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

Overview

U Yak Jakor inhabits a pool in Rafy’s long closing tale. Powerful in water but unable to harm people on dry land, he kills a traveler who enters the pool to bathe. He then tries to lure the man’s wife into the water by claiming her husband has gone to a palace beneath it. She recognizes both the dragon and his limitation, drives him back with a threatening gesture and departs with her newborn son.

The child, U Babam Doh, grows up and learns his father’s fate. Staying out of the pool, he entices the dragon ashore, binds him with rattan and shuts him in a wooden chest. The captive overhears mother and son and, when she opens the chest in secret, takes the likeness of her dead husband. Although unable to break his bonds, he convinces her that vows keep the supposed survivor confined. She sends her son to fetch tigress milk and bear grease, falsely presenting the tasks as cures for her own illness.

A demand for fresh python skin finally leads the suspicious son to watch from the roof rather than go hunting. Seeing the disguised dragon, he explains the deception to his mother. U Yak Jakor resumes his own shape and emits a foul smell from his scaly body, but the son carries the chest before the public council and kills him. The father is never resurrected. The same collection uses Yak Jakor for a dragon in U Thlen’s family story, but it does not establish that the pool predator is that individual.

Water dragon who impersonates a murdered fatherSelected regional narrative
01

Origins & earliest records

Khasi tale selected and presented in English by Mrs. Rafy

02

Records & interpretation

Complete named chapters, title page and foreword read.

Selected bibliography

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

  1. 01

    Folk-Tales of the Khasis

    Mrs. Rafy (title-page credit; foreword signed K. U. R.) · 1920

    XXXII, The Blessing of the Mendicant, Parts I–VI, pp.140–160; Macmillan, London

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

Mrs. Rafy, Folk-Tales of the Khasis (1920)

English collection. XXXII, The Blessing of the Mendicant, Parts I–VI, pp.140–160

Complete tale and foreword read; XXXII allsixparts withtruncatedmiddle separatelyreread. A demand for fresh python skin finally leads the suspicious son to watch from the roof rather than go hunting. Seeing the disguised dragon, he explains the deception to his mother. U Yak Jakor resumes his own shape and emits a foul smell from his scaly body, but the son carries the chest before the public council and kills him. The father is never resurrected. The same collection uses Yak Jakor for a dragon in U Thlen’s family story, but it does not establish that the pool predator is that individual.

Inspect the digitized plate · Source collection manifest

References

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

  1. Historical English folklore collectionRafy, Folk-Tales of the Khasis, XXXII, The Blessing of the Mendicant, Parts I–VI, pp.140–160Research 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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