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

Overview

A wood-gatherer, lion, mouse, snake and falcon become trapped in a pit after pursuits. The lion persuades the threatened animals to suspend their hostility, and a hunter rescues them despite the lion’s warning about the ungrateful man. Later the lion gives him a gazelle and the falcon brings stolen royal ornaments. The rescued man reports the ornaments, leading to the hunter’s imprisonment even after he explains what happened and the jewels are restored.

The mouse alerts the snake, which arranges to bite the king and supplies the hunter with a spell and remedy. His successful cure gains release and gifts. The cure is a narrative device involving deliberately caused danger, not an identified or validated treatment. These four animal roles remain distinct; no single shape-changing helper performs all the actions, and the human informer’s eventual punishment is not narrated.

Lion, mouse, snake and falcon who repay their rescuerBuddhist narrative witness
01

Origins & earliest records

Indian Buddhist narrative preserved in Tibetan translation

02

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.

  1. 01

    Tibetan Tales Derived from Indian Sources

    F. Anton von Schiefner, Tibetan-to-German translator; W. R. S. Ralston, English translator · 1906

    XXVI, The Grateful Animals and the Ungrateful Man, pp. 309–310; note cites Kah-gyur iv. ff. 212*, 213*

  2. 02

    Tibetan Tales Derived from Indian Sources — XXVI The Grateful Animals and the Ungrateful Man

    Anonymous Buddhist narrative tradition; F. Anton von Schiefner and W.R.S.Ralston, mediated translators · 1906

    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

Direct primary record

Schiefner/Ralston, Tibetan Tales Derived from Indian Sources (London, 1906)

XXVI, The Grateful Animals and the Ungrateful Man. XXVI, The Grateful Animals and the Ungrateful Man, pp. 309–310; note cites Kah-gyur iv. ff. 212*, 213*

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.

Inspect the digitized plate · Source collection manifest

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.

  1. A hunter frees a man and four mutually threatening animals from a pit despite the lion’s warning about human ingratitude. Lion gives him meat; falcon gives stolen royal ornaments. The rescued man reports the ornaments and the hunter is imprisoned. Mouse alerts snake, which bites the king and supplies the means for the hunter to heal him. The king releases and rewards the hunter.

    XXVI The Grateful Animals and the Ungrateful Man, complete309–310; note Kah-gyuriv.ff212*–213*

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.

  1. Historical translation of Buddhist narrativeSchiefner/Ralston, Tibetan Tales (1906), XXVI, The Grateful Animals and the Ungrateful Man, pp. 309–310; note cites Kah-gyur iv. ff. 212*, 213*Research 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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