Then of course there is the curious term  mahiṣī for a senior queen, which seems to resonate with Rajam's comment.

Rich Salomon


On Wed, May 27, 2020 at 1:39 PM rajam via INDOLOGY <indology@list.indology.info> wrote:
Dear Professor Tieken,

/// a story (with versions in Chinese and Japanese), in which a princess marries a calf (young cow). /// 

There is a reference in one of the Old Tamil / Sangam Tamil poems, Kalittokai (கலித்தொகை), about a buffalo (எருமைப் பெடை) and a woman’s wedding. Please take a deep look at kalittokai 114:12-14.

I think it was symbolic in some cultures to have some sort of ritual like this — to involve a bovine as a part of a wedding ceremony.

Since I’m not a socio-anthro specialist, I leave it up to you to figure out what the kalittokai poem refers to. I don’t have my reference books any more, so I couldn’t delve deep into any analysis.

Thanks and regards,
rajam



On May 27, 2020, at 12:02 PM, Jonathan Silk via INDOLOGY <indology@list.indology.info> wrote:


But perhaps what was rather in mind was The Oral Tales of India, by Stith Thompson and Jonas Balys?

Jonathan

On Wed, May 27, 2020 at 5:15 PM Rolf Heinrich Koch via INDOLOGY <indology@list.indology.info> wrote:


Stith Thompson's
Motif-Index of Folk-Literature:


https://archive.org/details/Thompson2016MotifIndex


Best


Heiner





Am 27.05.2020 um 16:02 schrieb Tieken, H.J.H. via INDOLOGY:

Dear members of this list,

A friend of mine, a sinologist, is working on a story (with versions in Chinese and Japanese), in which a princess marries a calf (young cow). The editor of the Chinese version writes that this is a common theme in South Asian story literature, but my friend has so far been to find any references to it. He checked Cowley's collection of jātaka stories and Laurits Bodker's on Indian animal stories.

I myself am unable to help him either. For one thing, the name of the author of the index on motifs in Indian literature does not occur to me (Thomson?). I hope the motif rings a bell with someone on this list.

With kind regards, Herman


Herman Tieken
Stationsweg 58
2515 BP Den Haag
The Netherlands
00 31 (0)70 2208127
 

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