Skip to main content

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

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Reading Notes : Hans Christian Andersen, Part B

ANOTHER FAVORITE. The Little Mermaid is such a classic, and the original slaps. I guess I am old and beaten down now, but this version is my new favorite. The Disney version will always have a special place in my heart and be a part of my childhood, but his original version is so poetic. It is definitely more my style; it leaves an impression when the heroine doesn't get to live happily ever after, which is okay too! The world Hans Christian Andersen weaves is glorious . I could feel the mermaid's pain, urgency, and suffocating need to love and be loved. This is a story that will never get old, part of it due to how beautifully it is written. One of my favorite parts is when he describes the five older sisters and the things they experienced going to the surface for the first time. The scenes he paints makes me feel like I am experiencing those beautiful landscapes for the first time, too. Often time mermaids are fantasized, and it was interesting seeing it from the other per...

Reading Notes : Heroes, Part A

One thing I really enjoyed so far about this reading is how long the stories are. Instead of individual stories per chapter, each of these takes up about three chapter for one story. I felt like this really helped with character and plot development. Also, unlike the Alaskan stories I read last week, these stories were a bit more realistic, in the sense that they took place (mainly) on earth with real animals and real events in nature. Everyone loves a good hero story, and all of these were untraditional in their own way which made them interesting. One that I particularly liked centered around a bluejay, whose selfish actions were the reason he got sent on a journey to begin with. But upon his return, despite overcoming many obstacles, his life is pretty much the same before. It was interesting how their definition of hero is quite different from those we typically think of. For humans, it means dominating as the top species. For animals, it usually means just surviving.  At ti...

Reading Notes : Hans Christian Andersen, Part A

I was able to revisit some of my favorite stories from my childhood with this reading. The work of Hans Christian Andersen is so iconic and touching even now. It is really different reading these stories as an adult than as a child; what I took literally before is now so symbolic. I hadn't read the story of the little tin soldier in so long, and with it came a flood of memories. One thing I really love about his writings is how visual they are. For kids, it helps immerse them in the world he is trying to make and really experience the story with the character. For adults, there is something kind of sad and wistful about it. His creativity brings the situations to life in a very enjoyable way. One way he does this is through the flow of the story; it read extremely well and is easy to follow. The narrative is super smooth and beautiful to read, which is a big plus. There is nothing 'hard' or difficult to read about it, and it isn't tedious or repetitive either. Every s...