The Tiger's Whisker by Harold Courlander
**Overview of "The Tiger's Whisker" by Harold Courlander**
"The Tiger's Whisker" is a diverse collection of thirty-one folk tales and legends from Asia and the Pacific, compiled by Harold Courlander. The stories are accompanied by twenty-two pen-and-ink illustrations and originate from various regions, including Burma, India, China, Indonesia, and more. The collection features a mix of ancient tales, those published between the mid-nineteenth century and 1948, and others collected from oral traditions, reflecting a range of storytelling styles and themes. Some tales delve into complex moral lessons, while others, like the Indonesian fool tales, employ humor to convey wisdom about life's challenges.
The narratives vary in sophistication, with more intricate tales arising from cultures known for their rich literary traditions, such as India and Persia. Each story encapsulates cultural values and social commentary, offering insights into human behavior and societal norms. Notably, Courlander’s work stands out as an important English-language anthology of Eastern folklore, enriching readers' understanding of Asian cultural heritage and the universal themes that bind various traditions. This compilation serves as an appealing entry point for those interested in exploring the folklore and legends that shape the identities of different cultures.
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Subject Terms
The Tiger's Whisker by Harold Courlander
First published: 1959; illustrated
Subjects: Nature, politics and law, religion, and social issues
Type of work: Short fiction
Recommended Ages: 13-15
Form and Content
Harold Courlander’s The Tiger’s Whisker and Other Tales and Legends from Asia and the Pacific consists of thirty-one tales complemented by twenty-two pen-and-ink illustrations. Seven of the tales are taken from ancient sources, eleven of them are taken from collections published between the mid-nineteenth century and 1948, and the remaining thirteen were collected by Courlander himself from oral sources. The stories vary between one and ten pages in length in a small-page format and also differ in level of sophistication in both style and message. The tales are grouped by place of origin: five tales from Burma; four each from India and China; three each from Indonesia (specifically Java) and Kashmir, which lies largely in northwestern India on the border with Pakistan; two tales each from Korea, Japan, and Arabia (the desert peninsula in southwest Asia that includes Bahrain, Oman, Qatar, Saudia Arabia, Kuwait, Yemen, and the United Arab Emirates); and one tale each from Malaya (in the Republic of Malaysia), Ceylon (Sri Lanka), Persia (Iran), Laos, Polynesia, and Yap. The difference in sophistication is explained in part by the area of origin, the more complex tales originating in India, China, Japan, Persia, and Arabia.
The three tales from Indonesia are all fool tales, featuring the comedic team of Guyo and Kono, who demonstrate how not to approach the problems of life. By their nature as fool tales, they are among the least sophisticated of the collection, entertaining in the manner of a short Laurel and Hardy film and whimsical in the solutions to their problems, which invariably underscore the value of ordinary common sense.
The lessons of other tales are imparted with a gentle and subtle humor. Typical of this type is “The Spotted Rug,” from Arabia. A merchant who is desperate to save his daughter’s life promises anything to the doctor who heals her. When the doctor is in need years later and requests a substantial but not unreasonable fee, however, the merchant’s feelings have cooled and he finds a reason not to pay. What makes this tale of crass ingratitude so poignant is the reaction of the impoverished old medical man, who smiles sadly and says “Yes, I understand.” The story, like others, is also the source of a proverb, in this case, defining ingratitude.
Human foibles are parodied also in politicians in “The Tiger’s Minister of State,” from Burma, and in scholars in “The Scholar of Kosei,” from Korea, and “The Scholars and the Lion,” from India. Still other tales teach a sharp lesson in courtesy or common sense. “The Ambassador from Chi” tells of a king, who—apparently out of arrogance—decides to humiliate the ambassador of a neighboring land and of how the ambassador is able to turn each of the calculated insults back on the king.
The collection also features trickster tales from Japan, China, India, and Arabia, as well as two lengthier tales describing the exploits of Krishna in India and Maui in Polynesia that are excellent short examples of the heroic epic.
Critical Context
Although Harold Courlander has published far more on African, African American, and related oral traditions and noticeably more on the Hopi of the American Southwest than on Asian oral traditions, he was based in Bombay, India, with the U.S. Office of War Information during World War II, and is conversant especially with Indonesian folk tradition. His acquaintance with Arabic tradition is complemented by his knowledge of Somalia, Ethiopia, Mali, and the Hausa peoples, where Arabic and specifically Islamic influence is significant.
This compilation is one of comparatively few English-language collections of Eastern folk tradition, one of which is Courlander’s own Kantchil’s Lime Pit and Other Stories from Indonesia, published in 1950. The Tiger’s Whisker and Other Tales and Legends from Asia and the Pacific lies approximately in the middle of his most active publishing career of forty-six years (from 1936 to 1982). Like other of his collections, it enjoyed a renaissance in the 1990’s, being republished by Henry Holt in 1996.
For those interested in the folklore and legends of Asia, this collection offers an eclectic introduction to a wide variety of lands. As a basic element of ethnic tradition, folklore is also the beginning of understanding different cultures, both their similarities to others and their unique characteristics.