Many years ago there lived in Sri Lanka an old man named Mahadena Muttha. People thought he was very wise but in reality, he was very foolish.
Mahadena Muttha had five golayas (pupils). They were Indikatu Pancha, Pol Ba Muna, Rabbada Aiyya,Kotu Kithaaiyya and Puwak Badilla. They treated what Mahadena Muttha said as gospel truth and faithfully wrote down his every word on an ola leaf. Mahadena Muttha gave them much advice and laid down a great many rules.
One day, Mahadena Muttha decided he needs more pupils and set out to find them. He was accompanied by his five pupils. It was a fruitless journey as Mahadena Muttha did not find any pupils. By the time they had finished looking for pupils it was dark. Mahadena Muttha decided that it was too late for them to return home. He decided to spend the night at an ambalama (wayside rest).
It was now time for dinner and Mahadena Muttha told Kotu Kithaiyya to go and buy some rice. He did so as Kotu Kithaiyya had some knowledge of arithmetic. Mahadena Muttha thought that Pol Ba Muna had a good knowledge of food so he sent him to buy fish and vegetables.
As he was the carpenter in the group Rabbada Aiyya was asked to build a brick stove to cook the food. Puwak Badilla was sent to bring banana leaves to use as plates. Indi Katu Pancha was assigned the role of cook.
After a while, Kotu Kitha Aiyya returned empty handed saying that as the boutique keeper wanted to charge him an extra cent and therefore, he did not buy the rice. Pol Ba Muna too came without the fish and vegetables saying he did not find any fish or vegetables as he could not find any that would suit all human conditions. For example, if a vegetable was good for the phlegm it was not good for the bile. Puwak Badilla also came without the banana leaves.
His explanation was that a gecko had cried when he was about to cut the banana leaves. He had taken it as a bad omen and that it meant that he was not to cut the leaves. Rabbada Aiyya too had not been able to find three stones exactly the same shape
As there weren’t any provisions no dinner could be cooked. Mahadena Muttha and the golayas went to sleep hungry.
Source: Folklore/Tales from Sri Lanka, Folk and history, Manel Ranatunga