In the Sierra Leone stories, Cunnie Rabbit, etc. (Cronise and Ward), p. 300, there is a variant of the latter part of the Sinhalese tale in an account of two greedy men who lived in the east and west. The eastern man came to the western man’s house carrying a box, and would not leave, intending to share in the rice that had been cooked. The owner of the house at last lay down, and told his wife to say he had died. The visitor remained all night, supplied clothes for the corpse, made a coffin, dug the grave, and had nearly covered the body when it requested to be taken out. In the end, the visitor got a share of their food.
[1] The names indicate that they were men of villages called Gampola and Raehigama. [↑]
[2] A forest tree (Myristica iriya). [↑]
[3] Betel leaves are packed in a special manner for carrying, enclosed above and below by circular plaited frames which everyone recognises. [↑]
[4] Viyadama, expenses, but also employed with the meaning, “articles of food for which expenditure would be incurred”—that is, the results of it. [↑]
[5] A favourite amusement of the little black humped bulls if they can get at them. [↑]
[6] See the Jātaka story, No. 486 (vol. iv, p. 184), for a parenthesis like this in the middle of a sentence. There are many instances in these Folk-tales. [↑]
[7] Two valuable slippers or shoes are laid on a road at some distance apart. An approaching traveller passes the first one, which would be useless alone, but on seeing the second leaves his load at it and returns for the first one. The thief, who is hidden near the second one, then goes off with the load. [↑]