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

Overview

A large cobra living in a rock cave guards a pool and demands a human offering after a royal wedding party drinks its water. Forewarned by a deity in a dream, the youngest prince has stayed behind and offers himself to free the others. The cobra then proposes another means of release: curing an ulcer on its forehead.

Ordinary treatment fails, so the cobra sends the prince to fetch the flying Glass Princess, whose medicine must be applied by her own hand. She ultimately heals it, and it gives the couple hidden treasure of gold, silver, pearls and gems. Unlike the cobra king slain in Parker’s separate Golden Tree tale, this guardian survives and becomes a benefactor; the account does not describe a luminous hood-jewel.

Pool guardian who exchanges a human offering for healingVersion-specific collected narrative
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. 4, The Glass Princess, pp. 57–65; comparative notes pp. 65–67

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. 4, The Glass Princess, pp. 57–65; comparative notes pp. 65–67

Whole No.4 and all printed comparisons/footnote read. Glass enclosure distinguished from bodily material, cobra healing from separate slain serpent, and rescued rats from other tales’ similar helpers. No individual narrator supplied; North-central Province attribution retained.

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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. 4, The Glass Princess, pp. 57–65; comparative notes pp. 65–67Research 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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