Volume 2 of 3. The stories found in these volumes are practically literal translations of the written Sinhalese originals. Parker's aim was to present them as nearly as possible in the words in which they are related in the villages of Ceylon. The only liberty of any importance the author took was the insertion of an occasional word or phrase where it was evidently omitted by the narrator, or was necessary in order to elucidate the meaning, or complete the sense. All these tales were collected by Parker, although he only wrote down a very limited number from dictation. All the rest were written for him in Sinalese by the narrators themselves, or by other villagers employed to collect them, who wrote them just as they were dictated.