Preserving Timeless
Folktales for Generations
Explore stories that connect us to our roots, carrying the voices and wisdom of our ancestors across generations. These timeless tales not only preserve cultural traditions and values but also reveal the universal themes, emotions, and lessons that shape the human experience. Through the art of storytelling, they bridge the past and the present, allowing us to see ourselves in the lives of those who came before and reminding us of the shared journey that unites all people.
The Talking Pupils: Chinese Folklore
The Talking Pupils: Chinese Folklore At Ch‘ang-ngan there lived a scholar, named Fang Tung, who though by no means destitute of ability was a very unprincipled rake, and in the habit of following and speaking to any woman he might chance to meet. The day before the spring festival of Clear Weather (One of the twenty-four solar terms. It falls on or about the 5th of April, and is the special time for worshipping at
Saint Andrew’s Night: Germanic Folklore
Saint Andrew’s Night: Germanic Folklore It is commonly believed in Germany that on St. Andrew’s night, St. Thomas’ night, and Christmas and New Year’s nights, a girl has the power of inviting and seeing her future lover. A table is to be laid for two persons, taking care, however, that there are no forks upon it. Whatever the lover leaves behind him must be carefully preserved, for he then returns to her who has it,
The Resuscitated Corpse: Chinese Folklore
The Resuscitated Corpse: Chinese Folklore A certain old man lived at Ts‘ai-tien, in the Yang-hsin district. The village was some miles from the district city, and he and his son kept a roadside inn where travellers could pass the night. One day, as it was getting dusk, four strangers presented themselves and asked for a night’s lodging; to which the landlord replied that every bed was already occupied. The four men declared it was impossible
Good Will Grow Out of Good: Folktale from India
Good Will Grow Out of Good: Folktale from India In a certain town there reigned a king named Patnîpriya, (i.e., lover of his wife.) to whose court, a poor old Brâhmiṇ, named Pâpabhîru, (i.e., a shudder at sin.) came every morning, with a yellow lime in his hand, and presenting it to the king, pronounced a benediction in Tamil:— Nanmai vidaittâl, nanmai vil̤aiyum: Tîmai vidaittâl, tîmai vijaiyum: Nanmaiyum tîmaiyum pinvara kâṇalâm. “If good is sown,
The Gardener’s Cunning Wife: Folktale from India
The Gardener’s Cunning Wife: Folktale from India In a certain village there lived with his wife a poor gardener who cultivated greens in a small patch in the backyard of his house. They were in thirty little beds, half of which he would water every day. This occupied him from the fifth to the fifteenth ghaṭikâ (a Sanskrit technical term referring a division of time (24 minutes). There are 60 ghaṭikās in a single lunar day
The Tiger Guest: Chinese Folklore
The Tiger Guest: Chinese Folklore A young man named Kung, a native of Min-chou, on his way to the examination at Hsi-ngan, rested awhile in an inn, and ordered some wine to drink. Just then a very tall and noble-looking stranger walked in, and, seating himself by the side of Kung, entered into conversation with him. Kung offered him a cup of wine, which the stranger did not refuse; saying, at the same time, that