[1] It is a general belief of village Sinhalese and Vaeddās that evil spirits or Yakās throw sand or stones at people during either the day or night. [↑]
[2] It is said that death always occurs in this way; the breath is drawn upward to the head. [↑]
No. 94
Gampolayā and Raehigamayā
In a certain country there are a Gampolayā and a Raehigamayā,[1] it is said.
The person called Gampolayā, having put Īriya[2] fruits in two bags, and said they were areka-nuts, tied them as a pingo load (one bag hanging under each end of the stick). Having been in his own country, he is going away to another country.
The person called Raehigamayā tied up a pingo load of pepper (vine) leaves. The person called Raehigamayā, having said that the pingo load of pepper leaves was a pingo load of betel leaves,[3] is also going away to another country.
At the time when he was going along there was a travellers’ shed; in that travellers’ shed he lodged. That person called Gampolayā, taking that pingo load of Īriya fruits, came there. Well then, those two persons came in contact [there].
The areka-nut trader (Gampolayā) asked, “What, friend, is your pingo load?”