A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.
Overview
A servant buys a horse for his employer and tethers it beside an oil-mill overnight. The mill’s owner claims that the mill gave birth to the animal, and a judge initially accepts his story. A jackal, called Nari-nayidē or Jackal-artificer, hears the servant’s distress and agrees to serve as his witness. He delays attending court, then repeatedly appears sleepy while discussing why appearances cannot be trusted.
When questioned about his tiredness, the jackal claims to have spent the night watching fish play on land. The judge rejects this absurdity, allowing him to ask how an oil-mill could give birth to a horse. Ashamed, the judge restores the animal to the servant. Neither the fish spectacle nor the miraculous birth is enacted. Parker attributes this telling to a Village Vaeddā of Bintaenna; his appended Indian and African parallels are comparisons rather than events in this jackal’s biography.
Origins & earliest records
Sri Lankan narratives collected and translated by H. Parker
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.
- 01
Village Folk-Tales of Ceylon, Volume I
No. 35, How a Jackal settled a Lawsuit, pp. 228–232; comparative notes pp. 233–234
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
Village Folk-Tales of Ceylon, Volume I
Volume I; No. 35. No. 35, How a Jackal settled a Lawsuit, pp. 228–232; comparative notes pp. 233–234
Entire story and its comparative notes read; initially truncated transition explicitly reread. Main telling and variants kept distinct, no magical event inferred from deceptive claims. Individual teller unnamed; Village Vaeddā of Bintaenna attribution retained.
References
Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.
- Historical collected oral narrative translationParker, Village Folk-Tales of Ceylon I — No. 35, How a Jackal settled a Lawsuit, pp. 228–232; comparative notes pp. 233–234Research access: 2026-10-05
Image credits
A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.