Indian Fairy Tales
| Preface |
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FROM the extreme West of the Indo-European world, we go this year to the extreme East. From the soft rain and green turf of Gaeldom, we seek the garish sun and arid soil of the Hindoo.
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| The Lion and The Crane |
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THE Bodhisatta was at one time born in the region of Himavanta as a white crane; now Brahmadatta was at that time reigning in Benares.
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| How The Raja's Son Won The Princess Labam |
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A country there was a Raja who had an only son who every day went out to hunt. One day the Rani, his mother, said to him, "You can hunt wherever you like on these three sides; but you must never go to the fourth side.
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| The Lambikin |
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ONCE upon a time there was a wee wee Lambikin, who frolicked about on his little tottery legs, and enjoyed himself amazingly.
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| Punchkin |
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ONCE upon a time there was a Raja who had seven beautiful daughters. They were all good girls; but the youngest, named Balna, was more clever than the rest.
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| The Broken Pot |
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THERE lived in a certain place a Brahman, whose name was Svabhavakripana, which means "a born miser." He had collected a quantity of rice by begging, and after having dined off it, he filled a pot with what was left over.
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| The Magic Fiddle |
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ONCE upon a time there lived seven brothers and a sister. The brothers were married, but their wives did not do the cooking for the family. It was done by their sister, who stopped at home to cook.
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| Loving Laili |
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ONCE there was a king called King Dantal, who had a great many rupees and soldiers and horses. He had also an only son called Prince Majnun,...
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| The Soothsayer's Son |
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A SOOTHSAYER when on his deathbed wrote out the horoscope of his second son, whose name was Gangazara, and bequeathed it to him as his only property, leaving the whole of his estate to his eldest son.
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| Harisarman |
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THERE was a certain Brahman in a certain village, named Harisarman. He was poor and foolish and in evil case for want of employment, and he had very many children, that he might reap the fruit of his misdeeds in a former life.
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| The Charmed Ring |
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A MERCHANT started his son in life with three hundred rupees, and bade him go to another country and try his luck in trade. The son took the money and departed.
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| The Talkative Tortoise |
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THE future Buddha was once born in a minister's family, when Brahma-datta was reigning in Benares; and when he grew up, he became the king's adviser in things temporal and spiritual.
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| The Gold-giving Serpent |
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NOW in a certain place there lived a Brahman named Haridatta. He was a farmer, but poor was the return his labour brought him. One day, at the end of the hot hours, the Brahman, overcome by the heat,...
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| The Son of Seven Queens |
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ONCE upon a time there lived a king who had seven Queens, but no children. This was a great grief to him, especially when he remembered that on his death there would be no heir to inherit the kingdom.
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| A Lesson for Kings |
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ONCE upon a time, when Brahma-datta was reigning in Benares, the future Buddha returned to life as his son and heir. And when the day came for choosing a name, they called him Prince Brahma-datta.
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| Pride Goeth Before A Fall |
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IN a certain village there lived ten cloth merchants, who always went about together. Once upon a time they had travelled far afield, and were returning home with a great deal of money which they had obtained by selling their wares.
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| Raja Rasalu |
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ONCE there lived a great Raja, whose flame was Salabhan, and be had a Queen, by name Lona, who, though she wept and prayed at many a shrine, had never a child to gladden her eyes. After a long time, however, a son was promised to her.
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| The Ass in The Lion's Skin |
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AT the same time, when Brahma-datta was reigning in Benares, the future Buddha was born one of a peasant family; and when he grew up, he gained his living by tilling the ground.
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| The Farmer and The Money-Lender |
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THERE was once a farmer who suffered much at the hands of a money-lender. Good harvests, or bad, the farmer was always poor, the money-lender rich.
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| The Prince and the Fakir |
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THERE was once upon a time a King who had no children. Now this King went and laid him down to rest at a place where four roads met, so that every one who passed had to step over him.
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| Why The Fish Laughed |
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AS a certain fisherwoman passed by a palace crying her fish, the Queen appeared at one of the windows and beckoned her to come near and show what she had. At that moment a very big fish jumped about in the bottom of the basket.
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| The Demon with The Matted Hair |
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THIS story the Teacher told in Jetavana about a Brother who had ceased striving after' righteousness. Said the Teacher to him: "Is it really true that you have ceased all striving? "--"Yes, Blessed One," he replied. Then the Teacher said: ....
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| The Ivory City and its Fairy Princess |
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ONE day a young prince was out practicing archery with the son of his father's chief vizier, when one of the arrows accidentally struck the wife of a merchant, who was walking about in an upper room' of a house close by.
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| How Sun, Moon, and Wind went out to Dinner |
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ONE day Sun, Moon, and Wind went out to dine with their uncle and aunts Thunder and Lightning. Their mother (one of the most distant Stars you see far up in the sky) waited alone for her children's return.
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| How The Wicked Sons were Duped |
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A very wealthy old man, imagining that he was on the point of death, sent for his sons and divided his property among them. However, he did not die for several years afterwards; and miserable years many of them were.
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| The Pigeon and The Crow
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ONCE upon a time the Bodhisatta was a Pigeon, and lived in a nest-basket which a rich man's cook had hung up in the kitchen, in order to earn merit by it.
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Copyright © by Hindu Books Universe All Right Reserved. Published on: 2003-07-15 (10968 reads) [ Go Back ] |
LONG ago the Bodisat was born to a forest life as the genius of a tree standing near a certain lotus pond.
ONCE upon a time, a tiger was caught in a trap. He tried in vain to get out through the bars, and rolled and bit with rage and grief when he failed.
A POOR blind Brahman and his wife were dependent on their son for their subsistence. Every day the young fellow used to go out and get what he could by begging.
A country were seven daughters of poor parents, who used to come daily to play under the shady trees in the King's garden with the gardener's daughter; and daily she used to say to them, "When I am married I shall have a son.
