Story 217 - The Yaka of the Akaragane Jungle

IN a certain country there are a woman and a man, it is said. The man has worked in a rice field; in it he also built a watch-hut. The man is in the watch-hut every day At the time when he is thus, a beggar came to the man’s house. Afterwards the man having heaped up a great many coconut husks in the watch-hut [for making fires at night], told the beggar to go to the watch-hut. The beggar went to the watch-hut.

Afterwards this man having gone to the watch-hut and set fire to the watch-hut, came back, and said at the hand of his wife,

“You say, ‘Our man, having been burnt at the watch-hut, died.’”^[1]

Furthermore he said,

“Every day when I say ‘Hu,’ near the stile of the rice field, put a leaf-cup of cooked rice for me”;

having said it the man went into the jungle.

After it became night, the man having come to the rice field cried “Hu” near the stile. Then the woman brought the cooked rice and placed it there; having placed it there the woman went home. The man ate the cooked rice, and went again into the jungle.

On the following day, also, the man, after it became night, came to the rice field and cried “Hu.” Then the woman brought cooked rice and placed it there.

While she was there, the man having come said,

“Don’t you bring cooked rice again; I am going to the Akaragane jungle.”

Afterwards the woman came home.

That man, having eaten the cooked rice, went to the Akaragane jungle, and having rolled himself in a mud hole,^[2] came to the path and remained [there].

Then, when a man was coming bringing cakes and plantains along the path, this man, breaking a bundle of branches, sprang in front of that man who was coming. Thereupon, the man having thrown down the cakes and plantains at that very spot, bounded off and went away.

When this man, [after] taking and putting away the pingo (carrying-stick) load, was there, a potter comes along bringing a pingo load of pots. Then this man, again breaking a bundle of branches, sprang in front of that man who was coming. Thereupon the potter, having thrown down the pingo load of pots at that very spot, bounded off and went away. After that, the man, taking and putting away the pingo load of pots, remains [there].

(He frightened other men in the same manner, and secured pingo loads of coconuts, turmeric, chillies, salt, onions, rice, vegetables, and a bundle of clothes. Thus he had the materials that he required for making curries. The narrator gave the account of each capture in the same words as before.)

Afterwards, this man having taken and put away there the pingo load of rice and vegetables,—near that forest there is a city,—having gone to the city and brought fire, {after] cooking ate. While he was [there], when a man who had gone to a devil-dance (kankariyakata) was coming, this man, breaking a bundle of branches, sprang in front of that man who was coming. Then that tom-tom beater, having thrown down there the box of decorations, and jingling bangles, and all, bounded off and went away.

Afterwards, when this man was there [after] tying them on, while certain men who had gone to a [wedding] feast were coming calling the bride, again this man, breaking a bundle of branches, sprang in front of those men who were coming; and taking the bride and placing her in the chena jungle he sprang into a rock house (cave). Those men through fear bounded off and went away.

Afterwards the King of the city said,

“Who can seize that Yaka ?”

Then a man said,

“I can.”

The King said,

“What do you want ?”

“Having built a house in the chena jungle (lande) and tied white cloths [inside, on the walls and ceiling],^[3] and put a bed [in it], you must give me it.”

Afterwards the King having caused a house to be built, and caused white cloths to be tied, and caused a bed to be placed [in it], gave it.

Afterwards this man having caused the bride to stay in the rock house, and having gone much beforehand (kalimma), crept under the end of the bed in the house and remained [there] silently.

The man who said he could seize the Yaka, after it became night having eaten and drunk, taking also a thread, came onto the bed in the house; having come he utters spells (: maturanawa). Then the man who is under the bed shakes the jingling bangle a little.

The man who is uttering spells, after saying,

“Ha, are you getting caught ?”

utters spells loudly, loudly.^[4]

Then the man who was under the bed having arisen, taking the man together with the bed also, went to the rock house. Having gone there, when he was placing the bed in the rock house, the man who was on the bed, crying out and having got up, went to the city.

Then the King asked,

“What is it ? Didst thou seize the Yaka ?”

The man having said,

“Ane ! O Lord, I indeed cannot seize him,”

went to the man’s village.

Afterwards the King having said that he can seize him, and the King having mounted on his horse, came with the army to the Akaragane jungle.

Then this man, breaking a bundle of branches, sprang in front [of him]. Having sprung in front of the King who was coming, seizing the horse this man came to the rock house. The King and the army went to the city through fear.

After they returned a Lord^[5] came. The King asked if the Lord could seize the Yaka who is in the Akaragane jungle.

Then the Lord asked,

“When I have seized the Yaka what will you give me ?”

The King said,

“I will give a district from the kingdom, and goods [amounting] to a tusk elephant’s load, and the Akaragane jungle.”

The King said,

“For seizing the Yaka what do you want ?”

The Lord said,

“Having built a house, and tied cloths at it, and placed a bed [in it], please give me it.”

Afterwards the King having put a bed in that house which was built [already], gave him it.

This man, just as on that day, crept beforehand under the bed in the house, and remained [there]. Afterwards the Lord having gone, taking also a thread, utters spells while sitting on the bed.

Then the man who is under the bed shakes the jingling bangle a little.

Then the Lord while uttering spells says,

“Ha, being caught, come.”

Saying and saying it, he utters spells very loudly.

Then the man who was under the bed, having shaken the jingling bangles loudly, lifting up [and carrying] the bed also, went to the rock house. Having gone there, when he was placing it [there], the Lord, crying out, bounded off and went away.

Having thus gone, when he was [at the palace] the King asked,

“What is it ? Did you seize the Yaka ?”

Then the Lord having said,

“Ane ! I indeed cannot seize him,”

the Lord went to his pansala.

Having caused the bride of the man who is in the rock house to remain in the rock house, and having taken off the man’s jingling bangles and placed them in the rock house, [the man] came near the King.

Then the King asked,

“Can you seize the Yaka of the Akaragane jungle ?”

The man having said,

“I can,”

said,

“What will you give me ?”

The King said,

“I will give a district from the kingdom, and goods [amounting] to a tusk elephant’s load. I will also give the Akaragane jungle as a Nindema.”^[6]

The King said,

“For seizing the Yaka what do you want ?”

Then the man said,

“I don’t want anything.”

Having gone to the Akaragane jungle, and having come on the following day taking the jingling bangle and box of tom-tom beater’s decorations, he showed them to the King, and said he seized the Yaka.

Afterwards the King, having given the man the articles which the man took [to him], gave the man a district from the kingdom, and goods [amounting] to a tusk elephant’s load, and the Akaragane jungle.

The man haying taken them, and come to the rock house, that woman and five children were [there] The five children having gone to the man’s village, in the man’s village were his first wife and five children of the woman’s. The children having sold the house at that village, and the two women and the ten children having come again to the Akaragane jungle, building a house in that jungle all remained in that very place.

Tom-tom Beater. North-western Province.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

Apparently the fire originated accidentally, and the man was afraid of being charged with murdering the beggar. Compare story No. 21, vol. i, of which the Western Province has a variant.

[2]:

Man̆da walaka. In village talk and writing, the semi-consonants n̆, n̆, and n̐ are often inserted in words in which they do not occur in ordinary Sinhalese; on the other hand, these letters, and m̆ as a semi-consonant, are often omitted in writing words in which they are always pronounced.

[3]:

Wiyan baen̆dala.

[4]:

Hayiyen hayiyen.

[5]:

Hamun̆duru namak, a Buddhist monk.

[6]:

Tract “assigned for the exclusive use of the grantee,” and his descendants. See Wickremasinghe (Epigraphia Zeylanica, vol. i, p. 244).