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

Overview

After the prince becomes king in Shelton’s twenty-third tale, his queen secretly visits a high mountain house. His friend, now minister, follows while wearing an invisibility hat. At the top of the house she bathes, dresses and burns incense for a beautiful bird that descends from heaven. The narrator identifies this visitor as a god’s son wearing an outer covering of feathers. He steps out of it, holds the queen’s hands and asks whether her husband governs well.

The visitor proposes coming to the palace to judge the king for himself. Having overheard, the minister warns the king and recommends killing him. When the bird arrives, the invisible minister catches its tail and throws fire upon it. The king raises his sword, but the queen prevents the blow. Burned on its back and wings, the bird flies away to heaven; it is neither slain nor captured permanently.

When he eventually returns, the visitor is weak and has difficulty flying. He nevertheless calls the king good and handsome, expresses puzzlement at the attack and limits future visits to once a month. The queen thereafter becomes more attached to her husband. The divine father is unnamed, and no bird species is supplied. The account shows an intimate recurring visit but does not explicitly describe a marriage to the queen. The god’s son, the irrigation frogs and the minister wearing a magic hat remain distinct figures.

Divine visitor with a removable bird coveringSource-specific narrative
01

Origins & earliest records

Tibetan narrated traditions mediated by the Shelton collection

02

Records & interpretation

Complete tale and ending directly read in the historical English witness.

Selected bibliography

Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.

  1. 01

    Tibetan Folk Tales

    A. L. Shelton, translator; Flora Beal Shelton, editor · 1925

    XXIII, Story of the Prince’s Friend, pp.94–102; visitor episode pp.99–101

Family, evolution & connections

Primary records and illustrations

Direct primary record

A. L. Shelton, Tibetan Folk Tales, edited by Flora Beal Shelton (1925)

1925 collection. XXIII, Story of the Prince’s Friend, pp.94–102; visitor episode pp.99–101

Complete shelton23-complete.html/.txt retained and read, with ending. Distinct actors and reported identifications preserved; no supplied native name or species.

Inspect the digitized plate · Source collection manifest

References

Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.

  1. Historical translated folktaleShelton, Tibetan Folk Tales (1925), XXIII, Story of the Prince’s Friend, pp.94–102; visitor episode pp.99–101Research 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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