go to the bottom of the water. Because it is so I cannot endure it."

"If so, go you away," the Darter said.

North-western Province.

The latter part of the story reminds one of the rude-mannered peacock of the Jataka story No. 32, and also of one which lost its election as King of the birds owing to its indecent behaviour. Cinq Cents Contes et Apologues (Chavannes) vol. ii, p. 332.

NO. 176

CONCERNING THE CROWS AND THE OWLS

In a rock cave Crows and Owls made their dwelling. At night (rae dawasata) the eyes of the Owls see; the Crows' do not see. Night after night having fallen, when the Crows and Owls had eaten, [the Owls] seized and seized the Crows, and began to pluck off the feathers [and eat them]. By that act the Crows began to be destroyed.

Thereafter the Crows spoke together: "Should we [continue to] make our dwelling with this party we shall all be destroyed. Because of it let us go to another country."

Out of that set one Crow said, "You must make me stay [in order] to come [after] having killed the Owls. You all go." He said further, "Having plucked off my feathers [until I am] like a pine-apple fruit, go ye." Afterwards those Crows having seized that Crow and plucked off his feathers [until he was] like a pine-apple fruit, went away.

The Owls having come, when they looked there was not a single Crow. They asked that Crow, "What is it, friend, that has happened to you?"

Then the Crow says, "Ane! Friend, they said to me also, 'Let us go.' Because I said, 'I will not,' they seized me and plucked off my feathers, and the whole of them went away."

Afterwards the Owls said, "Friend, can you show us the country in which the Crows are?"

Then the Crow says, "If you will assist me a little I can show you it. Until the time when my feathers come you must bring and give me food."

The Owls, having said, "It is good," nourished the Crow until the time when its feathers came. It having said, "Ane! Friend, as it becomes evening a chill strikes me. At the time when you are coming you must bring and give me a very little firewood to warm me on account of the cold," the Owls one by one brought and gave the firewood. It heaped up on both sides of the doorway all this firewood that they are bringing.

At the time when all the Owls were inside the rock cave, after they were there, the Crow, having heaped all that firewood in the doorway, stealing a fire-stick and having come [with it], set fire to the firewood at the doors. All the Owls having been burnt, became ashes. The Crow went to the party of Crows.

North-western Province.

In Le Pantcha-Tantra of the Abbé Dubois, the owls lived in a cave, the crows in a great tree some distance away. The Chief of the owls intended to cause himself to be elected King of the Birds. The crows foresaw the dangers to which this would expose them, and one of their Ministers offered to endeavour to save them, and going as a humble suppliant became an intimate friend of the owls. He afterwards went to the crows, returned with them at noon, each carrying firewood, blocked up the entrance to the cave while the owls were asleep, and then set fire to the wood and suffocated them.

In the Katha Sarit Sagara (Tawney), vol. ii, p. 64, the crows lived in a great banyan tree; at night the owls killed many on account of their preventing the owl-King's election as King of the Birds. By his own advice the feathers of a crow-Minister were plucked out, and he was left under the tree. When the owls found him he told them that this was his punishment for recommending the crows to conciliate the owls; he was taken to their cave and fed well until his feathers grew afresh. He then offered to bring the crows back to their tree where the owls could kill them, and at his recommendation the crows blocked the entrance to their cave with grass and leaves. The crow then fetched all the crows, each one carrying a stick and he himself a firebrand, the grass and sticks were set on fire, and all the owls were destroyed.

In Les Avadanas (Julien), No. V, vol. i, p. 31, the story is similar. It is also given in a contracted form in Cinq Cents Contes et Apologues (Chavannes), vol. iii, p. 144.

NO. 177

THE FEMALE LARK

In a certain country a female Lark [354] having laid two eggs on the path on which they go and come at a rock, remained sitting on the two with affection.

One day, when a tusk elephant was going along the path the elephant placed its foot on the two eggs; so the two eggs were broken to pieces.

Owing to it the female Lark became at enmity with the tusk elephant, thinking that she must kill it; and one day having gone near the Frog the bird said, "Friend, laying two eggs on the path on which all go and come at such and such a rock, I remained sitting on the two with affection. [Although] so many persons went by there, nothing happened to those two eggs. One day the tusk elephant having come, trampled on my two eggs, and having broken them to pieces went away. On account of it, of what assistance will you be to me?"

Then the Frog says, "Ane! Friend, I will be of any assistance you tell me."

After that, the female Lark, having said, "It is good," and having gone from there, went near the Crow. Having gone there, she says to the Crow, "Ane! Friend, having laid two eggs on the path on which all go and come at such and such a rock, I remained sitting on the two with affection. [Although] so many persons went along the path, nothing happened to my two eggs. One day the tusk elephant having come, trampled on the two eggs, and having broken them to pieces went away. On account of it, of what assistance will you be to me?"

Then the Crow says, "Ane! Friend, I will be of any assistance you tell me."

After that, the female Lark said, "It is good."

At that time, there not being water in the water-holes there was much drought. One day the tusk elephant, being without water, is walking about seeking it.

The bird having seen it,--in the garden where the tusk elephant was walking there was a very deep pool like a tunnel,--the bird having gone near the Frog, said, "Friend, to-day the tusk elephant being without water is walking about seeking it. In the garden in which the tusk elephant is walking there is a pool like a tunnel. You go to the pool and cry out. Then the tusk elephant having said, 'There is water indeed,' will come there."

After that, the Frog came and cried out in the pool. Then the tusk elephant thought, "At the place where that Frog is crying out there will indeed be water." Thinking "At places where there is nothing Frogs do not cry out," it went there. When it was listening and looking, the tusk elephant fell into that pool which was like a tunnel. Well then, the tusk elephant cannot come ashore from there.

The Frog, having come ashore, says to the female Lark, "Look there. Friend, I was of another assistance [to you]. Now then, you look [after it yourself]." Having said it the Frog went to a tank.

After that, the female Lark having gone near the Crow, says to the Crow, "Ane! Friend, that tusk elephant which broke into bits my two eggs has fallen into the pool in such and such a garden. You go and pluck out its eyes, and pierce and pierce its face in two or three places with your bill, and come back."

After that, the Crow having come, plucked out the tusk elephant's two eyes and ate them; and having pierced and pierced the face in two or three places with its bill, came ashore, and said to the female Lark, "Look there. Friend, I was of another assistance [to you]. Now then, you look [after it yourself]." Having said it the Crow went away.

After that, the female Lark having gone near the Bee says to the Bee, "Friend, the Frog was of assistance to me, the Crow also was of assistance to me; only you have not yet been. The tusk elephant that broke to pieces my two eggs has fallen into the pool at such and such a garden, and his eyes have been plucked out. You go and beat [and sting] his head."

After that, the Bee having come and beaten the tusk elephant's head, the tusk elephant died in that very pool. Afterwards the Bee also went away.

On account of it, they still say in the form of verse:--

Being a handful merely, the Bush Lark Hen
Got a tusker killed. Was it right, O Hen? [355]

North-western Province.

According to a variant from Uva, the nest of the bird, containing its two young ones, fell on the path on which the elephants passed. The bird begged them to be careful, and not to tread on them, but the king of the elephants deliberately trampled on the young birds. With the help of the crow, the blue-fly, and the frog, the elephant was killed, and the bird then strutted about on its dead body.

With regard to the elephant's falling into the pool and being unable to get out, the very thing occurred during a severe drought in the North-western Province in 1877. At a small pool in the upper part of a low rock in the forest, a few miles from Maha-Uswaewa, my station at that time, a female elephant and her young one fell into the water, and were unable to escape because of the steep smooth sides. When I heard of it I sent an overseer with some men, to feed them and release them by throwing in a quantity of branches. This succeeded better than we anticipated; by mounting on the heap of branches they managed to escape during the night, so that we did not capture them as we intended. When the narrator of the folk-story described the pool as being "like a tunnel," he doubtless meant a vertical tunnel or shaft, having steep sides up which the elephant could not ascend.

In The Jataka, No. 357 (vol. iii, p. 115), this folk-tale is given, with an evident addition at the beginning, so as to adapt it for service as illustrating the goodness of the Bodhisatta, and the wickedness of Devadatta, his rival. The Bodhisatta, as the leader of a vast herd of elephants, sheltered a quail's young ones under his body until his herd had passed. Then came a "rogue" elephant (Devadatta) and wilfully trampled on them. The quail got a crow, a blue-fly, and a frog to mislead and destroy the animal. The crow pecked its eyes out, the fly laid its eggs in the sockets, and the frog induced the blinded animal to fall over a precipice below which it croaked. This story being illustrated in the carvings at Bharahat must be of earlier date than 250 B.C.

In Le Pantcha-Tantra of the Abbé Dubois, a South Indian version, the same story is given, the bird being a kind of large lark, according to the Abbé's note. When the bird's eggs were broken, the jackal summoned a crow, a gadfly, and a frog, and went with them in search of the elephant. The crow pecked its eyes, the gadfly entered one of its ears, the frog sprang into an adjoining well and croaked as loudly as possible. The elephant, rushing in search of water in which it might escape from its tormentors, jumped or fell into the well.

In the Tota Kahani (Small), p. 204, a pair of birds--"Sugar-eaters"--made a nest in a tree against which an elephant rubbed its back, the shaking thus caused making the eggs fall out of the nest. One of the birds, determined to be revenged, consulted a bird which had a long bill, a bee, and a frog, and obtained their assistance. The bee intoxicated the elephant by its "ravishing hum," the bird pecked out its eyes, and the frog enticed it to a deep pit into which it fell.

NOTES

[1] The Sinhalese title is, "The Jackal and the Basket-mender,"--at least this is what I take to be the meaning of Kulupotta, a word I do not know, deriving potta from the Tamil pottu, to mend; compare Kuluyara, a basket-maker.

[2] A large monkey of two species (Semnopithecus).

[3] Deriving Sen from sema. Kandy appears to have been founded at the beginning of the fourteenth century (Ancient Ceylon, p. 354, note).

[4] The title of a Gamarala's wife.

[5] In Sinhalese this expression includes the toe-nails, the toes being termed "fingers of the foot."

[6] This query is addressed to the King himself, it being more respectful to use the third person than the second. In the story numbered 106 a Princess addresses a Prince in the third person, and there are several other examples. Compare the first couplet of the conversation of the King and goose in the Jataka story No. 502 (vol. iv, p. 266). In the Arabian Nights (Lady Burton's ed., vol. iv, p. 121) a Wazir employs the third person while speaking to his sovereign.

[7] In the next story, and in the Story of Madana Kama Raja (Natesa Sastri), p. 246, are given a Prince's question regarding sesame, and a smart village girl's reply.

[8] Lit. "Your age is insufficient." This is a not unusual form of village repartee.

[9] Tindu kalakanni modaya.

[10] Manikka-ratne, the jewel of a Cakravarti sovereign or universal monarch. It casts a light for a distance of four miles (Clough).

[11] Kaemati dawasaka, on any day you like.

[12] So, also, in the Maha Bharata, it was an old woman who, when others were unable to do it, undertook to bring to Lomapada, King of Anga, the horned son of an ascetic whose presence was declared to be indispensable for causing rains to fall. She effected it by the aid of her pretty daughter, who decoyed him.

[13] Dandu monara yantrayak.

[14] Ahomat-wela.

[15] Kalasan = kalya + a + san.

[16] Rae-wenda, rae-wenda.

[17] Upaharana.

[18] According to the text, nawala, bathed, probably intended for namala.

[19] The text of this story is given at the end of vol. iii.

[20] The gawuwa is usually four miles, but in this instance it is evidently the fourth part of a yojana of about eight miles; the boys would still have a walk of sixteen miles each day.

[21] Giya taena.

[22] Tisse de wele, lit., the thirty of both times--that is, the thirty paeyas into which each day or each night is divided, the paeya being twenty-four minutes.

[23] In Cinq Cents Contes et Apologues (Chavannes), vol. ii, p. 350, the bird was a pheasant, and the fire avoided a space eight feet in radius around the bird.

[24] The room or "house" in the midst of seven, occurs in vol. i, p. 83.

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Village Folk-Tales of Ceylon, Volume 2 (of 3)Chapter XVI: Part 16

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