dying the Singhalese. For obvious reasons we refrain from a critical notice of them. 4. Dampiawa * is a translation made from the Pali into Singhalese by the late Pandit Don Thomasz Modliar; see notice of him at p. ccxlvii. It is written in an easy chaste style, and forms part of Budha's Sermons, treating of the tenets of Budhism. We select the following specimen therefrom. බො සියළු ලොවට නායක වූ බුදුරජාණන් වහන්සේ විසින් දේස නා කරණ ලද මේදම් පියාවේ ගාථා වල පෙනීතිබෙන අභිප්‍රාවල් මදක් එහුඬෙන් සිංහල කරණු ලැබේ. ඒ කෙසේද යත් සෑමකල්පනාවලට සිතම මුල් වන්නේය. සිතම උතුම් වන්නේය,, ඒ එසේමය,, යම් සත්ව කෙනෙක් නපුරු වූ කෙලසුනා වූ නො සතුටු වූ කැලඹුනා වූ සිතින් යුක්තව, ඇත්ත නැති කොට රු කීමද, ප්‍රිය විස්වාසයන් භෙද කරණ පිණිස කියන කේලාම ද, ආයුධයකින් ඇනපුවා සේ සිතරි දෙන්නට කියන ඵරුෂ වචන යද, තමන්ටවත් අනුන්ටවත් කිසි වැඩක් නැති ප්‍රලාප බසද, මෙකී අකුසල් සතර වචනයෙන් සිඳු කරගන්නේ කරුණාවක් නැතිව ඉතාරෞද්‍රවතැලීමෙන් හිංසා පීඩා කිරීමෙන් සතුන් මැරී මඳ අනුසන්තකවස්තු බලාත්කාරයෙන්වත් හොරක මින්වත් පැහැරගැන්මද අනුන්සන්තක ස්ත්‍රීන් සමග හොරෙ එකතුවීමද මෙකී අකුසල් තුනකයින් සිදු කරගන්නේය. අනුන්නේ ඉසුරු සම්පත් තමන්ට ඇත්නම් යහපතැයිනබල වත් ලෝභකම ද අනුන්න සිත්වයි යන නපුරු කල්පනාවද කු සල් නැත අකුසල් නැත මව්පියෝනැත මෙලෝනැත පරලෝ නැත යහපත් මහණ බමුණෝ නැත දුන්නා වූ දානයෙහි ඵල වි පාක නැතැයි කියා තමනුත්සිතාගණ අනුන්ට කියා දෙමින් සදාකල් ලෝකේ ඇති දේ නැති කොට ගන්නා ලද මිථ්‍ය ප්‍රිස්ටි යද මෙකී පව් තුන සිතින් සිදුකරගන්නේය මෙසේ කයිබ සින් සිතින් මෙකී දස අකුසල් නුවණ මදකම නිසා සිදු කොට ගෙන නරකය තිරිසන්යෝනිය ප්‍රෙත ලෝකය අසුරකා පයියන සතර අපායෙහි ද මිනිස් ලොව දුඃඛිතව ඉපදීමෙන්ද, සැරිරයෙන් හා සිතින්දුක් විඳීමට පැමිනෙන්නේය කුමක් මෙන්දයත්,, ගැලෙහි යොදන ලදුව ගැල ඇඳගෙන යන්නා වූ * There is also a Sanne or paraphrase into the Singhalese. * Sic in orig ගොනුන්ගේ පියටර එක්ව ඔහුන් පසුපස්සේ යන්නා වූ ගැල්සක් මෙන්කයින් බසින් සිතින් දස අකුසල්කලා වූ පුද්ගලයා උපනු පන්තැන්වලට අත්ත්නොහැර අකුසළුත් කැටි වයන්නේය "The significations of the stanzas contained in Dampiyawa, which was preached by Budha, the chief of the whole world is briefly translated into the Singhalese [as follows:] That is to say; the mind alone is the root of all thoughts, the mind alone is the chief [principle] of all thoughts. It is even so. If any being actuated by wicked, evil, displeasing, inflamed mind; shall speak falsehood by suppressing the truth; and shall back-bite with a view to commit a breach between affectionate friends, and shall make use of reproachful words which may be to one's feelings as hurtful as if (he had been) stabbed with an instrument, and shall give utterance to vain talk, which is neither profitable to himself nor to others; he shall commit these four sins by word. The killing of beings by bruising them very severely and mercilessly, and by oppressing or tormenting them; the taking away of property of other people either by force or theft; the illicit intercourse with other people's wives; are the three sins which are committed by body. But the three following sins are committed by the heart; viz. inordinate covetousness [i. e. desiring for one's self] the property and possessions of others; an evil wish for the death of others; and unbelief; i. e. belief in the non-existence of whatever exists in the world, by communing [with himself] and saying to others that there is no merit-no demerit-no present [world] existence"-no after-world-neither are there parents [father mother]†-and good priests and Brahmins +-nor does reward 66 The words which we have literally rendered no present existence, no after-world; " mean," that there is no transmigration of souls from this world into another et vice versa. "Neither are there parents:" i. e. honouring and serving parents. Unbelief in the merits arising from So likewise with reference to the expression ["Neither are there] good priests and Brahmins," the words "Unbelief in the merits arising from serving priests and rendering charities towards Brahmins" are understood. or profit result from the charitable gift of anything. Thus by reason of the want of wisdom, having committed the aforesaid ten sins by body, word, and thought, a person happens to endure pain (sorrow) both in mind and body, being born to trouble (sorrow) either in the Human-world, or in any of the four following infernal regions, viz. Hell, Brute-creation, [Animal-kingdom] Existence of a Hobgoblin, or the world of Devils called Asura: † Exempli gratia: As the wheel of a waggon drawn by bullocks which are put into a waggon, follows their footsteps, so likewise sin closely, and without leaving him, follows the divers existences of the person who has committed the ten sins by means of his mind, body, and thought." 5. The Pansiapanasjàtake is the largest book extant in Singhalese. It contains, as its name imports," the history of 550 Incarnations" of Gowtama. It was translated from the Pali about A. D. 1312-1347. (see a portion of its Introduction at p. clxxvi.) Its composition is good, neither too antiquated nor too modern. We would recommend its style for the adoption of the student; (see a selection from the work at p. clxxvii.) Its probable cost is from £7. 10s. to £15. It is, however, not easily procurable. 6. The Tupawansa is a Singhalese work, containing an account of the death of Budha, and of the manner in which his relics were disposed of. It is comparatively a small work, and may be procured at an expense of 7s. 6d. Its style is unexceptionable ;-see a specimen at p. clxxv. 7. The Rajawalia is a chronicle of "the succession of the kings" of Ceylon, extending to the arrival of the Dutch in the island, written at different periods in an easy and unlaboured style; (see a selection from this work at p. lxvi.) It is easily procurable, probably at an expense of 6s. • See in Clough's Dictionary. † A detestable order of devils or spirits; see in Clough's Dictionary. See a brief account of this work in the Journal of the Ceylon Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, No. III. p. 111. MINUTE By the Governor. I have had under my consideration the mode of examining parties desiring to pass an examination in the Native Languages. 2. It appears to me, that some fixed Rules should be established, defining the nature of the examination required to be undergone. I therefore propose the following: 3. The student should be required to translate from two or three of the following works: In Singhalese. The Bala Prahbodena. Histories published by the School Commission. The Tupawansa. The Rajawallea. In Tamil. The Neethe Venpa. [1] The Kural. [2] The Thesavalame or Country Laws of Jaffna. [3]. [1] This is a small work in Shen-Tamil, containing one hundred Stanzas, written by Afve, an authoress of great repute. It treats of proverbs, and moral maxims, &c., of a character with Hitopadesa. [2.] A poem, also in Shen-Tamil, written by the cebrated Thira-Valluwar, brother of Afve. It treats also on moral subjects. Several commentaries upon the text are extant. Also two translations into English. This as well as Neethi Venpha has been printed. [3] "The Country laws of Jaffna," is a little work in easy prose. See an abridged English version of the same appended to the Translation of Van Lee wen's commentaries on the Roman-Dutch law. [4] "Turnour's Epitome of the History of Ceylon," is in easy prose.—Its style is unexceptionable. The Calladakam. [5] The Government Ordinances. [6] The Barathum. [8] 4. Translations should also be made from written Olas given by the examiners; also translations of some Cutcherry papers, of some Leases, Mortgage or other Legal Docu ments, being usual in the proceedings of Courts of Justice. 5. All Translations should be fairly written, sealed and sent to the Colonial Secretary. 6. The Student should then be required to translate a Fable from English into Singhalese or Tamil, as the case may be, and to translate part of an Ordinance. 7. The Student should be able to write the Native character well and with fluency. 8. He should be able to write Letters and Orders in the Native languages on Judicial and Revenue matters. 9. The Student should be able to read with ease original communications from Headmen and Government Officers, on all Revenue matters, and on all Judicial Reports. Selections from each should be made for this purpose by the Examiners. 10. The Student should have a knowledge of the Grammar of the Language, and be able to parse in it. 11. The Student should be able to converse perfectly and fluently in the Language in which he is examined. 12. I further propose that the examination should take place half-yearly in the middle of January and the middle of July.' [5] This is a poem held in high estimation amongst the Tamils. [6] Our remarks on the Singhalese Ordinances will likewise apply to the Tamil. [7] We hardly think that there is a more difficult Poem than this wellknown Epic poem in Tamil literature. It contains 12,000 stanzas in ShenTamil. [8] This contains 4000 stanzas; and is quite of a piece with the last. |