Lured by the Prince of Darkness

Title: The Glenthorne Cat and other amazing leopard stories
Compiled and Edited by: Christopher Ondaatje
Distributed by: Visidunu Prakashakayo

Reviewed by: Aditha Dissanayake

[email protected]

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Christopher Ondaatje was born in Ceylon, educated in England, and emigrated to Canada in 1956. He has worked at several magazines and newspapers, and in 1967 founded Pagurarian Press, which eventually became the enormously successful Pagurian Corporation. In 1988 he sold all his business interests and returned to the literary world.

He is the author of ten books, including the best-selling Burton biographies Sindh Revisited, and Journey to the Source of the Nile; and more recently Woolf in Ceylon and The Power of Paper. He was a member of Canada’s 1964 Olympic bobsled team, is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and a Trustee of the National Portrait Gallery.

He lives in London, England and was knighted by the Queen in 2003.

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When Upekha of Visudunu Prakashakayo gifted me Christopher Ondaatje’s The Glenthorne Cat and Other Amazing Leopard Stories, I day dreamt of writing the best review I had ever written so far for Writer’s Den.

Never having reviewed Christopher Ondaatje before this, I thought here is a book I could go to town on. This will be THE review of my life.

Say that again! As in most other day dreams when I dreamt of writing this I had conveniently ignored the most important fact - the subject of the book. Having let the words “Compiled and Edited by Christopher Ondaatje fascinate me it was only after I had seriously begun to read the Glenthorne Cat that it occurred to me that animals, even though I love them, do not attract me as much as humans do. Given a choice I would much rather read a book on anthropology (perhaps ‘Window on Humanity’ by Conrad Kottak), than about the behaviour patterns of leopards.

No wonder then, by the time I reached page 107, I felt as though the black cat had his paws tightly round my neck - strangling me to death.

Perhaps this was because I did it the wrong way - eager to write the review I tried to read all the chapters in one go. Now suffering from an overdose of wild cat stories I wish I had taken one story at a time. Had I done so, this review may have taken a different twist. But as things stand right now, I confirm if I were stranded on a desert island I wouldn’t want to have the Glenthorne Cat as my sole companion.

Yet, for those who are fascinated by these cat-like creatures with black or dark grey fur, a long tail and green eyes” the information found in all the “Man-eating Chapters” will be of great interest.

Here is how Jim Corbet explains in “The Man-Eating Leopard of Rudraprayag”, how a leopard turns into a man-eater. “The people of Garhwal are Hindus, and as such cremate their dead.”

In normal times these rites performed on the bank of a river are carried out very effectively; “but when disease in epidemic form sweeps through the hills, and the inhabitants die faster than can be disposed of, a very simple rite, which consists of placing a live coal in the mouth of the deceased, is performed in the village, and the body is then carried to the edge of the hill and cast into the valley below.

A leopard, in an area where its natural food is scarce, finding these bodies, very soon acquires a taste for human flesh, and when the disease dies down and normal conditions are re-established, he very naturally, on finding his food supply cut off, takes to killing human beings.”

Yes, on a desert island, I would not want to have the Glenthorne Cat for a companion. But stuck in a traffic jam on my way to office on a Tuesday morning I would not mind sharing my time with her. Here is why.

The description given about the “beginnings of Ceylon” by Ondaatje to the late Reverend Halliday; who had died in 1872 but continues to hang around Glenthorne (Lorna Doone Country) Ondaatje writes “The stories I’ve been told and read in a translation of the Mahavansa, tell of the daughter of the king of Kalinga, a beautiful girl with a passionate character so much so that her parents were ashamed of her lustful nature.

Walking in the wilderness one day, she was approached by a lion prowling for his pray; far from being afraid she caressed and excited him. The lion placed her on his back and carried her back to his den. It is said that the twins who resulted from this strange union bore the lion’s paws in place of their hands and feet... Sinhabahu founded a city called Sihaparu and went on to sire sixteen sets of twins.

The eldest twin was called Vijaya but Viyaya grew up to be a lawless character, a violent ruffian. The king banished his son from this riotous ways and sent him into exile in a rudderless boat. Eventually when he had reformed his ways and gained the wisdom of experience, he landed at Tambapanni... Vijaya is the founder of the Sinhala race..”

That the leopard, out of all animals deserve the epithet, the “Dark Prince” is aptly illustrated in Anna Kavan’s “A visit” and Honor Balzac’s A Passion in the Desert. Ana reflects upon the lithe muscular shape lying next to her the way a woman responds towards a lover when he falls asleep beside her after knowing her the way only a man can know a woman. “I watched the regular contractions and expansions of the deep chest, admired the elegant relaxed body and supple limbs...” writes Ana.

The night is made all the more fascinating by the references to “a mild primeval smell of sunshine, freedom, moon and crushed leaves, combined with the cool freshness of the spotted hide, still damp with the midnight moisture of jungle plants.”

The short description of the visitor is so avid, the reader too feels Ana’s loss when she wakes up “in the faint light of dawn” to find he had already got up and left the room” Balzac too describes the same passion towards this beautiful enigmatic and sometimes the most dangerous of the big cats through the story of a French soldier who discovers he has unintentionally become the first love of “a queen of the sands”.

They look at each other “pregnant with meaning.” She trembles with delight. (the coquettish creature) when she felt her friend scratch the strong bones of her skull with his nails. Her eyes glitter...then she close them tightly. “She has a soul” he cries. How does it all end - this friendship between two beings who seemed to understand each other so thoroughly?” Wouldn’t you like to know? My lips though, are sealed.

The glimpses into the past too are fascinating. In the Man Eater of Punanai, an old man talks about the pre television era when in the evening “people will tell old tales from the Mahavansa”.

So too the superstitions surrounding Glenthorne. According to E.W. Hendy, the author of Wild Exmoor through the Year, “You can keep a witch away by driving a nail into her footprint. You can always tell the number of years before you will be married by hanging a sheep’s heart in your house and counting the drops of blood that drop from it.

And here is a piece of advice everyone who has known love, who is in love or who is about to fall in love should know “Never burn old love letters.

it is unlucky”.

Read it. From the gutters of Paris to the hamlet of Sivanipalli, The Glenthorne Cat may not seem to be what she really is. Here, as in the desert “there is all, and there is nothing”. Explain this? Turn to page 101.

Cultural Issues Re-examined

Author: Professor Abaya Aryasinghe
Publisher: Saraswati Press, Divulapitiya

Reviewed by Sirisaman Wijetunge

“Cultural Issues Re-examined is the English title of a Sinhala book recently published. Its Sinhala title is SANSKRIT VICARA. The author is Professor Abaya Aryasinghe, former Professor of Archaeology, University of Kelaniya.

Cultural issues in any country are changeable from time to time depending on fresh evidence. It should be noted that there is a trend among the public not to admit any new theory despite emergence of strong evidence.

There are a number of points corrected by Professor Senarat Paranavitana depending on strong evidence. Yet the conservative minded readers are rather reluctant to admit them. Professor Paranavitana tops the list of reserchers who had altered the map of the cultural field in our country. He confidently identified the Abhayagiri stupa and the Jetavana stupa.

He proved that so-called Elara Sohona was the Dakkhina thupa. He also attributed meaning to damsels appearing in the Sigiri frescoes. The blue colour ladies represent rain cloud (Megha-lata) and the golden colour ones represent Lightening (vijju-kumari).

The statue standing on the bank of Parakrama Samudraya at Polonnaruva, according to Professor Paranavitana, amounts to a commendable attempt to depict the features of an ideal and just king adorned with characteristics of justice (dhamma) and economy (artha).

It is however not the representation of king Parakramabahu I. These are only a few points Professor Paranavitana had commented on.

The author of Cultural issues re-Examined follows the steps of Professor Paranavitana and ventures to comment on some of the knotty problems found in the cultural field.

This author selects about fifty items covering sculpture, inscriptions and language etc., and catygorises them into ten sub headings in this collection of essays. The so-called Dutugamunu statue, the figure of Ganadev at Mihintale, Royal titles of ancient kings etc.

The etimology of Sinhala words such as Dameda Handa-mama, Ayubovan etc., the kandyan kings, Tamils and identifying the God of Kataragama are some of the topics dealth with in this collection of Essays.

Some of the points raised by the author are subject to controversy, and open to challenge.

This collection of essays, in a way amount to an attempt directed towards the advancement of knowledge in the field of culture.

If you were lucky enough to miss it:

That three letter word

By Aditha Dissanayake

[email protected]

Samuel Butler said it best: “Being ill is one of the greatest pleasures of life, provided one is not too ill and is not obliged to work until one is better.” If you need a second opinion the person you should see is Harold Nicholson who will surely try to persuade you that “One of the minor pleasures in life is to be slightly ill.”

But what did Butler mean when he said “not too ill?” Did he mean a high fever (with chills a dry cough, sweating, muscle aches, pains and the “I’ve been run over by a bus” feeling? Or could he have meant lying on the couch at ten in the morning watching a young man talk about hairdressing in neither Sinhala nor English (mona vage objective ekak da me vage style ekakin achieve karanna puluwan?) because you are too tired to crawl across the floor to pick up the remote? Above all could he have meant having the following conversation with your spouse?

“I think this is it. Remember wherever I might be I love you.”

“You’re not dying; give it a break.”

“I’ve been sick now for almost three hours. I don’t know how much longer I’m going to last. Come close and be with me for just a moment while I can still see you ...”

“Gosh is it seven o clock already?. I am going to watch the news” And he leaves wondering what has happened to the match between X and Y.

Yes, it was tough having the flu last week. Especially when we went down with it together - my colleague Chinthaka and I. But thanks to the untiring efforts of the rest of my pals who generously lent me their shoulder to lay our troubles on, Writer’s Den managed not to close shop.

And what did I do apart from clicking from one tv channel to the other watching commercials about various life-giving, over-the-counter remedies that only work for the actors on the screen or dramatically dropping the remote control as if my life had started to ebb to grab the attention of whoever was around, throughout last week?

I found solace in books. I read all about how to avoid the flu and colds. Here is what Robert Benchley says in “Benchley... or Else”.

“Don’t breath through your mouth or nose. These two orifices have been called “The Twin Roads to Germville”. So long as people use their mouths and their noses to breathe through, we are going to have epidemics, plagues and eventual disintegration of the human race.”

“Avoid crowds.” continues Benchley. You never know who may be in a crowd. He suggests the best way to do this is to stay right in your room all day with the door locked. Benchley also stresses the importance of getting plenty of sleep.

This would mean when your mother comes to wake you up in the morning, pulling the sheets up over your head and telling her you are not going out today because you are avoiding the flu. If during the afternoon you feel drowsy between writing one article and another, put your head on your desk and take a little nap. Your colleagues will understand if you put a little sign in front of you saying “Writer asleep. Flu prevention”. After all this is the season for flu.

Benchley also says to stay in a temperature of between sixty and 70 degrees, which “can be done by going to a beach resort and lying on the sand for a month or so. Be sure to lie face up” advises Benchley” so that the sun can send its actinic rays across your chest and into your eyes”.

In addition, you should eat anything that makes your mouth water, quite forgetting what Mark Twain said about “feeding a cold and starving a fever”. Above all “No exercise. This is all important because exercise according to Benchley only stirs up the poisons in your system.

Next time I get sick I’m going to really enjoy it.

But right now, (cough, cough) its Koththamalli time!n