How the bee paid tribute to the flower

K. A. I. Kalyanaratne
Management Consultant
Postgraduate Institute of Management,
Vice President, Hela Havula.

Cumaratunga’s Deep Affection for the Environment

Only a few who have had a wide exposure to the works of Cumaratunga Munidsasa would know the deep affection he had for the environment; mainly for its fauna and flora. In fact, his observations of the environment were so sharp and penetrating that he reveled in the poetic descriptions of plants and animals. These revelations were mainly found in the literature he created for children. ‘Kumara Gee atulu Lama Pedi (edited by Visidunu Publishers) provides a rich collection of children’s poems appended from a host of literary works of Cumaratunga.

A more popular poetic composition of Cumaratunga titled ‘Vavul Thohuwa’ (Eulogy on the Bat) appearing in the Kiyavana Nuwana – 7th reader, is a good example that illustrates the poet’s acute preciseness in describing the behaviour of bats. In short it provides fascinated reading. As the bat eats only the cashew fruit (cashew apple) leaving the cashew nut on the ground, the poet says we are fortunate to pick the nuts as the bat only squeezes the fruit and tastes its juice. The owl is also pleasant. But fearing the bat the owl hums and goes in search of mice, leaving the tasty cashew fruit. He further describes how the bat spreads and fans his two broad wings incessantly, making the earth also to close its eyes (due to its soothing effect!). The poet also wishes that the bat should fly like a sea-gull, and breed ‘children’ like a deer. This is an indirect expression of the bat’s ability to fly fast and produce offsprings regularly.

However, the poem selected for this short essay is Cumaratunga’s ó ueiaid u,g l< ia;+;sh (How the bee paid tribute to the flower) that appeared in the Shiksha Margaya – Book 2.

මී මැස්සා මලට කළ ස්තූතිය

1 පැ හැ ප ත් මගෙ සුමිතුරු            ම ල
වැ ඩ ඇත්තෙකි ලොවට               සක ල
වැටෙත ත් පර වී හෙට                   බ ල
ඔ බ ල ත් දිවි වේ ය                      සප ල
 

My dear colourful flower
You are of service to the whole world.
See, though you’ll whither tomorrow
The life you got will be a fruitful one.

2 ඉතිරෙයි සුවඳින් මේ                දෙස
පැ හැ දෙයි පැහැයෙන් ඇස        ඇස
දුරුවෙයි අද ගිනි මගෙ                 කුස
සැලැසෙයි වැඩ ඔබෙන් මෙ       ලෙස

The area will be pervaded with your scent.
Every eye will be pleased with your colour.
My stomach’s hunger will vanish;
That will be the service you render.

3 සරහා ගස ඔබ ඇති ක ළ
විදහා විසිතුරු පත් පෙළ
සනහා ලන අප යදි රළ
ඔබහා සම කොද ලොව තු ළ

Decorating the tree you made to grow
And unfolding your pleasant wings,
Consoling our begging waves
Is there one comparable to you.

4 කැමැත්තෙන් ම දෙත ිපැණි ඔබ
ගනිත් මගෙන් නෙක දුක් ලැබ
එහෙත් කිසිත් නැත ි ලෙස ලොබ
මහත් දෙඩුම් මගෙයි සුලබ

Willingly you donate your honey
Amidst immense troubles received;
But without an iota of greediness.
Much chattering is mine in plenty.

5 බොහෝ අයට උපදෙසකට
දොහෝ මෙලොව උපන් ඔබට
සහොදර ව උපදින්න ට
අහෝ මටත් ඇතොත දැනට

As if to advise many a person
You were born to the world.
O! For me to be born as your brother
Would be sufficient for the present.

Shiksha Margaya – Book 2

The cleverness of the poet is to apprehending the inner nature of things or to see intuitively how the bee would look at and appreciate the benevolence and the philanthropic attitude of the flower if the two parties could have an innate-dialogue. In a world fraught with exploitation and selfishness among the humans, Cumaratunga shows the children (for whom the poem is written) how they should look at things in a more rational and unselfish manner.

Herein Cumaratunga has slowly but subtly endeavoured to inculcate in the minds of the young ones the good habit of truly and genuinely appreciating a sincere friend. If inanimate nature could do it, why not we as humans also follow suit?. The way the bee has paid tribute to and thanked his friend, the flower, on whose contribution the survival of the bee rests, is not by excessive flattery, but by genuinely exposing the flower’s true nature. The bee indirectly says that although one’s life is shorter, it should be purposeful. He further says the flower not only provides service to the whole world but also spreads its fragrance to the entire surrounding. According to the bee the flower also enlivens the whole area with its vibrant colours. The poet indirectly equates the fragrance and colour of the flower to the fame of the virtuous pervading through the length and breadth of the area. The poet through the bee says that good people, like the flower, render services without much chattering / hullabaloo.

A Major Mission of Cumaratunga’s

Illustrious Career

The above analyses and revelations would provide a strong message that a major mission of Cumaratunga has been to uplift the society by building a super structure on a strong base provided by a virtuous, creative and nature-loving younger generation. The means he adopted towards the realization of these noble objectives was to bestow on the society a rich collection of children’s literature. Herein his role was akin to that of a social emancipator. He used two powerful weapon he had in his armoury, namely, his language prowess and creative skills towards achieving this major objective. Dr. Ruwan Ekanayake, cardiologist, and the late Prof. Nandadasa Kodagoda as well as Dr. D.V.J. Harischandra, consultant psychiatrist, are a few who have eloquently expressed how their familiarity with the Cumaratunga’s literary works, and more so the books written by him for children, deepened their knowledge of the Sinhala language, and influenced their careers. Among these literary works essay-collections like the Prabandha Sangrahaya, Prabandopadeshaya and Kiyawana Nuwana , poetic collections like Kumara Gee, Kumara Padya Sangrahaya, and Piya Samara, and story-books like Heen Seraya, Hath Pana and Mangul Kemaare are more popular and familiar.

Cumaratunga – Pioneered in Establishing a Tradition of Eco-Poetry

Delving further into the subject, it could be seen that it was Cumaratunga who conscientiously initiated a tradition of eco-poetry in the Sinhala literature. A study of English literature reveals that it was especially the Romantic poets who often wrote about beautiful rural landscapes as a source of joy, and made nature poetry a popular poetic category / genre. However, poets today deviating from the positive aspects of the environment, tend to explore the complicated connections between the people and the nature, as they serve as witnesses to current-day environmental issues including the impact of climate change on the environment.

Cumaratunga’s Eco-friendly Poems and those of the English-speaking Poetry

Definitions provided for eco-poems make a strong emphasis for such poems to be mainly ecological, focusing largely on the non-human natural world. But Cumaratunga humanized eco-poetry introducing the human element into it. It is very logical to pose the question whether it is possible for a pure eco-world to exist sans any human enactment, interaction and intervention? Poetry has always fascinated and provoked readers to think and understand the world in a deeper way. The nature encourages dependability provided the parties involved are not inimical to each other.

Cumaratunga’s Childrens’ Poems compared with “Twinkle Twinkle

Little Star”

It is enthralling to see a close comparison between Cumaratunga’s eco-friendly children’s poems and ‘Twinkle Twinkle Little Star”, the poetic work of Jane Taylor, first published in 1805 in Rhymes for the Nursery. One common-factor that both these poets have adopted is personifying non-human objects. In fact, both poets have portrayed non-human objects in such a way that we feel they have the ability to act like human beings. Jane Taylor thanks the Little Star for helping the lonely traveler find his way in the dark when nothing else shines in the sunless sky. It’s a human quality to be in service to others. The twinkling star comes as a guide to the rescue of the traveller who sojourns in darkness. In the same tone Cumaratunga pays tribute to the flower for assuring and ensuring the survival of the bee by providing life-giving nectar. Without flowers there will not be a bee-world. The bee and the flower should exist together. Unless otherwise it will be like Hamlet without the Prince in Shakespeare’s Hamlet. It is reciprocity that needs to be encouraged!

Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star

Twinkle, twinkle, little star,

How I wonder what you are!

Up above the world so high,

Like a diamond in the sky.

When the blazing sun is gone,

When he nothing shines upon,

Then you show your little light,

Twinkle, twinkle, all the night.

Then the traveler in the dark

Thanks you for your tiny spark,

How could he see where to go,

If you did not twinkle so?

In the dark blue sky you keep,

Often through my curtains peep

For you never shut your eye,

Till the sun is in the sky.

As your bright and tiny spark

Lights the traveler in the dark,

Though I know not what you are,

Twinkle, twinkle, little star.

Source: The Golden Book of Poetry (1947)

Further, Cumaratunga’s second verse above looks a close comparison with the following verse appearing in the Puppa vagga (canto on flowers) of the Dhammapada.

“In the village, a sage should go about
Like a bee, which, not harming
Flower, colour or scent,
Flies off with the nectar.”