Story 197 - The Manner in which the Gamarala buried his Sons

IN a certain country there are a Gamarala and a Gama-Mahage (his wife), it is said. When they were there not much time (nombo kalayak), for the Mahage [there was] pregnancy longing; well then, she is not eating food.

The Gamarala asked,

“What is it, Bolan ? You are not eating food,”

he asked.

The woman said,

“I have pregnancy longing.”

The man asked,

“What can you eat ?”

The woman said,

“Seven days (haddawasak) having warmed water (paen) give it to me.”

The Gamarala having warmed water gave it [on] seven days; the Gama-Mahage bathed seven days [with] the water. The Gamarala asked,

“Now then, is it well, the pregnancy longing ?”

The woman said,

“It is well.”

Well, ten months having been fulfilled she bore a boy. Until the time the boy becomes able to talk they reared him.

[Then] the Gamarala said,

“To look what this boy says, having taken him let us bury him.”

¹ The Gama-Mahage also having said “Ha,” they took him to bury. Having cut the grave (lit., hole) and placed him in the grave, they covered [him with] earth (pas waehaewwa).

Then the boy said,

“ Ane ! What did mother and father² bury me for ? If I remained with [them]—the smith does

¹ Their idea apparently was that when at the point of death he would speak the truth, and they would thus leam if he were likely to be useful to them.

² Ammayi abuccayi.

not beat the piece of iron [after] having placed it on the anvil—many will I beat (hammer) for them both.”

¹

The Gamarala and the Mahage having said,

“That one to us [is] a smith’s boy,”

and having well trampled still [more] earth [on him] came home.

When they were thus for no long time, for the Mahage again [there was] pregnancy longing; well then, she is not eating food. The Gamarala asked,

“What is it, Bolan ? You are not eating food.”

The woman said,

“I have pregnancy longing.”

The Gamarala said,

“What can you eat for the pregnancy longing ?”

The woman said,

“[On] seven days from the Blue-lotus-flower pool having brought water, seven days having warmed it give me it (dilan) to drink.”

The Gamarala having brought the water, [on] seven days having warmed it gave it; the woman on the very seven days drank. The Gamarala asked,

“Now then, is it well, the pregnancy longing ?”

The woman said,

“It is well.”

Well then, ten months having been fulfilled (lit., filled) she bore a son. Until the time he became able to talk they reared him.

[Then] the Gamarala said,

“To look what this one says, let us bury him.”

The woman having said “Ha,” they took him, and having cut the grave and placed him in the grave, they covered [him with] earth.

The boy said and said,

“Ane ! What did they bury me for ? If I remained [with them]—the potter does not beat [the clay for] the pots—[for] many will I beat it.”

The two persons having said,

“That one is not ours²—a potter’s boy,”

and having put still [more] earth [on him] and trampled it, came home.

Having come there, when they were [there] no long time, for the woman [there was] pregnancy longing; she is without food. The Gamarala asked,

“What is it, Bolan? You are not eating food.”

The woman said,

“I have pregnancy longing.”

The Gamarala asked,

“What can you eat ?”

The woman said,

“ Having cut a hollow well (puhu lin̆dak) and brought the water (diya), seven days having warmed

1 Ne owun dennata talanne.    

² Lit., Not for us.

it give me it for me to bathe.”

The Gamarala having cut a hollow well, [on] seven days having warmed the water gave it. The woman seven days bathed [with] the water. The Gamarala said,

“Now then even, is the pregnancy longing well ?”

The woman said,

“It is well.”

When she was [there] not much time she bore a boy. Having reared him until the time when the boy became able to talk, the Gamarala said,

“Having taken this one let us bury him, to look what he says.”

The Gama-Mahage having said “Ha,” they took him, and having cut the grave and placed him in the grave, covered [him with] earth.

The boy said,

“Ane ! If I remained [with them]—the washerman does not wash cloth for them—many will I wash.”

The two persons having said,

“That one [is] not ours—a washerman’s boy,”

put still [more] earth [on him] and having trampled it came home.

(On the next occasion the woman stated, in reply to her husband’s inquiry as to what food she wanted, that she required nothing. When the son was buried he said,

“What [did they bury] me for ? For them¹1—the tom-tom beater does not beat the tom-tom—will beat many.”

² They said,

“That one [is] not ours—a tom-tom beater’s boy,”

and they finished the burial and returned home.

On the fifth occasion, when asked what she could eat, the woman said,

“There is the mind to eat (sic) buffalo milk.”

When the boy was placed in the grave he said,

“Ane ! What did our mother and father bury me for ? If I remained [with them], having arrived near a King, [after I am] exercising the sovereignty won’t our mother and father, both of them, get subsistence for themselves ?”

³ The story continues:—)

Well then, the two persons having said,

“This one himself [is] our child,”

getting him to the surface⁴ they brought him home.

(On the sixth occasion the woman required cow’s milk. After she had “eaten” it (lit., them, the word for milk

¹ Owanda.

² Bere tadi-gahan[ne] naehae, newe talanne.

³ Raksa kara-gannawa nae.

4 Goda aragana.

being a plural noun) the longing was allayed. Like the others, the boy who was born was buried when he could talk.

He said,

“Ane ! What did our mother and father bury me for ? If I remained [with them] won’t the two persons get a subsistence, I having even done cultivation and trading ?”)

The rest of the story is as follows:—The two persons having said,

“This one himself [is] our child,”

getting him to the surface they brought him home. When they were rearing him not much time, the Gamarala’s two eyes became blind. This boy having become big is continuing to give assistance to the two persons. Then the Gamarala died.

The elder (lit., big) boy has taken the sovereignty. The elder brother and younger brother, both, [assisting her]— one having done cultivation (goyitan) and trading, one having exercised the sovereignty—that woman is obtaining a subsistence.

The woman having become old, one day (dawasakda) that younger brother went to see that elder brother and return to the city. Having gone, as he was coming back Shakra having come, taking an old appearance, took away the Gama-Mahage.

The boy having come and looked [for her], at his mother’s absence is weeping and weeping. Shakra, creating an old appearance, having come asked at the boy’s hand,

“What are you weeping for ?”

The boy said,

“On account of our mother’s absence I am weeping.”

Shakra said,

“Why ? While your mother has become old you weep ! Whatever time it should be, life goes.”

The boy said,

“I must go to see our mother’s life.”

Shakra having taken him to the Shakra residence (bawana) showed him the boy’s mother. Having shown her, Shakra asked,

“Can you stay here ?”

Then the boy said,

“I having asked at elder brother’s hand must come,”

and came [back to earth]. Having gone to the elder brother’s city and said,

“Elder brother, our mother having gone is in the Shakra residence; I also will go,”

the elder brother replied,

“If you can, go.”

He having said it, he came away to go, [but] the boy not knowing the path simply stayed [at home}.

Finished.

Tom-tom Beater. North-western Province.

 

Note:

I have inserted this pointless tale on account of the evidence it affords of a belief that infanticide was practised in former times; I may add that I have adhered as closely as possible to the text. It agrees with the story numbered 243 in this volume (a tale from Ratmalana, about eight miles south of Colombo), that children who were not likely to prove useful were sometimes buried alive. For other instances of infanticide see the Index to vol. i.

I am unable to refer to Indian instances in which Shakra occupies the position of Yama as the God of Death; but in Ceylon he is sometimes represented as being a Dharma-raja, a god of righteousness or justice, and this is a function of Yama. See the verse at the end of the story numbered 179 in vol. ii; in No. 107, vol. ii, it is Shakra who kills the wicked Princess.

The reason for cutting a special well with the water of which the women wished to bathe, was that she would thus obtain undefiled water.