Fantasies and miracles
 The
term ‘short story’ has come to stay to denote a special genre of
narratives in a strict sense in literary creations. But the term differs
in the actual creative process which depends largely on the creator
concerned. The French stalwart Voltaire never meant to write short
stories and Tagore never used the term short story. I am not too sure
whether Tolstoy ever denoted his narratives by the term short story.
He created humanistic stories out of folk legends and folktales.
Perhaps the term story form is determined by the content and the
techniques utilized by the creator. A long story which does not fall
into the category of a novel is denoted as a novella or a short novel.
Some would like to call their narratives, long short stories, which to
me looks more a contradiction.
Whatever it is all those ideas flooded into my mind after reading a
collection of ten stories titled as Asharyaya (Miracle) written by
Yasawardhana Rodrigo (published by Fast and Fast Printers as a Surasa
book, 2010). All the ten stories embedded are drawn from Buddhist
literary sources. Though the sources are not referred to by, a reader
may see that they come either from the Jataka collection or other allied
Buddhist literary sources known to the reader in the past. But the
writer Rodrigo is not a mere reteller of those literary works. Instead
he is seen as a writer who attempts to recreate or in some instances
reinterpret his way the traditionally found contents as well as the
structure to suit the present day reader.
The reader is made to encounter with saints, hermits, kings, pious
men and women, monks and merchants. They become good doers as well as
evil doers. Most stories culminate in a vision that enhances the reader
to grasp that the true meaning of life depends on self realization as
pronounced by the Buddha.
As normally happens in most traditional folklore based narratives
many a fantasy and miracle happen. They are made to happen in order to
pinpoint a particular mission. For example the title story Achcharya
revolves around the ardent beliefs of a husband and a wife, whose views
are diametrically opposed to each other. The wife of rich merchant
happens to be a believer in Buddhist doctrine. The rich merchant is on
the opposite side where he is a follower of a wandering ascetic, who
lived during the Buddha’s time.
When an alms giving event was organized by the wife, her husband
wants to invite his cult leader in order to hurt the feelings of his
wife. It so happens that when the wandering ascetic is ushered into the
house to partake of the alms, the food turns into charcoal. This
agonizing moment is considered as a miracle and the ascetic and his
followers are made to leave the house. But when the Buddha and his
retinue of monks arrive later, it so happens that the charcoal becomes a
delicious array or dishes filled with food. This makes the rich man
realizes that he is on the wrong track. This self realization is caused
as a result of his ignorance and ill will.
The story titled Pativrutatava (Chastity) revolves round the
experience of a king who in his duty tour around the kingdom happens to
see a pretty woman. He is so enticed by her charms that he fails to
sleep and summons his alleys to fetch her to become one of the
concubines in his harem. But when the said woman is brought to the royal
palace, the king sees that she is unwilling to join the harem even if
all the luxuries and riches are poured on her.
They king wishes to know the reasons behind her reluctance. Then she
asks the king whether he likes her physical beauty or anything
extraneous to that. On replying that the king is enticed by her mere
physical beauty, she cuts her nose to show the king that the concept of
beauty is a mere appearance. The woman who says she is married and
faithful to her husband and wishes to live in peace and purity instead
of luxuries and riches. The king realizes his own folly, and allows the
woman to join her husband.
Perhaps the story reminds a reader of a legend of Pattini and
Komalan, which is linked to some of the rituals in both India and Sri
Lanka. But Rodrigo take the direction more of the storyteller of
religiosity above the socio-ritualistic attitude.
These ten stories, as I see, depict the layers of rediscovery one
could embark in creativity. The attempt is a creative rediscovery in
fantasies and miracles attempting to interpret in modern terms. Perhaps
one factor being overlooked is the mention of the source from where the
creative work springs up. That would have added a new value to the
reader.
As the critic Northrop Frye once said:
“We may come to realize that the two essential facts about a work of
art, that is contemporary with its own time and that it is contemporary
with ours, are not opposed but complementary facts.”
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