''Beastly Tales'' is a 1991 collection of ten fables in poetry written by
Vikram Seth
Vikram Seth (born 20 June 1952) is an Indian novelist and poet. He has written several novels and poetry books. He has won several awards such as Padma Shri, Sahitya Academy Award, Pravasi Bharatiya Samman, WH Smith Literary Award and Crosswor ...
(UK , also US ).
Its full title is ''Beastly Tales from Here and There'' and, in the introduction, Seth states
"the first two come from India, the next two from China, the next two from Greece, the next two from the Ukraine. The final two came directly to me from the Land of Gup".
Seth's sense of humour is exemplified by his retelling of the well-known fable of
The Hare and The Tortoise (p. 43). In his version the loser, being a celebrity, is feted and the winner ignored.
Contents
# ''The Crocodile and the Monkey''
# ''The Louse and the Mosquito''
# ''The Mouse and the Snake''
# ''The Rat and the Ox''
# ''The Eagle and the Beetle''
# ''The Hare and the Tortoise''
# ''The Cat and the Cock''
# ''The Goat and the Ram''
# ''The Frog and the Nightingale''
# ''The Elephant and the Tragopan''
Adaptions
Poems from the book have been performed by
Naseeruddin Shah,
Ratna Pathak
Ratna Pathak Shah (born 18 March 1957) is an Indian actress and director known for her work in Hindi theatre, television, and films. Her extensive work in theatre includes a series of plays in both English and Hindi. She rose to prominence when ...
, Heeba Shah, and Kenneth Desai.
References
{{Vikram Seth
Indian English poetry collections
Poetry by Vikram Seth
1991 poetry books
Viking Press books