Week 4 Essay: Twenty-Two Goblins

This week, I read the Twenty-Two Goblins unit in the Un-Textbook. Overall, I thought the premise was very interesting-this unit is a frame tale in which a quest is introduced: a monk requests that a brave king retrieve a corpse from a sissoo tree. The original text was translated from Sanskrit and is part of a collection of Indian lore. I didn't know much about the culture before I read this unit, so it was intriguing to see how the culture influenced the text. Traditionally, goblins are fairly morbid: they inhabit corpses and if loved ones want to retrieve the bodies, they will have to answer a series of riddles that the goblin proposes until he gets tired. The "story within a story" theme runs throughout; the each new chapter is another riddle.

What I really appreciated about this unit was the background given before each riddle. For example, I had heard of the caste system in India before, but I did not know what the different levels were. Before the second riddle (Brave, Wise, and Clever), the introduction given was beneficial in helping me understand the members of the Brahman caste and how they fit into the society. I also was not familiar with the epic Ramayana, so the explanation of the characters was enlightening as well.

This was another thing I enjoyed about this unit: the allusions to other texts -- even unrelated ones such as the Bible -- brought a broader worldview and made me think about both Eastern and Western influences. For example, the introduction to the story The General's Wife prompted the reader to compare the actions of the king and their outcome to those of King David with Bathsheba and their fate in the Bible. This was certainly a fascinating thing to think about: though the kings acted in completely different manners, the two stories told the same moral. Without this thought experiment, I never would have made those connections.

Overall, I loved reading the riddles and trying to solve them. The goblin does a good job of being tricky, but the king is wise and intelligent, and I enjoyed reading his banter and his calm, logical way of explaining each answer.

Week 4 Storytelling: The General's Wife

"What a day," I said wearily to my page.

"What happened to you today? You look defeated," he asked, worried.

"I saw the most beautiful woman in the world today," I explained, "she was so stunning that I fainted. When I came to, I found out that she was Passion, whose hand in marriage I rejected a few months back. I can't stop thinking about her. I can't believe I let her go."

Let me backtrack and explain myself. My name is King Glorious (interesting name, I know--I used to get teased about it all the time, and I can only hope to live up to it) and I preside over the lovely Golden City. A few months ago, one of my best merchants approached me and told me that his daughter was old enough to get married and he begged me to marry her. I sent my loyal Brahmans to the merchant's home to see if she would be a good fit for me. When they came back, they listed all of her bad habits and flaws, so I decided that she wasn't right for me. I suggested that the merchant give his daughter to my best warrior, the general of my troops.

Well, hindsight is 20/20, and I realized today that I should have gone to meet her myself (dating nowadays is so complicated). The city held its annual spring festival today, and as I proceeded through the parade, I looked up and suddenly saw the most elegant, stunning woman I'd ever laid eyes on. Instantly, my heart started to race and I was overcome by love. Overwhelmed, I blacked out and fell off the elephant I was sitting on--luckily, I had my trusty servants to catch me.

The elephant I rode on in the parade. Source: Wikipedia.

When I woke up, I asked my servants, "Who was that who caused such a reaction in me?" They told me that the beauty was Passion, and I immediately started. This was the woman who had so many faults? I definitely didn't see them. I called in my Brahmans and demanded an explanation. They told me that they saw her beauty and became afraid for my kingdom--they thought that if I married her, I would think of nothing else and let the city go to shambles. I appreciated their concern for the greater good, but I was also disappointed. I had to dismiss them.

For the next few days, I was a mess. I couldn't stop thinking about Passion and her beauty and virtuousness. I confided in my loyal page, and he suggested countless times that I simply take Passion away from her husband. I adamantly refused--this just wasn't the right thing to do. Eventually, the word somehow got out that I was pining for this woman. My general himself approached me, full of remorse. He even offered to give me his wife. At this, I got angry and told him that there would be no virtue in that action, only sin.

Oh well. I guess I'll just have to wait to find the right woman.

-----

Author's note: For this storytelling exercise, I chose to retell the story of The General's Wife from the Twenty-Two Goblins unit. Instead of using a third-person omniscient storytelling style, I chose to  recount the tale from the first-person view of King Glorious. This reading unit was a frametale consisting of 22 riddles that a goblin tells to a king. In this particular riddle, the ending is more morbid than I made it to be--Glorious dies from his lovesickness, and then the general dies because of his mourning for the king. When the goblin finishes telling this story, he asks the king who the more virtuous person was and why. The wise ruler says that King Glorious was more admirable because he didn't take advantage of his power and displayed his strength in character by refusing to transgress against his people.

Bibliography:
Story: The General's Wife
Unit: Twenty-Two Goblins
Source: Un-Textbook.
Original: Twenty-Two Goblins (Sanskrit: Vetālapañcaviṃśati), translated by Arthur Ryder. Source: Project Gutenberg. 2000.

Week 4 Reading Diary: Twenty-Two Goblins

This week, I chose to read Twenty-Two Goblins, excerpts taken from Arthur Ryder's translation of the Sanskrit manuscript Vetālapañcaviṃśati. I made this decision because I had never read anything from this culture before. Based on the description, it sounded like something that I would enjoy reading (and I certainly did): I love riddles and trying to solve them, and some of the ones featured in this unit definitely challenged me. Overall, it was thoroughly entertaining.

First of all, the premise of the frametale caught my attention immediately. The goblin inhabits a human corpse and the hero of the story, a wise king, must solve its riddles lest his head explodes from the goblin's magic. I had never heard this version of the legend before, and it was an interesting (and morbid) way to introduce the series of riddles that followed.

The Three Lovers: This first tale was one of which I had heard many variations in the past. Somehow, I had never known the proper solution to this riddle despite the countless times I'd heard it before. The king was very wise to consider different relationships to the princess and determine which suitor was the right one to marry his daughter.

With each of these riddles, it was tricky to determine the correct answer because the way the goblin told the tales was sometimes so paradoxical. However, in each case, there is one answer that stands out and, after the king verbalizes it, it seems almost obvious. This seems somewhat unnecessary to say--this is the point of riddles, after all--but each time I read a new chapter in the unit, I would be stumped as to the answer, but when the king answered, it would make sense and I wondered why I didn't come up with the solution myself.

The Four Scientific Suitors: I guessed the answer to this riddle correctly, but I wasn't sure if it was just because I was biased towards the art of battle. Part of the king's answer reminded me of another tale where a peasant makes a deal with a king that if he can stack one hundred gold pieces, then the king should give the gold to him. The king agrees and keeps his word, but when the peasant shows off his talent, the king also gives him lashings for wasting his time with such a useless talent. The king in this tale points out a similar situation with one of the four scientific suitors.

The Three Delicate Wives: I also managed to determine the solution to this riddle, as it seemed appropriate that the wife who was not affected by any of her senses yet still was injured would be the most delicate. However, I did not really understand the point of this--why would she want to be the most delicate? I thought that it would be a major inconvenience to be as frail as these wives.

Reading Diary B

The Snake's Poison: This story stood out from the previous ones because out of the choices that the goblin gives the king for the solution, he thinks outside the box and chooses one that the goblin does not offer. Throughout this unit, I have been very impressed by the king's wit and wisdom, and this story solidifies that feeling.

The General's Wife: I thought the introduction was very interesting when it mentioned the story of King David and Bathsheba in the Bible. As I read, I realized the validity of the great contrast between the two stories. King David's downfall in the eyes of his people was due to his temptation and his not staying in community with his troops. The king in this story is endlessly virtuous and would rather die than betray one of his servants, even though it might have been expected of him.

The Four Brothers: This reminded me of the story of the three brothers who brought a woman back to life, found earlier in this unit. This riddle has a twist, however--it is about four brothers who give life to a lion, and the goblin asks the king who is to blame when the lion kills them all after its revival. Again, the king impresses me with his critical thinking skills.

Father and Son, Daughter and Mother: I was very excited to read this story simply from reading the introduction--apparently, it is known as the goblin's "Great Puzzle." It certainly was a challenging riddle, and even the king thought so as well. However, the goblin was previously so impressed with the king that he allows the king to take him back to the palace where the monk is.