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JOURNAL R. A. S. (CEYLON). 



[Vol III. 



the more remote and unlike in themselves any two objects are, the 

 more is the mind impressed and gratified by the perception of some 

 point in which they agree,"* 



e.g., cft(^835, ' stone-heart,' for 'stone like heart/ csssf gj4S> 'devil- 

 lace,' for 'devil-like face,' ugly countenance, ©coos* @*53cb3j 

 ' bullock-man,' for 'bullock-like-man,' &c, 'a stupid,' I shall 

 adduce an example from the Kdvyasekhara. 



" I bow unto his supreme intelligence, the teacher of the three worlds, 

 an ocean for gems-virtues, a moon for lily-faithful men, and a sun 

 for thick darkness unbelief." 



It is to be observed, that compound metaphors, as in the 

 above stanza, where the resemblance between certain objects 

 is implied but not expressed, are very frequent in the 

 Sinhalese. In the example before us, the poet compares 

 the virtues of Buddha to the inestimable gems produced 

 in the ocean ; the religious comfort which the followers 

 of that sage derive from his Sermons to the influence which 

 (it is supposed) the moon has over the lily,f his power 

 to convert heretics, to the light of the sun which dispels 

 darkness. 



Where direct resemblance between two objects is expressed 

 the Sinhalese use r «5i®*S, equivalent to the English 

 words 'like,' 'of,' as in 4 moon -like brilliancy,' a©^© (i.e., 

 e&q #€) 'light of reason,' «5i©ii9 ^©^Jssss. Fre- 



queutly, too, the comparates are used together, without a 

 sign of comparison : in which case it must be observed, 

 that an object is merely illustrated by the form of another 

 object. Thus Ave speak of ss>&$ 9ic ' ear creeper,' sss^a&>, 



t It is to be remarked that if tambam were substituted for kum?i$ji 

 the metaphor would prove defective, inasmuch as the former is a sun 

 flower : between it and the moon there would therefore be no relationship. 



q)<SD ®^©COC3gdi ©£©§^g£>2 ©S}<d3©(5Jq3 



61 



6j 



* Dr. Whately on Rhetoric, pp. 265, 266. 



