CHAP. X.] 



LITERATUBE. 



515 



yano is now lost, but its principles survive in nu- 

 merous text-books and treatises, written at succeeding 

 periods to replace it. 1 Such is the passion for versifi- 

 cation, probably as an assistant to memory, that nearly 

 every Singhalese work, ancient as well as modern, is com- 

 posed in rhyme, and even the repulsive abstractions of 

 Syntax have found an Alvarez and been enveloped in 

 metrical disguise. 



Of the sacred writings in Pali, the most renowned are 

 the Pitakattayan, literally "The Three Baskets," which 

 embody the doctrines, discourses, and discipline of the 

 Buddhists, and so voluminous is this collection that its 

 contents extend to 592,000 stanzas ; and the Atthakatha 

 or commentaries, which are as old as the fifth century 2 , 

 contain 361,550 more. From their volurninousness, the 

 Pittakas are seldom to be seen complete, but there are 

 few of the superior temples in wliich one or more of the 

 separate books may not be found. 



The most popular portion of the Pittakas are the 

 legendary tales, which profess to have been related by 

 GOTAMO BUDDHA himself, in his Sutras or discourses, and 

 were collected under the title of Pansiya-panas-jataka- 

 pota, or the " Five hundred and fifty Births." The series 

 is designed to commemorate events in his own career, 

 during the states of existence through which he passed 

 preparatory to his reception of the Buddhahood. In 



1 The Rev. R. SPENCE HARDY, to 

 whom I am indebted for much valu- 

 able information on the subject of 

 the literature current at the present 

 day in Ceylon, published a list in the 

 Journal of the Ceylon Branch of the 

 Asiatic Society for 1848, in which he 

 gave the titles of 467 works in Pali, 

 yuiiskrit, and Elu, collected by him- 

 self during his residence in Ceylon. 

 Of these about 80 are in Sanskrit, 

 150 in Elu (or Singhalese), and the 

 remainder in Pali, either with or 

 without translations. Of the Pali 

 books 26 are either grammars or 

 treatises on grammar. 



This catalogue of Mr. Hardy is, 



however, by no means to be re- 

 garded as perfect ; not only because 

 several are omitted, but because 

 many are but excerpts from larger 

 works. The titles are seldom de- 

 scriptive of the contents, but in 

 true Oriental taste are drawn from 

 emblems and figures, such as "Light," 

 " Gems," and " Flowers." The au- 

 thors' names are rarely known, and 

 the language or style seldom affords 

 an indication of the age of the com- 

 position. 



2 They were translated into Pali 

 from Singhalese by Buddhaghoso, 

 A.D. 420. Mahuwamo, c. xxxviL 

 p. 252. 



i. 2 



