The Crocodile and the Jackal

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Kinnara. North-western Province.



In The Orientalist, vol. ii, p. 46, there is a story of a Jackal
and a Crocodile, in the latter part of which the first incident is
given, the tree being a Veralu (Elaeocarpus serratus). The Crab is
not introduced into it.

In the Jataka story No. 57 (vol. i, p. 142) a Crocodile endeavoured
to entrap a Monkey by lying still on the top of a rock. The Monkey,
suspecting some trick, from the unusual height of the rock, addressed
the rock and inquired why it did not reply as usual. The Crocodile
then spoke.

In Indian Folk Tales (Gordon), p. 63, the God Mahadeo (Siva) took
the place of the Crocodile, in order to be revenged on the Jackal for
cheating him in the matter of the dead elephant (see No. 39, note);
and the two incidents of the shamming death and seizure of the root
are related.

In Old Deccan Days (Frere) p. 310, a Jackal escaped from an Alligator
[Crocodile] in the same manner.








NOTES


[1] See note at the end of the Introduction.

[2] Cf. Jataka, No. 206 (vol. ii, p. 106).

[3] From the Tamil kuppam, a village of small houses, perhaps +
ayam, ground.

[4] The Tamil stories of Mariyada Raman, or some of them, are known
in one district. Arabic is unknown.

[5] Folk-Tales of Kashmir, Knowles, 2nd ed., pp. 258 and 331.

[6] Agata anagata, as the early cave inscriptions say.

[7] Asurendraya.

[8] It is one of the greatest possible insults in the East to strike
a person with a broom. Even demons are supposed to be afraid of being
struck by it, and thus it is a powerful demon-scarer.

[9] A Kayiya, usually to provide help in clearing jungle, or ploughing,
or reaping, for which no pay is given, but the party are fed liberally.

[10] Ma Vi, the name of the largest variety of rice.

[11] Twenty-eight miles. According to Indian reckoning of about six
winks to a second, as given in the Maha Bharata, this would be an
orbit of about 14,500,000 miles, with a diameter of 4,620,000 miles.

[12] That is, the sun rises in the latitude of the district where the
story was related. This would be within a day or two of February 22.

[13] I cannot explain this remark.

[14] This is, where refreshing breezes blow.

[15] The deity of the planet Saturn.

[16] The narrator understood this to mean that large upright sheets
of glass were fixed round the bed.

[17] Mini Ran Kukula. The spelling in this and other instances is
according to the manuscripts, except in such words as Rakshasa and
Rakshasi, the village forms of which are Rasaya and Rasi; and Brahmana,
which is usually given as Brahmanaya.

[18] A word without any special meaning in English, often used in
addressing a person familiarly and somewhat disrespectfully.

[19] Amu (Paspalum scrobiculatum), the Tamil Varaku, a small grain
cultivated in jungle clearings.

[20] Three halfpence.

[21] Elawa gihin melawa awa, "Having gone to that world I came to
this world." This is a common saying, meaning in village talk, "What
a long and tiring journey I have had." According to the Rev. C. Alwis
it also means, "I almost died, and recovered." (The Orientalist,
vol. i, p. 62.)

[22] Light rice cakes.

[23] Old flower-seller.

[24] Moringa pterygosperma.

[25] A thing only done by a man's wife.

[26]    Wangi tunak aeti, kembi dolahak aeti,
Apata waeduna duka me asapan kota kotali.

[27] Evidently a modern interpolation, as the Princess was represented
as using only a writing style.

[28] Loku mama.

[29] Lit. necks.

[30] This is the dress of a villager when visiting friends. A white
jacket is now often added.

[31] Literally, "Are we bad?"

[32] Up to this point the story follows one related by a Duraya;
the rest belongs to the cultivating caste.

[33] Literally, "Is there any coming for her?"

[34] Great Mother: The title of a mother's elder sister; her younger
sister is called Puñci-Amma, Little Mother. The letter c is pronounced
as ch in transliterations. I follow the village writers in not marking
the various forms of n; they write punci or punci.

[35] Moringa pterygosperma.

[36] Ran oncillawa.

[37] A well-to-do woman of the village. Gama-Mahage is the title of
the wife of a Gamarala, a village headman or elder.

[38] To search for insects. She would sit down for the purpose.

[39] Daboia russelli.

[40]    Un mamma nasindayi,
Ranwan baena aende andandayi,
Ranwan akka samine wendayi.

[41] In these stories the Yakas are always evil spirits or demons.

[42] Piyanan-wahanse.

[43] The word used indicates the use of guns, and not bows and arrows.

[44] A Vedarala (medical practitioner) or another man who knows the
spells and magical practices which have power over demons.

[45] Araksha baendala.

[46] E minihata waehila, mayan wenda patangatta.

[47] The Sinhalese title is, "The manner in which the Youth who looked
after the Goats became King."

[48] Inferior Gods, ruled by Indra.

[49] Raja Gurunnanse, probably the Purohita Brahmana, the King's
spiritual adviser.

[50] A supernatural being who could take at will either a human form
or the shape of a cobra (naya or naga).

[51] Dohta karanawa = Dashta k., to give a poisonous bite.

[52] Panicum sp., probably miliare, an edible grass seed.

[53] Kankariya.

[54] Wes.

[55] Gigiri walalu.

[56] Silambu.

[57] Learned Brow.

[58] On account of the strangeness of this speech, I give the
Sinhalese words as they were written: Umba kaburupanjati jati umbe
muna (sic.) penendawat epa. Umbata hena waediyamin umbe jatakaya
ganin. It appears to be a Rabelaisian joke, and was considered such
by the person who narrated it.

[59] Otunne malu. This proves that the story is Indian, and perhaps
from the Panjab, there being no camels in Ceylon.

[60] The usual village spelling.

[61] Great Happiness.

[62] Equivalent to saying, "What things do you know?" Saestara,
the noun used, means sooth, knowledge of things, and science.

[63] The title "Vedarala" is applied both to native medical
practitioners and to demon expellers, who are also sooth-sayers.

[64] Twenty rupees, in a variant.

[65] Sihi buddi naetuwata mona saestara kiyamanada? This might also
be interpreted, "On account of the absence of Sihibuddi what saying of
sooth is there?" The long final i of female names is usually shortened
in conversation.

[66] A South Indian gold coin, with the figure of a boar, Varaha,
on the obverse, said by Winslow to be worth three and a half rupees.

[67] "A box in which the most valuable ornaments of the most frequent
use are kept, and which for the sake of safety is always placed at
the foot of the bed" (The Orientalist, vol. i, p. 59, footnote).

[68] Kumandaeyi mama karanne, which if not very clearly heard might
be translated, "It is Kumanda; I am doing it," or "I will do it."

[69] He might do any unusual acts of this sort without exciting much
astonishment, while apparently under the influence of "possession."

[70] Kurulu gama Appuge rissa giya. This might be translated,
"On the birds' moving, Appu's strength went."

[71] Sillu, "Hopscotch," a game omitted from my account of village
games in Ancient Ceylon. I have seen boys playing a form of Hopscotch
which may be this one. I do not understand the reference to "dragging"
the counters home after it, unless the meaning is "carrying." The
Sinhalese verb used is adinawa, which is sometimes employed with this
other meaning.

[72] Sadhu Maharajani.

[73] Gamaya.

[74] Ge-dora, which probably means only "house-door" in this case,
and not buildings, etc., in general.

[75] A creeper with long sharp thorns, punctures by which usually
cause ulcers.

[76] Polmicca kirilli.

[77] An imitation of the song of the bird, apparently.

[78] Mat ekka giyama nakeyi?

[79] "Stooping man, there is heat, heat."

[80] Kujija is a man who stoops. He may have thought it said,
"Stooping man, you are refuse."

[81] Kuti is a bend. He appears to have interpreted it as, "Stooping
man, you are bent, bent."

All these expressions are imitations of some of the notes of the
bird's song.

[82] Ge dorata.

[83] A Muhammedan trader or pedlar, called "elder brother" in an
honorary sense.

[84] Plural of Bola, regarding which see No. 5.

[85] Lit. "making."

[86] Hungak dura, "a great deal far," a common village expression.

[87] Nari-nayide; see also No. 56, and p. 28.

[88] The meaning is that no appearances can be trusted, not even those
of the earth and sky; but that sometimes untrustworthy things, even
such a dangerous thing as fire, are wrongly trusted. He was referring
to the judge's acceptance of the ridiculous statement regarding the
birth of the horse.

[89] Kokka, a word applied to several species of large waders. The name
of the Black Stork is Mana, but probably this is the bird referred to,
as in the Sinhalese variant.

[90] Aehae aeragassi.

[91] Apparently this is Kurma, turtle + marsha, mrish. The meaning
would be "Permit the Turtle" (to precede you). In The Orientalist,
vol. i, p. 87, in which this part of the story is also given, it is
stated that there is a saying, Kurmaya prativadena sinhasya maranan
yatha, "As the death of the lion by the reply [? Kurmarsha] of the
turtle."

[92] As in India, the tom-tom beaters were the weavers also in Ceylon,
until cheap imported cloth put an end to weaving. In the Folk Tales
of Bengal (Day), p. 233, the "proverbial simplicity" of weavers is
mentioned, and in several stories in Indian Nights' Entertainment
(Swynnerton) their foolishness is the chief theme. In the Jataka story
No. 59 there is an account of a foolish tom-tom beater boy also. See
also the story No. 10, in this volume.

[93] Calatropis gigantea.

[94] This is prosaic love-making!

[95] Probably in order to sell deer's flesh there.

[96] Canarium zeylanicum.

[97] Macacus pileatus.

[98] Berae.

[99] Haeliya.

[100] Called also, "The Deer and the Girl and Nikini."

[101] An expression often used in village talk, without any connexion
with its literal meaning, "O demon." "Fellow!" nearly expresses its
ordinary meaning, which is less respectful than that of the word Bola.

[102] Totra karanawa.

[103] Also written Lihiniya, "the Glider," a name applied to some hawks
and swallows, etc. The whole name is "Tusk-Elephant-Mountain Hawk,"
or Eagle. I could learn nothing of the "Tusk-Elephant Mountain." This
bird is the Rukh or Roc of the Arabian Nights.

[104] Apparently she was to swear by them, touching them at the
time. See No. 8, in which a Prince and Princess touched each other
when swearing an oath.

[105] An amuna is 5·7 bushels in the district where this story
was told.

[106] Little Mother, an expression meaning the mother's younger sister,
or the step-mother.

[107] Yabbaelli, apparently a kind of demon in the shape of a dog.

[108] Talla.

[109] The word used, nikan, "no-act," is employed in several senses;
when a thing is given nikan, it usually means "without payment." To
come or go nikan, is to come or go without any special reason or
business, and also to go empty-handed, as in a former tale.

[110] Mi Paetikki. It might be either a rat or a mouse.

[111] Unnanse namak. In the villages, namak, "a name," takes the
place of kenek, "person", in speaking of monks.

[112] Hakurun.

[113] Mulakun.

[114] Aewariyakun.

[115] Senawalaya.

[116] A contraction of Gama-ralahami. Hami is an intermediate form
between swami, "lord", and himi; Wanniyas still use the latter.

[117] The yoke of the plough is placed on the neck and fastened there,
on the Washerman's half of the animal.

[118] Because the mouth which grazes is in the Gamarala's half of
the cow.

[119] Rate wissa. The word is new to me; this appears to be the
meaning.

[120] Raja ho, ma ho, ganga ho. "Either the King, or I, or the river"
[floods] will come to an end (naeti wenawa). He meant that if the
periodical floods in the river did not come to an end, the job would
last during the King's life-time, and that if he gave it up he had
nothing else to live upon.

[121] Terminalia glabra.

[122] Kokka, a word which also means Egret, and some other large
wading birds.

[123] Lula (Ophiocephalus striatus).

[124] Kanakoka (Ardeola grayi).

[125] Triple-wreathed famous one.

[126] Probably, "He that moves about in the jungle," derived from the
Tamil words kadu, jungle--in compounds, kattu--and salam, Skt. cala,
moving, unsteady. The bird is Centrococcyx rufipennis, which utters
a booming call, and has red eyes.

[127] Tamil, tonku, to move with leaps, Skt. twang, to leap,
gallop + ka, doer.

[128] Maha tokkama.

[129] Tokkam dekak.

[130] Lay devotee.

[131] Rala is an honorific termination, nearly equivalent to our Mr.

[132] Tun-iri Mudiyanse, (Sciurus tri-striatus), a small squirrel
with three yellow dorsal lines.

[133] Lit. "Having guarded, I must place it."

[134] Mini-gedi.

[135] Miyane.

[136] Lenane.

[137] Wali-kukulane.

[138] Katussa (Calotes sp.), a small lizard with a long tail, and
spikes on the back, commonly called "Bloodsucker" in Ceylon.

[139] Perhaps this means that the Leopard found some places where
the Lizard had not yet bitten him.

[140] A variant says it was the Gamarala.

[141] "Art thou reciting the Buddhist Scriptures?" Used colloquially
with the meaning, "What nonsense you are talking."

[142] Ehema nan ehemada, "If so (would it be) so?"

[143] Seramantama.

[144] That is, as we should say, "I have come here to enjoy a view
of the scenery!"

[145] There appears to be some doubt regarding the spelling of this
compound word. I give it as I have heard it. Except in the last letter
I have followed that of the late Mr. W. Goonetilleke, the learned
Editor of The Orientalist, who in vol. i, p. 8, of that journal said
of it: "Perelibase therefore means 'the language of transposition,'
or 'the transposed language.'" In Clough's Dictionary the second
word is spelt basa. In Mr. A. M. Gunasekara's excellent Sinhalese
Grammar the spelling is peralibasa in the Index, and perali base (or
bhashawa) in the paragraph dealing with it. Professor E. Müller-Hess
has drawn my attention to the form pereli on one of the inscribed
tablets at Mihintale.

[146] That is, unite them by a tunnel.

[147] Grewia tiliaefolia (?).

[148] Kaetta pahuwuna.

[149] Lagerstroemia flos-reginae.