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

Overview

On his journey the prince rescues rats floating down a river and places them on the bank. They promise to help if he thinks of them. Later, while wondering how to reach the Glass Princess, he recalls the promise and falls asleep; the rescued rats arrive with thousands of others and wait for him to wake. At his request they dig a passage large enough for a person to walk upright, reaching her upper room while leaving its final opening concealed. Their communication and rapid coordinated excavation are explicit; the text does not turn them into humans or identify them as the separate tunnel-making rats in The Kulē-bakā Flowers.

Speaking rodents who answer a remembered promise and excavate a secret passageVersion-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.

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. 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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