Village Folk-tales of Ceylon (Sri Lanka), vol. 1-3
by Henry Parker | 1910 | 406,533 words
This folk-tale entitled “the hunchback tale” 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. 130 from the collection “stories of the cultivating caste”.
Story 130 - The Hunchback Tale
IN a certain city, at one house there was a Hunchback. One day, at the time when this Hunchback went to the rice field, his wife, having cooked rice, called him, saying,
“Hunchback! Hunchback !”
Thereupon anger having come to him he went home and thrashed his wife; thereupon the woman died.
Having buried the woman, at the grave he planted tampala.[1] When the tampala had become large a cow having approached there ate the tampala with the sound[2] that goes “Kuda caw caw.”[3] At that time, also, anger having come to the man he struck and killed the cow.
Having buried the cow, upon the grave he planted a foreign yam plant. [When it had grown], cutting up the foreign yam plant [after digging it up], and having gone and put it in a cooking-pot (haeliya), when he had placed it on the [fire on the] hearth, at the time when it boils[4] with the sound[2] that goes “Kuda goda goda, Kuda goda goda,”[5] the man having become angry carried [the pot] also away, and struck it on the stone [and broke it].
After a few days, at the time when he was sleeping, with the sound that goes Kuda run[6] flies alighted on his body. Thereupon he having arisen, with the intention of killing the flies set fire to the house.
After the fire became alight, having seen that it burns with the sound that goes “Kuda busu busu, Kuda busu busu,”[7] he, also, sprang into the midst of the fire and was killed.
Uva Province.
Note:
The story is a variant of No. 29, vol. i,
“The Pied Robin.”
Footnotes and references:
[1]:
A vegetable cultivated in village gardens and chenas, Notho-scerua brachiata.
[2]:
Ana-karanayen ; the verb ana-karariawa is usually “to order.”
[3]:
Apparently understood by him to be intended for Kuda chawa chawa. “Hunchback, [you are] vile, vile.”
[4]:
Idena, which ordinarily would mean “ripens.”
[5]:
He appears to have understood this to mean, “Hunchback, [you are] clownish, clownish,” godaya being “clown.”
[6]:
Perhaps to be taken as one word, Kudarun,= Kudo + arun, “Hunchbacks [are] fellows.”
[7]:
Busa means chaff, cow-dung; he thought the meaning was, “Hunchback, [you are] chaff, chaff.”