Reading Notes: Twenty-Two Goblins (Part A)

Bibliography: Twenty-Two Goblins, Part A, translated by Arthur Ryder

Photo by Jonny Caspari on Unsplash

- Introduction -

Well, this is off to a strange, unusual start. A Monk visits a King everyday and brings him a fruit as a gift each day. The King gives the fruit to his treasurer, until one day he gives the fruit to a baby monkey. As the baby monkey eats the fruit, a gem falls to the ground. Surprised, the king asks the treasurer to check all the other fruits, and sure enough, they'd been smashed and contained gems as well. When the Monk came back the next day, the King asked why he'd been given such valuable gifts (12 years had passed of this occurring everyday… so that's a lot of gems). The Monk asked if the king would help with something, and the king agreed. So the king meets the Monk underneath a fig tree at night, and the Monk asks if the
king will travel down the road and cut down a dead body hanging from a tree a ways away and bring it back to him. So, the king agrees and travels to the hanging body and cuts it down, but the body doesn't sound dead. The king realizes a goblin is inhabiting the dead body and throws the body over his shoulder, making his trek back to the Monk. The goblin says to him that he'll tell stories while they travel. If he gets the riddle right, the goblin goes back to the tree. If he gets it wrong, the goblin moves on with the next story. If the king knows the answer but pretends not to, his head will explode.

- The Three Lovers -

A beautiful princess has 3 potential husbands, but before one is chosen she catches a fever and dies. One man sleeps on her ashes and only eats what he can beg for. Another takes her bones to the sacred Ganges river. The third becomes a monk and travels, coming across a home where he sleeps and eats and rests. There, the host family's son is thrown into a fire and revived with a magic spell. The monk steals the book and returns to the girl's grave, where he performs the spell and she is revived. The three men fight over who deserves to marry her. The king answers the first man who slept on her ashes because he truly loved her. The goblin returns to the tree.

- The Brave Man, The Wise Man, and The Clever Man -

This riddle resembles that of the previous one. A girl of incredible beauty is kidnapped by a monster. The father, away when this happened, is in search of a husband for her. She wishes to marry a brave, wise, or clever man. He finds a clever man who can build a magical chariot. The brother of the girl at the same time promised her to another man, who was brave. The mother, also at the same time, promised her to a wise man. The three along with the father, upon arriving, hear the news of her kidnapping, and leave to rescue her. The clever man uses the chariot, the wise man finds the cave, and the brave man fights the monster. The goblin asks the King in our main story who the girl should be wed to, and he replies the brave man. The goblin then runs back to the tree.

- The Girl, Her Husband, and Her Brother -

In this story, a girl marries a man (classic). And the girl's brother invites her and her husband to a festival back home with him. On their travels, the husband decides to worship the goddess Gauri. In his worship, he realizes the best form of sacrifice is a living thing, so why not sacrifice himself? So he cut off his head. The brother-in-law came in after awhile to check on him, and after seeing the husband's state, cut his head off as well. The girl came in later and, in grief, was also going to sacrifice herself, and hoped that the goddess would grant her the same husband and brother in future lives. The goddess stopped her, and told her to put the heads back on the bodies and they'll come alive again. But, the girl accidentally switches the heads and the bodies. The goblin asks our King which is the girl's true husband. He replies: the body with her husband's head. The goblin returns to the tree.

- Food, Women, Cotton -

Eh, this story was kind of bland. 3 sons were sent on a quest by their father for a turtle, but none of them would touch the slimy thing because "they're specialists." They went elsewhere to have the debate settled of who should carry the turtle, but the king tested their specialties instead. The eldest was able to sniff out a dead body smell from their meal. The middle brother was able to smell goat from a woman. The youngest brother was able to feel a single hair through 7 layers of blankets. They were all three paid and stayed there with the king, forgetting about the turtle. The goblin asks our king who is cleverest, and the king replies the younger brother because the older two might have had previous knowledge. The goblin returns to the tree.

- The Four Suitors -

Once again, a girl is in search of a husband, but none seem worthy of her. She requests a husband who knows all about one particular thing, so four show up. The first makes clothes. The second is a linguist. The third is a magician, able to restore dead things to life. The fourth is a swordsman. When the goblin asks our King who should be picked as a husband, he replies the swordsman. The goblin returns to the tree.

- The Three Delicate Wives -

A King had 3 wives whom he loved dearly. But, one after the other, they became injured by the smallest of things. The first wife, Crescent, was injured by a falling petal. The second, Star, was burned by moonbeams. The third, Moon, had her hands bruised from the mere sound of a pestle grinding grain. The goblin asks our King which of the wives was the most delicate, and he replies Moon, because she was injured by sound while the other two were injured by touch. The goblin then runs back to the tree.