In Indian Nights’ Entertainment, Panjāb (Swynnerton), p. 319, a rat which had been saved from drowning assisted a girl to defeat a Princess at Chaupur, by attracting the attention of a cat that moved the pieces for the Princess. The cat was struck by the girl while trying to seize the rat which she held; when it ran off she won.
In Folk-Tales of Kashmir (Knowles), 2nd ed., p. 149, the cat belonging to a female gambler, at a sign from her mistress, extinguished the lamp whenever the game was going against her.
In Folk-Tales of Bengal (Day), p. 277, a Princess, in order to get back her husband, started a gambling establishment at which they gambled with dice, the stake being one hundred thousand rupees, together with the imprisonment of the loser at her house. Her ruse was successful. A rich merchant’s son, the Prefect’s son, the Minister’s son, and the Prince, all came in turn and lost.
[2] On account of the strangeness of this speech, I give the Sinhalese words as they were written: Umba kaburupanjāti jāti umbē muna (sic.) penenḍawat epā. Umbaṭa hena waediyāmin umbē jātakayā ganin. It appears to be a Rabelaisian joke, and was considered such by the person who narrated it. [↑]
[3] Oṭunnē mālu. This proves that the story is Indian, and perhaps from the Panjāb, there being no camels in Ceylon. [↑]