THE HOTEL MANAGER

 Near my office, there was a hotel which though small was neat, spick and span, and I used to take my lunch there. The Manager Carolis de Silva was the most peculiar guy I ever came across. His knowledge of English was poor, yet he insisted on talking in that language thereby more often than not, murdering the Queen’s English. Whenever I spoke to him in Sinhala, he persisted in answering me in English.

While speaking he gesticulated so much that he behaved like a clown. He always wore a tie, but his feet showed slippers not shoes. I asked a waiter why the manager was wearing a tie in such warm .weather and his reply was amusing.

”Sir," he said, "when the manager had a marriage proposal, he changed from national costume to trousers and pretended to be the Chief Accountant of this group of companies. Even now he pretends to be so in the eyes of his wife by wearing a tie though he has changed the shoes to slippers."

As the Government Agent was passing one day through that way to Colombo, my Chief Clerk got Carolis to_ give our boss 3 first class lunch. When I too went to the hotel, I found the GA. having his lunch at a table filled with, inter alia, dishes of venison, pork and eggs.

As I did not want to disturb the GA, I waited outside in the verandah and after he was gone, I asked Carolis; “What is available?" The latter replied, "the remains of the GA are available!”