A Prince in the Body of a Parrot (Cuckoo)

The eighteenth-century Tibetan narrative The Tale of Moon Cuckoo and its subsequent adaptation as a Mongolian traditional opera was performed from the nineteenth century up to the early twentieth. The story is based on the motif of a prince who is tricked into entering the body of a cuckoo; later on, he is not able to regain his human form, stolen by his evil-minded companion. The narrative, along with its Mongolian-language versions and operatic adaptation, is a vivid example of Tibet-Mongolian literary transmission. The underlying motif of the tale is also closely linked to the so-called frame narratives of Indian origin concerning King Vikramāditya; the popularity of these narratives was very widespread in Central and Inner Asia in times past. This paper describes some of the literary contacts concerning the narrative and motifs of The Tale of Moon Cuckoo in Central and Inner Asia and beyond, with a view as well to cross-genre considerations.