Village Folk-tales of Ceylon (Sri Lanka), vol. 1-3
by Henry Parker | 1910 | 406,533 words
This folk-tale entitled “a legend of kandy” 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. 76 from the collection “stories of the cultivating caste”.
Story 76 - A Legend Of Kandy
AT a certain place in Lankawa (Ceylon), there was an extensive forest. In that forest there were elephants, bears, leopards, wanduras,[2] and many other jungle animals.
At any time whatever, at the time when any animal springs for seizing an animal that is its prey, it comes running near a rock that is in an open place in the forest. Having arrived near the rock, the animal that ran through fear goes bounding back after the animal that is chasing it. Regarding that rock, it was the custom that it was [known as] “The Rock of the Part where there is Tranquillity” (Sen-kada-gala[3]).
One day a Basket-mender for the purpose of cutting bamboos went into this forest. While he was cutting bamboos a certain jackal went driving a hare on the path. At the time when the hare arrived near this rock the jackal began to run back, and the hare ran behind it.
The Basket-mender, having been looking at this, examined the place, and having gone near the King who was ruling at that time, told him of this circumstance. And the King, having thought that it is a good victorious ground, went there, and having built a city makes it his capital (raja-dhaniya). For that city he made the name Senkada-gala [Nuwara—that is, Kandy].
Uva Province.
Footnotes and references:
[1]:
The Sinhalese title is, “The Jackal and the Basket-mender,”— at least this is what I take to be the meaning of Kulupotta, a word I do not know, deriving potta from the Tamil pottu, to mend; compare Kuluyara, a basket-maker.
[2]:
A large monkey of two species (Semnopithecus).
[3]:
Deriving Sen from sema. Kandy appears to have been founded at the beginning of the fourteenth century (Ancient Ceylon, p. 354, note).