Week 6 Essay: Indian
Fairy Tales
This week I read a section out of the UN-Textbook in the
Indian section. The story that I chose to read was called “Indian Fairy Tales”
written by Joseph Jacobs. The reason
that I chose to read this set of stories is because I really do enjoy reading
about different tales and I do not recall seeing this story in last year’s
Mythology and Folklore class. My second choice of reading would have been the
Ramayana, but obviously I did not want to read and take notes over the same
book that I have read twice.
I would say that one of the many elements that drive most of
these stories is Wisdom, and tricksters and fools. In the story “The Tiger, The
Brahman, and the Jackal.” The Tiger can be seen as the trickster because he
convinces the Brahman to let him loose from the cage, and in return he would
not eat him. The Brahman is the fool. It is quite obvious since he is the one
that opened up the cage for the tiger. Also in the story he encounters many
different beings that tell him he is a fool for trusting the tiger and tells him
to be a man. Now the Jackal is an interesting case. He is seen as first as a fool by the Brahman
and the Tiger. While the Brahman and the Tiger are trying to explain the story
to the Jackal, he seems as if he just can’t quite understand the situation.
Purposely, without the other two knowing, the Jackal mixes up the story and
recalls the information wrong. Eventually the Tiger is tricked by the Jackal to
get back into the cage and he then closed the gate shit. The Brahman and the
Jackal are booth fooled by the Jackal and his wisdom!
Phew, there actually is a lot going on in this story; more
than you would think. The Jackal fools both tiger and the Brahman by NOT being
a fool. The Tiger tricks the Brahman and also the Jackal tricks the Tiger. In
the end, it is the Jackal that comes out on top and is the wisest of them all.
It is a very interesting story with many different elements if you look into it
more closely.
Source:Wikipedia
I read this story, too, and what's interesting is that there is an almost identical story in the Tales of Bidpai. I thought this version was interesting because, usually, jackals (or foxes) play the trickster characters and are mean. But in this story, they actually used their trickery for good! I like when stock characters are used in a different light.
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