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                      VILLAGE FOLK-TALES OF CEYLON

                                 Vol. I


                      Collected and Translated by

                               H. PARKER

               Late of the Irrigation Department, Ceylon


                                 LONDON
                               LUZAC & CO
                     Publishers to the India Office
                                  1910








CONTENTS


                                                    PAGE

Introduction                                           1


PART I.

STORIES OF THE CULTIVATING CASTE AND VAEDDAS.

   NO.

     1 The Making of the Great Earth                  47
     2 The Sun, the Moon, and Great Paddy             52
     3 The Story of Senasura                          54
     4 The Glass Princess                             57
     5 The Frog Prince                                67
     6 The Millet Trader                              72
     7 The Turtle Dove                                79
     8 The Prince and the Princess                    93
     9 Tamarind Tikka                                100
    10 Matalange Loku-Appu                           108
    11 The White Turtle                              113
    12 The Black Storks' Girl                        120
    13 The Golden Kaekiri Fruit                      129
    14 The Four Deaf Persons                         134
    15 The Prince and the Yaka                       137
    16 How a Yaka and a Man fought                   146
    17 Concerning a Man and Two Yakas                148
    18 The Three Questions                           150
    19 The Faithless Princess                        157
    20 The Prince who did not go to School           160
    21 Nagul-Munna                                   169
    22 The Kule-baka Flowers                         173
    23 Kurulu-gama Appu, the Soothsayer              179
    24 How a Prince was chased by a Yaksani          186
    25 The Wicked King                               191
    26 The Kitul Seeds                               197
    27 The Speaking Horse                            199
    28 The Female Quail                              201
    29 The Pied Robin                                206
    30 The Jackal and the Hare                       209
    31 The Leopard and the Mouse-deer                213
    32 The Crocodile's Wedding                       216
    33 The Gamarala's Cakes                          219
    34 The Kinnara and the Parrots                   224
    35 How a Jackal settled a Lawsuit                228
    36 The Jackal and the Turtle                     234
    37 The Lion and the Turtle                       241


PART II.

STORIES OF THE LOWER CASTES.

    38 The Monkey and the Weaver-Bird (Potter)       247
    39 The Jackal Devatawa (Washerman)               249

STORIES OF THE TOM-TOM BEATERS.

    The Foolishness of Tom-tom Beaters               252

    40 A Kadambawa Man's Journey to Puttalam         253
    41 The Kadambawa Men and the Hares               255
    42 The Kadambawa Men and the Mouse-deer          256
    43 The Kadambawa Men and the Bush                257
    44 How the Kadambawa Men counted Themselves      258
    45 The Kadambawa Men and the Dream               260
    46 The Four Tom-tom Beaters                      262
    47 The Golden Tree                               264
    48 The Seven Princesses                          270
    49 Mr. Janel Siñña                               278
    50 The Nikini Story                              284
    51 The Aet-kanda Leniya                          291
    52 The Wimali Story                              302
    53 The Pots of Oil                               304
    54 The Mouse Maiden                              308
    55 Sigiris Siñño, the Giant                      312
    56 The Proud Jackal                              316

STORIES OF THE DURAYAS.

    57 The Seven Robbers                             317
    58 The Stupid Boy                                319
    59 The Gamarala and the Washerman                322
    60 The Two Thieves                               330
    61 The Margosa Tree                              334
    62 The Gamarala's Foolish Son                    336
    63 The Jackal's Judgment                         339
    64 The Heron and the Crab                        342
    65 The Jackal and the