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JOURNAL B. A. S. (CEYLON.) [Vol, TIL, Pt. III. 



on the modes of thought, manners, and customs of the people, 

 and also may perhaps be of some value in comparative folk- 

 lore, I therefore give translations of a few of these village stories. 



I. — The Trial at AvxchAra-pura.* 



In the neighbourhood of Badulla there is among the 

 Sinhalese a saying, when justice appears to have miscarried : 



" Avichdra-pure naduwa iv&geyi" — " Like the trial at 

 Avicharapura." 



The story on which the saying is founded is without doubt 

 of considerable age and contains rich satire : — 



One night some thieves broke into the house of a rich man 

 and carried away all his valuables. The man complained to the 

 Justice of the Peace, who had the robbers captured, and when 

 brought before him enquired of them whether they had anything 

 to say in their defence. "Sir," said they, "we are not to blame in 

 this matter : the robbery was entirely due to the mason who built 

 the house ; for the walls were so badly made, and gave way so easily, 

 that we were quite unable to resist the temptation of breaking in." 

 Orders were then given to bring the mason to the Court-house. 

 On his arrival he was informed of the charge brought against 

 him. " Ah," said he, "the fault is not mine, but that of my cooly, 

 who made mortar badly." When the cooly was brought he laid 

 the blame on the potter whom he said had sold him a cracked 

 chatty, in which he could not carry sufficient water to mix the 

 mortar properly. Then the potter was brought before the judge, 

 and he explained that the blame should not be laid upon him, 

 but upon a very pretty woman who in a beautiful dress was 

 passing his house at the time he was making the chatty, and had so 

 riveted his attention that he forgot all about the work. When 

 the woman appeared, she protested that the fault was not hers, for 

 she would not have been in that neighbourhood at all had the 

 goldsmith sent home her earrings at the proper time'; the 

 charge she urged should properly be brought against him. 



* A, 'without' ; viehara, 'enquiry* ; pura, 'city.' 



