Another anecdote from the series ‘Lankan village stories’ started in our Issue No.26.
(Narrator: This story is only about 100 years old).
There was once a king who owned a white horse. The king was quite famous for his lack of common sense and was very fond of the horse because it was strong and intelligent. The people did not respect the king very much because of his foolish ways.
In the village there lived a wise man who was well respected by all. Because of this, the king did not like the wise man. One day the king thought he would destroy the reputation of the wise man because the king was jealous of the wise man. The king called the wise man to his palace and told him that he should train the horse, that had been named ‘Charley’, to speak in English. ‘I will give you 2 weeks to train my Charley to speak in English or else I will banish you from my kingdom’. The wise man went home very depressed and did not know what to do.
The wise man had an intelligent wife. They had a lovely home situated next to the Darrawela Cricket club in the Hatton region. The adjoining lands were the new tea estates owned by English people.
Darrawela Cricket Club
When the wise man told his wife about the king’s command, she told the husband not to worry. She said to teach Charley just one English word within the time given and return to see the king on the appointed date. She also gave a plan to the wise man to get out of the difficult task.
Within the 2 weeks the wise man taught Charley just one word and that word was ‘OK’ – it was a noise similar to a horse regurgitating its food. On the appointed day the wise man took Charley to the king and said, ‘My lord, the horse can speak in English, but it is very difficult to teach him to speak fluently like an Englishman’. He then asked Charley, who had just been given some food, to speak in English and the horse said ‘OK’. The foolish king was very impressed.
Someone in the audience said, ‘‘අනේ හොඳයි’ very good for Charley’, and another played a modern tune on the ‘රබාන’ (hand drum).
Then the wise man told the king ‘My lord. It is a hard job but give Charley a fair chance. It will take at least 7 years for Charley to speak in full sentences with an Englishman’s accent. Also, he must be with me all the time and you must give enough food for Charley during the training period and allow me to ride it’. The king agreed. Soon the wise man took Charley home and kept it at the expense of the king.
Image by – RichardDrawing
The wise man allowed Charley to make friends with two tea planters, Thomas and James, who trained Charley to speak like an Englishman in English and play good cricket. Everyone including Charley, the wiseman and the tea planters became winners.
However, before the expiry of 7 years, the king died, and Charley became the permanent property of the wise man, a good cricketer and good friend of all the tea planters in the upcountry region. When he heard that the king had died Charley said, ‘Well done Old Boy’ in an immaculate Oxford accent. ‘හුම්’ said some person in the audience. Another person played some music on the rabanna (a hand drum). Some coconut toddy in a ‘pol cutta’ was passed around for a drink and everyone was happy.
By Rudra de Zoysa. MNZM – Gold Coast , Australia
Honorary Consul for Sri Lanka in New Zealand (Retired after 20 years of service):
Dean of the Wellington Consular Corps (Retired).
Founding Member of United Sri Lanka Association:
Founding Member of the Sri Lanka Association of New Zealand.
