Indian Folk Tales
Village tricksters, rajas and ranis, resourceful daughters, talking animals and figures such as Raja Rasalu appear in these selections associated with Indian storytelling traditions. Published sources include Flora Annie Steel’s Tales of the Punjab and stories selected for Andrew Lang’s fairy books.
The source notes identify the version used and any regional connection that can be supported. A collection label is a way to browse, not proof that a travelling story has only one origin.
123 stories are in this collection right now.
Indian Folk Tales
Ages 6-8
The Tiger, the Brahman, and the Jackal
A Brahman releases a tiger that immediately threatens to eat him. A jackal pretends to be confused and persuades the tiger to demonstrate the story inside the cage.
Indian Folk Tales
The Son of Seven Mothers
After a king blinds and imprisons his seven queens, the one surviving son sustains them. A princess who can read the deadly messages he carries helps him recover their sight and confront the hidden past.
Indian Folk Tales
Ages 9-12
The Thanksgiving of the Wazir
A wise old wazir gives thanks when his king cuts off a fingertip, and is thrown in prison—until that missing fingertip saves the king from sacrifice.
Indian Folk Tales
Ages 9-12
The Ruby Prince
A Brahmin's red stone becomes Ruby Prince; married to a princess, he is claimed by a snake-king until she wins him back by a dance.
Indian Folk Tales
Ages 6-8
The Sparrow and the Crow
Before the crow can share the sparrow’s khichri, he must wash, and so begins a long chain of asking, from pond to deer to cow, grass and blacksmith.
Indian Folk Tales
Ages 6-8
The Three Deaf Men
A deaf husband, his deaf wife and a deaf shepherd talk at cross purposes over cabbage and a lost cow, until a sharp stranger walks off with the calf.
Indian Folk Tales
The Three Calamities
Minister Bodhaditya hears Kali weep over three threats to the king; he averts arrows, poisoned rice, and a serpent, then proves loyalty.
Indian Folk Tales
Ages 6-8
The Monkey with the Tom-tom
A crafty monkey loses the tip of his tail, then swaps and tricks his way from a razor to firewood to puddings and finally to a drum he loves to beat.
Indian Folk Tales
Ages 9-12
The Mother and the Daughter Who Worshipped the Sun
Sent from home after giving half her mother’s cake to a hungry priest, a poor girl marries a prince and begs the Sun to help when her secret comes out.
Indian Folk Tales
The Prince and the Fakir
A childless king is promised two sons by a wandering fakir, on one condition: when the boys are born, the fakir will come back and take one of them away.
Indian Folk Tales
The Rat’s Wedding
A Rat's helpful gifts become ever larger demands until he claims a human bride. Her return to her family ends his boasts with a cruel punishment.
Indian Folk Tales
The Lord of Death
An old traveler follows a shape-changing bringer of death through several fatal encounters, but its final explanation leaves him—and the reader—with an unanswered question.