[7] Ē pārama, lit., at the very stroke. [↑]
[8] The words are an imitation of the rapidly-uttered alarm notes of the common Lapwing of Ceylon:—Haebāeda ridiyē, haebāeda ridiyē, daekkāda ridiyē, duṭuwāda ridiyē, dunnāda ridiyē, gattāda ridiyē, ridī tihayi, tihayi, tihayi. [↑]
[9] Kiralī (Lobivanellus indicus). [↑]
[10] Perhaps this means, “[Our] bills are small.” [↑]
[11] The narrator is supposed to have been a spectator. [↑]
No. 126
The Story of the Seven Wicked Women[1]
In a certain country, when seven elder sisters and younger sisters, fastening on bangles (at-wael) are going along, a woman having been near the well asked, “Where are they[2] going?”
Then the seven elder sisters and younger sisters said, “We are going to seek for ourselves seven elder brothers and younger brothers.”