A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.
Overview
After seven days of unseasonable rain, the ichneumon Nanda and snake Nandasena enter a mouse-hole. Nandasena argues that shared distress should make them refrain from harming one another. The mouse Gaṇgādatta searches for food for the others but finds none. When Nanda threatens to eat him if he returns empty-handed, the snake privately warns him. Gaṇgādatta sends back the message that he will not return. No death or renewed attack is narrated; the central action is a warning that preserves the vulnerable mouse from a broken agreement.
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
XXV, The Ichneumon, the Mouse, and the Snake, p. 308; note cites Kah-gyur iv. ff. 213–214
- 02
Tibetan Tales Derived from Indian Sources — XXV The Ichneumon
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 chaptersXX288–290 andXXII–XXVIII296–313 with all notes independently read; 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)
XXV, The Ichneumon, the Mouse, and the Snake. XXV, The Ichneumon, the Mouse, and the Snake, p. 308; note cites Kah-gyur iv. ff. 213–214
Complete chapter and footnotes read. Kah-gyur locator is the historical edition’s own, not an independently read Tibetan manuscript. Speaking animal acts separated from rhetorical accusations, moral commentary and inferred anatomy.
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 chaptersXX288–290 andXXII–XXVIII296–313 with all notes independently read; source-language originals not collated.
- Unseasonable rain brings Nanda the ichneumon, Gaṇgādatta the mouse and Nandasena the snake into one mouse-hole. The snake initially secures an uneasy truce. When Nanda threatens to eat the mouse if it fails to find food, Nandasena secretly warns the hungry mouse, who declines to return. The story ends with avoidance rather than the snake killing the predator.
XXV The Ichneumon, the Mouse, and the Snake, complete308; note Kah-gyuriv.ff213–214
German-mediated historical English translation, not direct Tibetan manuscript inspection. Whole book not claimed read. Page labels are hosted transcription markers, not separate facsimile collation. No ritual, spell formula, verse, medical procedure or modern adaptation copied.
References
Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.
- Historical translation of Buddhist narrativeSchiefner/Ralston, Tibetan Tales (1906), XXV, The Ichneumon, the Mouse, and the Snake, p. 308; note cites Kah-gyur iv. ff. 213–214Research access: 2026-10-05
Image credits
A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.