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    A Study Guide for Vishnu Sarma's "The Mice that Set the Elephants Free"
    A Study Guide for Vishnu Sarma's "The Mice that Set the Elephants Free"
    A Study Guide for Vishnu Sarma's "The Mice that Set the Elephants Free"
    Ebook36 pages23 minutes

    A Study Guide for Vishnu Sarma's "The Mice that Set the Elephants Free"

    By Gale and Cengage

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    About this ebook

    A Study Guide for Vishnu Sarma's "The Mice that Set the Elephants Free," excerpted from Gale's acclaimed Short Stories for Students. This concise study guide includes plot summary; character analysis; author biography; study questions; historical context; suggestions for further reading; and much more. For any literature project, trust Short Stories for Students for all of your research needs.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherCengage Learning - Gale
    Release dateJul 27, 2016
    ISBN9781535838382
    A Study Guide for Vishnu Sarma's "The Mice that Set the Elephants Free"

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      A Study Guide for Vishnu Sarma's "The Mice that Set the Elephants Free" - Gale

      12

      The Mice That Set the Elephants Free

      Vishnu Sarma

      200 BCE–300 BCE

      Introduction

      The Mice That Set the Elephants Free is a simple but powerful fable about the importance of friends. Though the fable is short, its history is staggeringly complex, as well as mysterious. Part of The Panchatantra, a collection of ancient Indian fables, The Mice That Set the Elephants Free was originally written circa the third century BCE and first left India circa 570 CE. Before that date, the tales in The Panchatantra were recited by storytellers for the entertainment of audiences. Each storyteller had their own variations of the fables, incorporating dance, music, and audience interaction into the retelling. This oral tradition makes tracing the origins of The Mice That Set the Elephants Free almost impossible. Additionally, almost nothing is known about the author, Vishnu Sarma. He may have been a great Indian wise man, or he may be a fictional character within The Panchatantra's text.

      Although much of its history is unclear, the story has been translated into many languages, transmitted across the world, and kept alive for over two millennia as a cherished fable, teaching that a friend is a friend, no matter what type of person they are: small or large, quiet or loud, rich or poor, powerless or powerful. The Panchatantra is divided into five smaller books with The Mice That Set the Elephants Free traditionally included in the second book, titled The Winning of Friends, an important theme in the story. As with the other fables in The Panchatantra, The Mice That Set the Elephants Free features a cast of lively animal characters with human qualities like the use of language and reason. Compromise and noble actions win the day in this short story about an unlikely friendship. The Penguin Classics translation by Chandra Rajan is widely available in bookstores and libraries. Online versions can be found on Google Books.

      Author Biography

      Sarma remains an enigma to modern scholars.

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