Chapter 1

 

Upali Giniwelle's mother dies when he was about 7 years old. He cried because everyone was doing so in the funeral. When his aunt carried him to the garden a woman stroked his head and said “Ane the motherless thing”

Sometime later one day his father brought his step mother and the crowd of relatives to his house by a fleet of horse carriages. He didn’t know who is a step mother because he was a little boy yet. When he was a little older from the gossiping of women he could know who is a step mother. He understood that a year later from mother’s death, his father got married for the second time. He realized that his step mother is not like his mother. She didn’t care about him in the same way, even though she was much more loving and attentive to his father, than his mother had been. The women sometimes told him that his step mother was a miser. His step mother was very careful with housekeeping money that his father gave her. and she scolded the servants all the time and even quarreled with them. His step mother always went to the kitchen after every meal to give out servant food by herself. that is why if the servants wants more rice and curry they had to ask for a second help from her. 

About a year later his step mother had a son. When his step brother was about 3 years old, he was about 11 years. He began to feel a difference in her treatment of them. She wasn’t unkind to him, even though she didn’t love him as much as his mother did. But he saw how much he love her own son and it made him jealous and unhappy.

Upali didn’t like studying books or going to school. He was a playful boy. He wanted to be out all the time playing with his friends, wrestling or fighting with them or going to swimming in the sea or in the river. When he comes home after playing with his friends every day, his step mother began to complaint about him to his father more and more. He didn’t know whether she likes to see him beaten. But he wasn’t a boy who can be kept down by beating.

There was a boy who was working at Upali’s house. He was a good friend of Upali. One day when they were going to play he suggested “today we will be robbers”. and the other friends applauded him. 

He was the head of the robbers’ team, and he said “everyone must do as I say”. 

And he asked Jinna  “can you be the housebreaker today?” Jinna agreed to this. 

He ordered Jinna “You must only wear a black loin clothes. and you must oil your whole body because you must be slippery”. 

Then they went to rob a house. Jinna, went near the house which they were going to rob and went into the house. Suddenly an old woman came in front of him. He ran but all other robbers came there and tied her with a handkerchief and they saw that all the neighbors have woken up and ran towards the house. They ran as fast as they could. They went into the forest in which they usually play. They hid under a platform which they had made. They stayed there till the dawn. Later they went to their houses quietly. They were happy that they had a great experience!