Indian Fairy Tales · Chapter
How Wicked Sons Were Duped explained
This chapter discusses the folktale of wicked sons who are duped by their father, exploring its variants across cultures including Gaelic, Anglo-Latin, and Kashmiri versions.
What happens
This chapter discusses the folktale of wicked sons who are duped by their father, exploring its variants across cultures including Gaelic, Anglo-Latin, and Kashmiri versions. The commentary examines anthropological interpretations, particularly Mr. Gomme's theory linking the tale to archaic customs of putting elders to death and surrendering estates, while also critiquing the dangers of applying anthropological methods without first establishing origins and diffusion.
Themes in this chapter
Gratitude and Ingratitude
The story is intended to condemn ungrateful children who mistreat their father after receiving his wealth.
Cultural Transmission and Borrowing
The chapter highlights the tale's presence in multiple cultures and debates its origin as an Oriental import rather than indigenous to the British Isles.
Key passages
“Mr. Gomme is of opinion that the tale arose from certain rhyming formulae occurring in the Gaelic and Latin tales as written on a mallet left by the old man in the box opened after his death.”
Mr. Gomme believes the story originated from rhyming inscriptions on a mallet found in a box after an old man's death, as seen in Gaelic and Latin versions.
This summarizes Gomme's theory about the tale's origin.
“The existence of the tale in India renders it likely enough that it is not indigenous to the British Isles, but an Oriental importation.”
Because the tale exists in India, it is probable that it came from the East rather than originating in the British Isles.
This supports the idea of cultural transmission from Asia to Europe.