Reading Notes: Twenty-Two Goblins A
Intro: setting: River bank of the Godavari river, the Abiding Kingdom
the king had a tradition of waking up, receiving a fruit form his monk, and giving it to someone he was close with. But one day, he gave the piece of fruit to an escaped monkey, and when the monkey opened the fruit a magnificent gem came out. The monk had been giving the king very expensive "fruit" but finally the king said enough of it, and asked how he could repay the monk. the monk had him travel south and recover a hanging body. as he cut the body down, it erupted with laughter, which meant that a goblin had been living inside it. The king grabbed the dead body with the goblin inside and threw it over his shoulder as he traveled back home. The goblin said, "O King, to amuse the journey, I will tell you a story. Listen."
The Three Lovers:
The goblin's first story is as follows: "There was a beautiful girl born to a brahman, and her name was Coral. Now when she had grown up, three men wanted her hand in marriage and all of them went to her father to ask for her. He chose her new man, but she would not marry him for a while because she didn't want to offend the other two. One day though, Coral got sick and then died. She was then buried by the men. One man built a hut in the cemetery, and slept on a bed made of her ashes. The second man took her bones and dipped them in the sacred Ganges river. The third man became a monk and wandered the country. One day when the monk was wandering, he came across a Brahman who had the ability to bring the dead to life. He traveled back to the village and brought Coral back to life, and then all three of the men began to argue about who deserved her." The goblin then asks the king to decide which man truly is Corals husband, and he chose the man who stayed in the cemetery with her, because he showed the most love. After hearing this, the goblin leapt off the kings shoulder and returned to the sissoo tree. The king returned to the tree, and collected the goblin again.
Brave, Wise, Clever
The king finally got the body with the goblin again, and the goblin said that he would tell the king another story. This story was about a king named Merit, who was ruler of the city of Ujjain. Merit had a counsellor Brahman named Hariswami. The counsellor had a wife, a son (Devaswami), and a daughter (Moonlight). When the daughter grew up, she told her family that she would marry a brave man, or a wise man, or a clever man, and that she would die if she married anyone else. As the counsellor was in a distant city settling a war dispute, a young man came to him and said, I should marry your daughter, I am a clever man. So the young man made a flying chariot and took Hariswami on a ride. The clever man had earned to hand. Back in Ujjain, a young man came forward and said to Hariswami's son, (Moonlight's brother) that he should marry Moonlight, because he was brave. He showed his skill with weapons, and the brother gave him permission to marry. Finally, a third young man came to Moonlights mother and said that he was the wise man. After showing his intellegence, the mother gave him permission to marry. On the wedding day, all three men showed up, and all of a sudden, Moonlight had disappeared. The wise man told the family that she had been taken by a giant, and was being held in its den. When all of them went to the den, the brave man fought the giant, and killed it. Finally all of them returned and now no one knew what to do.
The king said to the goblin that the man that deserved Moonlight was the brave man, as he risked his life by fighting a giant to save moonlight. The goblin returned back to the tree and made the king go back and get him.
The Girl, her Husband and her Brother:
This is the classic story of a man finding a girl he likes, marrying her, and then visiting the inlaws. When White (the husband), Lovely (the bride), and Lovely's brother traveled back to Clean-cloth's (Lovely's father) house for a party, they came upon the temple of Gauri. White looked at his bride and brother in law and said, I shall go worship, you two stay here. He went inside, went mad, and cut off his head. Then the brother went in, went mad, and cut off his head. Finally, Lovely went inside, began to tie a noose, but then heard a voice that told her to bring the bodies and the heads forward, and place the heads on top of the bodies, and they would rise from the dead. Well she made a mistake and placed the wrong heads with the wrong bodies, and now had to determine which was to be her actual husband. The body with her husband head but brothers body, or the one with her brothers head and husbands body?
After hearing this, the King told the goblin that clearly the body she should choose is the one with the husbands head, because the head is the most important part of the person. The goblin returned back to the tree, as did the king.
Food, Women, Cotton:
Bibliography: Arthur W. Ryder, Twenty-Two Goblins, Twenty-Two Goblins
the king had a tradition of waking up, receiving a fruit form his monk, and giving it to someone he was close with. But one day, he gave the piece of fruit to an escaped monkey, and when the monkey opened the fruit a magnificent gem came out. The monk had been giving the king very expensive "fruit" but finally the king said enough of it, and asked how he could repay the monk. the monk had him travel south and recover a hanging body. as he cut the body down, it erupted with laughter, which meant that a goblin had been living inside it. The king grabbed the dead body with the goblin inside and threw it over his shoulder as he traveled back home. The goblin said, "O King, to amuse the journey, I will tell you a story. Listen."
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| The Sissoo Tree credit: flickr |
The goblin's first story is as follows: "There was a beautiful girl born to a brahman, and her name was Coral. Now when she had grown up, three men wanted her hand in marriage and all of them went to her father to ask for her. He chose her new man, but she would not marry him for a while because she didn't want to offend the other two. One day though, Coral got sick and then died. She was then buried by the men. One man built a hut in the cemetery, and slept on a bed made of her ashes. The second man took her bones and dipped them in the sacred Ganges river. The third man became a monk and wandered the country. One day when the monk was wandering, he came across a Brahman who had the ability to bring the dead to life. He traveled back to the village and brought Coral back to life, and then all three of the men began to argue about who deserved her." The goblin then asks the king to decide which man truly is Corals husband, and he chose the man who stayed in the cemetery with her, because he showed the most love. After hearing this, the goblin leapt off the kings shoulder and returned to the sissoo tree. The king returned to the tree, and collected the goblin again.
Brave, Wise, Clever
The king finally got the body with the goblin again, and the goblin said that he would tell the king another story. This story was about a king named Merit, who was ruler of the city of Ujjain. Merit had a counsellor Brahman named Hariswami. The counsellor had a wife, a son (Devaswami), and a daughter (Moonlight). When the daughter grew up, she told her family that she would marry a brave man, or a wise man, or a clever man, and that she would die if she married anyone else. As the counsellor was in a distant city settling a war dispute, a young man came to him and said, I should marry your daughter, I am a clever man. So the young man made a flying chariot and took Hariswami on a ride. The clever man had earned to hand. Back in Ujjain, a young man came forward and said to Hariswami's son, (Moonlight's brother) that he should marry Moonlight, because he was brave. He showed his skill with weapons, and the brother gave him permission to marry. Finally, a third young man came to Moonlights mother and said that he was the wise man. After showing his intellegence, the mother gave him permission to marry. On the wedding day, all three men showed up, and all of a sudden, Moonlight had disappeared. The wise man told the family that she had been taken by a giant, and was being held in its den. When all of them went to the den, the brave man fought the giant, and killed it. Finally all of them returned and now no one knew what to do.
The king said to the goblin that the man that deserved Moonlight was the brave man, as he risked his life by fighting a giant to save moonlight. The goblin returned back to the tree and made the king go back and get him.
The Girl, her Husband and her Brother:
This is the classic story of a man finding a girl he likes, marrying her, and then visiting the inlaws. When White (the husband), Lovely (the bride), and Lovely's brother traveled back to Clean-cloth's (Lovely's father) house for a party, they came upon the temple of Gauri. White looked at his bride and brother in law and said, I shall go worship, you two stay here. He went inside, went mad, and cut off his head. Then the brother went in, went mad, and cut off his head. Finally, Lovely went inside, began to tie a noose, but then heard a voice that told her to bring the bodies and the heads forward, and place the heads on top of the bodies, and they would rise from the dead. Well she made a mistake and placed the wrong heads with the wrong bodies, and now had to determine which was to be her actual husband. The body with her husband head but brothers body, or the one with her brothers head and husbands body?
After hearing this, the King told the goblin that clearly the body she should choose is the one with the husbands head, because the head is the most important part of the person. The goblin returned back to the tree, as did the king.
Food, Women, Cotton:
Bibliography: Arthur W. Ryder, Twenty-Two Goblins, Twenty-Two Goblins
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