A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.
Overview
A Dēvatāwā waits invisibly in a prince’s house until its lamp is put out, then drinks the smoke and carries some lightly burnt smoke home to his wife, a Dēvatāwī. They live in an Ironwood tree beside the road. On the night the prince struggles with a deadly riddle, the godling’s delayed return provokes an argument with his wife, and he explains what detained him.
The prince’s sister and her husband happen to be resting beneath the tree. They overhear that the princess has hidden her slain Nāgayā lover in a waist-chain case, providing the answer that saves the prince. The couple are incidental witnesses whose domestic conversation is overheard, rather than beings intentionally summoned to rescue him. Parker translates Dēvatāwā as godling and attributes the account to the North-western Province; he supplies neither individual names nor bodily descriptions for them.
Origins & earliest records
Sri Lankan narratives collected and translated by H. Parker
Records & interpretation
Complete tale and all its printed variants/comparative notes read; relevant introduction passages on collection and translation directly read.
Selected bibliography
Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.
- 01
Village Folk-Tales of Ceylon, Volume I
No. 19, The Faithless Princess, pp. 157–159
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
Village Folk-Tales of Ceylon, Volume I
Volume I. No. 19, The Faithless Princess, pp. 157–159
Complete No.19 with comparison and both footnotes read. Human/cobra ability is explicitly the collector’s footnote; no narrated revival or deliberate divine rescue. Public historical narrative context, not a claim about all contemporary belief.
References
Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.
- Historical collected oral narrative translationParker, Village Folk-Tales of Ceylon I — No. 19, The Faithless Princess, pp. 157–159Research access: 2026-10-05
Image credits
A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.