There are various famous framed narratives (cerita berbingkai) in Malay literature, including the Hikayat Bayan Budiman, the Hikayat Kalilah dan Dimnah and the Hikayat Bakhtiar. The framed narrative is said to have originated from India and traveled to the Archipelago along a number of different paths. Such works often contain several stories within the main story itself. Usually one or more characters in the story narrates the tale and then a character in that inner tale will take over the further narration, as a way of substantiating or corroborating the previous story. The inner or smaller story will, in turn, contain further sub-stories that will add to the further length and breadth of the story as a whole. For example:

Another characteristic of the framed narrative is that its animal characters are often given human qualities. These animals are not only expert story-tellers, they are also adept at giving advice to their masters on various human problems.