A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.

Overview

In Parker’s North-western Province tale, a prince kills a cobra climbing toward the nest of the Aet-kanda Lēniyā. The young birds initially threaten to eat him, then recognise his rescue and hide him among their wings. Their mother arrives carrying a tusked elephant pierced by her claws, after flying three circuits around the sea.

The young insist that she swear not to eat their protector before revealing him. She then agrees to assist him. At a river, she breaks a stick, holds it in her mouth and carries the prince across while he hangs from it. Parker translates the mother’s designation as a female Rukh, linking the encounter to a giant-bird comparison while preserving the Sinhalese name.

The collection also records a variant in which a mother sends her son to obtain the bird’s milk as a supposed cure. The bird identifies this as an attempt to have him killed. These details belong to particular recorded narratives, rather than a single fixed zoological description.

Elephant preyGiant clawsProtective youngReciprocal assistanceRiver transport
01

Origins & earliest records

Sri Lankan narratives collected and translated by H. Parker

02

Records & interpretation

Actual hosted 1910 text and named tale sections directly read.

Selected bibliography

Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.

  1. 01

    Village Folk-Tales of Ceylon, Volume I

    H. Parker (collector and translator) · 1910

    No. 51, pp. 291–297; attribution and narrative variations preserved.

Family & connections

A source-supported family tree or inspiration record has not yet been compiled for this profile. Related reading below indicates a connection in subject matter, not a proven lineage or creative influence.

Primary records and illustrations

Direct primary record

Village Folk-Tales of Ceylon, Volume I

Volume I (1910). No. 51, pp. 291–297

Actual translated tale read with identified volume and section; no creature illustration asserted.

Inspect the digitized plate · Source collection manifest

References

Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.

  1. Historical collected oral narrative translationParker, Village Folk-Tales of Ceylon I — No. 51, pp. 291–297Research access: 2026-10-05

Image credits

A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.

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