Indian Fairy Tales · Chapter
Notes and References explained
This chapter provides an extensive scholarly overview of the history, sources, and transmission of Indian folktales, focusing on the Jataka tales, the Bidpai literature, and the influence of Buddhism.
What happens
This chapter provides an extensive scholarly overview of the history, sources, and transmission of Indian folktales, focusing on the Jataka tales, the Bidpai literature, and the influence of Buddhism. It discusses the spread of Indian story motifs to Europe, the role of metempsychosis and animism, and the work of early collectors like Miss Frere, Miss Stokes, and Captain Temple. The chapter also examines the comparative study of folktale incidents and the likelihood of India as a source for many European drolls and fairy tale elements.
Themes in this chapter
Cultural Transmission and Borrowing
The chapter extensively discusses how Indian folktales, especially beast-tales and drolls, spread to Europe via the Crusades, Arabs, and Jews, and how comparative analysis reveals shared incidents across cultures.
Transformation and Metamorphosis
The concept of metempsychosis (rebirth) is central to the Jataka tales, where the Buddha is reincarnated in various forms, including animals, reflecting the Hindu belief in the transformation of souls.
The External Soul
The chapter discusses the 'external soul' or 'Life Index' incident, found in both Norse tales and Indian tales like 'Punchkin', and its widespread occurrence among savage or semi-savage tribes as noted by Frazer.
Characters to notice
- Buddha
Central figure of the Jataka tales; his life and doctrines led to the moral revolution in India and the framing of folktales around his previous incarnations.
- Devadatta
Mentioned as the ungrateful figure in the Jataka version of the Lion and the Crane, identified with the lion in that tale.
- The Crane Bodhisatta
Identified as the crane in the Jataka tale of the Lion and the Crane, representing a pre-incarnation of the Buddha.
- The Lion
Appears in the Jataka tale as the ungrateful lion, identified with Devadatta.
- Aesop
Mentioned in the context of the resemblance between Jataka fables and Aesop's fables, with discussion of historical relations.
- Somadeva
Author of the Katha Sarit Sagara (c. 1200 AD), a major compilation of Indian stories, noted for its florid style and influence.
- Bidpai
Associated with the Bidpai literature (Pantschatantra), a key source for the spread of Indian beast-tales and drolls to Europe.
- Punchkin
Referenced in the discussion of the 'external soul' incident, with parallels in Norse tales and Miss Frere's Old Deccan Days.
Key passages
“The Jatakas are probably the oldest collection of such tales in literature, and the greater part of the rest are demonstrably more than a thousand years old.”
The Jataka tales are likely the earliest known collection of folktales in written form, and most other Indian story collections are clearly over a thousand years old.
Highlights the antiquity and primacy of the Jatakas in world literature.
“It is certain that much (perhaps one-fifth) of the popular literature of modern Europe is derived from those portions of this large bulk which came west with the Crusades through the medium of Arabs and Jews.”
A significant portion, possibly as much as twenty percent, of modern European folk literature originated from Indian stories that traveled westward during the Crusades via Arab and Jewish intermediaries.
Emphasizes the substantial influence of Indian narratives on European storytelling.
“The moral of this is, that India belongs to a group of peoples who have a common store of stories; India belongs to Europe for purposes of comparative folktales.”
This shows that India shares a common pool of stories with Europe, making it part of the same comparative folklore tradition.
Argues for the inclusion of India in the European folktale comparative framework.
