CEYLON BRANCH — ROYAL ASIATIC SOCIETY. 137 



this rat may convert it into an ornament for bis wife, or into 

 a stock for trade. A respectable but poor man, hearing these 

 words, said, This nobleman does not use these words inconsi- 

 derately : he therefore took the rat and going to a market sold 

 it for a small piece of money as cats'-meat. With this money 

 he bought some sugar, and taking a chatty of water he went 

 to the forest where the flower-gatherers were : to each of them 

 he gave small bits of the sugar and a ladle full of water, and 

 each of them in return presented him with a bunch of flowers. 

 These flowers he sold, and with the money he thus realized 

 he procured more sugar and water, and going to the flower 

 gardens that day, he obtained in return for what he gave a quan- 

 tity of flowering shrubs. Thus in a short time he accumulated 

 eight kahapanas. 



Afterwards, on a very windy and rainy day, a large quan- 

 tity of withered trunks of trees, dried branches and plants were 

 blown down in the royal gardens, and the gardener could devise 

 no plan to clear the grounds of them. The man then went to 

 the gardener and said, If you will give me these branches &c. 

 I will clear the garden of them, and to this the gardener con- 

 sented. Chullantewasiko then went to the childrens' play ground, 

 and inducing them to help him by giving them bits of sugar, he 

 in a short time had the whole brought out of the garden and 

 piled outside. At that juncture the king's potters, having a 

 great quantity of earthen vessels to burn for the royal use, were 

 seeking firewood for the purpose, and seeing this heap of fuel 

 bought it from him. That day Chullantewasiko obtained six- 

 teen kahapanas and 500 earthen vessels by the sale of his 

 fire-wood. 



"When he had accumulated twenty kahapanas he formed ano- 

 ther scheme : he went a short distance from the city to the 

 grass market, and placing vessels with water he supplied from 

 them 500 grass-cutters. They said to him, Friend you have been 

 very serviceable to us, what shall we give you in return. He 



