thou carriest an epistle in the native language, expressive of the prosperity of the Indra-like prince Sapumal." Another reputable, and confessedly beautiful poem, the Guttille, was written at this period by a priest of Wettèwe, who is said to have been a pupil of Tottagamuwa. In point of imagery, originality, elegance of language, and in beauty and correctness of versification, it is inferior to none of our poets except Tottagamuwa. In a course of reading prescribed by Meeripenne, than whom there is scarcely a more competent authority in the present age, Guttile ranks as the next easiest to Kusajatake of Alagiawanna Mohottala, and the next best to Tottagamuwa's Kaviasekare. We fully concur in this opinion; and quote the following soliloquy of the hero of the tale, in reflecting upon the ingratitude of his pupil Musilaya, who after perfecting himself in the art of music, challenged his master: දියෙහීයනදන්ඩ නොවව් නබස සැබෑ කෙලෙම කොපමන ගුන කල දුද නෝ නොවෙතියහ කිරිදියෙ නිදෙවිය අඟුර සුදුවෙන කලෙක්නම්නැත් දුරු කර හිරි ඔත පෙන්වියද ද න ගු න හැ 3 පෙවූ කිරි වැන්න විසගොරස ප් "He has indeed attested the truth of the old adage'even if ye should render assistance to a stick, which is borne down by the current, don't you render any to the wicked.' As a piece of charcoal will never be white, however much you may dip (wash) it in milk: so, likewise, however much benefit you may confer upon the wicked, grateful they will never prove themselves to be. Without shame, and fearless of sin, he has exhibited the pride of the wicked. The knowledge which we have imparted to him has proved to be nothing short of milk, with which a highly venomous serpent has been fed!" The prose of this age sustains a like character as the poetry which we have reviewed. For a good specimen thereof the reader is referred to the selection from the commentary on the Bawudha' Sataka, which we made at p. lxvii. It is far more elegant than the following extract from an Inscription now found at Pepiliana, a few miles from Cotta. ශ්‍රී බුද්ධවරුෂයෙන් එක්දහස් නවසියඅට පනස් අවුරුද්දක් පිරු නුසඳ සිරිලක රජ පැමිනි මහා සම්මත පරම්පරානුයත සූර්යයාච ශාභිජාත මහාරාජාධිරාජස්‍රි සංඝබෝධි සුද්‍රාක්‍රමබාහු වක්‍ර වර්ති ස්වාමින් වහන්සේට එකුන්සාලිස්වනු මැදින් දින පුර පසලොස් චක ජයවර්ධන පුර පුවරයෙහි සුමඟල ප්‍රාසාදාභි මුඛ චිත්ත්‍ර මඬප යෙහි සිංහාසනයෙහි සිරි නිවෙස්සහ ඔටුනු සිව් සැටබර නින් සංදී රජ යුවරජ ඇමති ගන පිරිවරා දේවේන්ද්‍ර ලීලාවෙන් වැඩ හිඳ හැමතන්හී කලමනා කටයුක්නට ව්‍යවස්ථාවදාරණ තැන ස්ව ර්ගස්ථ වූ මවුබිසවුන්වහන්සේට පින් පිනිස අභිනව විහාරයක් කරවන ලෙසට රානිවාසල කාරියෙහි නියුක්ත සිකුරා මුදල් පො තුන්ට වදාල මෙහෙවරින් පස්විසිදහසක් ධන වියදම් කොට පා නබුනු බඳ පැපිලියානෙහි ප්‍රාකාරගෝපුර ප්‍රතිමාග්‍රහ ඬප බෝ ධීචෛත්‍ය සංඝාවාසි දේවාලස්තරය පුස්තකාලය ජුපාරාමප ලාරාමාදීන් යුක්ත කොට සමුර්ධකර වූවිහාරය චිර ස්ථායි වර්ධන වන පිනිස පිදුයෙන් "Whereas with a view to its stability and prosperity, the following things, to wit; ramparts, towers, image-houses, halls, Bô trees, dagaps, (pagodas or monuments), pansils (or houses for priests), outer temples or dèwàlas, buildings or repositories for books, flower gardens, and orchards or parks, have been offered for (the use of) the Temple, which was founded or built at an expense of 25000 (current coins of the highest value), at Pepiliàna in the district of Pànabunu (Pantura), and in pursuance of the orders (unto Sikuru Mudal, one of the chiefs of the king's household, directing him to erect a new temple with a view to impart merit unto the Queen, the king's mother, who had gone to heaven), given on the 15th day of the lunar month of Medin'dinna (March-April), when the moon had attained her fulness, in the 1958th year of the renowned Budhistical era, and in the 39th of the reign of the Emperor Sree Sangabòdhi Sree Prakhrama Bahu, born of the Solar Race, and a descendant of the King Maha' Sammata; orders given by the king himself, whilst he presenting his noble appearance, attired in his four and sixty ornaments, crowned with his crown, and surrounded by kings, governors, subkings, and ministers, sat like Indra, giving orders in respect of the affairs of the whole state, on his throne which was erected on the adorned hall opposite to the square (palace) called Sumangala in the chief city of Jayawardana (Cotta):" In the course of our narrative and before entering upon a period during which the Portuguese held sway in the island, we are enabled to present to the notice of the reader, a name which stands illustrious amongst the brightest luminaries of science-Weedagama, called after the name of his village in the Rygamkorle. He was a priest of great learning, deep research, and much piety. In his Budugunalankàra, he has drawn a correct picture of Budha and Budhism. His imagery drawn from Budhistical literature and nature is felicitous; his language elegant and happy, and his dietion beautiful and correct. In the selection which we have already made from this work (see p. xcii.) the poet says that he composed it in the 3rd year of the reign of Buwanckabahu, i. e. in the year of our Lord 2015. According to the Mahawansa, Buwanekebahu VI. ascended the throne in 1464, A. D., or 2307 A. B. Thus, then, there is a discrepancy of 5 years between the two accounts. We can hardly believe that the poet who gives the date of his own work could be mistaken. Indeed it is more probabie that the historian is in error. Weedágama wrote another work, the Lòwedasangrahaya; and it is also believed that he was the author of a Tisara Sandesa. At all events, the two works which bear the name of Tisarasandesa, were written at this period. The Lòwedasangrahaya, is a.work containing maxims of a moral, religious, and prudential character; and the Tisarasandese is a poetical epistle of considerable length. Beneath we extract from both: FROM THE LOWEDA SANGRAHAYA කොතන උනත් නැ මරු හට බා දා කුම නැටුම් කෙලිකවට සිනා දා අද අද එයි මරු පින් කර ගන් . කෙලෙස ද සෙට මරු නේ හි සිතන් ලද මහ සෙරු ඇ පවනි කුමට දකුසලට කම්මැලි වන් නේ නේ නේ නේ "Wherever we may be, death finds no impediment. The prosperity which we enjoy will last only so long as we have merit: wherefore, then, do you enjoy yourselves in dance, play, joke, and mirth, without faith in Budha's doctrines, which are able to save you from the ills of metempsychosis? Do ye meritorious acts, knowing that to-day even to-day will death come. How know ye that he will not come to-morrow! Will death of mighty forces ever indulge you with (a postponement) delay ? Wherefore then, are you slothful [to perform] meritorious acts ? " FROM THE TISARA SANDese. D ල නතුණු අඟින් තුඟු පුන්පිය වු රෙ පි ය ත කොළ සො මුව "Proceed on thy course and next behold Colombo, an habitation of much prosperity, the incessant abode of thousands of lovely young women, whose full-orbed bosoms which are borne by their slender bodies, at a glance captivate the eyes and affections of the beholder. And passing through Mutwall, the mouth of the river, behold its females who ever swarm before the sensual;-females, who like the very goddesses, are the delight of all except the ascetic, and whose lips (mouths) by reason of their redness resemble the colour of tender buds.” We also extract below the following from the other Tisara Sandesa, which was written at this period, and which is characterized by correctness of versification and great olegance of style: ලෙල මුතු දැල් ද ල පුං ඩු සේ සතෙයි ය ව සින් " When the sun, having risen on mount Ulaya, shall have at once illumined the world, and lovely [dazzling] king Parakkramabahu shall have taken his seat on his high throne, lined with white silk, and under an ivory umbrella of waving pearl-strung net-work ; and when, like heavenly beings in the society of India, scious of royalty, (the brilliancy of whose jewels and dress is like that of the Sun, and the splendour of whose personal charms wins the affections of women-kind), shall have assembled on both sides [of the king:]" As a specimen of alliteration in prose, we give the following paragraph which was written at this period. It is composed by avoiding all letters inflected with vowels; and |