Saturday, September 19, 2026 · 天火 · tianmu.org
Story Cycles
Framed story-cycles of India — tale-within-tale literature from the vetala traditions and their kin.
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Texts
A Heifer of the Dawn — F.W. BainF.W. Bain's 1904 romance A Heifer of the Dawn, presented as a translation of a Sanskrit manuscript: thirteen linked tales of a king's courtship, each named for a flower or tree.Hindu Tales from the Sanskrit — S. M. Mitra and Nancy BellNine Indian wonder tales retold in English for young readers — translated by S. M. Mitra and shaped by Nancy Bell, 1919, with close kin among the story cycles of the Kathasaritsagara and the Panchatantra tradition.The Descent of the Sun — F.W. BainF.W. Bain's 1903 romance The Descent of the Sun, presented as a translation of a Sanskrit manuscript: the tale of Bodhisattwa and Súryamatí framed as an incarnation-love-story of the Sun.Twenty-Two Goblins — Arthur W. RyderArthur W. Ryder's 1917 translation of the Vetala-Panchavimshati, a Sanskrit frame-tale cycle of twenty-two riddle-stories told by a corpse-possessing spirit to King Triple-victory.Vikram and the Vampire — Richard BurtonRichard Burton's 1870 translation of eleven tales from the Sanskrit Baital-Pachisi, the Hindu vampire-and-riddle frame-cycle that shaped the Arabian Nights and the folktale of the corpse-demon's twenty-five tales.