Whole illustrated book page with surrounding printed narrative: Two striped tigers grapple with two dark, long-tailed humanoid demons; two ornate coats hang behind the fighting pairs.
The complete 1892 book page shows Batten’s tiger spouses fighting the king’s two captive demons in the Labam tale. His long-tailed bodies and coats hung aside are artistic treatment; neither tiger nor demon is individually mapped to one fighting pair. The surrounding text belongs to the same source witness.
Overview
The prince seeking Labam encounters a tiger who says a thorn has hurt his foot for twelve years. When the prince removes it, the tiger’s cries bring his wife from another jungle. He initially hides the prince until she promises not to kill him; both then greet their benefactor respectfully, feed him and host him for three days while the injury heals. Before he leaves, the male tiger promises that remembering him in trouble will bring the pair.
Later Labam’s father requires the suitor to kill two demons he keeps caged. The prince thinks of the tiger, and both spouses appear and offer to fight in his place. He dresses them in jewelled gold-and-silver coats obtained from his magical bag. With the king’s permission they battle and kill both demons. Their arrival in response to a thought and their participation in the marriage tests make them specific marvellous helpers; they are not identified as transformed humans or as the tigress in a different grateful-animal tale.
Origins & earliest records
South Asian narration attributed to Múniyá through Maive Stokes
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.
- 01
Indian Fairy Tales
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
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.
References
Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.
- Historical narrated folktale in an edited English collectionJacobs 1892, Princess Labam and source notesResearch access: 2026-10-05
Image credits
Historical illustrated book-page facsimileWhole illustrated book page with surrounding printed narrative: Two striped tigers grapple with two dark, long-tailed humanoid demons; two ornate coats hang behind the fighting pairs.
The complete 1892 book page shows Batten’s tiger spouses fighting the king’s two captive demons in the Labam tale. His long-tailed bodies and coats hung aside are artistic treatment; neither tiger nor demon is individually mapped to one fighting pair. The surrounding text belongs to the same source witness.
