Folk Tales of Nepal

The modern Kingdom of Nepal which, according to its 17th century founding father, King Prithvi Narayan Shah, is a "Yam between two boulders" (India and China), is predominantly a highland country that is lorded over in the north by the mighty Himalayas, including such lofty peaks as Mount Everest, that generally slope southwards to meet the Indogangetic plains in a short distance of 150-odd miles. The stories compiled here have been largely drawn from the middle Himalayan belt extending from east to west and generally peopled by major ethnic sub-groups like the Rais, Gurungs, Limbas, Tamanangs, Magars, and Newars.

Even so, folk tales, by their very nature, tend to transgress geographical and ethnic boundaries and, as such, no particular story or a set of stories can be said to be the monopoly of a particular race or tribe. That the Nepalese folk tales display a lot of affinity with their Indian and Tibetan counterparts can be explained by the fact that they draw their basic inspiration from Hindu mythologies on the one hand and the Lamaistic influences on the other, though many of them have taken a local inflexion which is only to be expected. As in any other country in the world again, the flora and fauna of the country have, as can be seen presently, naturally found their way into these folk tales, the wily ways of a fox, the legendary miserliness of a trader, the frailties of womanhood, the usual antics of a love-lorn youth, the victory of the virtuous in contrast with the fall on the crafty, are the general purposive milieu with which these stories have been woven and bleaded.

Also reflected in these stories are many local life-styles and motifs, beliefs and superstitions, social customs and inhibitions, the innate faith in the supernatural and mysticism.

Astrology, alchemy, ghosts and sorcerers all have roles to play.