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

Overview

One of twin princes taken by Sitari Jogi, the younger proves resourceful by soaking dew into a rag and wringing it into his pot, while his brother secretly substitutes ordinary water. He learns the teacher’s spells and then more from other people in that country. He initially becomes a bullock as part of Sitari’s fraudulent sales, relying on a rope spell to regain human form, but seeks the ability to change independently and learns it elsewhere when Sitari refuses.

Fleeing the angry teacher, he becomes a pigeon, a fly and a coral bead in a queen’s necklace. Sitari induces the queen first to scatter rice and then her necklace’s beads so that, as a pigeon, he can search them. The pupil turns into a cat and attacks him, then returns to human form. Burning the pigeon’s severed head also destroys the pursuing Jogi’s head, and the boy reaches his parents. His transformations are learned skills in this tale; the elder twin is not said to undergo the same pursuit.

Spell-learning prince who escapes a changing-form pursuitSpecific Santal narrative witness
01

Origins & earliest records

Santal Parganas, eastern India; source-specific Santali storytelling

02

Records & interpretation

Complete relevant tale directly read with existing collection preface and narrator-chain record.

Selected bibliography

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

  1. 01

    Folklore of the Santal Parganas

    Cecil Henry Bompas, translator; O. Bodding, collector; Sagram Murmu, principal Santali writer credited in preface · 1909

    XXXVI, The Boy Who Learnt Magic, pp. 134–138

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

Cecil Henry Bompas, Folklore of the Santal Parganas (1909)

Part I, Santal folktales. XXXVI, The Boy Who Learnt Magic, pp. 134–138

Entire tale read. Teacher’s and pupil’s sequential shapes distinguished, independent versus rope-mediated transformation retained, two head descriptions not silently reconciled.

Inspect the digitized plate · Source collection manifest

References

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

  1. Historical translation of collected narrativesBompas, Folklore of the Santal Parganas (1909), XXXVI, The Boy Who Learnt Magic, pp. 134–138Research 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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