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

Overview

“Keep it for the Beggar” is framed as a mother’s explanation to children of a household expression. A husband habitually asks his wife to save lentil soup for the next morning. One evening an unseen listener laughs each of the three times he repeats the request. Searching the house and questioning neighbours reveals no speaker. Later, while moving the latch of his backyard door, the husband is bitten on the finger by a serpent and dies. The neighbours cannot find the animal.

A disembodied voice then identifies its speaker as a messenger sent by Yama. It arrived at the eighth ghaṭikā because the man’s allotted life would end at the twelfth, and laughed at his certainty of eating breakfast. The messenger explains that its divine nature made it invisible and that it subsequently transformed into the serpent to carry out its duty. It leaves to report to its master; no personal name, original bodily shape or further career is supplied. The story recommends speaking of leftovers as food for a beggar, reserving a portion for oneself only if still alive the next morning. Its concluding remarks about marital dining customs are the collector’s historical social commentary, not universal contemporary practice.

Invisibility before its taskThree audible laughsDeliberate serpent transformation
01

Origins & earliest records

Southern Indian storytelling in Kingscote and Natesa Sastri’s English collection

02

Records & interpretation

Complete relevant English chapter, attached notes, title, preface and introduction read.

Selected bibliography

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

  1. 01

    Tales of the Sun; or, Folklore of Southern India

    Mrs. Howard Kingscote and Paṇḍit Naṭêsá Sástrî, collectors · 1890

    XXII, Keep it for the Beggar, pp.262–266; final social commentary and note included. London: W. H. Allen & Co.; complete English chapter and attached notes read.

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

Complete English chapter, ending and attached notes read

Tales of the Sun; or, Folklore of Southern India

Kingscote and Natesa Sastri; London: W. H. Allen & Co., 1890. XXII, Keep it for the Beggar, pp.262–266; final social commentary and note included

Complete retained cache kingscote-sastri-22.txt; title/preface/introduction read. Source-specific identity; no direct Tamil collation or earliest oral-attestation claim. Actual messenger self-identification and transformation, not merely an ordinary snake; final social commentary separately qualified.

Inspect the digitized plate · Source collection manifest

References

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

  1. Historical collected narrative and editorial notesTales of the Sun; or, Folklore of Southern India — XXII, Keep it for the Beggar, pp.262–266; final social commentary and note includedResearch 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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