The learned owl and his wife

Overview

In Anna Liberata de Souza’s tale, the minister’s son Luxman overhears two small owls talking in a tree while he guards Rama and Rama’s bride Bargaruttee. The female asks her husband for a story, and he recounts the travellers’ history accurately before forecasting what comes next. Luxman understands their speech and writes it down. Rama and Luxman are the respective sons of a Rajah and his minister in this narrative; their names do not establish them as the brothers of the Rāmāyaṇa.

The male owl predicts a dangerous banyan, a collapsing palace arch and a cobra approaching the sleeping bride. Luxman will save the couple each time, but Rama will misconstrue his attempt to remove cobra blood from Bargaruttee’s forehead, and his reproach will turn Luxman to stone. The wife asks whether this will last forever. Her husband answers that a future child of the royal couple will eventually restore him by touch. The owls then leave to catch mice. They disclose the sequence; they are not said to cause the hazards, cast the petrification or personally restore the minister.

The subsequent action fulfils the warnings: Luxman rescues the couple and becomes stone after the misunderstanding. The written account reveals his loyalty. The narrative gives an eight-year forecast, then describes the couple’s child being born after eight years and touching the statue when a year old; these statements are retained without silently imposing a single exact duration. The restored Luxman receives a wife and a grand wedding. Bartle Frere’s note interprets the little black-and-white owls as benevolent soothsayers and makes broad regional claims; the entry is confined to this collected story and does not identify a modern owl species or adopt those claims as universal.

Origins & earliest records

Told by Anna Liberata de Souza and collected in English by Mary Frere; introduction and notes by Bartle Frere.

Records & interpretation

Complete selected tale, attached footnote and related endnote read; title, introduction, collector apology and narrator autobiography with all referenced notes checked.

Selected bibliography

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

1. 01

   Old Deccan Days; or, Hindoo Fairy Legends Current in Southern India

   Anna Liberata de Souza, narrator; Mary Frere, collector; Bartle Frere, introduction and notes · 1870

   V, Rama and Luxman; or, The Learned Owl, pp.98–112; footnotes48–53 and related endnote338; Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott & Co. Complete narrative, six footnotes and related endnote read.

Family & connections

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Primary records and illustrations

References

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

1. Historical collected oral narrative in EnglishOld Deccan Days — V, Rama and Luxman; or, The Learned Owl, pp.98–112; footnotes48–53 and related endnote338Research access: 2026-10-06

Image credits

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