Contents -- Introduction: Storytelling in India -- 1 Family Roles -- MAN -- The Brahman in the Graveyard -- Good King Nala's Downfall -- The Wisdom of a Child -- WOMAN -- The Carpenter's Wife -- Savatri and the God of Death -- The Radiant Sambula -- The Queen Who Cried Rape -- The Prostitute Who Lost Her Charm -- CHILDREN -- A Goddess Is Born -- A Journey into Hell -- How a King Learned To Care for Parents -- The Only-Child Who Left Home -- 2 Social Roles -- KING -- The Serpent with One Hundred Heads -- The Wise Old Crow -- A King and a Dove -- As the King, So the Kingdom -- A Deer King Offers His Life -- The Day the Sun Did Not Rise -- TEACHER/PRIEST -- The Brahman and the Demons -- The Curse of a Brahman -- Buddha Sets the Wheel in Motion -- A Teacher's Tricky Test -- How the Clever Father Saved His Sons -- ASCETIC -- The Monkey-Faced Suitor -- The Destruction of Love -- Buddha Finds a Middle Path -- The Man Who Wouldn't Be King -- 3 Lay Values -- COURAGE -- The Warrior's Death -- The Goddess Who Drank Blood -- The Goat Who Laughed and Cried -- King Goodness Refuses To Fight -- PURITY -- A Test of Fire -- The Suitable Husband -- How a Youth Lost His Virtue -- The Brahman and the Sacred River -- GENEROSITY -- The Gift of Cows -- A Mistaken Gift -- The King Who Gave Away His Kingdom -- The Buddhist Job -- A Mansion in Heaven -- SELF-SACRIFICE -- Death's Substitute -- A Handful of Rice -- The Hare in the Moon -- The Eye Transplant -- TRUTHFULNESS -- An Act of Truth -- The Power of a Lie -- The Eye Restored -- The Woman Who Cursed Herself -- Pride Goeth Before a Fall -- 4 Monastic Values -- SELF-CONTROL -- The Foolish Jackal -- The Standing Ascetic -- The Mute Prince -- The Servant Who Tested Her Mistress -- ASCETICISM -- A Boon of Immortality -- Arjuna's Penance -- Asceticism Now, Nymphs Later! -- The Ascetic Who Visited Home -- DETACHMENT.

The Boy Who Laughed at Death -- The Well of Life -- The Man Who Didn't Notice Women -- The Destruction of the World -- COMPASSION -- The Dove and the Mouse -- The Ascetic and the Deer -- Tend the Sick -- The Dying Buddha's Compassion -- Conclusion -- Story Sources -- Selected Bibliography.