Species: Indian vulture (Gyps indicus)
Status: Critically endangered
How the well was purified
Folktale from Rajasthan
A king wants to sacrifice the wife of his son to purify a well. The prince runs away with his wife, and in a faraway city they accidentally take shelter in a jinn's house. The jinn seduces (or enchants) the woman, and plots to get rid of the prince by various means.
One day the wife tells the prince to go fetch her a vulture's egg. The prince finds a nest placed too high to reach, and sees a serpent trying to crawl up to it. He kills the serpent, saving the vulture chicks, and their mother is so grateful she gives him an egg.
From that point on, one of the young vultures becomes the faithful companion of the prince. The vulture accompanies him on the next quest, helps him fly across the ocean and win red flowers from the daughter of another jinn. The helpful vulture watches out for the prince, protects him from the jinn, and helps him complete his tasks. When the wife succeeds in poisoning him, the vulture carries his dead body to the jinn girl who can revive him.
In the end, the prince sacrifices his wife to the well, and marries the jinn girl instead.
Sources: Read the story in this book. The folktale motif number of "Helpful Vulture" is B455.1
How can I help?
Read about conservation efforts here and here.
Now that's what I call a good story. All's well that ends well. Vultures are often maligned but what would things be like without them?
ReplyDeleteI guess if he had sacrificed her in the first place, he wouldn't have known she deserved it.
ReplyDeleteI love this story!~ Take care and I will visit you tomorrow!
ReplyDeleteWell, may I say? That wife deserved it.
ReplyDeleteI saw enjoy see the volture, who's often depicted in a negative way, as the hero of the story.
@JazzFeathers
The Old Shelter - Living the Twenties
What a loyal vulture. And what a tale of friendship!
ReplyDeleteAlways listen to your dad. Haha! But I took a peek into the book you've linked here and the king chooses to sacrifice his daughter in law rather than his horse. That's one messed up family.
ReplyDeleteAnimal helper, yes? A pity about the wife, after all the trouble he took for her.
ReplyDeleteAll's well that ends well. I was feeling sorry for the wife at the start of the story. Not any more.
ReplyDeleteNot a very loyal wife, was she? Not worth bothering about...good that he found a better one.
ReplyDeleteVultures are such a important species for an ecosystem, but unfortunately we are so obsessed with only the cute and cuddly ones, which aforesaid vultures are not.
Unexpected end! It's nice to have a tale making vultures friendly ;)
ReplyDeleteIf his wife was enchanted (rather than merely seduced) it wasn't her fault! Nice to see a vulture a hero bird. It's a better looking vulture than some! The vultures I have (turkey vultures or buzzards) are quite ugly!
ReplyDeleteI, too, am happy to see the vulture getting some love. They're actually very cool creatures, and so important.
ReplyDeleteBlack and White (Words and Pictures)
Great tale - what's not to love about having a valiant vulture for a friend?!
ReplyDeleteWell, first of all the King has no heart to sacrifice his son's wife and the son seems to have a very good head on his shoulders and I didn't know vulture's make such good friends! hmmmmm Have a great day!
ReplyDeleteOH I like this story a lot....great and love the ending!
ReplyDeleteThat's a great story! Though I would've liked to see some consequences for the King too, for hatching that scheme in the first place.
ReplyDeleteAmazing story! The vulture population is decreasing in India and there are many initiatives to help protect these great birds! Interesting theme indeed :-)
ReplyDeleteWonder if that wasn't the jinn's plan from the start?
ReplyDeleteAn A-Z of Faerie: Domovoi
Frankly I feel sorry for the wife - first of all she's going to be sacrificed, then she's enchanted and then she is sacrificed. Yay for vultures, but, poor woman.
ReplyDeleteTasha 💖
Virginia's Parlour - The Manor (Adult concepts - nothing explicit in posts)
Tasha's Thinkings - Vampire Drabbles
I am translating your stories into Polish for my students regularly. Fantastic job, Thanx
ReplyDelete