Zusammenfassung von Geschichten der Sonne; oder: Volkskunde Südindiens

Für wen es gedacht ist

Readers who love fables, proverbs and trickster stories will find plenty here, and so will anyone curious about village life, customs and festivals in Southern India.

Worum es in diesem Buch geht

What happens when a deaf husband, a deaf wife and a deaf shepherd all try to talk to one another? A cow goes missing, a calf is offered and refused, and a clever stranger walks home with the calf. That small scene opens Tales of the Sun, a collection of twenty-six tales from Southern India.

Georgiana Kingscote, who signs herself Mrs. Howard Kingscote, put the book together with Pandit Natesa Sastri, who corrected her early tellings and added tales of his own. You will meet clever wives, a tiger bridegroom, a goddess who weeps at night and a minister who cuts off his own fingertip.

Questions about Geschichten der Sonne; oder: Volkskunde Südindiens

Who are Mrs. Howard Kingscote and Pandit Natesa Sastri?

Georgiana Kingscote gathered the tales and wrote the introduction. Pandit Natesa Sastri corrected her versions and added tales he had collected, some first printed in The Indian Antiquary. Together they made the collection.

What does the title Tales of the Sun mean?

The book gives no long explanation of the title. It points to stories of Southern India, a land of strong sun, told for ordinary households. The subtitle identifies the collection as folklore from Southern India.

Are the stories true, and what do the Tamil proverbs do?

The tales are folklore, not history. Many are told to explain a Tamil proverb, such as the one about the three deaf men. The storyteller's moral often appears at the end, so each tale is easy to remember.