Douglas J. Penick’s retelling The Oceans of Cruelty loosely translates a story cycle from this country whose frame story involves a “corpse-spirit.” In a story written in this modern-day country, a crab snaps the neck of a heron when he realizes the bird has been eating his fish friends instead of transporting them to a new pond. A collection written in this modern-day country includes a frame story about educating three dim-witted princes and is titled for its five-part structure. That collection of 2nd-century BCE animal fables from this country includes a tale that inspired a 19th-century story in which the title mongoose defends an English family from two cobras. For 10 points, what modern-day country is the setting of the Panchatantra and Rudyard Kipling’s story “Rikki-Tikki-Tavi”? ■END■
ANSWER: India [or Bhārat; or Republic of India; or Bhārat Gaṇarājya; or Hindustan] (The collection in the first clue is the Vetala Panchavimshati, which are commonly known as the tales of Vikram and Betal.)
<TH, World Literature>
= Average correct buzz position