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 162
... Edema . ' Nothing like those Mount Mary parties , no ? Whatever it is , nothing like Colombo . ' Edema nodded . The neighbourhood chaos of the past week had begun to gnaw at his nerves and he , earnest soul , was of the opinion that he ...
... Edema . ' Nothing like those Mount Mary parties , no ? Whatever it is , nothing like Colombo . ' Edema nodded . The neighbourhood chaos of the past week had begun to gnaw at his nerves and he , earnest soul , was of the opinion that he ...
Page 171
... Edema , ' is strangling someone . . . in your garden ! ' ' In your garden , ' Mrs Edema screeched , ' I saw the noise coming from under that tree ! ' ' What tree , what tree ? ' Sonnaboy asked while Leah clung nervously to Beryl and ...
... Edema , ' is strangling someone . . . in your garden ! ' ' In your garden , ' Mrs Edema screeched , ' I saw the noise coming from under that tree ! ' ' What tree , what tree ? ' Sonnaboy asked while Leah clung nervously to Beryl and ...
Page 175
... Edema ran home for his mouth organ . Others of railway town , coming upon them in the street pointed at Direcksze and asked , interestedly , if he was dead . One is inclined to sympathize with Edema . A good Burgher , ready and willing ...
... Edema ran home for his mouth organ . Others of railway town , coming upon them in the street pointed at Direcksze and asked , interestedly , if he was dead . One is inclined to sympathize with Edema . A good Burgher , ready and willing ...
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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