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

Overview

An unnamed small bird with an injured body is found by a kind gardener in Shelton’s Golden Squash. The man nurses and feeds it until it can fly away. It returns with a seed in its mouth, speaks to recommend its cultivation, and gives him the seed. The resulting vine bears one immense squash, so heavy that five men must help carry it indoors. Beneath its thin skin the gardener finds solid gold, which he uses generously.

His envious neighbor deliberately breaks another bird’s leg with an arrow, then pretends concern and nurses it. This second bird also returns with a seed and instructions. Its squash grows equally enormous, but contains a fierce emissary who weighs and kills the cruel gardener. The paired birds are not explicitly identified as the same individual, nor is either given a species or personal name. Their speaking gifts mediate opposite supernatural consequences; the account does not explain how they obtain the seeds or establish that they themselves command the underworld.

Birds that bring seeds with supernatural rewards and punishmentsSpecific narrative witness
01

Origins & earliest records

Tale labeled a Black Tent Story in a historical English collection

02

Records & interpretation

Complete tale including its final punishment directly read.

Selected bibliography

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

  1. 01

    Tibetan Folk Tales

    A. L. Shelton; edited by Flora Beal Shelton · 1925

    XXVI, The Golden Squash (A Black Tent Story), pp.107–111

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 (1925)

XXVI. The Golden Squash (A Black Tent Story), pp.107–111

Complete tale read including final beheading. Two birds not expressly same individual; no species; no named Tibetan underworld identity. First squash gold, second emissary with own scales.

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References

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

  1. Historical English tale collectionShelton, Tibetan Folk Tales, XXVI, The Golden SquashResearch 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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