The hat seller is a well-loved Sri Lankan folk tale which has thrilled children down the ages. Today, it is retold for us by P.H. Bhaggya Sandamini, a Grade 10 student of Oxford Academy, Alawwa.
One day a hat seller went through a village He was, of course wearing one of his hats. On the way he felt tired and sleepy. So, he had a nap under a shady tree There was a troop of monkeys on the tree. When they saw the sleeping hat seller with his hat they too wanted to wear hats. They climbed down, took and wore the hats and scampered up the tree again.
In a short time, the hat seller got up from his nap and saw that his hats were not there. He looked here and there and up and down. Suddenly, he saw the cheeky monkeys wearing his hats. The hat seller thought for a while on how to get his hats back. Suddenly, he had a brain wave and threw his hat towards the monkeys.
The copy cat monkeys also threw their hats at the hat seller. He quickly collected the hats and went on his way.