304 JOURNAL, E.A.S. (CEYLON). [VOL. II., PART II. 



Weesel. 



Buffalo. 



O 



Tiger. 



Serpent. 



Horse. 



a 



> 



1 Deer. 



1 



2 



3 



4 



5 



6 



7 



8 











C 





a 







m 



S3 



CD 



d 



0 













o 





© 



CO 



d 



c 



8 



S3 







o 



* 





The first class letters, called JNakul, "weesel," are inimical 

 or opposed to the fifth, called Saputd, " serpent the second, 

 Miya, " buffalo," to the fifth, Turanga, "horse"; the third, 

 Mahamt, " owl," to the seventh, Biliputu, " raven "; and the 

 fourth, Vaga, "tiger," to the eighth, Surangan, "deer." 

 All the characters opposed to the first letter of a person's 

 name must be avoided both before and after that person's 

 name. 



It is also laid down as a rule of versification in several 

 books of authority, that it is objectionable to rhyme a 

 stanza with any of the following sounds : co, €), aa, and 

 unless the penultimate letter, i. e., the letter immediately 

 preceding any one of the above characters, be the same in 

 all the four lines ; * e.g. : — 



C3. 



C£c&> 03 C3C3 



ggq^) €32£ ©3 S3C3 



Kavmi nikofida la. 



* I must not omit to remark that this is a rule strictly attended to by 

 all who have the slightest claim to scholarship. Indeed I have not 

 found a departure from it by any of the standard writers amongst the 

 Sinhalese. 



