135 



" ' Datta horrala badda perind. ' li Pick your teeth to fill 

 your belly.' — Spoken of stingy, niggardly people." 



" 6 Hlngonna wellendam cor cottomvat graft par wardenda 

 netta. A beggar and a trader cannot be lost.'— Because they 

 are never out of their way.' " 



" 1 Issara atting hollanatva pos cotting. First look in the 

 hand, afterwards open the mouth.' — Spoken of a judge who first 

 must have a bribe, before he will pronounce on their side.' " 



The next writer who has recorded a few Sinhalese pro- 

 verbs is the Ilevd. Samuel Lambrick, who in his Vocabulary 

 of the Sinhalese language, has published fifteen Sinhalese 

 proverbs with their translation, and explanatory remarks. 



The late Sir J. Emerson Tennent has also published about 

 thirty Sinhalese proverbs in his work entitled " Christianity in 

 Ceylon,'* published in 1851, but they were selected by him out 

 of my own MS. collection, which had been placed at his disposal. 



In 1868, Mendis Mudaliyar of Morotuwa, the well- 

 known compiler of the list of Timber trees of Ceylon, publish- 

 ed an interesting collection of Sinhalese proverbs, about 300 

 in number. This little work appears to have been highly 

 appreciated by the native reading public, as all the copies 

 have been sold, and the work is now out of print. I am not 

 aware of any other writer upon the same subject.* 



I commenced collecting Sinhalese proverbs many years 

 ago, and my collection now amounts to nearly 800, it having 

 recently received considerable accessions from several parts 

 of the island, both in the Kandyan and low- country, through 

 the kindness of various friends. 



I have much pleasure in laying before the Society a few 

 specimens of these, as a first instalment, and hope they may 



* Since the above was written, a few Sinhalese proverbs have been published in 

 a local periodical, the ' Ceylon Friend.' v, No°s.,forDecember 18;0 ; and January iV;'!, 



