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. 
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

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...
2 comments
Read more

Introduction to the Mother of Hedgehogs

Hello! First of all, I hope you are having an amazing day so far. If not, please first enjoy this picture of my first hedgehog, Mochi, in a tiny santa hat.  Personal Photo: my first hedgehog's first Christmas! It might be an unusual choice of pet, but it is one that I highly recommend for students. I am a senior, graduating in May with a degree in Chemistry&Biochemistry and a minor in Pre-Health Social Sciences. These past four years have been very time consuming, and I wanted a pet that would accomodate my schedule. Enter: hedgehogs. They are solitary, nocturnal, small, don't require a lot of resources or space, perfect! And once I got my first, I became hooked on other exotic animals as well. I hope to one day have a large assorment of interesting critters and reptiles!  Aside from loving my hogs, I try to spend my extra time travelling all over the world. Both my parents immigrated from Asia, and we frequently travel back to visit my extended family. I ha...
26 comments
Read more

Reading Notes : Ovid's Metamorphoses Part B

For Part B of Ovid's Metamorphoses , the stories that interested me most were the ones about Narcissus  and  Pyramus and Thisbe . What attracted me to these in particular was the tragic endings that befell the characters, one out of pure love and one out of vain infatuation. After reading them together, it is hard to not compare the two. In both, I could understand (but not relate) to the intesity of each person's emotions, which ultimately caused everyone's untimely death. Both stories were not afraid to use the extreme end of the dramatic spectrum to describe the depth of feelings. I like this technique; there is no wishy-washiness and the reader is very clear at where each character stands. Part of this is because the characters take out their emotions on their own bodies, and the consequence is clear. When Narcissus cannot embrace his own appearance, he beats his own chest and bruises his marble-like body. Pyramus, after finding Thisbe's bloody scarf, stabs him...
Post a Comment
Read more