Writer-Rudra de Zoysa. MNZM- Honorary Consul for Sri Lanka in New Zealand (Retired after 20 years of service): Dean of the Wellington Consular Corps (Retired): Lecturer in Applied Management, The Open Polytechnic of NZ: Pioneering supporter of the Bhodinyanarama Temple, Stokes Valley: Pioneering Donor of the DhammaGavesi Meditation Centre, Wainuiomata: Founding Member of United Sri Lanka Association: Founding Member of the Sri Lanka Association of New Zealand.

Folklore is the body of expressive culture, including tales, music, dance, legends, oral history, proverbs, superstitions, and so forth, common to a particular population, that comprise the traditions of that culture, subculture, or group.

I intend writing a few village folk tales not only for those who are unfamiliar with Lankan culture but also for those who, like me, love and venerate the little island called Sri Lanka, our home, with its natural beauty, fascinating history, and ancient culture that is over 5000 years old.

History of Folk Tales

A brief historical sketch (essentially factual) is called for. Let us not forget that Lanka is an island and many traders and warlike invaders passed through the country from time immemorial. These visitors brought with them goods and money for trading and stories from their own land. Many of these stories were adapted to the local scene and added to the stock of existing stories. Needless to say, our own stories developed indigenously and were in turn exported. In ancient times villages were created by people who worked the land for rice and other food crops. Successful agricultural activities needed a constant supply of water.

Agricultural Civilization

With the immigration of Aryans from Eastern India to Lanka in around 500 BC, cultivation of rice developed into a grand scale in the island. As the new essentially agricultural Aryan civilization flourished, increasingly ambitious projects of irrigation were launched at a pace with a view to harness the monsoon rains. Lanka is a classic example of the “hydraulic civilization” which had developed in the ancient period. It can be safely deduced that the first great reservoirs ever in the world were built in Lanka.

Reservoirs and Villages

The rainwater reservoirs developed in the ancient kingdom of Anuradhapura (437 BC – 845 AD) and Polonnaruwa (846 AD – 1302 AD), in the dry zone of central lowlands resulted in two seasons of farming while the wet zone remained sparsely populated and covered by thick forests. Today around 12,000 ancient small dams & nearly 320 ancient large dams together with thousands of man-made lakes dot the lowlands, with over 10,000 reservoirs in the Northern Province alone. These are impressive facts that we can be proud of. Little villages sprang up everywhere (including one called Andiambalama -with a population of about 7- near Lahugala in which I spent 2 nights in 1968). These villages were isolated from each other and had to contend with the natural fauna that were also prevalent.  Many stories are about animals and how they interact with each other or how they relate to human beings.

Oral Tradition

Folklore is ‘a part of oral traditions which are the messages or testimonies transmitted orally from one generation to another.’ The testimonies are transmitted in the form of folk tales, sayings, ballads, songs, or chants. In this way, it is possible for a society to transmit history, literature, law, and other knowledge orally across the generations without any writing system.

Intellectual Effort

Storytelling is the intellectual effort of people who have little use or have not yet acquired the art of writing. A story is told for amusement by mothers to their children, or by one adult to another while sipping intoxicants from coconut shells (pol katu), while guarding their fields at night in their watch-hut or before lying down to sleep after their night meal.

At each pause during the narration, the listeners have to say “hondhai”  හොඳයි or buzz a tune that says “hum” හුම් as an encouragement to the narrator that they are listening to. Sometimes there will be a session of music (mainly on rabanas). Some tales begin with the phrase “eka mathaka rataka” (in a country that one recalls to mind), while others may begin with the phrase “eka mathaka kalayaka” (once upon a time).

 The Orientalist

A few stories that are produced here are from The Orientalist, a journal published during the years 1884 – 1894, whose editor was Mr. W. Goonetilleke. A few others are from those collected by H. Parker. Some stories have been collected from village gatherings in the jungle where the narrator has had much experience. The origin of almost all stories is to be found in village folklore and no one person may claim to be its creator or designer.

Kings, Queens. Princess, and Princes

In a few stories, the adventures of so-called kings, queens, princesses, and princes are not really members of the ruling monarchs but are ordinary people administering over a small area of land or city. Of all the animals depicted in the stories, the leopard occupies the lowest places both regarding intelligence and lion heartedness. The jackal is almost all the time very guileful and full of crafty plans. The rabbit and the turtle are almost always full of cleverness and good nature.

By Rudra de Zoysa – Gold Coast, Australia