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 9-12
The Poisoned Food
A young pilgrim shares rice with a starving elder; serpent venom from a kite’s meal kills the old man, and villagers blame the helper.
Indian Folk Tales
Ages 9-12
The Magic Shoes and Staff
Putraka, a generous young king whose own father plots his murder, tricks two brothers out of flying shoes, a wishing staff and a magic bowl.
Indian Folk Tales
Ages 9-12
The Magic Pitcher
A woodcutter who leaves his family to live with four fairies demands their magic food-giving pitcher, then hides it, boasts about it, and breaks it.
Indian Folk Tales
The Magic Fiddle
Jealous wives drown a cooking sister with a spirit's help; she returns via a bamboo fiddle, marries a chief's son, and faces her brothers.
Indian Folk Tales
Ages 6-8
The Lost Camel
Four travelers describe a lost camel they never saw—lame, one-eyed, short-tailed, and belly-sick—and a king makes them ministers.
Indian Folk Tales
Ages 9-12
The Lambikin
Tiny Lambikin promises hungry beasts he will fatten at Granny’s, rides home inside a drumikin, then meets a Jackal who knows his voice.
Indian Folk Tales
Ages 9-12
The Legend of Gwashbrari, the Glacier-Hearted Queen
Proud Westarwan, king of the Kashmir mountains, never looks down at the world, until icy Gwashbrari vows to make him bow to her before sunrise.
Indian Folk Tales
Ages 9-12
The Magic Bed
A kind prince shares his cakes with the Ant-King and pulls a thorn from a tiger’s paw, and both friends help him win the dazzling Princess Lalun.
Indian Folk Tales
The King of Crocodiles
Crocodiles ruin a farmer's wheat until he promises his daughter; underwater she finds a gold-clad king, and her parents later join them.
Indian Folk Tales
Ages 9-12
The Hermit’s Daughter
A hermit’s daughter who talks with forest animals marries a king, until a jealous lady and a scheming barber convince him she is a poisoning witch.
Indian Folk Tales
Ages 9-12
The Grain of Corn
A crow drops a stolen grain into a crack in a tree and must return it to an angry farmer's wife, so he begs a woodman, a king, a queen and others for help.
Indian Folk Tales
Ages 9-12
The Good Husband and the Bad Wife
A kind Brahmin invites a guest to dinner, but his bad-tempered wife tells a wild lie about a wooden pestle, and the poor visitor runs for his life.