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

Overview

A wolf catches an old ewe lagging behind her flock and calls her aunt while accusing her of pinching and plucking its tail. When she points out that she was walking ahead of it, the wolf claims that its tail extends across the world and ocean. The ewe counters that she travelled through the air; the wolf then says she must have frightened away its intended gazelle prey and kills her. The world-spanning tail and aerial journey are claims in an exchange of pretexts, not confirmed dimensions or flight powers. The kinship address likewise does not make wolf and sheep relatives.

Speaking predator whose impossible accusations excuse killing a sheepBuddhist 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.

In the literature

“my tail spreads all over”
Anonymous Buddhist narrative tradition; F. Anton von Schiefner and W.R.S.Ralston, mediated translators · Tibetan Tales Derived from Indian Sources — XXIX The Wolf and the Sheep
XXIX The Wolf and the Sheep, hosted printed-page marker314 · W.R.S.Ralston, English from Schiefner’s German Tibetan translation

The wolf’s absurd claim during its invented accusation against the ewe, not demonstrated anatomy.

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

    XXIX, The Wolf and the Sheep, p. 314; note cites Kah-gyur iv. f. 287

  2. 02

    Tibetan Tales Derived from Indian Sources — XXIX The Wolf and the Sheep

    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 selectedXXIX–XXXIX314–343, including bothXXXIII variants and all notes, independently read. ChapterXXXVIII read as adjacent corpus context without inventing a new profile; 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)

XXIX, The Wolf and the Sheep. XXIX, The Wolf and the Sheep, p. 314; note cites Kah-gyur iv. f. 287

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.

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 selectedXXIX–XXXIX314–343, including bothXXXIII variants and all notes, independently read. ChapterXXXVIII read as adjacent corpus context without inventing a new profile; source-language originals not collated.

  1. A wolf seizes a lagging ewe and invents charges that she has pinched his tail. When she points out their relative positions, he claims his tail covers the world. Her counterclaim of travelling through the air provokes a fresh accusation of frightening away prey. He kills and eats her regardless. Neither world-spanning anatomy nor aerial travel is independently narrated as fact.

    XXIX The Wolf and the Sheep, complete314; note Kah-gyuriv.f287

Historical German-mediated English rendering, not independently collated Tibetan manuscript. Page labels from hosted transcription. Religious/moral assertions remain narrative framing. No verse, ritual, prayer, medical preparation 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), XXIX, The Wolf and the Sheep, p. 314; note cites Kah-gyur iv. f. 287Research 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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