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

Overview

A crocodile recruits a crab to lure a jackal to the river. For the first attempt the crab covers the crocodile with fallen Muruta flowers and the predator pretends to be dead. The jackal announces that dead crocodiles normally wag their tails; when this one complies, he escapes. During a second attempt the crocodile actually catches his foot, but he calls it a Keṭala yam and is released. Both claims are successful bluffs, not facts about corpses or a transformed limb. The closing explanation connects subsequent jackal attacks on crabs with this betrayal. Parker attributes the tale to a Kinnarā teller of the North-western Province; his cross-cultural comparisons are kept separate from the two local episodes.

Speaking predator whose staged death and ambush both fail
01

Origins & earliest records

Sri Lankan narratives collected and translated by H. Parker

02

Records & interpretation

Complete tale and all its printed variants/comparative notes read; relevant introduction passages on collection and translation directly read.

Selected bibliography

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

  1. 01

    Village Folk-Tales of Ceylon, Volume I

    H. Parker (collector and translator) · 1910

    No. 75, The Crocodile and the Jackal, pp. 380–381; comparative notes following

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

Direct primary record

Village Folk-Tales of Ceylon, Volume I

Volume I; No. 75. No. 75, The Crocodile and the Jackal, pp. 380–381; comparative notes following

Complete tale and any attached comparative notes/footnotes read. Specific teller attribution retained; animal intention, speech, titles and bluffs distinguished from enacted magic. No individual narrator name supplied.

Inspect the digitized plate · Source collection manifest

References

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

  1. Historical collected oral narrative translationParker, Village Folk-Tales of Ceylon I — No. 75, The Crocodile and the Jackal, pp. 380–381; comparative notes followingResearch access: 2026-10-05

Image credits

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

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