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Overview
Born to a mouse after her prayer for a strong child, the tiger grows up and leaves to live among other tigers. He gives his mother a handful of his hair, instructing her to toss it into the air in a thicket and call his name three times if help is needed. His younger human brother later follows the instructions when the king demands four full-grown tigers as palace guards.
The tiger answers immediately, roars to gather a crowd of tigers and carries the boy on his back to court, offering the king his choice of four. No personal name is supplied: Brother Tiger is the boy’s address to his actual sibling. The story distinguishes this mouse-born tiger from the other forest tigers he summons, without explaining their numerical total or giving him a human transformation.
Origins & earliest records
Tibet; collected historical narrative
Records & interpretation
Full relevant tale and collection preface directly read.
Selected bibliography
Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.
- 01
Folk Tales from Tibet
XII, The Mouse’s Three Children, pp. 68–75
Family, evolution & connections
The Mouse’s three sons — O’Connor 1906
Explicit births and sibling relationships in Story XII, a Nepal-set tale in O’Connor’s Tibetan collection.
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Mother and offspring named directly in the narrative; birth sequence retained. The Mouse initially lives with a husband, but the births do not explicitly identify a father. Prayers do not establish divine parentage. Recruited tigers and peacocks are not additional siblings. This is a translated literary witness, not biological evolution.
Peacock son of the mouse
The tale identifies these two among the Mouse’s three sons. The other tigers and peacocks recruited to satisfy the king’s demands are helpers, not additional children of the Mouse.
Jewel-haired son of the mouse
The tale identifies these two among the Mouse’s three sons. The other tigers and peacocks recruited to satisfy the king’s demands are helpers, not additional children of the Mouse.
Primary records and illustrations
W. F. O’Connor, Folk Tales from Tibet (1906)
XII, The Mouse’s Three Children. pp. 68–75
Entire tale read. Mouse mother and three offspring explicitly identified; other recruited animals not given shared parentage. Original paraphrase; mythical elephant anatomy not biological evidence.
References
Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.
- Historical tale collectionO’Connor, Folk Tales from Tibet — XII, The Mouse’s Three Children, pp. 68–75Research access: 2026-10-05
Image credits
A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.
