
Folk-Tales of Bengal
Preface
Illustrations
I. Life’s Secret
II. Phakir Chand
III. The Indigent Brahman
IV. The Story of the Rakshasas
V. The Story of Swet-Basanta
VI. The Evil Eye of Sani
VII. The Boy whom Seven Mothers Suckled
Delight in the timeless charm of Bengal’s oral tradition, where villages gathered each evening around the hearth to hear whispered wonders from seasoned storytellers. This collection brings together those age‑old narratives, freshly translated from Bengali, preserving the cadence and colour of the original voices that once floated through mud‑brick homes and bustling bazaars.
The tales unfold with familiar motifs—a daring princess fleeing the palace, a clever prince confronting serpents, mischievous spirits trading sweetmeats for riddles—each brimming with magical creatures, moral twists, and the earthy humor of everyday life. Their plots are simple enough for a child’s imagination yet layered with cultural nuances that echo the region’s reverence for nature, family ties, and the uncanny.
A unique feature is the rhythmic refrain that closes every story, a playful string of questions and sounds that once soothed eager listeners. This recurring chant offers a glimpse into the ritual of Bengali storytelling, inviting listeners to share in the same wonder that enchanted generations before.
Language
en
Duration
~6 hours (395K characters)
Publisher of text edition
Project Gutenberg
Credits
Produced by Jeroen Hellingman and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net/ for Project Gutenberg. (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.)
Release date
Jan 3, 2012
Rights
Public domain in the USA.

1826–1894
Known for bringing rural Bengal vividly to life in English, this 19th-century writer, journalist, and missionary left behind work that still feels observant and humane. He is especially remembered for his fiction about village society and for collecting Bengali folk tales for a wider readership.
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