A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.
Overview
In tale 24, a forest Yaksanī pursues a prince to eat him, then assumes a woman’s disguise and claims to be his abandoned wife. A king marries her, and she secretly eats townspeople. By placing bones behind the houses of his twelve queens, she arranges for them to be accused, blinded and banished.
A son of one banished queen later encounters another Yaksanī attempting to reach a corpse in a tree. She claims the body is her trapped child and asks for help. When she mounts his shoulders and turns on him, he cuts off a foot. She subsequently submits to him, builds a city and palace for his mothers and reveals that the king’s life resides in a golden parrot. The prince kills that bird, and the king dies. He then burns the royal palace and kills the Yaksanī queen who lives there. His mothers remain in the maimed helper’s new city while he rules the kingdom; the printed ending does not restore their eyesight. The assisting maimed demon and the predatory queen are separate characters in this narrative.
Parker’s supplementary local account to tale 73 describes a Yaksanī controlled by an iron nail in the crown of her head. Appearing as an ordinary woman, she persuades her master’s wife to extract the supposed thorn. Once released, she kills the family and escapes. This regional narrative material is kept distinct from every Indian yakṣinī being assigned the same behaviour.
The Yaksanī in No. 22 plays a protective domestic role. She shelters a lost prince, marries her daughter Maha-Mudā to him and, when the daughter explains his wish to reach the Kulē-bakā flowers, has rats dig a tunnel into the garden. The flowers later cure the prince’s father within the tale. This accommodating mother is a different narrative individual from the predatory queen, maimed helper and nail-bound captive in the other accounts; her presence prevents the regional category being reduced to one hostile disposition.
Origins & earliest records
Sri Lankan narratives collected and translated by H. Parker
Records & interpretation
Actual hosted 1910 text and named tale sections directly read. Complete No. 22 and all notes additionally read. Root independently read the complete No. 24, pp. 186–190, and its comparative notes. The main ending kills the golden parrot, king and predatory queen while retaining the maimed helper’s city; no restoration of the mothers’ eyesight is narrated.
Selected bibliography
Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.
- 01
Village Folk-Tales of Ceylon, Volume I
No. 24, pp. 186–190; supplementary account to No. 73, p. 376; attribution and narrative variations preserved. Additional complete witness: No. 22, pp. 173–179.
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
Village Folk-Tales of Ceylon, Volume I
Volume I (1910). No. 24, pp. 186–190; supplementary account to No. 73, p. 376; No. 22, pp. 173–179
Actual translated tale read with identified volume and section; no creature illustration asserted. Entire No. 22 and notes read: promise-bound male guardian and protective Yaksani mother are separate roles. Reviewed corrections checked, no approved correction row for this ID.
References
Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.
- Historical collected oral narrative translationParker, Village Folk-Tales of Ceylon I — No. 24, pp. 186–190; supplementary account to No. 73, p. 376Research access: 2026-10-05
- Historical collected oral narrative translationParker, No. 22, The Kulē-bakā Flowers, pp. 173–179Research access: 2026-10-05
Image credits
A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.