200 



JOURNAL, B.A.S. (CEYLON). [VOL. XIII. 



If thy desire be to have done with poverty, which hitherto 

 has been a heavy burden, rise without delay, thou, to whom 

 the seven strings of the ydl are ever obedient. 



I, now rich, in days not long past like the hungry bird 

 seeking the well-laden fruit-tree, went to the palace gates of 

 him whom I shall ever sing ; and, when without announcing 

 my wants to the gate-keepers, I entered the palace, hunger 

 and poverty methought were not. I drew near to him, and 

 even before I could strike the Udukkai* the skin of which 

 by long beating is marked like the cobra's hood, and begin 

 my song, he addressed me as one long known to him, 

 and treated me with loving kindness, such that I thought 

 begging was no disgrace. He caused me to be seated before 

 him, and looked at me, his eyes beaming with affection and 

 pleasure. 



My garments, vile with dirt and sweat, bearing patches 

 and stitches, and where nits and lice held sway, he caused to 

 be removed, and clad me in silk soft as flowers. Handmaids, 

 who by music, dance, and converse please him, poured out 

 in golden cups intoxicating wine,| and I drank to my heart's 

 content, until my sorrows and the fatigue caused by a long 

 journey were forgotten. When I laid me down to rest, the 

 trembling and unsteadiness of the limbs, I being heavy 

 with wine, were all that inconvenienced me. At dawn, when 

 awake, the bright change in my appearance was indeed so 

 surprising. " Am I in a dream ? " I exclaimed, but I soon 

 satisfied myself that it was reality. 



Hearing my pupils and followers singing his praises, he 

 sent for us and desired us to draw near, and, when we 

 saluted him in the mode usual on such occasions, he made 

 us eat of the flesh of goat and other meat spitted and roasted, 

 and drink plentifully of wine, until we could neither eat nor 

 drink any more. Then sweetmeats of various forms and 



* Udukkai, a small kind of drum held in one hand and struck by the other. 



f In a poem by Natkirar of the same time as the above, addressed to 

 a Pandiya, the prince is said to drink from golden cups of wine brought 

 by the Yavanar, which may refer to Grecian or Italian wines. 



ujtujssrir r5<shrs,&drE sii^ & <sm & ld CpQ & p<sb 



OufT<SSrQs-UJ t-l§50r<95&d@ Q lh (5 (T (SYF 



QLDir<smQt—ftis}-LD3,<c(rlir ld(BuuldS' ^>^>rr>i5 



^tTfSi^ls^l Q %(TQ£'&jLD6j QujtTrkcgsuiTsmLDfrp^ — Puranfoiuvu, 56. 



Pandiya of the Victorious Sword ! daily delighting in fragrant wine 

 brought by Yavanas in bottles and poured into golden cups by handmaids, 

 may'st thou be (to your enemies) fierce as the sun and (to your subjects) 

 gentle as the waxing moon. [Kalam here may mean bottles or ships.] 



This term Yavana is very old ; according to Monier Williams it occurs 

 even in Manu X., 44 ; and in Unadis II., 74, meaning "foreigners," &c. 



