Reading Notes: Twenty-Two Goblins (Part B)

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

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- The Snake's Poison -

A fairy man stole a man, Hariswami's, wife. When Hariswami woke, he was in despair and went in search for her. In his travelling he grew tired, thirsty, and hungry. A local house full of Brahmans and a wife welcomed him, and the wife gave him a plate of sweet rice. He went to a nearby pond and drank, but while he was drinking, a hawk flew over with a dead snake in its claws. The dead snake dripped poison that happened to fall into Hariswami's plate. Being hungry, Hariswami ate all of the food and instantly felt ill. He accused the Brahman wife of poisoning him, and he died. Everyone blamed the wife, even though she was not at fault. The goblin asks our King who was to blame for the death of Hariswami, and the king replies that Hariswami himself is to blame. The goblin then runs back to the tree.

- The Girl and The Thief -

A merchant's beautiful daughter named Pearl did not like any men and refused to marry any. Meanwhile, the local king was having trouble with a thief stealing from his village. His men could not catch the man, so the king dressed as a villager and wandered at night to find the thief. He found a man and pretended that he himself was a thief, and the real thief let him inside. The servant there warned the king of the thief, and the king left. The king returned with his army, but the thief fought off his entire army, so the king had to battle the thief himself. The thief was then captured and taken as prisoner, set for execution. But the merchant's daughter saw him and fell in love. When the king refused to let the thief live, the girl prepared to burn herself at the stake and die too. This made the thief smile before he was impaled and died. But before she could kill herself, the god Shiva stopped her and said, in return for her selflessness, to pick a gift. Pearl asked for her father to have sons to carry the family name after she's gone. The god Shiva said okay, but pick another. So the girl asked for the thief to be her husband and to be a good man, and this wish was granted. The thief came back to life, corrected his ways, and was a good husband and community member. The goblin asked our king whether the thief wept or laughed before he died, when he saw the girl and her father. The king replied that he did both. The goblin then runs back to the tree.

- The General's Wife -

In a kingdom lived a beautiful girl named Passion. A king, in pursuit of a wife, had brahmans go see if she was as worthy as they say. The brahmans knew her worth, but lied to the king, for fear he would turn all his attentions to her. Passion was then married to the king's general and lived happily. One day, the king was parading through the town, and he saw her on a balcony and fell madly in love. He heard she was the girl he turned away because of the opinions of the brahmans, so he sent those men away. The general, after hearing about the king's adoration, offered to the king his own wife out of sacrifice. But the king refused and refused, knowing it wouldn't be right. The king wasted away and died from his longing for Passion. The goblin asks our king who was more worthy of Passion: the king or the general? Our king responds that the king was more worthy because, being in complete power, he could have had her if he wanted, but he chose not to because he knew it wouldn't be right. The goblin then runs back to the tree.

- The Four Brothers -

A bit harder to read, this one was about 4 brothers who were poor and had no purpose to their lives, so they each learned a certain skill. The 4 brothers each learned to construct flesh from bone, to add hair and skin to flesh, to add eyes and organs to body, and to add life to body, respectively. So to prove they could do it, they went into the forest and found a skeleton, but as they constructed it, they saw it was a lion. When the lion was given the breath of life, it killed the 4 brothers. The goblin then asks our king who was to blame for the lion killing them? The king replies the last brother that gave the lion life. The other 3 didn't know what they were constructing, but by the end the last brother knew it was a dangerous animal and gave it life anyway just to prove he could do it. The goblin then runs back to the tree. At this point the king knows the goblin is using his answers to go back to the tree, but he appears to be entertained.

- The Old Hermit -

A 16 year old Brahman boy dies and as the family carries his body to the cemetery, an old man living nearby is curious as to the commotion. He sees the dead, young body, and decides to switch his body and the other's. So, he dances and weeps like the others, and then performs his magic in secret. In the body of the boy, he wakes, and declares that the god Shiva has granted him life only if he completes a task. So he tells everyone to go home, and he'll be back. Then the old man leaves in his new, young body. The goblin asks our king why the old man wept and danced, and the king replies he weeps because he's leaving his own body, and dances because he can continue living. The goblin returns to the tree.

- Father and Son, Daughter and Mother -

In this story, a king, his queen, and their daughter flee their kingdom that's being taken over. In another town, the king is killed by robbers and the mother and daughter flee to the woods. A hunter and his son see their lady-like footprints, and the son claims the smaller feet for himself as a wife and the father claims the larger feet as his wife. When they rescue the queen and her daughter, they marry as they said, only the queen has the smaller feet and the daughter has the larger feet. The goblin asks, when each pair has children, how will those children be related? The king is stumped and does not know the answer. The goblin respects the king greatly, so he tells the king that the Monk is planning to kill the king as a sacrifice and win power over the fairies. So, the goblin tells the king to kill the monk instead. 

- Conclusion -

The Monk was very glad that the king brought back the body, and the Monk did all sorts of things for the ritual. When it came time for the king to lay down, he asked the monk to show him how first, like the goblin suggested. When the monk laid down, the king cut off his head. The goblin was pleased and granted him king of the fairies. The king asked the goblin to promise to tell his 22 puzzle stories to the world, and the goblin agreed.