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JOURNAL, R.A.S. (CEYLON). [VOL. XVIII. 
existing common works and poems. Sinhawalli and 
Siilambawati are adapted from Siyabasmaldama and Sulam- 
bawatikatawa, both Sinhalese poems that were commonly 
read at the time. Four of the works— St. Josephat, Susew, 
Helena, St. Nicholas — are from Catholic sacred history, 
and the rest are mostly translations of Tamil ndtaJcam. The 
combination of religions beliefs, where in the same work 
Buddhism, Christianity, and Hinduism are put under contri- 
bution in the introductory invocations by the author, betray 
the readiness which the uneducated display in believing 
everything which may be popularly brought before them. 
Sinhawalli bears quotation not only as showing the common 
mixture of religious ideas, but also the language which 
was used in the composition of these dramas. The language 
is a mixture of Sanskrit and Sinhalese words selected more 
• o 
for their high sounds and pedantic display than with any 
view of elegance of style or expression of thought. It is 
noteworthy that the names of two of the masters of Sinhalese 
poetry, as Vidagama and Totagamuwe, have been cited as the 
authors from whom the words are followed. The names 
Vidagama and Totagamuwe are household words among 
the Sinhalese ; they are the names of two places where the 
two most popular and best known authors, Mahanetramiila 
Sthavira of Vidagama and Vachissa Rahula Sthavira of 
Totagamuwa lived. The writer of these nddagam works 
could not have been familiar with any of the poems of 
these authors, and much less with the rules of Sinhalese 
prosody. 
The following are the four Verses of the prologue in the 
Sinha walli Nddagama : — 
Sarwa prana trina arta(?) padarta(?) srashtikala sumulan 
Saruwa bala mahimotma devati devituman 
Duruwa siyaluma dosa yoma diva kulunayen 
Atwa oba snvada dinantra ma rekadevan. 
