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Overview
In Anna Liberata de Souza’s account of Vicram Maharajah, a small cobra enters the sleeping king’s open mouth while he rests in an exposed rocky place. It mistakes the opening for shelter and coils in his throat. When Vicram demands that it leave, it answers that it prefers this lodging to its underground home. It sometimes looks out, but retreats before he can catch it. The episode follows the king’s restoration from a parrot body; the cobra is a separate animal, not another form assumed by Vicram.
Unable to remove his tormentor, Vicram abandons his kingdom. The princess Buccoulee recognizes him as the husband foretold in her dreams, marries him against her parents’ wishes and lives with him in a forest hut. During a sleepless night she hears two other cobras discussing the couple. One explains that particular smoke will kill the throat-dweller, then reveals that the same treatment would kill his companion and expose the treasure in its hole. These are three distinct snakes: the one inside Vicram, the knowledgeable speaker and the treasure-holder.
Buccoulee has villagers carry out the smoke treatment, and the snake falls dead from her husband’s mouth. She subsequently kills the treasure-holder in its hole by the same means and recovers its wealth; the knowledgeable snake’s later fate is unstated. The narrative presents these events as a marvellous cure and treasure discovery, not as practical medicine or zoological evidence. Vicram regains his royal appearance, reconciles with Buccoulee’s parents and reunites with his minister Butti after a twelve-year separation. His first wife Anar Ranee welcomes Buccoulee as his rescuer, and the king finally settles into responsible rule. No crown, additional heads or human disguise is assigned to the throat-cobra.
Origins & earliest records
Told by Anna Liberata de Souza and collected in English by Mary Frere; introduction and notes by Bartle Frere.
Records & interpretation
Complete VII129–160, all twelve attached footnotes, related endnote339–341 and its crossnote109 read; introductory provenance previously checked.
Selected bibliography
Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.
- 01
Old Deccan Days; or, Hindoo Fairy Legends Current in Southern India
VII, The Wanderings of Vicram Maharajah, pp.129–160; footnotes55–66 and endnote339–341 with crossnote109; Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott & Co. Complete narrative and notes read; cobra episode154–160.
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
Old Deccan Days; or, Hindoo Fairy Legends Current in Southern India
Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott & Co.,1870. VII, The Wanderings of Vicram Maharajah, pp.129–160; footnotes55–66 and endnote339–341 with crossnote109
Caches frere1870-7.txt and frere1870-notes7.txt, with complete crossnote109 retained. Full parrot/body-theft/recovery and later throat-cobra/second-marriage/homecoming ending read. Three snakes kept distinct; no practical smoke-cure recipe supplied; scholarly endnote generalizations not adopted.
References
Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.
- Historical collected oral narrative in EnglishOld Deccan Days — VII, The Wanderings of Vicram Maharajah, pp.129–160; footnotes55–66 and endnote339–341 with crossnote109Research access: 2026-10-06
Image credits
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