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

Overview

Undan warns Rūan that the pool will dry and offers transport to another. The first inspection journey is genuine: the fish visits the pool, returns to recommend it to relatives and is then carried back. Undan instead eats the subsequent passengers in a tree until droppings reach its lower branches. After turning to Kĕtam’s family, he is exposed when the crab sees the evidence and pinches his neck to death. This telling specifies a pelican and droppings rather than importing the heron and scattered bones from other versions. The name Rūan also appears in the adjacent squirrel friendship story, but no continuous individual biography is established between the two.

False fish-rescuer exposed and killed by his crab passengerPublic traditional narrative
01

Origins & earliest records

Malay Peninsula; Tĕmbĕling River, Ulu Pahang

02

Records & interpretation

Complete relevant tale and attached scholarly notes directly read.

Selected bibliography

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

  1. 01

    Fables & Folk-Tales from an Eastern Forest

    Walter Skeat, collector and translator · 1901

    VII, The Pelican’s Punishment, pp. 18–19; note p. 78

  2. 02

    Fables & Folk-Tales from an Eastern Forest — VII The Pelican’s Punishment

    Unnamed Malay narrator; Walter William Skeat, collector · 1901

    Fables & Folk-Tales from an Eastern Forest, collected and translated Walter Skeat, Cambridge: University Press,1901. Original title leaf13 visually checked; selected complete tales and all accompanying notes read from historical transcription. Introduction states1899 Cambridge expedition collection and limitation of phraseology, not verbatim unedited speech. Original quoted folios visually checked in Archive fablesfolktalesf00skearich; IIIF canvas positions omit initial leaves, so exact original leaf number matched from image identifier, not array index.

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

Walter Skeat, Fables & Folk-Tales from an Eastern Forest (Cambridge: University Press, 1901)

VII, The Pelican’s Punishment. VII, The Pelican’s Punishment, pp. 18–19; note p. 78

Complete tale and associated notes directly read. Regional spellings and differing accounts retained; commentary does not establish present-day practice or biological facts. Individual teller not named here.

Inspect the digitized plate · Source collection manifest

Located primary passages

Specific passages supporting details in this entry, grouped by their published witness.

Fables & Folk-Tales from an Eastern Forest

Fables & Folk-Tales from an Eastern Forest, collected and translated Walter Skeat, Cambridge: University Press,1901. Original title leaf13 visually checked; selected complete tales and all accompanying notes read from historical transcription. Introduction states1899 Cambridge expedition collection and limitation of phraseology, not verbatim unedited speech. Original quoted folios visually checked in Archive fablesfolktalesf00skearich; IIIF canvas positions omit initial leaves, so exact original leaf number matched from image identifier, not array index. These four tales’ host page labels have not been individually scan-collated; original title and other selected folios checked separately.

  1. Hungry Undan warns Rūan that its pool will dry and offers transport to another. It carries the fish to inspect the proposed pool and back, gaining confidence. It then transfers Rūan again and begins fetching relatives, but secretly eats them in a tree. Droppings accumulate on lower branches. With the fish exhausted, Undan attempts the same deception on Kĕtam’s crab family. Kĕtam sees the evidence, realises the danger and fatally pinches the pelican’s neck. Skeat says the account was collected on the Tĕmbĕling in Ulu Pahang and compares it to Aesop.

    VII The Pelican’s Punishment, complete hosted printed-page labels 18–19; note78

CompleteVII18–19 and note78 read. Initial inspection trip and return distinguish confidence trick from immediate killing. Rūan is taken to the new pool; wording does not individually specify its death with every later relative. Aesop comparison is collector attribution, not independently verified direct borrowing.

References

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

  1. Historical collected narrative with locality and editorial notesSkeat, Fables & Folk-Tales (Cambridge University Press, 1901), VII, The Pelican’s Punishment, pp. 18–19; note p. 78Research 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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