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Overview
In the opening episodes of Parker’s No. 220, Hūniyan Yakā visits a widow in a man’s disguise. When her father tries to seize him, he is no longer visible in the house; he later warns the father against trying to watch him. At the woman’s request for wealth, he takes her father to a hidden treasure and opens its door. The father chooses a golden necklace, cloths, gem-lamps, cat’s-eye stones and pearls. His initial role is thus an elusive visitor and provider of riches, rather than an immediate attacker.
Four other men see the acquired wealth and attempt to raid the treasure. They magically empower stones at the four corners of their working area and continue protective recitations. Hūniyan Yakā discovers the intrusion but cannot cross the protection. He assumes a cobra’s appearance and is given eggs, then an elephant’s and is given a plantain stem. A hen and chicks subsequently appear and are fed millet; the narration groups this encounter with the same defensive sequence, while not repeating an explicit transformation formula for the birds.
Unable to seize the raiders, the Yakā wakes the widow’s father and urges him toward the treasure. The man rushes there naked. Because he is an actual human being, the raiders’ further spells do not stop him; mistaking him for a demon, they flee. He even tells them he is not a Yakā. This distinction is essential: the human pursuer is neither another transformation of Hūniyan Yakā nor proof that their magical boundary has been broken.
Parker’s footnote characterizes Hūniyan Yakā as an agent of harmful spells, the evil eye and hostile wishes. Another note explains feeding the animal manifestations as a local belief about treasure guardians and invoked demons; it is not practical ritual guidance or an endorsement of supernatural harm. The long tale then follows other men and Rākshasas. Those later beings are not silently identified with this named visitor, whose individual fate is not supplied.
Origins & earliest records
Tom-tom-beater narrator, North-western Province; individual unnamed
Records & interpretation
Complete No.220 with ending and all notes read.
Selected bibliography
Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.
- 01
Village Folk-Tales of Ceylon, Volume III
No.220, pp.176–182 and notes; named Yakā episodes pp.176–178.
Family & connections
A source-supported family tree or inspiration record has not yet been compiled for this profile. Related reading below indicates a connection in subject matter, not a proven lineage or creative influence.
Primary records and illustrations
H. Parker, Village Folk-Tales of Ceylon, Volume III (1914)
Volume III. No.220, pp.176–178; entire tale through p.182 and notes read
Retained parker3-s220.txt. Named Hūniyan Yakā distinguished from actual human pursuer and later unnamed Yakā/Rākshasa episodes. Cobra/elephant transformations explicit; hen/chicks sequence qualified. No fate supplied for named visitor.
References
Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.
- Historical primary folklore collectionParker, Village Folk-Tales of Ceylon III, No.220Research access: 2026-10-05
Image credits
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