Part 2 — The Gamarāla and the Washerman

Then the Washerman said, “Will you do the chena work until I catch the jungle-cock and come back?” he asked.

“Until you come I will do the chena work,” he said.

From there that man came home, and remained there. When the chena [crop] was ripening he caught the jungle-cock, and went back.

“I shall not give thee a share of the chena,” the Gamarāla said.

Thereupon the Washerman instituted a lawsuit against him.

When they were going for it on the day of the trial, he borrowed a cloth from the Gamarāla, and went after putting it on. When the action was being heard the Washerman said, “He will say next that this cloth is that gentleman’s.”

Then the Gamarāla said, “It is so indeed. If not, Bola, whose is that cloth?” he asked.

The Washerman said, “There! I said so. O Lord, when coming on account of this day of the trial, was it necessary for me to ask for a cloth from that gentleman? Am I without clothes to that extent?”

After that, the judge told them to divide the chena in two, [and each take half of it]. Afterwards, having come there they divided it in two.

Again, this Washerman and the Gamarāla sowed a paddy field (rice field). Of the paddy plants in the field, those things that were above the ground were for the Washerman, they said. Those which were below the ground were for the Gamarāla, they said. Having cut the paddy when the crop ripened, they threshed it by trampling [with cattle], and the Washerman took the paddy. Afterwards they cut the ground; there was nothing for the Gamarāla.

Again, these two persons planted onions. This time, those things that were above the ground were for the Gamarāla, they said. Those that were below the ground were for the Washerman, they said. When the crop was ready, the Gamarāla having cut off the onion stumps, heaps them up together; the Washerman dug up and got the onions.

After that, those two persons got a buffalo bull. The front part of that bull was for the Washerman, they said; the after part for the Gamarāla, they said.

Next, the two persons got a buffalo cow. The front part was for the Gamarāla; the after part for the Washerman, they said. Thereupon the calves which the buffalo cow bore belonged to the Washerman, he said. When the Gamarāla asked for calves because the front part did not give birth to calves, “There is nothing for you,” he said.

After that, the Gamarāla, in order to build a house, cut Waewarana, Kaeṭakāla, Mīlla, Kolon trees (good timber trees commonly used in building houses). The Washerman, also, saying, “I also must build a house,” cut Paepol, Eramudu, Murungā trees (all of which are soft woods, quite useless for any kind of work).

When the Gamarāla’s wife was coming near his house, the Washerman, taking the Naekat Pota (an astrological book which deals with prognostications), read aloud from it [these sham prognostications regarding the results to the occupiers if these woods be used in house building]: “For a house of Waewarana, diarrhoea; for a house of Kaeṭakāla, quarrel; for a house of Mīlla, hanging; for a house of Eramudu, purity; for a house of Paepol, land.”

Then the Gamarāla’s wife having heard this, goes and says to the Gamarāla, “You have done a foolish thing again. We shall have only sickness and trouble if we build the house with those trees. In the Naekat Pota it is so written. If we use the trees that the Washerman has cut we shall be fortunate.” So the Gamarāla went to the Washerman, and persuaded him to exchange trees with him. Then the Washerman built himself a good house with the Gamarāla’s trees. The trees which the Gamarāla got were of no use to him.

Durayā. North-western Province.

The incident at the trial in the first part of this story occurs in a slightly different form in a folk-tale that I heard in Cairo. As I am not aware that it has been published I give it here, condensing the first portion (see No. 60).

The planting incidents are related by Rabelais, in Pantagruel, chapters 45 and 46. For the benefit of readers in Ceylon, I give the account:—

THE DEVIL AND THE HUSBANDMAN

This devil having arrived at the place, addressed a husbandman and asked him what he did. The poor man replied to him that he sowed that field of early wheat to assist him in living during the following year. “But really,” said the devil, “this field is not thine; it is mine and belongs to me …; however, I leave thee the field. But it is on condition we shall share the profit.” “I agree to it,” replied the husbandman. “I mean,” said the devil, “that of the coming profit we shall make two shares. The one shall be what grows above the ground, the other what shall be covered in the earth. The choice belongs to me, for I am a devil of a noble and ancient race; thou art only a villein. I choose that which will be in the ground, thou shalt have that above. When will the reaping be?” “In the middle of July,” replied the husbandman. “Now,” said the devil, “I need not be present here. In other respects do thy duty. Work, villein, work.”

The middle of July having come, the devil presents himself again at the place, accompanied by a squadron of little chorister devilets. Meeting there the husbandman, he said to him, “And now, villein, how hast thou been since my departure? It is requisite to make our division now?” “That is right,” replied the husbandman.

Then the husbandman, with his people, began to reap the corn. The little devils similarly drew the stubble from the ground. The husbandman threshed his corn in the air, put it in sacks, and carried it to the market to sell. The devilets did the same, and at the market seated themselves near the husbandman to sell their stubble. The husbandman sold his corn very well, and with the money filled an old sock which he carried at his belt. The devils sold nothing, but on the contrary the peasants jeered at them in the midst of the market.

The market being over, said the devil to the husbandman, “Villein, thou hast cheated me this time; at another thou shalt not deceive me.” “My Lord Devil,” replied the husbandman, “how have I cheated you who have chosen first? True it is that in that choice you thought of cheating me, hoping that nothing would come out of the ground as my share, and to find, below, the whole of the corn that I had sown …. But you are very young at the trade.”… “Leave this discourse,” said the devil; “with what canst thou sow our field this following year?” “For profit,” replied the husbandman, “and good economy it is expedient to sow radishes.” “Now then,” said the devil, “thou art an honest man; sow plenty of radishes. I shall protect them from tempests, and shall not hail at all on them. But, understand thoroughly, I keep as my share what shall be above ground; thou shalt have what is below. Work, villein, work.”

The time for the reaping having come, the devil was present at the spot with a squadron of household devilets. There, meeting the husbandman and his people, he began to reap and collect the leaves of the radishes. After him the husbandman dug and drew out the large radishes, and put them into sacks. So they went all together to the market. The husbandman sold his radishes very well. The devil sold nothing. What was worse, they jeered at him publicly.

“I see well, villain,” the devil then said, “that I am cheated by thee. I want to make an end of the field between thee and me.”

I add a variant of the cultivating caste, as some incidents are new.

The Gamarāla and the Washerman. (Variant.)

In a certain country there is a Gamarāla, it is said. A Washerman, having come there, became friendly with the Gamarāla. Having become friendly, he takes charge of the Gamarāla’s cattle for grazing. During the time while he was grazing them the two persons chop chenas and do rice field work.

The Gamarāla went there. Then the Washerman said, “Now then, the Gamarāhami indeed has cattle. I myself have no cattle. Because of it, let the after portion of this buffalo cow be for me. The front portion the Gamarāhami will be good enough to take.” The Gamarāla, having consented to that, said, “Hā. It is good.” Well then, in complete agreement they shared the buffalo cow.

Again, to share the buffalo bull the Washerman said, “Gamarāhami, let the front side of the buffalo bull be for me, the after side the Gamarāhami will be good enough to take.” Well then, the Gamarāla having consented to that also, by the agreement of the two persons they divided the buffalo bull also.

The buffalo cow having gone to the Gamarāla’s house eats by stealth. Men having come told the Gamarāla, “Gamarāla, your buffalo cow comes to our rice field [and eats the crop]. On that account attend well to its grazing.”

Then the Gamarāla said, “Don’t tell me. Tell that to the Washerman.”

Then the men having gone, told the Washerman, “Washerman, the buffalo cow that you are causing to graze eats by stealth [in our rice field]. Attend well to its grazing.”

The Washerman having come to the Gamarāla’s house, quarrelled with the Gamarāla [over it]. The Gamarāla became very angry.

Afterwards, the Gamarāla went to institute a lawsuit against the Washerman [on account of these matters]. That day, having entered the suit, and having come back to the village, he went to the Washerman to tell him the day of the trial. Having told him, the Gamarāla came home.

On the following day, the Washerman came to the Gamarāla. Afterwards, the Gamarāla having given the Washerman to eat and drink, and having made ready to go for the day of the trial, the Washerman said, “Gamarāhami, I have no [suitable] cloth to wear when going.” The Gamarāla gave (that is, lent) him a cloth. The Washerman putting on the cloth, both of them went for the trial-day.

When they asked the Washerman he said, “Because the front portion of the buffalo bull belongs to me, I will not allow him to plough with the buffalo bull. Because the front portion of the buffalo cow belongs to the Gamarāhami, the Gamarāhami must attend to the grazing,” he answered.

Then after the assessors had thus asked him they said, “What the Washerman said is true.”

Thereupon the Washerman says, “That gentleman (Rāhami) will now say that this cloth which I am wearing is the gentleman’s, maybe!”

The Gamarāla asked, “Yes, indeed. Whose is it, Bola, if that cloth is not mine?”

Then the Washerman says to the assessors, “There! Be good enough to look. Didn’t that gentleman just now say that the cloth I am wearing is the gentleman’s. In that manner, indeed, he has brought this lawsuit, also.”

At that time the assessors said to the Gamarāla, “There is not a thing for us to say regarding this [except that] he is to gain [the action] against you.”

Then the Gamarāla having lost, came back with the Washerman to the village.

At that time, while the Gamarāla was angry with the Washerman, the Gamarāla, having said that he must build a house for himself, and having gone to the jungle, cut Halmilla, Mīlla, Waewarana trees; these three sorts [of good timber trees].

Then the Washerman, having got news that he had cut these woods, also went to the jungle, and having said, “I also must build a house for myself,” cut Paepol wood, Murungā wood, Eramudu wood; those three sorts [of soft useless woods]. After heaping them together, he wrote a book [of sham prognostications]: “For the house [built] of Halmilla, begging; for the house of Waewarana, killing; for the house of Mīlla, begging; for the house of Paepol, land; for the house of Eramudu, purity; for the house of Murungā, purity.”

After writing these, the Washerman taking up the book while the Gama-Mahagē (the Gamarāla’s wife) was going past for water, says them over every day for the Gama-Mahagē to hear. The Gama-Mahagē having heard them, said to the Gamarāla, “A book of the Washerman’s says thus. Because of it, come with the Washerman, and having given him our small quantity of timber speak with him to allow us to take his small quantity of timber.”

Afterwards, the Gamarāla having gone to the Washerman, asked at the hand of the Washerman, “Washerman, give me your small quantity of timber, and take for yourself my small quantity of timber.”

Then the Washerman says, “I don’t know [if I can do it], Sir (Rāhamiyē). I cannot [willingly], through sorrow [at the loss to me], give you my small quantity of timber, indeed; but because the gentleman says it, any way whatever is good. Be good enough to take it.”

Afterwards the Gamarāla brought [home] the Washerman’s small quantity of timber. The Washerman brought the Gamarāla’s small quantity of timber. Having brought it, the Washerman with the small quantity of the Gamarāla’s timber thoroughly built the house for himself, the Gamarāla also building the house for himself from the Washerman’s timber. When only three months had gone, the Gamarāla’s house fell down, and the Gama-Mahagē, having been underneath it, died. The house which the Washerman built from good timber remained in good condition.

North-western Province.