In this book you will find a colorful collection of folk tales populated by mighty kings, handsome princes, crafty magicians, and talking animals. Bearing a striking resemblance to the tales of the Brothers Grimm, they are suffused with Eastern mystery and fantasy images.

These tales were handed down in the oral tradition of the people of ancient Ceylon (Sri Lanka). They were first recorded by British colonists and missionaries in the beginning of the 20th century, immortalizing the roots of the ancient Hindu tradition as it developed in Sri Lanka. These age-old narratives take us back to a time when the cultures of Asia were among the world's most sophisticated, and, with their fairy-tale atmosphere, give us an abundance of impressions so characteristic of Hindu lives in the ancient Far East.