Reading Notes : Twenty-Two Goblins, Part A.

This week's reading is very similar to The Tales of a Parrot that I read last week. It consists of individually standing chapters that are riddles which a king must solve. I love these kids of stories because I am engaged and am trying to figure out the riddle myself. What I love about Twenty-Two Goblins is the characters in each riddle are usually quite one-dimesional. The pretty damsels are prettier than Greek Godesses, enough to woo any man that sees them. The wise men are completely wise, the brave men can slay any enemy, the loyal are loyal regardless of the situation. Because of these characteristics, their actions truly do speak louder than any words and reveal their character wholly. I used to not like characters written this way, but as a plot element it is really effective. It allows the king to make the correct deductions every time, which shows his thoughtfulness and logic. I think writing using this straightforwardness for characters can be really impactful for my own storybook. It drives the plot along very quickly and simplifies the moral or "riddle" that the author is trying to get across, while maintaining character complexity through the king or main character that ties all the chapters together. I liked all the stories pretty well, all though some were very repetitive. There were a lot that dealed with multiple men pursuing a single woman and the king having to decide which was most worthy. I think one that would be fun to retell is Food, Women, Cotton, but retelling it with women as the main characters. It was really fun to read the individual mastery of the three brothers, but in their foolishness they forgot to fulfill their duty to their father. In this chapter, each one is very sensitive to their own skill for which the king rewards thems, but they are punished for forgetting their original task.

Goblin in a tree by Baital Pachisi. source: Wiki

Vetālapañcaviṃśati (Twenty-Two Goblins). Translated by Arthur Ryder (2000). Web Source.

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