Folk Tale Query

[Narayan S. Raja]

On Wed, 11 Dec 1996, Lars Martin Fosse wrote:

> S. Kichenassamy wrote:
> >
> >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 don't think you can prove that the story given above is of foreign origin.
> But the idea that the king should physically perfect is also found among
> ancient peoples in Europe. In addition, he should be more handsome than


In this case, though, the point is that the
*sacrificial victim* has to be physically 
perfect.  Yes, this story ("ellAm nallathaRkE", 
i.e., "All is for the best") is well known (it 
was in one of my Tamil schoolbooks).

Best regards,


Raja.