Folk Tale Query

[Satyanad Kichenassamy]

There is a very similar story I was told as a child (we are Tamils): A
king cut himself and his chief minister applauded at the good news---the
minister was of course immediately jailed...  Later on, while traveling,
the king was caught by a tribe of cannibals who were looking for a
physically perfect king for their purposes. To their dismay, the king had
this small wound...and they had to release him. Is there proof that the
above is of foreign origin? 

I hope this helps.

I haven't checked any of the standard sources (Panchatantra,
Tenali Raman, etc).

                                       S. Kichenassamy
                                       kichenas at math.umn.edu

On Thu, 5 Dec 1996, Vasudha Narayanan wrote:

> >I don't know of an Indian version, but Huston Smith has a similar story in
> his chapter on Taoism ("The Religions of Man").  I don't recall the
[...]
> Sorry, it's a great tale, but it is Chinese.  Like a good Indian, I should
> say: they probably got it from us. It's in the Vedas (ought to be anyway).
> Best wishes, Vasudha
>