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JOURNAL, R. A. 8. (CEYLON). [Vol. VIII. 



7. The ground is hoed and neatly trimmed, 

 Pure white sand brought and strewn ; 

 For the advent feast of holy Pattini. 

 Descend to this city dispelling evil ! 



8. By irdi with the bracelets she came ; 

 By irdi came she on foot ; 



By irdi the bracelets shone like fire. 

 Guard and bless us, Pattini ! 



9. O sun god ! accept our milk offering : 

 Pardon the faults thou knowest : 

 Bestow happiness on these patients : 

 O Sun god ! accept our milk offering, 



10. O Moon god ! &c. 



11. O Vishnu! &c. 



12. O KandaKumara! &c. 



13. O Nata! &c. 



14. O Saman ! &c. 



15. O VibMsana! &c. 



16. O Ganadevi! &c. 



17. O Pattini! &c. 



18. O Vasala Devi ! &c. 



19. O Devol Devindu! &c, 



20. O Maygala Devindu ! &c, 



(10.) 



Story of Kalahari. 

 Long ago in Kosgama, a village of the Western Province, 

 there lived a man of respectable birth, called Kuda Ralahami, who 

 was suffering from the worst form of that loathsome disease, 

 parangi. This man, as an outcast, was forced to live alone, apart 

 from haunts of men, in a pela, or small hut, for fear lest others 

 might be cursed with the same complaint. His meals were every 

 day brought and placed on a stone or other elevation not far from 

 the pela, by his relations, who shunned his very sight, under the 

 belief that his mere glance falling on them would suffice to com- 

 municate the fell disease. 



One cold rainy evening an dndiyd, or fakir, took shelter under 

 his roof, and to keep them both warm kindled a fire near the hurdle- 

 shelf (messa) on which Ralahami slept, laying himself down 

 close by. During the night the pela took fire, and the fakir 

 perished in the flames, the leper barely escaping with his life naked. 



