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

Overview

A prince forced into service buys a large dried fish for a meal. As he carries it toward a river, it laughs, asks whether he intends to cook it and warns that he is about to die. It promises to save him if he puts it in the water. He does so, returning to the meal without the fish and concealing the reason from his employer.

Later, while the prince bends from a boat to fetch drinking water, the employer throws him into the river. The same fish takes him onto its back and brings him to shore. The narrative expressly begins with a dried market fish and later gives it speech, foresight and the ability to carry a person, but does not describe the process by which it regains aquatic life or specify its species. It is a grateful helper in this particular tale, not identified as a deity or prince in disguise.

Speaking preserved fish that foretells danger and carries its rescuer to shoreVersion-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. 7, The Turtle Dove, pp. 79–89; comparative notes pp. 89–92

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. 7, The Turtle Dove, pp. 79–89; comparative notes pp. 89–92

Whole No.7, all comparisons and four footnotes read in two bounded sections. First ordinary turtle-dove distinguished from later sovereignty bird; dried fish’s revival mechanism not supplied by text.

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. 7, The Turtle Dove, pp. 79–89; comparative notes pp. 89–92Research 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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