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

Overview

The king of a hundred parrots devises an escape from a beggar’s traps but is left behind when a falling stone is mistaken for the final bird. He persuades the beggar to sell him and negotiates his own price. After visiting his parents, he returns to the merchant who bought him with seeds of a fruit tree that restores youth.

A fallen fruit is contaminated by a poisonous snake. When a dog dies after eating it, the merchant mistakenly blames and kills the parrot. Two elderly people later eat uncontaminated fruit and become young, revealing the bird’s truthful gift. The story distinguishes the fruit’s rejuvenating power from the accidental poison rather than making the entire tree deadly.

Grateful talking bird wrongly killed by its ownerSpecific translated narrative
01

Origins & earliest records

Tibetan narrated traditions, as mediated by the Shelton collection

02

Records & interpretation

Complete relevant tale, title-page credits, contents and Flora Beal Shelton’s preface read.

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

    Tale 40, The Story of the Tree of Life, pp. 159–162

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

A. L. Shelton, Tibetan Folk Tales (St. Louis: United Christian Missionary Society, 1925), edited by Flora Beal Shelton

Historical English collection. Tale 40, The Story of the Tree of Life, pp. 159–162

Full tale directly read, including ending; original contents confirms printed locator. Preface read for mediation and absence of individual narrator identification. Primary witness of this historical translation, not an independently checked Tibetan original.

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), 40, The Story of the Tree of Life, pp. 159–162Research 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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