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

Overview

A Rākshasī is bathing a child when a giant asks her for cooking pots and fire. She directs him into the house where she eats human flesh and locks him inside, repeating the trap for his two companions. When their prince seizes her hair and threatens her with his sword, she releases all three and promises to help him wherever needed.

Later the prince invokes that promise while battling a different Rākshasa. She arrives immediately and drives a thorn into the crown of his head, killing him at once. The narration combines predation with effective assistance after mercy; it gives no reason to identify her as the other Rākshasa’s wife or relative. Parker compares the captivity episode with Wijaya and Kuwēnī, but his proposed borrowing is editorial interpretation rather than an identity stated by the teller.

Man-eater who becomes a promise-bound helper after releasing captivesVersion-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. 20, The Prince who did not go to School, pp. 160–165; comparative notes pp. 165–168

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. 20, The Prince who did not go to School, pp. 160–165; comparative notes pp. 165–168

Complete No.20 and all comparative notes read. Life indicators distinguished from sword containing life, giants’ affectionate elder-brother address from genealogy, and Parker’s borrowing theories from direct tale evidence.

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. 20, The Prince who did not go to School, pp. 160–165; comparative notes pp. 165–168Research 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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