Yakada Yakā: The Continuing Saga of Sonnaby Von Bloss and the Burgher RailwaymenYakada Yaka is the second part of the Burgher trilogy that began with The Jam Fruit Tree When the conquering British roll out the first railway steam-driven locomotive in Sri Lanka, it causes quite a stir. The smoke-spewing, banshee-wailing, fearsome black thing hisses like a thousand cobras... and the villagers declare that this Thing is an Iron Demon-a yakada yaka. The Burghers who drive these Iron Demons have a penchant for challenging authority and courting trouble, sometimes just to liven things up in the railway outposts... and so it is that Sonnaboy and Meerwald chase a large group of villagers all across Anuradhapura, mother-naked but not much bothered by it, Ben Godlieb conjures up a corpse in his cowcatcher, Dickie Byrd single-handedly demolishes a Pentecostal Mission and is hailed as the messiah of the Railway fraternity, and Basil Van der Smaght filches a human heart and feeds it to the Nawalapitiya railway staff ...and to cap it all, Sonnaboy takes French Leave to act in The Bridge on the River Kwai! '(Muller) tells his tale with a gentle humour often bordering on tenderness, but couched in the vigorous rugged localese. Almost immediately we find ourselves empathizing with Muller's roistering band that sins and prays with equal zest.' -Business Standard '... The Burghers ...believed in living life to the hilt. Every situation occasioned wild revels, and there was nothing that could not be solved through a brawl.' -India Today. |
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Page 40
... hell was wrong . People crowding into the compartment learned that the girl had been attacked by some sort of free - wheeling guard . ' Where ? Where ? ' ' There , there ! Jumped out and ran . Catch him ! ' About twenty passengers ...
... hell was wrong . People crowding into the compartment learned that the girl had been attacked by some sort of free - wheeling guard . ' Where ? Where ? ' ' There , there ! Jumped out and ran . Catch him ! ' About twenty passengers ...
Page 111
... hell . With hoppers . Some days I cannot eat even three hoppers . Ate five , men . And not only me . Other chaps also . Some taste , men . ' ' What the hell , ' observed de la Harpe , ' we are eating pork , no ? See the pig . Filthy ...
... hell . With hoppers . Some days I cannot eat even three hoppers . Ate five , men . And not only me . Other chaps also . Some taste , men . ' ' What the hell , ' observed de la Harpe , ' we are eating pork , no ? See the pig . Filthy ...
Page 225
... hell back here . Now don't twist a leg or something and get stuck there because you'll both go up with the bridge . ' Sonnaboy nodded . Van Hoff paled . ' How fast ? ' ' Fast enough to keep the engine going , pulling the train ...
... hell back here . Now don't twist a leg or something and get stuck there because you'll both go up with the bridge . ' Sonnaboy nodded . Van Hoff paled . ' How fast ? ' ' Fast enough to keep the engine going , pulling the train ...
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Common terms and phrases
accepted Anuradhapura arrack asked baby began Beryl better bloody Bloss Board boys brake bridge bring British brother brought bugger bungalow Burgher called Carloboy Ceylon Colombo coming decided door drink driver elephant engine everything eyes face fellow fireman Gampola garden gave girls give guard hands happened head heart hell husband John keep Kinno Kirby knew later light lived look Meerwald mind morning mother moved needed never night Peebles Railway raised road scream seemed shouting side signal Sinhalese sleepers Sonnaboy Sonnaboy's sort station stationmaster stop sure talk Tamil tell thing thought told took track train tree turn wait waves whistle whole wife woman