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. |
From inside the book
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Page 17
... firebox and manoeuvring it in the furnace to make room for another and another needed muscle and effort . Before leaving the Shed he had managed to get up a good fire and head of steam , but tending it on the run was another business ...
... firebox and manoeuvring it in the furnace to make room for another and another needed muscle and effort . Before leaving the Shed he had managed to get up a good fire and head of steam , but tending it on the run was another business ...
Page 22
... firebox ? ' Alfie grinned . ' So shut down steam and get down and push ! ' ' Hah ! We'll see ! ' Those who did stay ... firebox door . He said it was for scientific reasons . ' Now watch , ' he would say , ' if one drop reaches the ...
... firebox ? ' Alfie grinned . ' So shut down steam and get down and push ! ' ' Hah ! We'll see ! ' Those who did stay ... firebox door . He said it was for scientific reasons . ' Now watch , ' he would say , ' if one drop reaches the ...
Page 78
... firebox while the tender tipped upwards on impact to send its load of wood hurtling forward , trapping the driver who died screaming as he sizzled against the hot firebox . In Galle , one bright morning , an unattended engine grew ...
... firebox while the tender tipped upwards on impact to send its load of wood hurtling forward , trapping the driver who died screaming as he sizzled against the hot firebox . In Galle , one bright morning , an unattended engine grew ...
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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