Village Folk-tales of Ceylon (Sri Lanka), vol. 1-3
by Henry Parker | 1910 | 406,533 words
This folk-tale entitled “the three truths” is gathered from oral sources sources, tracing its origin to ancient Ceylon (Sri Lanka). These tales are often found to contain similarities from stories from Buddhism and Hinduism. This is the story nr. 256 from the collection “stories of the western province and southern india”.
Story 256 - The Three Truths
ONE day a Hyaena met a Goat by the way. He tells the Goat,
“Before you move from this place you tell me three Words which shall all be true, or I eat you.”
The Goat said,
“You met me in this place. If you return, [and if] you reach the other Hysenas and tell them,
‘I have met a Goat by the way, but I did hot kill him,’
they will say,
‘You are telling a lie.’”
The Hyaena said,
“It is true.”
The Goat said,
“If I get out here myself, if I reach the-other Goats at home, and I tell them,
‘I met a Hyaena by the way, but he did not kill me,’
they will say,
‘You are tellinga lie.’”
The Hyashna said,
“It is true.”
He said to him,
“The third one is:—If you see us two talking about this matter you are not hungry.”
Then the Hyaena said,
“Pass, and go your way. I amnot hungry ; if I were hungry we should not be here talking about it. ”
McCarthy Island, Gambia.