Folklore of the Santal Parganas, Vol. 1


Read by LibriVox Volunteers

(3.9 stars; 15 reviews)

This is an intriguing collection of folklore from the Santal Parganas, a district in India located about 150 miles from Calcutta. As its preface implies, this collection is intended to give an unadulterated view of a culture through its folklore. It contains a variety of stories about different aspects of life, including family and marriage, religion, and work. In this first volume, taken from Part I, each story is centered around a particular human character. These range from the charmingly clever (as the character, The Oilman, in the story, "The Oilman and His Sons"), to the tragically comical (as the character, Jhore, in the story "Bajun and Jhore"). In later parts, the stories will focus on other subjects, including spirits, animals, and legends from this culture. (3 hr 6 min)

Chapters

Preface 7:33 Read by Maria Celano
Bajun and Jhore 7:50 Read by Westwinds12
Anuwa and His Mother 4:59 Read by Westwinds12
Ledha and the Leopard 8:12 Read by Westwinds12
Cruel Stepmother, The 11:17 Read by Victoria Grace
Karmu and Dharmu 10:25 Read by Kirk Thomas
The Jealous Stepmother 2:56 Read by Heather Lambert
The Pious Woman 3:32 Read by Justin S Barrett
The Wise Daughter-in-Law 3:15 Read by vanrose
The Oilman and His Sons 3:12 Read by mducky2
The Girl Who Found Helpers 7:46 Read by Beth Peat
How to Grow Rich 5:54 Read by Dan Threetrees
The Changed Calf 4:44 Read by Tim Bulkeley (1948-2019)
The Koeri and the Barber 3:30 Read by Maria Celano
The Prince Who Acquired Wisdom 7:03 Read by mawrtea
The Monkey Boy 7:33 Read by Jesika
The Miser's Servant 6:26 Read by Anna Simon
Kuwar and the Rajahs Daughter 15:43 Read by Kirk Thomas
The Laughing Fish 8:05 Read by David Baker
How the Cowherd Found a Bride 8:21 Read by Anna Simon
Kara and Guja 5:22 Read by tipaew
The Magic Cow 14:17 Read by Betsie Bush
Lita and His Animals 17:42 Read by Leon Mire
The Boy Who Found His Father 5:43 Read by frankjf
The Oilman's Bullock 5:10 Read by Leon Mire

Reviews

An interesting collection


(3 stars)

The quality of the recording is a bit variable, but the pieces are so short that even if you strike a bad one (and there are only two which were bad enough to mention) that they are gone in a couple of minutes. The structrue of the stories isn't as rounded as say, in the Brothers Grimm. Or perhaps, to listeners from that culture, they are? All in all, though, very interesting if you are into folklore.

Folklore of Santal Parganas


(4 stars)

A fun collection of tales read by various readers. Some of the morality sounded strange to my western mind, yet I throughly enjoyed these short peices.