Indian Fairy Tales · Chapter
II: Princess Labam explained
This chapter presents the tale of Princess Labam, exploring themes of direction taboos, grateful animals, bride-wagers, and tasks.
What happens
This chapter presents the tale of Princess Labam, exploring themes of direction taboos, grateful animals, bride-wagers, and tasks. It includes parallels to other Indian and European folktales, discussing the likelihood of cultural borrowing from India to Europe, possibly through Arab intermediation during the Crusades.
Themes in this chapter
Gratitude and Ingratitude
The grateful animals theme is central, with parallels to other Indian tales like 'The Soothsayer’s Son' and the common thorn-in-tiger's-foot motif.
Cultural Transmission and Borrowing
The chapter explicitly analyzes the probability of India influencing European folktales through Arab intermediaries during the Crusades.
Characters to notice
- Princess Labam
Central figure of the tale, around whom the direction taboo, grateful animals, bride-wager, and tasks revolve.
Key passages
“The human mind may be the same everywhere, but it is not likely to hit upon the sequence of incidents, Direction taboo — Grateful Animals — Bride-wager — Tasks, by accident, or independently: Europe must have borrowed from India, or India from Europe.”
It is improbable that the specific sequence of direction taboo, grateful animals, bride-wager, and tasks arose independently in both India and Europe; one must have borrowed from the other.
Highlights the argument for cultural borrowing between India and Europe.