The stories of Andare are undeniably the funniest folktales in Sinhalese folklore. The stories centered around a court jester who was gifted with intelligence and made others laugh by not acting like a fool or joker. Instead, he outsmarted others and amused others with his tricks and pranks. The stories of Andare are about real-life situations where he uses his knowledge and quick thinking to get away from trouble or turn situations around. Therefore, the stories of Andare are appropriate to use as funny stories for kids, folktales for kids, or bedtime stories for kids, according to your preference. The story of how Andare ate sugar is a must in your collection of folktales from around the world.
Before moving into the story, you may need some insights on the context of this story. In traditional Sri Lankan culture, the wife or mother was thought to be the one who fed the family. Because most of the women were housewives, they were the ones who fed the family by managing resources and cooking food. And also, rice is the main food among Sinhalese. And one of the biggest fears of that time was not having anything to eat. If a drought comes, there will be no rice. Therefore, when trouble came, people used to say, “Now what is left to eat is only dirt.” Have good storytelling!
Once upon a time, there was a court jester for the Sinhalese King. His name was Andare. This jester played everyone around him for his own gain and always got away with it. He was smart, well-aware, creative, and excellent at communication. That made him a tricky person. So, he was a well-known person in the palace. Everyone knew who he was.
One day, when Andare reported for his duties at the palace, he saw sugar on the mats left for drying under the sun. In ancient times, sugar was a rare product in Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka produced serials including rice, types of grains, and corn, as well as fruits, vegetables, and root vegetables, but brought them from across the sea.
And also, the general public could not afford sugar. They use jaggery and honey for their purposes. So, the king had imported sugar to the palace. On the journey over the sea, sugar gets dampened by moisture in the air. There were not any sealed containers back then. Therefore, once they brought sugar, they had to dry it under the sun, spreading it on mats.
Andare saw that sugar was on the mats. He wanted to taste the sugar. Because sugar was a luxury for him. But he knew he couldn’t eat sugar from the mats, as they were for the king’s consumption. But Andare wasn’t the one who backed up. He thought of having some fun with tricking the king and trying to eat some sugar. So, he pretended as if he did not know what was on the mats.
“My King, What are those on the mats?” Andare asked the king. The king thought, “Andare definitely knows that is sugar. But he is trying to trick me. Let’s see about that.”.
“Oh! Just some soil, Andare, just some dirt,” the King replied, Andare pretending not to care much.
Andare couldn’t say anything or do anything further. Because the king totally silenced him with that reply. Andare bowed to the king. The king enjoyed his satisfaction at being able to fool Andare, the one who fools everyone most of the time. Andare kept his head down and left. But his mind was thinking of a way to eat sugar.
Andare went back home and called his son. “Son, I am going back to the palace. Once I left home, in a little while, you should come there crying that your mother is dead. Okay?” Andare instructed his kid, who was not second to his father.
Then Andare went back to the palace and stayed peeking around the yard nearby the sugar mats. In a while, his son came running towards the palace. He was crying so hard and saying, “Father, my mother is dead!”. Then Andare walked towards the sugar mats and started to cry out loud.
“Oh, dear son, we are doomed,” Andare wailed. While wailing, he sat by the mat and put his head on the mat. Sugar was all over his face and mouth. “Now, there will be dirt on your mouth and my mouth,” Andare said while crying. His son also joined Andare. Both cried loudly, put their heads on the mats, kept saying that phrase and kept eating sugar.
The king, who heard this loud cry, came to see what had happened. When Andare saw the king, he wailed, saying, “My dear king, my son’s mother; my wife is dead. Now, there will be dirt on my son’s mouth and in my mouth.” and put his face on the sugar mat and ate sugar. The king instantly realized his trick on Andare had backfired. The king couldn’t punish Andare for eating sugar. Because the king himself had told Andare that it was not sugar and that it was dirt. The king had to bear the cost and hide his laughter.