Year: 1864

e


The following story heard BY the present narrator
in ceylon:


In Handy, during the days Of the Kandyan
kings of the Island Ceylon, on pleasant, cool
December evening, three strong men were sitting
in a st-house or amblemmay- that Isl small
open building raised for the benefit of travellers
by some pious person IN accordance with the, say
ings of Budha, that the gods reward such works
of charity.


AS the men sat in the glow of the sunset, mid
delayed widow, in deep mourning, came by. Ihe
three men rose and bowed to her. She also made
bow to them.


s.That bow was for me- 2 said one of the men,
ssNo said the second, 1T was mime NO,
said the third, 1t was to me she bowed. They
quarrelled over the matter for some time, but at
last agreed that il would be better to run as fast as
they could after the widow, and ask her TO which
/ of them she bowed They did SO, reached her nut
of breath, gasped at her their question, and One
only answer they got was, To the greatest SIM
pleton among you.


Then they returned to the rest-house calmly,
but only to quarrel again


aDid / not tell Vol. said one, that she bow
ed to me? J. am the greatest simpleton here
i s.Non said each Of the other two i am plore OF
a simpleton than you They quarrellod thus for
some time, and, fromwOrds coming to blows, they
ouarreled till they were stopped by the police,
who locked them up in separate cells, and carried
them next day before Judge, The Judge, hay
ing heard the cause Of dispute, called upon one st
the men to produce evidence Ton hls clam TO be
so great simpleten.


fMy lord, said he, when ! was about eigh7
teen years old, my father and my mother set eyes
on young woman whom they chose to be my
wife. They thought she would be faithful, indus
trious and thrifty. She was expected to inherit
few fields She was of the same caste as oursel-
YES, and of good family Proposals, therefore,
were made and accepted, and soon afterwards, ac
eording to the laws of the country, had to Visit
my future mother-in-law, at whose house, though
not allowed to do by the strict rules OF society,"
| vet by some contriyed chance, my intended wife
would show her face to me. had far to travel,
and, starting at midday, arrived late IN the even
ing when was most cordially received, and most
kindly requested to stay for the night and return
home next day. 10 this / consented, with all
seeming reluctance although it had been the OH
jeet of my journey, and | was fully persuaded that
! glance at my future partner In the cool Of the
morning would be betterethan one in the dusk OF
the evening. had an excellent dinner, apd slept
scundly under a roof which / already regarded as
my own. In the morning / awoke refreshed
and went out of doors to wash myself as usual. =
| found, of course, awaiting me- a braZen pot 1ull
, of water for washing my face, hands, and feet, as
we'll as piece of charcoal for cleaning my teeth
finished my ablutions soon and, on hooking back,
observed a beautiful young woman, who sat At
some distance from me- washing rice Tor our morn
ing meal Her embarrassed air. and some smiles
which stole over her face almost agalbsF her VIII
easily told me tnat she was my DeOnfOlleu dlta 4
in defiance of our customs quietly went near, and
spoke to her, as there nobody In sight. she
was not so shy as to leave her work and run away,
but stayed and returned short modest answers to
. my questions At length went very close to her,
tanned her en- the shoulder. and playiulls taking
up handful Of the rice she was washing, had Just
put it into my mouth, when, to our utter confusion
her mother made her appearance. ] quickly re-
moved myself to a respectful distance, but had not
time to bite swallow the rice, and so was Obliged
| to keep it between my gums and cheek. Iills
showed as a lump, which my mother-ln-law who
was to be, most unfortunately mistook for gum
| boil


- All how are you this morning?' said she


You have got gum-bo Yes, answered L,
but it does not give me any pain at present, 50
intend to leave it alone till it forms matter You
should not do that, child, continued she; you
should get it cured Immediately. | shall send for
IS a doctor No, said |, in bitter desperation, we
have very good doctor practicing near our yil-
Vt lage. shall, as soon as we reach home, put my
self under his care But my evasions and excuses
could not battle her ohiciousness. The doctor vas
y sent for and, until he came, she eetured me on
the evil of permitting any sickness to come to a
r head and, now and then she felt my gum-boil--


The doctor at length arrived and he also examined
n it, He pronounced 1t to be one OF very maig-
nant sort, but curabe. Now during all this time,


my ofcious nlother-in-law had her eye on my
IS cheek and had committed myself so far that ]
l. could not deceive her Shame at confessing a
fllsehood as well as the fear of exposing my pre-
A. vious indiscrction, alike kept me silent. SAT


mute with astonishment at the position to which
: had reduced myself until the doctor, who had
T. been busy in the kitchen, suddenly care out, and,
= before had time to avoid hIn, put redhot hook


into my ggm-boL. l howled and jumped, but he
ST had made deep wound, and out of it came the
re lice had inside All present now saw the truth


and the doctor, picking up the rice, cried at me
e. You big simpleton when you had only rice il
r your mouth, why did you not say so I | made


no answer but took to my heels and ran home
- Thus lost good wife, and the prospect of gooc
f. fortune and have ever since believed myself the


greatest simpleton yet born


Having laughed heartily at this story, the judge
is turned to the second man, and asked, What evi
m dence have you sir of your right to the bow yor


claim2"


ey my story is short he answered, s'but it vii
tn show that have much right to the bow as any


man. married early, and tried to be happy, bu


/ found that my wife could not manage the house
TO without help; so married another wife. (poygo
u my being allowed in my country and though


that all would be well managed by the two, and
" should get my rest after my day labor in the
Il fields But alasl / was mistaken. had no more


rest at home IF [ spoke to one wife for a few


minutes, the other complained that | did no
s. speak to her | was not able to bestowon one The
re least attention or kindness by deed word or ever
70 by look without suffering from the Others eal


ousy Thus | lost all peace at home and wa
n quite miserable whenever bad weather or any
ar other cause obliged me to STAY in doors. wa,
40 harrassed in this manner until lost all patience


and told them there was only one thing to be done


and that was, they must take me each by les
at and pull away till they divided me between them
/ had no sooner spoken, than they took me at NJ,


word They siezed me by my feet and began t
n pull away with all their strength each irving
n out-pull the other. In this extremity coulC
le only scream for help The neighbors rushed il
ur and was extricated but such was the laughin.


and jeering, and hooting at the smpieton whl


had thus given himself up TO his wives, that haC
Y, TO fly from my country, and now | am here a beg
= gar Ny eountrymen have ever since, even up t.
is this day, spoken of me as the Great Simpeton
This story having been told, the third man, a


the request Of the JUDGE, related the following: