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

Overview

A hunter rescues a snake from a well, and the snake promises to come whenever the man thinks of him. Later the hunter is wrongly imprisoned for killing a ruler’s child after a grateful tiger gives him the child’s gold chain. Remembered in the night, the snake arrives immediately with a medicine to restore sight, then enters the ruler’s sleeping household and blinds his wife with venom.

The hunter restores her sight using the snake’s medicine and explains the chain’s origin, securing his release and a reward. The helper’s intervention deliberately harms another person before repairing the harm; it is not simply an account of benevolent healing. Fleeson’s footnote attributes this tale to an ancient temple book without identifying the manuscript or edition, so that claimed earlier witness remains uninspected. No substance or clinical remedy is specified.

Summoned helper whose harmful intervention frees a rescued manSource-specific historical narrative
01

Origins & earliest records

Historical Laos country within Siam, as identified by the collection

02

Records & interpretation

Complete relevant narrative and Willis G. Craig’s introduction directly read.

Selected bibliography

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

  1. 01

    Laos Folk-Lore of Farther India

    Katherine Neville Fleeson, collector/translator · 1899

    VII.3, To Aid Beast is Merit; To Aid Man is but Vanity, pp. 95–98 and note17

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

Katherine Neville Fleeson, Laos Folk-Lore of Farther India (Fleming H. Revell, 1899)

VII.3, To Aid Beast is Merit; To Aid Man is but Vanity. pp. 95–98 and note17

Complete narrative and any attached footnote read. Extraordinary anatomy and medicine are narrative elements; unnamed earlier temple book not inspected. No inferred ending beyond printed text.

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References

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

  1. Historical folktale collectionFleeson (1899), VII.3, To Aid Beast is Merit; To Aid Man is but Vanity, pp. 95–98 and note17Research 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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