A

No. 15

The Prince and the Yakā

1

KING of a single city had one son, who was a Prince of five years. At that time, a Yakā 1 having settled in that kingdom began to devour the people of the city, and by reason of this the whole city was like to be abandoned. At last, the King and the men of the city, making great efforts, seized the Yaka, and having made an iron house, put him in it, and shut the door.

At that time it became necessary for the King of the city to go to war. After he had gone off to the war, when the King's son one day had opened the door of the house in which was the man-eating Yakā, and was looking at him, the Yakā fell down, and made obeisance to him, and signifying his misery to the Prince, began to weep. So the Prince, pitying him, told the Yakā to go away. Then the Yakā, saying to the Prince, "It is good. I will assist you, too," went away.

After he had left, when the Prince had gone home the King who had gone to the war returned, having conquered. When he looked at the room in which the Yakā had been, the door was open. The King asked who had opened the door. The Queen replied that the Prince opened it. Then the King said, “ To-morrow I must behead that wicked Prince."

The Queen, being sorry at this, having tied up a packet of cooked rice, and given it and money to the Prince, and having given him a horse and sword, said, "The King has settled to behead you to-morrow for letting the Yakā escape. Go away at night to any country you like."

1 In these stories the Yakās are always evil spirits or demons.

So the Prince, taking the money and the bundle of cooked rice, and the sword, mounted the horse, and set off to go to another country. There was a travellers' shed at the road along which he was going. As he was unable to go further on account of weariness, he went that night to the travellers' shed; and having fastened the horse to one of the posts of the shed, he lay down, placing the bundle of rice at his side.

Then seeing a youth running along the road, he called him, and asked, "Boy, where art thou going?

The boy said, "I am going to a place where they give to eat and to wear."

Then the Prince said, "I will give you pay. Stop and look after my horse."

The youth said, "It is good. I will stay."

The Prince said, "I do not know the fords in this country; therefore tell me of a path by which we can go to another country."

The youth replied, "There is a river here. On the other side of it there is a city, to go to which there is not a short road from here. However, there is another road further on. By it we must pass over a bridge."

"If so," said the Prince," having bathed here let us go." Having seen that three Princesses who were at the city on the other side were bathing, he also was pleased at bathing there. After he had gone to bathe, the three Princesses of the King of the country on the other side, when they looked saw the good figure of this Prince.

After that, as the Prince wished to go after bathing, the youth who was to look after the horse having mounted it, began to ride away, wearing the Prince's clothes, and taking the sword.

When the Prince, having bathed, and seen the Princesses on the other bank putting on their clothes, came ashore to put on his clothes, on his looking for them there were no clothes, no sword, no horse. The youngest Princess of the three who had bathed on the other side well knew what had happened.

This Prince, having on only his bathing cloth, bounded

off, and while running along overtook the horse and youth. When he was still far away, the youth said, "Do not come near me; should you come I will cut you with the sword. If you are willing to look after this horse, take hold of its tail and come."

Then because that one in any case must go to the city, he said, "It is good," and having taken hold of the horse's tail went with him. Going thus from there, they arrived

at the city.

It was a custom of the King of that country that, having sent a guard, when any one of the men of another country arrived, he was to write the names of those persons, and come to the King. When these persons arrived, a guard being there asked their names. The youth who came on the horse said, “My name is Mānikka Seṭṭiyā; except the youth who looks after my horse, there is no one else with me."

The guard having gone, said to the King, "Lord, a person called Manikka Seṭṭiyārē has come and is there, together with a horse-keeper.

Then the King thought," Because the man called Mānikka Seṭṭiyārē has this name, Mānikka, he will be able to value my gem" (mānikya). A gem of the King's having been taken through the whole country, no one had been able to value it.

So having summoned that Mānikka Seṭṭiyārē, the King, after giving him food and drink, showed him it, and said, "Mānikka Seṭṭiyārē, there is my gem. Can you value it?" That Manikka Seṭṭiyārē replied, "My horse-keeper will tell you the value."

The King became angry because he said, "My horsekeeper will tell you it," and indignantly caused the horsekeeper to be brought speedily, and asked, "Can you value this?" The horse-keeper Prince said, "If I try hard I can." Then the King gave it into his hands.

Taking it and weighing it, and learning when he looked at it that there was sand inside the gem, he said, “As it now appears to me, the value of this gem is four sallis" (halffarthings).

The King becoming angry asked, "How do you know?' The Prince replied, "There is sand inside this gem." Then the King asked, " Can you cut it, and show me it?" The horse-keeper said, "If you will ask for the sword belonging to that Mānikka Seṭṭiyārē, I will cut it and show you it."

After that, the King gave him the sword that was in the hand of the Seṭṭiyārē. Then the horse-keeper, taking the sword, and remembering the name of his father the King, and thinking," By the favour of the Gods, if it be appointed that it will happen to me to exercise sovereignty over this city, I must cut this gem like cutting a Kaekiri fruit," put the gem on the table, and cut it with the sword. Then the sand that was in the gem fell out, making a sound, "Sara sara."

Afterwards the King, thinking, "When this horse-keeper knows so much, how much doesn't this Seṭṭirāla know!” having given food and drink to the horse-keeper, and also to the Seṭṭiyārē, and having greatly assisted them, made them stay there a little time.

The youngest Princess well knew the wicked things that this Seṭṭiyārē was saying about the horse-keeper youth. On account of her great sorrow concerning this horse-keeper, the Princess instructed the butler who gave the food at the royal house: "Give the horse-keeper who accompanied that Manikka Seṭṭiyārē, food like that you prepare for me, and a bed for sleeping on, and assist him a little."

After that, the butler and the rest helped him. The Prince was unwilling to enjoy that pleasure. "Anē! I am a horse-keeper. Do not you assist me in that way," he said.

After that, the King's youngest Princess, for the sake of sending the Prince away from the post of looking after the horse, went to the King, and wept while saying thus: "Anē! Father, because of this youth who looks after them, my sheep are nearly finished. On that account, taking the horse-keeper who came with that Seṭṭiyārē, to look after my sheep, let us send the youth who looks after the sheep to look after the horse."

1 Piyanan-wahansē.

The King replied, "Having asked the Seṭṭiyārē we can do it."

The King having asked the Seṭṭiyārē the thing she told him, "You can do it," he said; and after he had thus spoken to the Seṭṭiyārē it was done. So the horse-keeper went to look after the sheep. Having gone there, while he was looking after them for a long time, the sheep increased in number by hundreds of thousands.

One day, when the King had gone for hunting sport into the midst of the forest, he was seized there by a Yakā. After being seized, he undertook to give the Yakā the King's three Princesses, and having escaped by undertaking this charge he came back.

Next day he made a proclamation through the whole city by beat of tom-toms. What was it? "Having been seized yesterday in the forest by a Yakā, I only escaped by promising to give him my three Princesses. To-morrow a Princess, on the day after to-morrow a Princess, on the day after that a Princess; in this manner in three days I am giving the three Princesses. If a person who is able to do it should deliver them, having married that person to them, I will appoint him to the kingdom."

Then Manikka Seṭṭiyārē said, "I can do it."

On that day, that Prince who was looking after the sheep went to look after them. While he was there, a man, taking a sheep, ran off into the chena jungle. While bounding after him in order to recover it, having gone very far, the Prince saw him go down the hole of a polangā snake.

After going near the polanga's hole, and looking down it, and seeing that the hole descended into the earth, the Prince went along that tunnel. Having gone on from there it became dark, and going on in the darkness he saw a very great light. Having gone to the light, when he looked about there was a man asleep, wearing very many clothes.

Then it was in the mind of this shepherd to go away, and in his mind not to go. If you should say, " Who was sleeping there?" it was the Yakā who had formerly been in that iron house, and had left it. That Yakā at that very time saw in a dream that the Prince who had sent him out of that house