A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.
Overview
A hunter kills an elephant, and two groups of robbers who find it each poison provisions meant for the other group; all the robbers die. A jackal arrives among the bodies, congratulates itself on abundant food, and begins by gnawing the bowstring’s knots. The released bow strikes the roof of its mouth and kills it. The text follows the reported death with a verse attributed to the jackal, but does not explain a resurrection or ghost. Its speaking moral belongs to the fable’s narrative convention.
Origins & earliest records
Indian Buddhist narrative preserved in Tibetan translation
Records & interpretation
Whole chapter and its footnotes directly read in the digitized1906 edition.
Selected bibliography
Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.
- 01
Tibetan Tales Derived from Indian Sources
XIX, The Punishment of Avarice, pp. 286–287; note cites Kah-gyur iii. f. 103
- 02
Tibetan Tales Derived from Indian Sources — XIX The Punishment of Avarice
Tibetan Tales Derived from Indian Sources, London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner & Co., 1906, title-page transcription independently checked. Tibetan Kah-gyur to German by F. Anton von Schiefner, then German to English by W.R.S.Ralston. Complete selected XVI257–272/XIX286–287/L360–363 and all notes independently read. Particular subject arcs located separately; source-language originals not collated.
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
Schiefner/Ralston, Tibetan Tales Derived from Indian Sources (London, 1906)
XIX, The Punishment of Avarice. XIX, The Punishment of Avarice, pp. 286–287; note cites Kah-gyur iii. f. 103
Complete chapter and all notes read. Translation’s canonical locator retained; original Tibetan not independently inspected. Actual endings, explicit identities and comparative material kept separate, with no death/kinship/anatomy inferred beyond the telling.
Located primary passages
Specific passages supporting details in this entry, grouped by their published witness.
Tibetan Tales Derived from Indian Sources
Tibetan Tales Derived from Indian Sources, London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner & Co., 1906, title-page transcription independently checked. Tibetan Kah-gyur to German by F. Anton von Schiefner, then German to English by W.R.S.Ralston. Complete selected XVI257–272/XIX286–287/L360–363 and all notes independently read. Particular subject arcs located separately; source-language originals not collated.
- After a hunter kills an elephant, two halves of a robber band independently poison the food and water they plan to share, each hoping to keep all the loot. Their reciprocal treachery kills the entire band. A greedy jackal finds the bodies and starts gnawing a bowstring; the released bow strikes the roof of its mouth and kills it. The verse ascribed to the jackal is a narrative moral after that death.
XIX The Punishment of Avarice, complete286–287; note Kah-gyuriii.f103
German-mediated English witness; Tibetan originals and cited comparative texts not independently read. Page markers from transcription. Historical sacrificial/slavery and moral framing not endorsed. No rite, vow, verse, poison preparation or trapping instructions copied.
References
Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.
- Historical translation of Buddhist narrativeSchiefner/Ralston, Tibetan Tales (1906), XIX, The Punishment of Avarice, pp. 286–287; note cites Kah-gyur iii. f. 103Research access: 2026-10-05
Image credits
A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.