A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.
Overview
Rágam repeatedly embraces his sewing wife Che Sītī despite her warnings. Her needle pierces his heart, and she conceals his death until the ship reaches Jĕring. After burial at Bánggor his spirit enters an old crocodile. The telling associates respectful address as his grandchildren with large crocodiles sinking beneath the water to let travellers pass. It does not transform the buried corpse or establish biological ancestry for everyone using that address. Skeat’s note compares a Brunei ruler and a differently named wife through Hugh Low’s account, but that comparison does not establish that this particular Patāni spirit tale is verified royal biography.
Origins & earliest records
Malay Peninsula; Patāni telling; Jĕring and Bánggor setting
Records & interpretation
Complete relevant tale and attached scholarly notes directly read.
Selected bibliography
Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.
- 01
Fables & Folk-Tales from an Eastern Forest
XXI, Nakhōda Rágam who was pricked to death by his Wife’s Needle, pp. 57–58; note p. 83
- 02
Fables & Folk-Tales from an Eastern Forest — XXI Nakhōda Rágam Who Was Pricked to Death by His Wife’s Needle
Fables & Folk-Tales from an Eastern Forest, collected and translated by Walter Skeat; Cambridge: University Press, 1901. Original title leaf13 visually checked. Complete selected named tale, conclusion, footnotes and corresponding source notes read from Elfinspell historical transcription; individual page ranges in this batch are host body labels, not independently scan-collated. Introduction states collection during1899 expedition with some limitation of original phraseology; no unedited original-language transcript claimed.
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
Walter Skeat, Fables & Folk-Tales from an Eastern Forest (Cambridge: University Press, 1901)
XXI, Nakhōda Rágam who was pricked to death by his Wife’s Needle. XXI, Nakhōda Rágam who was pricked to death by his Wife’s Needle, pp. 57–58; note p. 83
Complete tale and associated notes directly read. Regional spellings and differing accounts retained; commentary does not establish present-day practice or biological facts. Teller attribution follows the profile and complete source notes.
Located primary passages
Specific passages supporting details in this entry, grouped by their published witness.
Fables & Folk-Tales from an Eastern Forest
Fables & Folk-Tales from an Eastern Forest, collected and translated by Walter Skeat; Cambridge: University Press, 1901. Original title leaf13 visually checked. Complete selected named tale, conclusion, footnotes and corresponding source notes read from Elfinspell historical transcription; individual page ranges in this batch are host body labels, not independently scan-collated. Introduction states collection during1899 expedition with some limitation of original phraseology; no unedited original-language transcript claimed.
- Ship-master Rágam sails from Jering with his wife Che Siti. Despite her warnings that she is sewing, he repeatedly embraces her, and her needle fatally pierces his heart. Alarmed, she hides the body in the deck-house and tells the crew he has a fever. Reaching Jering, she buries him at Banggor. His spirit enters an old crocodile; the tale connects this to a customary request for passage when people meet a large crocodile. Skeat says versions differ and this one was told in Patāni. He separately quotes Hugh Low’s Brunei material associating Ragam with Sultan Bulkeiah and a differently named wife.
CompleteXXI57–58 and note83 read. Spirit enters an existing crocodile after burial, not a narrated conversion of the physical corpse. Wife’s intent to kill is not explicitly resolved; repeated unwanted approach and fatal needle incident are narrated. Brunei biography/wife differs and remains indirect through Low, not harmonised into main tale. Address to crocodile not copied.
References
Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.
- Historical collected narrative with locality and editorial notesSkeat, Fables & Folk-Tales (Cambridge University Press, 1901), XXI, Nakhōda Rágam who was pricked to death by his Wife’s Needle, pp. 57–58; note p. 83Research access: 2026-10-05
Image credits
A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.