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

Overview

In Múniyá’s Princess Labam story, as selected by Joseph Jacobs from Maive Stokes, a travelling prince discovers ants in every sweetmeat his mother has packed. He leaves all the food for them. Their king appears, thanks him and promises that the ants will come whenever he thinks of them in trouble. This is a particular tale’s speaking and magically responsive colony, not a description of ordinary ant behaviour.

The promised aid becomes decisive when Labam’s father demands that the prince extract the oil from eighty pounds of mustard seed in a single day. Remembering the Ant-Raja immediately brings him and his followers. They tell the prince to sleep and do the work themselves, allowing him to deliver the oil the next morning. This success does not complete the courtship: the king imposes further tests, which require different helpers and finally Labam’s own intervention. No later fate or special bodily form is supplied for the ant king.

Telepathic summonsCollective labourReciprocal assistance
01

Origins & earliest records

South Asian narration attributed to Múniyá through Maive Stokes

02

Records & interpretation

Complete English tale including final tests, marriage and return, plus specific source notes read.

Selected bibliography

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

  1. 01

    Indian Fairy Tales

    Joseph Jacobs (selector); through Maive Stokes’s record of Múniyá’s narration · 1892

    II, “How the Raja’s Son won the Princess Labam,” pp. 3–16; notes pp. 237–238. London: David Nutt. Notes credit Stokes no. XXII, pp. 153–163, and state replacement of God by Khuda. Complete selected narrative and 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 selected English tale and specific notes read

Indian Fairy Tales

Joseph Jacobs, London: David Nutt, 1892. II, pp. 3–16; notes pp. 237–238

Caches jacobs-2.txt and jacobs-notes-2.txt, master jacobs-indian.html. Múniyá via Maive Stokes explicitly credited. Entire ending includes Labam’s hair splitting wood, marriage and return; magical stick remains unused. Original printed scans/source-language and earlier Stokes edition not independently collated. No artwork verification claimed.

Inspect the digitized plate · Source collection manifest

References

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

  1. Historical narrated folktale in an edited English collectionJacobs 1892, Princess Labam and source notesResearch access: 2026-10-05

Image credits

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

FT·2074 · RESEARCH EDITION 01Back to top ↑