It has been said that during the reign of Sinhala King Keerthi Sri Rajasinghe (1742 – 1782), there was a court jester called Andare who was employed to amuse the King and his Ministers. There is no historical record of employment of court jesters but folklore has many stories about Andare and the pranks he played on the King, his Ministers, and even the Queen. He was probably there to amuse the King to take away the tension from the day-to-day work of the King and his Ministers. One Andare story as far as I can remember is the one Where the Ministers wanted to play a prank on Andare, and how it rebounded on them. The King and the Ministers had a day in the week when they go to the Royal Pond to take a bath. Andare always accompanied them on such outings. Each of the Ministers, unknown to Andare, took an egg along with him. At the pond when they were, bathing one Minister asked who could dive into the pond and bring an egg. All the Ministers shouted back that they could. Then at a given signal, all of them dived into the pond. Andare was surprised, but having no alternative, he too dived into the pond. After a while, the ministers came up each holding an egg in his hand. Andare too came up but had no egg with him. Andare guessing what happened did not want to accept defeat. Not short of wit, Andare cried, "Cock-a –doodle doo" and shouted you are all hens and I am the only cock. The King saw how Andare turned tables on the Ministers and had a hearty laugh.