Story 194 - The Story of Ayiwanda

IN a certain city there are an elder brother and a younger sister, two persons, it is said. Of them, the elder brother is a very rich person; the younger sister has nothing (mokut nae). The younger sister is a widow woman; there is one boy. The boy himself lodges at his uncle’s watch-huts and the like; the youngster’s name is Ayiwanda.

The uncle having scraped a little rice from the bottom of the cooking-pot, and given him it, says,

“Ade ! Ayiwanda, be off to the watch-hut [at the cattle-fold].”

The youngster came to the watch-hut.

The uncle having gone and looked, [saw that] one or two calves were dead in the cattle-fold. Then the uncle having come home scolds Ayiwanda,

“Ayiwanda, at the time when thou wert going to the watch-hut thou drankest a little milk, and there being no milk for the calves they are dying.”

Afterwards Ayiwanda having gone that day to the watch-hut, and having said that he must catch the thieves, without sleeping stayed awake until the time when it became dawn.

Then Gopalu Devatawa, having opened the entrance (kadulla), came into the cattle-fold. Having come there and placed on the path his cord and club,^[1] he began to drink milk. Afterwards Ayiwanda, having descended from the watch-hut, very quietly got both the cord and the club. Taking them he went again to the watch-hut.

Well then, Gopalu Devatawa having drunk milk and the like, when he looked for both the cord and the club in order to go, they were not [there]. Afterwards, Gopalu Devatawa having gone near the watch-hut asked for the cord and club. Ayiwanda taking the two descended from the watch-hut to the ground.

Then Gopalu Devatawa asked for the rope and cudgel; both, at the hand of Ayiwanda. Then Ayiwanda said,

“I have heard scoldings for so much time, that as I drank the milk the calves are dying. To-day I stayed awake and caught the thief. Except that if you will give me an authority on that account I will give you the rope and cudgel, I will not otherwise give them.”

Then Gopalu Devatawa said to Ayiwanda,

“Think in your mind, ‘If there be an authority which Gopalu Devatawa gave, may that hill and this hill, both, become united into one.’”

Afterwards Ayiwanda thought in that way. Then the two hills became united into one.

Then Gopalu Devatawa said to Ayiwanda,

“Think in your mind, ‘If there be an authority which Gopalu Devatawa gave, these hills are again to become separated.’”

Afterwards Ayiwanda thought in that manner. The two hills again became separated.

Gopalu Devatawa said to Ayiwanda,

“Think in your mind, ‘If there be an authority which Gopalu Devatawa gave, that tree and this tree are both to become one.’”

Afterwards Ayiwanda thought in that manner. The two trees became united into one.

Gopalu Devatawa said again to Ayiwanda,

“Think in your mind, ‘If there be an authority which Gopalu Devatawa gave, the two trees are again to become separate.’”

Ayiwanda thought in that manner. Then the two trees became separate.

Now then, Gopalu Devatawa said,

“The authority that Gopalu Devatawa gave [you] is true.”

Having said that, and told him that having gone he was to keep it in mind, he assured him of the fact (sdtta dunna). After that, to Gopalu Devatawa Ayiwanda gave both the cord and the cudgel. Well then, Gopalu Devatawa taking them went away.

Ayiwanda having been [there] until the time when it became light, came home and said at the hand of Ayiwanda’s mother,

“Mother, ask for uncle’s girl and come back.”

Then Ayiwanda’s mother says,

“Ane ! Son, who will give [marriage] feasts to us ? [We have] not a house to be in; we are in the hollow of a Tamarind. I will not. You go and ask, and come back,”

she said.

Afterwards Ayiwanda went and asked. Then Ayiwanda’s uncle said,

“Who will give girls to thee ?”

Having said,

“Be off !”^[2]

he scolded him. After that, Ayiwanda having come back is silent.

Having come from an outside village, [people] asked for Ayiwanda’s uncle’s girl [in marriage]. Then he promised to give her there. He appointed it to be on such and such a day. The men went away.

Then Ayiwanda’s uncle gave betel to shooters who were in the neighbourhood, [so that they should shoot animals for the wedding-feast], Ayiwanda thought in his mind,

“Let those shooters not meet with anything, if there he an authority which Gopalu Devatawa gave.”

Afterwards the shooters walked about at the time when they are saying that the [wedding] feast is to-morrow. They did not meet with even a thing.

After that, Ayiwanda went to his uncle’s house. When he said that the [wedding] feast would be to-morrow, to-day in the evening he asked,

“Uncle, give me that bow and arrow.”

Thereupon his uncle said,

“Ansca !^[3] Bola, because there is no hunting-meat have you come to rebuke me ? So many shooters were unable [to do it], and [yet] you will seek hunting-meat!”

Having said [this], he scolded Ayiwanda. “Through being without hunting-meat, my girl, leaving the house and the like, will not stay, [you think] !”^[4]

Afterwards Ayiwanda came home. Then his mother told Ayiwanda to eat the rice scraped from the cooking-pot which had been brought from his uncle’s house. Ayiwanda having eaten a little of the scraped rice, gave the other little to Ayiwanda’s mother, and thought in his mind,

“Preparing the bow from the rice-pestle and preparing the arrow from love-grass, I having gone to the watch-hut and ascended into the watch-hut, if there be an authority which Gopalu Devatawa gave, may a Sambhar deer with horns come there and remain sleeping as I arise in the morning.”

Having said [this] Ayiwanda went to sleep.

Having awoke in the morning, when he looked a Sambhar deer with horns having come was sleeping in the middle of the cattle-fold. Ayiwanda having descended from the watch-hut, taking the bow made from the rice pestle and the arrow made from love-grass, came near the Sambhar deer, and thought in his mind,

“If there be an authority which Gopalu Devatawa gave, that which is shot at this Sambhar deer from this side is to be passed out from the other side.”

Having thought it he shot. In that very manner the Sambhar deer died.

Ayiwanda having gone to his uncle’s house, said,

“Uncle, there ! I have shot down a Sambhar deer with horns at the cattle-fold; it is [there]. Go and cut it up, and come back.”

Then his uncle said,

“Ansca dukkan ! There is no hunt-ing-meat of thine. I shall not make the feast desolate; somehow or other I shall indeed give it. Hast thou come to rebuke me?”

After that, Ayiwanda, calling men and having gone, having come back [after] cutting up the Sambhar deer, put down the meat at his uncle’s house.

Thereafter, just before the feasters came having cooked the meat and cooked rice, he placed for Ayiwanda a little of the rice scrapings and two bones from the meat; and having given them to Ayiwanda, he said,

“Eat those, and go thou to the watch-hut.”

Ayiwanda having eaten them and gone to the watch-hut, thought,

“Now, at daybreak, may those who take hold of the cloth at the place where [the bridegroom] gives it to wear,^[5] remain in that very way, if there be an authority which Gopalu Devatawa gave.”

In that very way, at daybreak, when he was giving [her] the cloth to put on they remain in the very position in which the bridegroom held an end and the bride an end.

Then the palm-sugar maker and the washerman^[6] having gone and said,

“What are you doing ? Be good enough to take that cloth,”

those two also remained in the positipn in which they took hold at the two ends.

Then the girl’s father having gone and said,

“What is this, Bola, that thou hast not yet taken that cloth ?”

that man also remained in the very position in which he got hold of an end. The bride, the bridegroom, the palm-sugar maker, the washerman, the girl’s father, in the position in which they took hold of the cloth, in that very manner had become [like] stone.

Having seen it, the girl’s mother went running in the village, and having summoned two men made them go on a journey for medicine. The two men having gone to the Vedarala’s house are coming calling the Vedarala, by the middle of a large grass field.

Then Ayiwanda came after being in the watch-hut, and while he is at the place where his aunt is, saw the Vedarala and the two men going. Ayiwanda thought,

“If there he an authority which Gopalu Devatawa gave, may the Vedarala think of sitting down on the bullock’s skull which is in that grass field.”

Then the Vedarala sat down on the bullock’s skull. From morning until the time when it became night he pressed on it. Those two men are calling and calling to the Vedarala to come. The bullock’s skull will not get free. Thus, in that manner until it became night he pressed against it.

Afterwards Ayiwanda thought,

“If there be an authority which Gopalu Devatawa gave, the bullock’s skull having become free, may the Vedarala succeed in going back again.”

After that, the Vedarala’s bullock’s skull having become free he went back home. Having said,

“Never mind that medical treatment,”

the two men who went to summon the Vedarala to come, came to the bride’s house.

Then the bride’s mother asked,

“Where is the Vedarala ?”

The two persons say,

“Ando ! How well the Vedarala came ! There was a bullock’s skull in that grass field. From morning the Vedarala sat on it, and got up and tried to release the bullock’s skull [from himself]. He could not release it, being pressed [against it]. Hardly releasing himself now he went back home. He has not come; he said he wouldn’t.”

Afterwards near Ayiwanda came the bride’s mother. Having come there she said,

“Father has consented in this way [you wish]. Now then, let the girl he for you. If you know [how], do something for this.”

Having said [this], the woman came away.

Ayiwanda thought in his mind,

“If there be an authority which Gopalu Devatawa gave, as soon as each one is released may each one go away.”

Thereupon the persons who were holding the cloth having been freed, went away. They did not go summoning the bride; they did not [even] eat the cooked rice. Having been holding the cloth from morning, in the evening they went to their villages. Afterwards the aunt and uncle having gone, came back [after] summoning Ayiwanda, and gave the bride to Ayiwanda.

Ayiwanda sleeps on the mat on which the girl wipes her feet and places them. Then he eats what has been left over on the girl’s leaf [plate]. The girl says,

“Ade !^[7] Ayiwanda, eat thou this little.”

When she has told him he eats. The girl sleeps on the bed, Ayiwanda sleeps under the bed.

Well then, they remained in that way, without the girl’s being good to Ayiwanda. When they had been in that very way for seven or eight days, a fine young man of the village having died, they buried him.

Ayiwanda having waited until the time when the girl was sleeping, opened the door and went out; and having brought the corpse, and cut and cut off a great deal of flesh, he put only the bones under the bed under which Ayiwanda sleeps; and he shut the door and went away.

On the morning of the following day, Ayiwanda’s mother stayed looking out [for him], having said,

“Ayiwanda will come out.”

He did not come out. The woman came into the house, and when she looked [for him] there is a heap of bones under the bed. After that, the woman says,

“Ane ! This one ate my son.”

Having said this she wept; having wept she went away.

Ayiwanda having gone, joined a Moormen’s tavalama^[8] and drove cattle for hire. At the time when he was driving the cattle for three or four days he said,

“Ansca, Bola! Whence is this tavalama for thee ? It is mine, isn’t it ?”

Then the men said,

“Ansca, Bola ! Whence is it for thee, for a man called up for hire ?”

Ayiwanda said,

“If it be your tavalama, throw up five hundred dried areka-nuts, and catch them without even one’s falling on the ground.”

The men tried to catch them; all the dried areka-nuts fell on the ground.

Then Ayiwanda, after throwing up five hundred dried areka-nuts, thought,

“If there be an authority which Gopalu Devatawa gave, may I be able to catch the whole of these five hundred dried areka-nuts without even one’s falling on the ground.”

Having thrown up the five hundred dried areka-nuts, Ayiwanda caught them without even one’s falling on the ground. After that, the tavalama became secured (hayi-wuna)^[9] to Ayiwanda himself. The Moormen left it and went away.

Afterwards, getting ready hired labourers for Ayiwanda, he went to Puttalam. Having gone there, loading [sundried] salt fish,^[10] now then, Ayiwanda, having become a very great wealthy person, set off to come to Ayiwanda’s village, taking the tavalama, together with the hired labourers. Having come, he caused the sacks to be put down under a Kon tree^[11] in the field near the house of his aunt and uncle.

Ayiwanda’s mother came to the tank to pluck the leaves of a plant^[12] [to cook as a vegetable]. Having come, through hearing the wooden cattle-bells of the herd of cattle she came near the tavalama. Having come [there] she says,

“Ane ! A son of mine was like the Hettirala. That son having gone [to be married], at the place where he was made to stay the woman killed and ate my son.”

Having said [this] repeatedly at the very hand of Ayiwanda, she wept.

Then Ayiwanda says,

“Don’t cry. There is salt fish [here]; take [some] and cooking it eat. What are you plucking vegetables for [but to eat in curry] ?”

Having said [this], he gave rice and salt fish to Ayiwanda’s mother. Thus, in that way he gave them for seven or eight days.

After that, his aunt and uncle came near Ayiwanda for salt fish. Then Ayiwanda said,

“I am not the Hettirala. It is I myself they call Ayiwanda. Take ye these things, so as to go.”

Afterwards he dragged the tavalama and the salt fish to the house. Summoning that very bride,^[13] Ayiwanda having eaten, when a little [food] is left over on the leaf [plate] he gives it to her. Ayiwanda [now] sleeps on the bed; Ayiwanda’s wife sleeps on the mat on which Ayiwanda wipes his feet, under the bed on which Ayiwanda sleeps.

Tom-tom Beater. North-western Province.

 

Note:

In a Tamil story taken from the New Year Supplement to the Ceylon Observer, 1885, and reproduced in The Orientalist, vol. ii, p. 22, Katirkaman, a poet who had acquired magical powers, awoke one night to find that some burglars had broken into the house and were removing the goods in it. He scratched a spell on a piece of palm-leaf, placed it under his pillow, and went to sleep again. When he awoke he found all the robbers silent and motionless in the positions they occupied when the spell affected them, some with the goods on their heads or shoulders, others with their hands on keys or door handles. When he spoke to them they apologised humbly, stated that they had mistaken the place and person they were to encounter, and promised never to attempt to rob the house again. He made them put back the goods, gave them a bath and a good meal, and stated that in future they should always have the right to eat and drink there.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

Ban̆dayi pollayi

[2]:

Pala yanda.

[3]:

The text has Ansca, evidently intended for Anicca. This is part of a Buddhist exclamation in Pali, Aniccan dukkhan, “transient is sorrow,” often used colloquially to express astonishment. A Buddhist monk of my acquaintance invariably used it to express even slight surprise at anything, strongly accenting the last syllable of the first word; in fact, all is usually pronounced as though it formed only one word. See also p. 71 below.

[4]:

This appears to be the meaning.

[5]:

As a preliminary proceeding, the bridegroom gives the bride a new cloth to put on.

[6]:

Kandeyayi henayayi. Kandeya, he of the hill = hakura.

[7]:

This is a very disrespectful exclamation when addressed by a woman to a man, or an inferior to a superior. A Tamil head-mason once complained to me of the manner in which one of his men, a person of lower caste, had addressed him, and concluded by remarking, " He will say ' Ade !’ to me next.”

[8]:

A drove of pack-oxen, driven in this instance by “Moormen” (Marakkala men). This method of transporting goods is still practised in districts deficient in cart roads.

[9]:

See p. 138, vol. ii.

[10]:

Karola, for karawala.

[11]:

An Oak-like tree, Schleichera trijuga.

[12]:

Mukunu-waella kola, apparently Alternanthera sp., termed by Clough Mukunu-waenna or Mikan-pala.

[13]:

In the text the expression is man̆gula, feast; this word is sometimes used to denote the bride, as well as the wedding feast or the wedding itself. In a story not published we have, haya denekuta man̆gul genat innawa, for six persons brides have been brought.