The stories of Andare in Sinhalese folklore from Sri Lanka revolved around a man who lived during the Kandyan Kingdom. His natural instincts of situational understanding, intelligence of quick thinking, good verbal communication, and awareness of his surroundings had made him a keen person. Therefore, Andare stories are funny and unpredictable. That keeps the listener attracted by curiosity until the end, as the next move of Andare is always a mystery and unpredictable. Also, the stories of Andare are suitable as bedtime stories for kids or folktales for kids as well. Accordingly, the story of how Andare ate ripened jackfruit is one of the funny stories that opens up for imagination as well as historical information.
Once upon a time in Ceylon, the infamous island called the teardrop in the Indian Ocean, there was a man called Andare. He had a reputation for being cunning and for his pranks. So, the Sinhalese king at the time appointed him as the jester of the royal court.
After the appointment, Andare woke up early in the morning and went to the palace from his home. His home was in the outer city of the capital of Kandy. After finishing the duties for the day in the evening, he came back home. The next morning, he went to the palace again for duties. Andare, being a poor man and a lower-caste man, did not have a cart or a horse. His mode of transportation was walking. He walked to the palace every morning and walked back home in the evening via a footpath placed through a land full of greenery. This was happening for a while.
One day, as usual, Andare woke up early in the morning and departed to go to the royal court for duties. This day, a jackfruit from a tree by the side of the footpath had started to ripen. Its fresh and sweet smell was all over the place. While passing by this tree, Andare felt the smell of this ripened jackfruit. He recognized it was from a ripened jackfruit right away and looked around. He saw a jackfruit covered with a white cloth in a jackfruit tree. His mouth was watering. He couldn’t help thinking of tasting the jackfruit. But if a fruit is covered with a white cloth, that means that fruit is already allocated for the king himself.
Yet Andare couldn’t get his thoughts out of the jackfruit. He couldn’t make up his mind not to have a taste of that nice-smelling, ripened jackfruit.
“The ripened jackfruit smells so good. My mouth is already watering. How good it would be to taste this! I bet this would be heavenly tasty. But this is already the king’s,” Andare thought, looking at the jackfruit hanging from the tree.
“Whatever! I’m going to have a bite.” Andare had second thoughts.
Andare looked around carefully. No one was nearby. He climbed up the tree. He removed the white cloth and pressed the skin of the jackfruit with his thumb. The jackfruit skin was soft and squishy. “Ripened to the perfect level,” he said to himself.
Then he separated half of the jackfruit with his bare hands while letting the other half hang on the tree. He couldn’t even wait to climb down from the tree. So he sat on a branch and took a bite. One by one, he enjoyed the sweet, fleshy petals of jackfruit.
While he was lost in the taste of the jackfruit, a royal guard came. The guard saw Andare eating the jackfruit that had been allocated for his excellency, the king himself. The guard caught Andare red-handed.
The royal guard came near the tree and asked, “Andare, what have you done? Look, this man has eaten our king’s jackfruit without any care! No mercy today for you! You are under arrest. Get down! Now!”.
Andare climbed down the tree. The royal guard took Andare to the king. Not only that, the royal guard described what he saw without missing any detail in front of the king.
After hearing what the guard said, the king asked Andare, “Andare, is it true? Is it true that you ate half of the jackfruit that had been allocated for me? Answer me”
Andare kneeled in front of the king bowed to the king and replied, “Allow me to speak, my king! May your highness have mercy on this peasant. I only ate a half of the ripened jackfruit because I couldn’t bear starvation anymore, my king.”
After listening to Andare for reasons, the king stated, “Andare, don’t you know eating food that is allocated for the king is unforgivable wrong? No mercy for you this time! I order to behead you.”
Right away, Andare started sobbing and saying, “Oh, your highness, I am a man who will eventually die. But the reputation of your highness is nothing like that. When you behead me, it will harm your highness’s reputation.
The king was surprised by Andare’s words. “How in this world will my reputation be damaged when I behead you?” the king asked.
“Pardon me, your highness! The people in the country will disrespect your highness, saying the king beheaded Andare for eating half a jackfruit out of starvation.”
After hearing this from Andare, the king took a moment to think about it. “It seems Andare is right. Why would I make myself receive disrespect just because of a half of a jackfruit?” the king thought. Then the king had no option but to release Andare from the punishment.
“I forgive you for this last time, Andare,” the king said.
“Thank you, my king. May triple gems bless you, your highness! You are merciful, my king.” Andare praised the king and left for his duties.
Andare was wrong to eat the jackfruit that was allocated for the king. Because taking something that is not himself was wrong indeed. Yet, how Andare managed to save himself from death was because of his awareness and intelligence. He instantly remembered what was more important to the king. And he used that to save himself in the difficult situation. He was aware of what the people in the country would do and what the king would consider more valuable to him. And he was careful when communicating with the king politely. So, his awareness of the king and the countrymen, along with his intelligence, saved him from the harsh punishment.