Folk tales from India.

Twenty-nine traditional tales from India include "The Tiger, the Brahman, and the Jackal," "The Lion and the Crane," and "Why the Fish Laughed."

Traditional Indian lore through the eyes of two artists. “Their collaboration is nothing short of phenomenal. The illustrations take you into another world.” —Medium A shape-shifting tiger and a pretentious rat. A generous goddess and a powerful demon. A clever princess and a prince who returns from the dead. This collection of sixteen traditional tales transports readers to the beguiling world of Indian folklore. Transcribed by Indian and English folklorists in the nineteenth century, these stories brim with wit and magic. Fans of fairy tales will encounter familiar favorites—epic quests and talking animals—alongside delightful surprises—an irreverent sense of humor and an array of bold, inspiring heroines. Each tale in this ebook comes alive alongside exquisite artwork by a pair of contemporary Indian artists.

Enter the magical, timeless world of classic fairy tales from India. A prince sets out on an adventure and is joined by a talking parrot and the 'Ant-Raja'. Together, can they win the heart of the beautiful Princess Labam? Gangazara, the soothsayer's son, rescues the tiger-king, the serpent-king and the rat-king from a well. But did he make a grave mistake when he also rescued the cunning goldsmith? A boy is born with the mark of the moon on his forehead and a star on his chin but his enemies want to kill him as soon as he is born. Can he overcome his cruel destiny and return to his rightful kingdom? Also in these pages are stories about animals both wise and cruel--a tiger tricked into returning to his cage by a jackal, a crane outwitted by a crab, and the cat, dog and mice who pit their wits against crafty humans. Brave girls, adventurous men, wily tricksters, loyal friends populate of this book, bringing alive an imagined world from long, long ago. Beautifully illustrated in colour and introduced by Jerry Pinto, these fairy tales are as unique as they are unforgettable and will ignite the imagination of a new generation of readers.

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. To ensure a quality reading experience, this work has been proofread and republished using a format that seamlessly blends the original graphical elements with text in an easy-to-read typeface. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

This is a new release of the original 1935 edition.

Although many readers might associate the term “fairy tales” with the Germanic or Celtic folk tale tradition—like in the stories collected by the Brothers Grimm—countries like India have their own rich history of fairy tales. Many of these tales, infused with a local flavor, bear a striking structural and thematic similarity to those with which Western readers are accustomed: moral allegories, talking animals, gambling incidents, and the like. Joseph Jacobs has carefully selected 29 fairy tales from the Jatakas, the Fables of Bidpai, the Tales of the Sun, the Baluchi Folktales, the Folktales of Kashmir, and other Sanskrit sources. These stories are a humorous and imaginative showcase of India’s rich fairy tale tradition. Joseph Jacobs was an Australian folklorist who devoted most of his career to collecting fairy tales from around the world. His collections on English fairy tales have immortalized stories such as “Jack and the Beanstalk,” “Goldilocks and the Three Bears,” “The Three Little Pigs,” “Jack the Giant Killer” and “The History of Tom Thumb.”