Story 114 - The New Speech

^[1]

A CERTAIN Gamarala had a daughter, it is said.

Many persons having come, ask to marry the daughter. After they have asked it, this^[2] Gamarala asks those people who come,

“Do you know the New Speech ?”

At that time those people say,

“Ane ! There is not a New Speech that we know.”

“If so, go you away,”

the^[3] Gamarala says to those parties. Well then, those people go.

Then still a party come. He asks that party, also, in that very maimer,

“Do you know the New Speech ?”

Thereupon that party say,

“Ane ! There is not a New Speech that we know.”

Then the man says,

“If so, I will not give my girl. I will give her [only] to the man who knows the New Speech.”

In this manner, many persons having asked and asked, went away. Because even one person is not learning the New Speech, even one person does not obtain her.

A young man at yet [another] village said thus:

“Ane ! Father, I know^[4] a New Speech. Because of it, marry and give that Gamarala’s daughter to me,”

he said.

Thereupon, he having gone asks the Gamarala,

“My son knows a New Speech. Because of it, can you marry your daughter to my son ?”

he asked.

Then the Gamarala, having become pleased, said,

“It is very good.”

On the following day after that the marriage took place.

When not much time had gone, one day when the father-in-law and the son-in-law were getting ready to go and plough the rice field, they said at the hand of the girl’s mother,

“Bring cooked rice to the rice field,”

and went to plough.

While ploughing, the father-in-law’s goad having broken he went to the jungle below the rice field to cut a goad. Then that girl’s mother, bringing the cooked rice and coming to the field, asked the son-in-law,

“Where, son-in-law, is your father-in-law now ?”

Then the son-in-law said,

“Ando ! Mother-in-law, is there any stopping in the field for him ! There, On ! A woman was beckoning with her hands; he will have gone on that account ;”

and leaving aside the quarter to which that man went, he stretched out his hand in another direction. “He went there, On ! You go, too,” he said. Afterwards the mother-in-law went there.

Then that father-in-law having come to the rice field [after] cutting a goad, asked at the hand of that son-in-law,

“Son-in-law, where is your mother-in-law ?”

Then the son-in-law said,

“Ando ! Father-in-law, is there any staying here for her ! Having brought and placed here the [mat] box of cooked rice, there, On ! A man was beckoning with his hand. She will have gone on that account ;”

and leaving the quarter to which she went, he stretched out his hand in another direction.

“She went there, On ! You go too,”

he said.

The Gamarala, taking the goad, went there to seek the woman. That woman is seeking the man; the man is seeking the woman. While seeking him in that manner that woman came to the rice field, and asked,

“Son-in-law, hasn’t he come yet, your father-in-law ?”

Then the son-in-law said,

“Not he, mother-in-law; he hasn’t come yet.”

While she was there, the father-in-law came up and beat the woman until the goad was broken to pieces. Afterwards the woman came home.

While the two men, having eaten the cooked rice, were ploughing, the son-in-law asked at the hand of the father-in-law,

“Father-in-law, she is a slut whom you have called [in marriage], isn’t she ?”

The father-in-law asked,

“What is [the meaning of] that, son-in-law ?”

The son-in-law replied,

“Ando ! You have been married such a long time, too ! Don’t you know about it ? When you are sleeping, having come every day she licks your body. Sleep to-day, also; while you are sleeping she will lick your body, on !”

Afterwards, having ploughed, when it became night the son-in-law, going in front, came home, and says at the hand of the mother-in-law,

“Ando ! Mother-in-law, he is a salt leaf-cutter whom you have married, isn't he ?”

Then the mother-in-law asked,

“What is [the meaning of] that, son-in-law ?”

The son-in-law said,

“Ando ! You have been such a long time married, too ! Don’t you know about it ? To-day, after father-in-law has gone to sleep lick his body. There is salt taste, on !”

Afterwards, in the night when the father-in-law had gone to sleep, the mother-in-law went and licked his body. Then the father-in-law, having awoke, said,

“Ci! Ci^[5]! Slut!”

The mother-in-law said,

“Ci! Ci! Salt Leaf-cutter !”

and the two quarrelled.

When not much time had gone by, the^[6] Gamarala said a speech to the son-in-law in this manner. His elder daughter had been given [in marriage] to a person at a distant village. “Son-in-law, as I have got news that my daughter’s illness is severe, I am going because of it, and having gone there am returning.”

Saying,

“Sow one and a half amunas of paddy (eight and a half bushels), and block up [the gaps in] the fence, and tie the fence of the garden, and heat water, and place it [ready] for me to bathe when I come,”

he went.

Thereupon the man, getting the whole of these into his mind, said,

“It is good.”

After the Gamarala went away, he lowered out of the corn-store one and a half amunas of paddy, and having taken them placed them in the rice field; and having come back, and gone [again] taking the yoke of cattle and the plough, and driven two or three furrows for the whole length of the field, and sown over the field the amuna and a half, and tied the cattle at a tree [in the jungle], and cut the fence that was round the field, and come home, and also cut the fence of the garden, and heated a pot of water, also, until it was thoroughly boiling, while he was placing it [ready] the Gamarala came, at the time when the ground is being stricken dark.

Having come, he asked,

“Did you do all these services ?”

That son-in-law said,

“Yes.”

After he said it, he asked,

“Did you warm water for me to bathe ?”

At that time he said,

“Father-in-law, I heated the water, and the chill has been taken off. Come to bathe.”

He brought that pot of boiling water, and called him.

Then the Gamarala said,

“ I can bathe [myself]. You

go-”

Thereupon he says,

“When do you bathe (that is, pour water over yourself) by your own hand ? Please bathe by my hand.”

Having said,

“It is good,”

the father-in-law tying on the bathing cloth (arnbuda baer,daganda), told him to bathe him.

Thereupon the son-in-law poured on his back, from the pot, that water which was boiling. Then the Gamarala, as it was burning his back, cried,

“What, son-in-law, did you do here ?”

Then the son-in-law says,

“Don’t shout in that way, father-in-law; that indeed is a piece of the New Speech.”

Because his back had been scalded, the hot water having been thrown on it, the relatives were dismissed from his mind. The Gamarala’s back was scalded to the extent that he was unable to rise for two or three days.

After two or three days had gone by, when he looked at the fence of the garden, the fence had been cut. Thereupon the Gamarala asked at the hand of the son-in-law,

“Son-in-law, who cut the fence of the garden ?”

Then he says,

“ Father-in-law, that indeed is a part of the New Speech,”

he said. At that time, also, the Gamarala was angry.

[After] looking at it, he went to the rice field, and when he looked, the fence of the rice field also had been cut, and paddy had been sown in the [unploughed] rice field. When he asked also at the hand of the son-in-law,

“What is [the meaning of] that ?”

“A part of the New Speech, indeed, is that,” he said. The Gamarala at that also became angry.

Afterwards he asked the son-in-law thus,

“Where is even my yoke of cattle ?”

Thereupon the son-in-law said,

“They are tied in the chena jungle.”

He was angry, also concerning that [the cattle being then dead or nearly so].

For many a day afterwards he remained without talking with the son-in-law. During the time while he is thus, that daughter who had been given [in marriage] to an out-village, sent word that [her] father and brother-in-law, both of them, must come.

Next day that father-in-law having cooked cakes, tied them in a bag, and having cooked a bundle of rice, tied that also in a bag, in order to go to the place where the Gamarala’s elder daughter was given in marriage.

Then he called the son-in-law, saying,

“Let us go.”

The son-in-law, taking the cake bag, asked,

“Father-in-law, what sort is this ?”

The father-in-law replied, [jokingly,] “There are cobras in it.”

Then the son-in-law, taking the bag of cooked rice, asked,

“Father-in-law, what sort is this ?”

The father-in-law said,

“That is for the road.”

Afterwards the son-in-law, taking the cake bag, went in front; the father-in-law taking the bundle of cooked rice, went behind. The father-in-law was unable to go quickly.

The son-in-law while going on and on ate those cakes. At the place where the cakes were finished he broke open the mouth of the bag, and setting it on an ant-hill stopped there looking at it.

Then the father-in-law having come up, asked,

“What, son-in-law, is that ?”

The son-in-law said,

“I don’t know, father-in-law. As you said those were cobras I placed it on the ant-hill for them to creep out.”

Afterwards taking the rice bag, also, that was in the hand of the father-in-law, he again went a long way in front, opened the rice bag, and ate the cooked rice, and having thrown away the bag, stopped there, sitting down.

The Gamaxala having come up, said, " Let us eat the bundle of cooked rice. Where, son-in-law, is the rice bag ?”

Then the son-in-law said,

“I don’t know, father-in-law. As you said that was for the road, I put it on the road and came away.”

They were near a [road-side], shop. At that time, having given the son-in-law a panama,^[7] the Gamarala said,

“Go to that shop and bring plantains.”

Then having gone to the shop, taking sixteen plantains for the panama he thought thus:—“Should I take these sixteen plantains near father-in-law, I shall receive eight plantains [as my share]. Because of that, I must eat the eight plantains here and go.” Thereupon he ate eight plantains.

Having eaten them, he th ink s again,

“Should I take these eight plantains father-in-law will not eat them without having given me four plantains. Because of it, I must eat the four plantains in this very place.”

So he ate the four plantains.

Having ealen them, still he thinks,

“Should I go taking these four, father-in-law will never eat without giving me two. Becau e of it, after eating the two in this very place I must go.”

So from the four he ate two.

Having eaten these, still he thinks,

“Should I take these two near father-in-law^[8], he will never eat without giving me one. Because of it, I must go after eating one in this very place.”

So from the two he ate one.

Having eaten it, still he thinks,

“Should I take this near father-in-law^[8] he will never eat without giving me a piece. Because of it, I must go after eating the piece here.”

So breaking the plantain in two he ate a piece.

Having eaten it, he brought the remaining piece, and gave it to his father-in-law.

Thereupon the Gamarala asks,

“Is there [only] so much plantain, son-in-law ?”

he asked.

Then the son-in-law said thus,

“Father-in-law, I ate my portion; your portion is that much,”

he said.

The village at which was the father-in-law’s daughter, was very near. Afterwards the son-in-law said,

“Father-in-law, isn’t there scarcity of food now everywhere in the country ? On that account it is wrong for us both to go there at the same time. You come behind; I will go in front.”

Having gone to the place where the daughter was, he said,

“Father-in-law is coming there. It is bad for him to eat anything; he has eaten a medicine. On account of the medicine he is only eating [paddy] dust porridge; it is bad to eat anything else. On that account cook quickly a little porridge from paddy dust, and place it [ready] for him,”

he said.

After that, having amply cooked rice and curry for the son-in-law, she gave him to eat; and for the daughter’s father, taking some of the paddy dust that was in the storeroom, she cooked porridge. While she was looking for him the Gamarala came; afterwards she gave him the porridge.

The man, thinking,

“Ane ! Our daughter must be without anything to eat,”

having eaten a very little of the porridge went to sleep.

In the night that daughter's girl was crying. Saying,

“I want to go and sleep near grandfather,”

she went to the place where the man was. Having gone there the girl was crying in the same way.

Then the son-in-law, hearing her, asked at the man’s hand,

“What, father-in-law, is that girl crying for ?”

The father-in-law, being very sleepy, said,

“I don’t know, son-in-law; we must split her belly,^[9] maybe.”

Afterwards the son-in-law, having got up, came to the place where the girl was, taking a knife, and split the girl’s belly.

Next day, having buried the girl, the father-in-law and the son-in-law came to their village.

After they went, the son-in-law, having become desirous to eat cakes, told [his wife] to cook cakes. Thereupon the Gamarala’s wife said there was no palm sugar. On account of it, the son-in-law, having become hostile, was minded to go once again to the village at which the Gamarala’s elder daughter was given [in marriage].

Having gone there, he said to the Gamarala’s daughter,

“Ane ! Mother-in-law having died, I came here to tell you of the pinkama.^[10] The pinkama is on the day after tomorrow. Because of it, cooking a few cakes and the like, come,”

he said. Thereupon the Gamarala’s daughter wept.

Then this son-in-law says,

“What are you crying for ? As for the name ‘crying,’ we also cried. Through crying you will not meet with her. Because of it, plucking and setting to ripen a spike of plantains and the like, and cooking a few cakes, come on the day after to-morrow.”

Having said this he came back.

Having come there, he said to the Gamarala and the whole of the other persons who were listening,

“Father-in-law, your daughter having died, the pinkama is on the day after to-morrow. Because of it, they said to the whole of you that you are to go [after] plucking and setting to ripen spikes of plantains, and cooking cakes.”

Afterwards the Gamarala, the Gamarala’s wife, the son-in-law, the son-in-law’s wife, all having wept and wept, cooked cakes and milk-rice; and taking ripe plantains, and tying pingo (carrying-stick) loads of cakes and spikes of plantains, the two parties went until the time when they came face to face.

When they are coming in contact the Gamarala’s wife goes weeping,

“Ane ! Daughter, he said you died.”

Thereupon the daughter comes weeping,

“Ane ! Mother, it is for your pinkama we came here.”

While both parties, having made lamentation in this manner, are weeping, the son-in-law who knows the Gamarala’s New Speech, said,

“To-day also you cannot cook cakes ! Eat ye,”

and began to eat the cakes.

After that, their troubles being allayed, when they asked from this one,

“What is this you said ?”

he said,

“This indeed, father-in-law, is a little of the New Speech. For the purpose of your getting to know it I did it.”

After that all were consoled.

North-western Province.

 

Note:

In The Orientalist, vol. i, p. 131, Mr. W. Goonetilleke gives the incident of the plantain eating as part of a tale called “The Story of Hokka.” The hero of it was a servant of the Gamarala’s. He bought sixteen plantains, and ate his half share, on his way back repeating the process until only one was left, which he ofiered to the Gamarala. His master complained of his stupidity in getting only one plantain for the money.

Hokka replied that he received sixteen, but had eaten the rest.

“How did you [dare to] eat them, you dog ?”

asked the Gamarala. Hokka held up the plantain, peeled it, and put it in his mouth, saying,

“This is the way I ate the plantains, your honour.”

In Indian Nights’ Entertainment (Swynnerton), p. 92, a foolish man who was taking money to the local treasury, put it in some flour which he handed to a baker’s wife to be made into cakes. In the morning, when he remembered and asked for it, she refused to return it unless he told her two stories this way and two that way, and as he could think of none he went ofi without it. When his clever brother heard of it, he put some brass finger-rings into flour, handed it to the same woman, and in reply to her remarks stated that there were many rings at the bush where he picked these. When she went to pick some, thinking them gold, the man told her husband that she had followed a man who beckoned to her, the husband took a bamboo and gave her a sound beating. The clever brother, learning that the baker’s daughter was betrothed to a lad at another village, told a person whom he met to inform the boy’s parents that the girl had died from snake-bite; he himself told the girl’s mother that wolves had attacked and killed the lad. The two mothers met on the way, quarrelled and fought, and became reconciled on finding the reports false. The brother told the baker’s wife that he had now told her two stories this way, and she was glad to give him his brother’s money before he told her two that way.

In the Katha Sarit Sagara (Tawney), vol. i, p. 289, a barber whose wife was visited by a King pretended to be sick, and informed the King that his wife was a witch who extracted and sucked his entrails while he slept, and then replaced them. When the barber went home he told his wife that his razor had broken on some abnormal and very sharp teeth of the King’s.

When the King came, and the barber’s wife stretched out her hand to find the teeth, the King cried,

“A witch ! A witch !”

and escaped.

In the Arabian Nights (Lady Burton’s ed., vol. i, p. 355) a negro slave related how when his master sent him home for some article, he informed his wife and daughters that his master had been killed by the fall of an old wall. They rent their robes, overturned the furniture, and broke the windows and crockery, the slave assisting them. Then, led by him, they and the neighbours went lamenting to bring the body home. The Governor also took labourers with spades and baskets. The slave got ahead, told the master that his house had fallen and killed his wife, daughters, and everything else. While his master and his friends were lamenting and tearing their robes the procession of mourners arrived and the hoax was discovered. The Governor made the slave “eat stick” till he fainted.

In Cinq Cents Contes et Apologues (Chavannes), vol. ii, p. 211, a man who was sent by his master to buy mangoes, only sweet and fine ones, tasted each one to ascertain if it was of the requisite quality.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

Alut Kathawa.

[2]:

Lit., by this.
 

[3]:

Lit., by the.

[4]:

Lit. “I am able for.” The infinitive is often omitted: the villager says, Eka mata puluwani —“I am able [to do] it.” Compare also No. 93.

[5]:

C is pronounced as ch in English.

[6]:

Lit., by the.

[7]:

A sixteenth part of a rupee.
 

[8]:

Mandi

[9]:

A village saying, perhaps intended to frighten the child and make her behave better.

[10]:

The funeral feast given to Buddhist monks on such occasions.