Village Folk-tales of Ceylon (Sri Lanka), vol. 1-3
by Henry Parker | 1910 | 406,533 words
This folk-tale entitled “the yaka and the tom-tom beater” 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. 143 from the collection “stories of the cultivating caste”.
Story 143 - The Yaka And The Tom-tom Beater
IN a country, at the time when a Tom-tom Beater was going to a devil-dance (kankariya), it became dark. While he was going along to the village in the dark, when he was near the village having the devil-dance, to the extent of two miles (haetaepma) from it, he met with [an adventure] in this manner.
In the adjoining village, a man having died they took his dead body to the burning ground; and having raised a heap of firewood, and upon it having placed the corpse and set fire to it, at the time when his relatives went away in the evening Maha Son Yakshaya[1] came, and remained upon the burning funeral pyre.
He said thus to the Tom-tom Beater, it is said,
“Where art thou going ?”
When he asked it [he replied],
“I am going to a devil-dance.”
At the time when [the Yaka] said,
“Standing there, beat the [airs of] devil-dances, and the new ones that thou know-est,”
he unfastened the tom-tom, and tying it (i.e., slinging it from his neck), he beat various dances.
The Yakshaya being pleased at it, said thus,
“Do thou look every day in the house in which are the looms.[2] Don’t tell anyone [about] the things that I give,”
he said.
Beginning from that day, having gone into the house in which are the looms, at the time when he looked, raw-rice, and pulse (mun), and ash-plaintains, and betel, and areka-nuts, and various things were there. Every day those said things were there.
At the time when he is bringing them, his wife said,
“Whence are these ?”
Every day she plagued him, and being unable to escape from it he told the woman.
On the following day after the day on which he told her, at the time when he looked he had filled the looms with excrement.
North-western Province.
Note:
In The Indian Antiquary, vol. i, p. 143, Mr. W. C. Benett gave an Oudh story in which Bhawan Misr, a wrestler who had obtained gifts from a demon, lost them by revealing the secret to his wife.
Footnotes and references:
[1]:
A demon who frequents cemeteries.
[2]:
The tom-tom beaters were formerly weavers also.