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PIYASEELI WIJEMANNE
Piyaseeli Wijemanna (born 20th April 1943), A writer who IS well
ve
'
rsed in the art of short story writing, Prof. Mrs, Wijemanne writes
both in Sinhala and English, At present she is a lecturer at the
University of Pcradeniya. Her collections of short stories called
WrlllAoglI'iya Labyrinth and won a State literary award in )987 and
1997 respectively, She has published six collections so far and first
published a collection in 1984 titled Pibidel1a Jeevirha, (Lives
Awaktning)
t was the month of March when trees and vines come into
bloom again after a windy cold spell in January and February.
This is not a time when farmers, particularly those who grow
vegetables, can afford to idle. Tere is only one spraying machine
for the entire area of Ukutale. Only the previous evening har
Mudiyanse been able to borrow it and that after repeated visits to
the cultivation officer's house. It had to be retured before dusk
that very evening.
Mudiyanse ate a bowlful of rice in the moring, enough to
make up for (he lunch he would have to miss, t i ed a turban on his
head and wore a tattered sarong and a old coat that reached his
knees, Then with the machine hanging from his shoulder, he started
spraying pcsticides on the tender hean plats in his plot.
He felt restless that moring, unlike on other days, when he
enjoyed tending his vegetable plot. From time to time he COl Id not
help hut look at Yasawathie's garden. Of late, he could see it better
beC(lSe most of the stakes separating the two gardens had fallen
clown. Yas;nvathie's vegetahle plots were bare and neglected.
Mudiyanse visualized rich crops of beans, cowpea, gram, snake,
F tIC(S
105
.. . gourd and bottle-gourd fourishing under his tender care in one
.
continuous stretch extending over both gardens during the next
season.
MuJiyans 's mind was troubled since he saw a man, perha
p
s
one of those who go around collecting vegetables, l eavi ng
Yasawathie's house the previous evening. He had noticed him
dropping in there two weeks earlier too. The moment the man saw
Mudiyanse, he changed his route, ran down the h
i
ll and disappeared.
Mud
i
yanse felt a I iute relieved because this fellow had panicked
on seeing him.
When Sirisena, Yasawathie's older son, came to borrow a
little kerosene oil in the even
i
ng, Mudiyanse pounced on him.
"Siriyo, who was that scoundrel who sneaked out of your
house late last evening, slinking like a crafty fox?"
"1 don't know, Loku Appachchi (literally 'big father ')," the
boy said innocently, unaware of the implications of Mudiyanse's
question.
"I think it's someone who wanted to buy the avacado fruits
on the tree." Sirimalie said in defense of her sister.
"To buy avacaoo fruits? My foot!" Mudiyanse shouted
gnashing his teeth. "} have no doubt that he is a character hovering
around for an opportunity to sneak in, aware that there is no male
in the house."
Mudiyanse was a person who attended to his duties with a
great sense of responsibility. His conscientiousness produced in
him, both in body and mind, an unusual energy. He cultivated every
inch of his land. No spot was left fallow. This land, as good as a
goldmine to him, was inherited by Sirimalie, his wife, from her
father.
Hinniappuhamy and Kirimenika of the farmhouse on
Galpotta, the Rockface, had only two children, both daughters,
Siriralie and Yasawathie. Mudiyanse, a distant kinsman of
Hinniappuhamy, was a constant visitor at this house. He went there
at first to lend a hand in the act.ivities of the farm. Both
106
Se/trNi Sri Lankan Shor Srories
Hinniappuhamy and Kirimenika were as fond of him (is if he were
their own son. [\ was quite obvious that they wanted t have him as
a son-in-law. It was Ihe younger sister, Yasawathie, who caught
Mudiyanse's eye in those days. Yasawathie was active, diligent,
prettier and bolder than her sister. However, it was decided that
Mudiyanse should marry Sirimalie. There was nothing to complain
about her appearance, complexion or manners. Mudiyanse accepted
her gladly and look up permanent residence at the farmhouse, after
contracting a hinna' marriage. Since then, Mudiyanse's attitude
towards Yasawathie was that of an elder brother.
In the course of time, Hinniappuhamy became sick and the
farm was written in the names of the two daughters. The house was
given to Yasawathie at the suggestion of Mudiyanse. Mudiyanse,
the second in a family of eight, did not inherit even an inch of land
from his parents. But he was a bor farmer who had green fingers
and a lot of skill. Apart from the land they lived on, a field down in
the valley, yielding about five bushels of rice also belonged to
Hinniappuhamy. The cultivation of paddy depended on rain falling
at the right season. When the rains failed, vegetables were grown
in the ricefield too. Though Sirimalie helped Mudiyanse in his work
at the farm, Yasawathie now lived a carefree life. Fashionably
dressed, she used to wander around the viJl age with other girls of
her age. Not only Sirimalie and Mudiyanse but even her parents
also lost control over Yasawathie.
Hinniappuhamy died about three years after Mudiyanse
married Sirimalie. Before his death, he had arranged to give
Yasawathie in marriage to one Gunaratna Banda. HoweveL
Yasawathie could not bear the sight of Gunaratna Banda. Before
long, the news that Yasawathie had a relationship with a person
called Akmal\ spread like wild fire in the village. Akman used to
come to buy vegetables in a lorry belonging to a deal er from the
city.
1. There are two types (f rnalTiages. binna and diga. In the former, the husband lives in the
wife's home, while in the latter form, the wife goes 10 the husband's house.
Felces
[0
7
"[t does not matter if she finds someone she likes, as long as
he is of the right caste and class to fit into our fami l
y
," Mudi
y
anse
said authoritativelY.
He tried to stop Yasawathie's relationship with Akmm
advising her and even threatening her at times.
"Her fat. hermust be turing in his grave right now. He will
never forgive us. if we don't prevent this," K irimenika l amented
helplessly.
But Yasawathie paid no heed to the objections of her elders.
As time went on Akman started coming to the farmhouse to see
Yasawathie. When he came once, he had a very bad cold. He stayed
overight that day. 'lbus Yasawathie became Akman 's wife, without
any formality or ceremony.
Apart from the caste and class of his brother-ill-law,
Mudiyanse could not tolerate his behaviour. Akman could not do
without a strong drGtk every evening. A packet of his favourite brand
of cigarettes, Three Roses was always in the pocket of his shirt. As
for money in it, that was a different story.
Yasawathie became more sharp-tongued after she started
living with Akn1an. She sold a harvest of pepper without consulting
, Mudiyanse and spent the money on a trip to Kandy for pleasure.
Such incidents continued to take place. Meanwhile Mudiyanse put
up a house of wattle and daub in the portion oft:he land that belonged
to him. He used to spend the nights there even when it was being
built. Kirimenika was upset about her loved son-in-law leav ing the
ancestral home. Sirirnalie too moved out shortly afterwards, taking
a few pots and pans, boxes and baskets with her.
There was no end to squabbling even after the two famj lies
began living in separate houses. Yasawathie scolded Sirimalie for
using water from their well. Then, with the help of a few others,
Mudiyanse dug a well near the slope in his part of the l and. One
day Sirirnalie picked a few pods from the tamarind tree. That was
enough reason for Yasawathie t abuse her for hours. A couple of
109
Selej !{I S, 1 /,(mkul Shur SIOflfS
days later, Yasawathie picked all the oranges on the tree close to
Mud iyanse's house and took them away, not forgetting to hurt
Sirimalie with the insinuating remark:
"What on earth will you do with the money you hoard selling
all these? Do you plan to take it with you when you die?"
Muctiyanse and Sirimalie had no children though they had
been married for six or seven years. They sought the help of doctors
but the remedies they prescribed had no effect. Equally fruitless
were the devil-dances, bali offerings, ceremonies and incantations
chanted to exorcise evil spirits. Sirimalie did conceive a few times
but unfortunately miscarried. Yasawathie of course became pregnant
again, when the first child was barely one and half years old.
In addition to Yasawathie's jibes, taunts and quarrels, there
was another problem in that house. Akman's friends used to meet
there in the evenings, drink cheap kasippu J and create an intolerable
din in their drunken state. They sang loud beating time with old
tins knocked together. Unable to endure all this any longer,
Mudiyanse pl anted a row of stakes along the border that separated
the two lands. Sometime later, Kirimenika also took up residence
in Mudiyanse's house, as she too could
"
not bear any longer the
merry-making of Akman and his gang. Meanwhile Mudiyanse
noticed that Akman 's visitors used a Sh0I1-cul across his land. This
prompted him to place stumps of araliya and gansuriya trees in
between the stakes that were already there and then to convert the
hedge into a barbed-wire fence.
It was only in the early days of their association that
Yasawathie and Akman worked together in the vegetable plot. Later
Akman used to attend to t.he sale of vegetables as he liked moving
around. He became a middleman through whom the villagers were
able to sell their vegetables to lorry-owners.
As time went on Akman began to keep away from home, at
first for a few days and then for weeks and months. Perhaps he
I. 10c(lJ illicit brfw
l09
could not hear to hear the crying and the jabbering of the chil dren
in addition to Yasawathie's curses and screams. On the days he
happened to turn up suddenly he pestered Yasawathie demanding
money. This invariably led to arguments. 1l10ugh Mudiyanse could
not see what happened in Yasawathie's house, he could hear very
well the sound of their quarrels. When Yasawathie scolded, she did
so at the top of her voice. Her laments on being beaten by Akman
were loud enough for the whole vil1age to hear. The three boys too
howled in one voice whenever their mother cried.
Eventually Akman stopped his visits altogether. Mudiyanse
heard that he was living with a woman in the Kegalle area. In the
meantime, Yasawathie gave birth to her fourth child, a girl. After
Akman left her, Yasawathie worked very hard uncomplaining,
coping admirably, made ends meet and brought up her children.
She hel ped other farmers in the village too, working for a wage
that supplemented her meagre income.
Mudiyanse saw, heard and knew that there was not enough to
feed the many mouths in Yasawathie's household, even though she
worked all day long without a munur of complaint. Mudiyanse was
pleased with Yasawathie because she handled the challenges before
her resolutely, bealing her sorrows silently. He felt sorry for her.
After he had finished spraying the bean plants, Mudiyanse
placed the sprayer on the ground and removed his sarong and coat.
. His body was wet with sweat. C1ad in his loin-cloth, he went to the
well and washed his face and hands with soap and water kept there
for him in a bucket Then he walked home slowly and sat on the
ledge of the verandah, waiting for his tea. Sirimalie gave him a cup
of tea and began to prepare his chew of betel herself because a
person who sprays pesticide should not handle food and drink for a
number of hours.
Of late, the asthma that Sirimalie suffered from had taken a
turn for the worse. The wheeze in her chest could he heard miles
away. It was hy the skin of her teeth that a few months earlier,
being unable to hreathe, she had escaped death. Once a fortnight
1
f
,

.. " .-. ". ' . . '
if:'
: .
,::" /
I

, )
i 10
Mudiyanse took her to the dispensary in the town of Poramadulla
and bought rned icine for her.
"I l eft my soiled cothes near the well. Don;1 you try to wash
them. The strong smell of pesticide will make you wheeze more.
I'll wash them myself a little later."
"Ah, they will he washed sooner or later," Sirirnalie said
turing her chi n towards Yasawathie's house.
Chewing his quid of betel Mudiyanse spat twice) squatted
near a stone and stared sharpening his knife.
"Now what are you trying to do'?" Si rimalie asked, indicating
that he should rest a while after his mon1ing's work. Mudiyanse
did not respond immediately. He spat again, looked out into the far
distance for a moment and said, "I want to remove those strands of
barbed wi re. The li ttle fellows move to and fro all the ti me. What's
the use of a nuisance of a fence now? Whom are we try ing to keep
out? If one of the boys were to bruise himself, I will have another
problem on my hands."
"That's true. When Siriya rushed here two days ago and said
"Loku amma, Loku amma," (Big Aunt) Nangi, (younger sister) is
seriously ill. I think she has had a fit, I ran in a mighty hurry and in
my excitement I could not locate the path to the house," Si rimalie
sai d, looking at Yasawathie's house. The 'path' meant the opening
made in the fence for everybody to go back ad forth 0 "1 was about
to go there just now to find out why the li ttle girl was crying,"
Sirimalie added and walked towards the fence carrying a mammoty,
while Mudiyanse tied a new cloth around his head.
Mudiyanse removed the hook-shaped nails one by one from
the stumps with the fork of his hammer. Almost all the nails were
rusty and corroded. The topmost strand of wire came off easily.
The lower strands were buried in the soil at places. Yasawathie and
Sirimalie stood under the shade of the avacado tree and watched
Mudiyanse work. Sirimalie had the little girl in her anns. "Ile
little one seems to have recovered. There she is looking fine."
Fencl's I 1 I
Mudiyanse thought looking at her, as she tried to say something in
baby language, stretching her delicate hands towards him. All the
stakes of the fence had heen broken at the spot used by the two
families to enter each other's gardens. There were footpaths on either
side leading to the two houses.
At first Yasawathie's children had started going to
Mudiyanse's house when he was not there. Mudiyanse had often
noticed Siriya or the second little fel10w taking to their heels the
moment they saw him returing from the vegetable plot.
One day on his retur home after selling a sack of com,
Mudiyanse saw Sirimalie choosing second-hand clothes brought
by a salesman who used to go from house to house.
"Here, can you spare me twenty rupees? Two of the little
fellows have a terrible cough. 1 thought of buying a couple of these
tiny sweaters for thern," Sirirnalie said without even turning to look
at Mudi yanse.
Mudiyanse gave not twenty but fifty rupees thinking,
"Sirimalie is right these days even we find it cold at night I don' t
know how the little ones manage."
Mudiyanse was further engrossed in thought. "I can't
understand how that rascal whom they call father can bear to keep
away abandoning these adorable kids. He is a heartless wretch.
How lovable these children are! Three boys and a girl.
Latterly, Yasawathie too started dropping in at Mudiyanse's
house. Now the boys of course spent most of their time there.
Mudiyanse had made a swing for them with ropes tied to a branch
of the mango tree. It was Yasawathie who took Sirimalie and
Kirimenika to the dispensary these days. That was a great relief for
Mudiyanse. It was a busy tirne for him because he planned to
culti vate the rice field down below as well.
Returing horne one evening, Mudjyanse found Kirirnenika,
Sirirnalie and Yasawathie seated on the ledge of the verandah,
chewing betel. As he passed them\11udiyanse said \vltllol1t even
looking at Yasawathie, 'fshouldn't you send those two boys to
112 ,\(,/(1 t't '\1' /,rlI.kcn Shor Sfolcs
schoul? Wh?1 harm is there in learning to read rmd write'? When fhe
new session begin this January, see that the older two are admited
to school." Thatvas an order from Mudiyanse. No one dared to
comment on the matter. Though Kirimenika hardly heard what
Mudiyanse said, heing almost deaf, a trace of happiness was
refected in her face. Eventually it was Mudiyanse who took the
boys to school when the new term started. And he was only too
happy to have desks and chairs made for therrt
Mudiyanse removed the barbed wire, rolled it up, and
uprooted the stumps of the hedge. He clipped the spri gs of flowers
on the ginisiriyu branches and made a heap of them. "These should
be placed near rat-holes. Rats can't stand the smell of these flowers,"
Mudiyanse said loud enough for both Si rimalie and Yasawathie to
hear. Only the large logs of the fence were now left. They could be
used as firewood. Mudiyanse thought, "Unlike Sirimalie, Yasawathie
wil chop each of these in one breath." Another thought crossed
Mudiyanse's mind in quick succession. "If only my woman had
Yasawathie' s iron hands, I could have won a kindom."
'-'
After school, the two boys ran straight to MUdiyanse.
"Loku Appachchi, Loku Appachchi, the teacher madam asked
Inc to take a drawing book on Monday," Siriya said pant ing.
.
''Loku Apparhchi, Loku Appachchi, I recited the poem you
taught me, loud and beautifully too. 'Tle teacher said it was very
good," the second boy shouted, his eyes shining bright. Si riralie
and Yasawathie could not help laughing.
"/'oku Appachchi/ Loku Appachchi.l What is that 'Loku' bit
Whether big or smal l, I am the only father you have now"
Mudiyanse said, looki ng at Yasawathie from the comer of his eye.
Y;lsrwathie did not frown or look away in anger or disapprovaL
She \valked towards the ki tchen with a gentle smie lighting up her
fact, perhaps to give the boys their mid-,day rneaJ.
Trans/o{(d bv Rat/ma Handuluklll1de