A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.
Overview
Rāja Siung first tastes a boy’s heart unknowingly when a servant substitutes it for a goat’s heart stolen by a vulture. After learning what he has eaten, he orders a boy killed daily and develops two upper and two lower tusks. He rescues the foam-borne Princess Nang Cháyang and later adopts a boy found inside wind-split bamboo. While playing on his knees the two children each accidentally pull out a pair of tusks. The collector’s comparison with a Sanskrit epithet for the tiger is commentary, not a tiger transformation. This recorded tale is not evidence for a historical ruler’s diet.
Origins & earliest records
Malay Peninsula; Rāman/Patāni narrative, told by an unnamed Malay in Patāni Town
Records & interpretation
Complete relevant tale and attached scholarly notes directly read.
In the literature
“two at top and two at bottom.”
XXII The Legend of Patāni, printed 60 · Walter William Skeat
Rāja Siung rescues the fairy princess Nang Cháyang, who survived river abandonment on foam. His tusks originate in an earlier incident: after a vulture steals a goat’s heart, a frightened follower substitutes a murdered boy’s heart. Siung enjoys it, learns its source and orders further daily killings. Four tusks grow. He adopts Nang Cháyang and later an unnamed boy found in a wind-opened bamboo stem. While playing on his knees, the two children each accidentally pull out a pair of tusks. The girl later marries Samura Muda; the boy becomes ancestor of Raman rulers. Skeat’s note credits an unnamed Malay narrator in Patāni Town.
Selected bibliography
Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.
- 01
Fables & Folk-Tales from an Eastern Forest
XXII, The Legend of Patāni, pp. 59–61; notes pp. 83–84
- 02
Fables & Folk-Tales from an Eastern Forest — XXII The Legend of Patāni
Fables & Folk-Tales from an Eastern Forest, collected and translated Walter Skeat, Cambridge: University Press,1901. Original title leaf13 visually checked; selected complete tales and all accompanying notes read from historical transcription. Introduction states1899 Cambridge expedition collection and limitation of phraseology, not verbatim unedited speech. Original quoted folios visually checked in Archive fablesfolktalesf00skearich; IIIF canvas positions omit initial leaves, so exact original leaf number matched from image identifier, not array index.
Family, evolution & connections
Rāja Siung’s foster household — Patāni telling
The two rescued children raised together, distinguished from biological parentage.
Scroll sideways to see all branches. With a keyboard, focus the tree and use the arrow keys.
Rescue, upbringing and explicit adoption in tale XXII. These are foster-care branches, not a shared biological ancestor. Nang Cháyang’s birth father is the unnamed fairy king; the bamboo boy’s parents are not supplied. The main telling marries the princess to Samura Muda; the foundlings’ marriage occurs only in the variant note. The narrator is identified only as a Malay in Patāni Town. Descendant and taboo claims remain this tale’s origin explanation, not a verified modern pedigree.
Princess Nang Cháyang
Rāja Siung rescues Nang Cháyang and brings her up in his palace. The bamboo infant is subsequently adopted also; this household is not a common biological descent.
Bamboo-born ancestor of the Rāman rulers
The prince finds a male infant in split bamboo and adopts him, raising him with Nang Cháyang. The origin legend does not supply the boy’s biological parents.
Primary records and illustrations
Walter Skeat, Fables & Folk-Tales from an Eastern Forest (Cambridge: University Press, 1901)
XXII, The Legend of Patāni. XXII, The Legend of Patāni, pp. 59–61; notes pp. 83–84
Complete tale and associated notes directly read. Regional spellings and differing accounts retained; commentary does not establish present-day practice or biological facts. Individual teller not named here.
Located primary passages
Specific passages supporting details in this entry, grouped by their published witness.
Fables & Folk-Tales from an Eastern Forest
Fables & Folk-Tales from an Eastern Forest, collected and translated Walter Skeat, Cambridge: University Press,1901. Original title leaf13 visually checked; selected complete tales and all accompanying notes read from historical transcription. Introduction states1899 Cambridge expedition collection and limitation of phraseology, not verbatim unedited speech. Original quoted folios visually checked in Archive fablesfolktalesf00skearich; IIIF canvas positions omit initial leaves, so exact original leaf number matched from image identifier, not array index.
- Rāja Siung rescues the fairy princess Nang Cháyang, who survived river abandonment on foam. His tusks originate in an earlier incident: after a vulture steals a goat’s heart, a frightened follower substitutes a murdered boy’s heart. Siung enjoys it, learns its source and orders further daily killings. Four tusks grow. He adopts Nang Cháyang and later an unnamed boy found in a wind-opened bamboo stem. While playing on his knees, the two children each accidentally pull out a pair of tusks. The girl later marries Samura Muda; the boy becomes ancestor of Raman rulers. Skeat’s note credits an unnamed Malay narrator in Patāni Town.
XXII The Legend of Patāni, complete printed 59–61; notes83–84
Complete XXII59–61, two footnotes and notes83–84 read. Tusks are supernatural narrative anatomy, not a medical claim. These children are adopted, not described as Siung’s biological offspring. Totemic interpretation and alternative marriage appear as qualified editorial comments.
References
Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.
- Historical collected narrative with locality and editorial notesSkeat, Fables & Folk-Tales (Cambridge University Press, 1901), XXII, The Legend of Patāni, pp. 59–61; notes pp. 83–84Research access: 2026-10-05
Image credits
A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.