A Sinhala-language collection of Nasreddin stories, written by Percy Jayamanne and published in Colombo by M. D. Gunasena. The entire text is in Sinhala, with no English translation, so it will suit readers who are comfortable reading the language.
The book is a reworked version of a title the same publisher issued earlier as Nasrudin 2, now reissued under a new name and in a new form. It carries Nasreddin tales that did not appear in that earlier book, and it widens the scope beyond Nasreddin himself: alongside his stories are parables attributed to other sages said to have lived in the same period.
Nasreddin, the wise fool of folk tradition, has travelled across languages for centuries, and the appeal of the stories lies in how little they need by way of setting. Each is short, each turns on a reply or a reversal, and each can be read in a few minutes. Jayamanne's selection is presented as more than a joke book — the humour is there, but so is satire, and the tales are offered as having something to say about how people behave and what they tell themselves.
The form lends itself to reading aloud and to dipping in and out rather than working through from front to back. For Sinhala readers abroad, and for households keeping the language alive with children who read it, a collection of this kind earns its place on the shelf by being picked up repeatedly rather than finished once.
- Author: Percy Jayamanne
- Publisher: M. D. Gunasena & Co. (Pvt) Ltd
- Language: Sinhala
- ISBN: 9789552127427
Browse the rest of our book collection.
