Week 5 Reading Diary, continued: Twenty-Two Goblins

Twenty-Two Goblins translated by Arthur W. Ryder

The Snake's Poison

• A man's wife was kidnapped in the night
• He went to search for her
• He became hungry and a charitable woman gave him food
• He sat this food under a tree near a pond
• As he was washing his hands in the pond a hawk in the tree had a snake in his mouth
• The snake died and a stream of poison fell into the food
• He did not see the poison, ate the food, and then ran to the woman for help
• He blamed her for poisoning him and told her to get a doctor
• Before she could get a doctor he died
• The goblin asked the king who was responsible
• The king said the snake wasn't responsible, he couldn't help himself because he was being eaten, the hawk wasn't responsible because he was hungry and saw nothing, and the woman nor her husband were responsible because they were charitable and gave food to a guest, it was the man's fault, he dared to blame one of the others
• The goblin returned to the tree

The Girl and the Thief

• There was a merchant who had a daughter, she did not want to marry any men, no matter how powerful or rich they were
• The citizens of the city were being plundered by thieves
• They asked the king for help and when his watchmen failed to bring justice he went himself to protect the citizens
• He found a thief and ordered his soldiers to kill him
• The thief killed the soldiers so the king had to fight
• The king captured him and set him to be executed
• The girl saw the thief and told her father she had to marry him or she would kill herself also
• The king refused to release him and then executed him
• As he died tears rolled down his cheeks and he had a smile on his face
• The girl was about to kill herself when a god asked her what she wanted 
• She asked that her father have a hundred sons since she was about to die, the god told her to ask for something else as well
• She asked for the thief to be alive and a good man
• So he was and the king was pleased and made him general
• The goblin asked the king if the thief was laughing or weeping when the girl approached with her father
• The king said that he wept from grief because he could make no return to the merchant for his friendship and he laughed from astonishment because the girl wanted to marry him and not kings, women are strange
• The goblin returned to the tree

The General's Wife

• There was a girl that was so beautiful that every man that saw her fell in love and went mad with passion
• Her father went to the king when she was of age and asked him to marry her
• The king sent his Brahmans to examine her qualities, they saw her lovely qualities and thought if the king married her then he would only think of her and neglect his kingdom so they reported her qualities as bad to the king
• The king had a general marry her instead
• The king got a glimpse of her at the spring festival and stricken with love he fainted
• He refused to take her though, even the general offered her to the king and he refused
• He slowly shriveled away and died, the general burned himself alive after the kings death
• The goblin asked the king who deserved her more
• The king said the king was more deserving
• The goblin asked why not the general, he was faithful and gave his life for the king
• The king said the general was a gentleman and acted as anyone would devoted to their superior but kings are like mad elephants with no obedience to anyone, and this king died rather than giving into his desires, he was a hero
• The goblin returned to the tree

The Four Brothers

• Four brothers who's lives had been rather unfortunate because of their father untimely death have to figure out what to do with their lives to be happy
• The first brothers learns to take any animal and put the proper flesh on it
• The second brother learns to put hair and skin on the flesh covered skeleton
• The third brother learns to put the eyes and other organs of sense after the skin, hair, and flesh are there
• The fourth brother learns to give the creature life after the organs are there
• They found a skeleton in the forest and tested their skills
• The skeleton ended up being that of a lion and killed the four brothers after the fourth gave it life
• The goblin asked the king which brother was to blame
• The king said the one that gave the animal life was the one to blame, the others were ignorant of the type of animal but the fourth brother knew what animal it was and brought it to life anyway
• The goblin returned to the tree

The Old Hermit

• There was a boy who died and his family grieved
• In the cemetery there was a hermit
• The hermit heard the grieving of the family and went to see what it was about
• He saw the dead boy and decided to exchange his body for the boys by magic
• He wept and danced and then entered the boys body
• He told the family he had to perform a vow in order to live and sent them away
• The goblin asked the king why the hermit cried and danced before entering the boys body
• The king answered that he cried from grief because he was leaving his body which he learned powers in and that his parents gave him, but he danced because of the joy of getting a new youthful body in which he could learn more magic
• The goblin returned to the tree

Father and Son, Daughter and Mother

• A king, his wife, and his daughter had to flee their city
• The king was killed by robbers in the forest
• The mother and daughter hid in the forest
• Two hunters, a father and a son, see the footprints of two ladies in the forest
• They make a promise the father gets the woman with the bigger feet and the son gets the woman with the smaller feet
• They find the women and the mother has smaller feet than the daughter
• The son marries the mother and the father marries the daughter
• Each couple has children
• The goblin asks the king what the relationships between the children were
• The king didn't say a work
• The goblin was amused that the king couldn't answer
• He told the king that the monk he was bringing the body to was rogue, and that he was going to use the king as a sacrifice to gain power over the fairies
• The goblin told the king to kill the monk and take the power or the monk would kill him
• The goblin left the body and the king took the body to the monk

Conclusion

• The monk did as the goblin promised
• The king killed the monk
• The goblin made the king, king of the fairies
• The king asked for the puzzle stores to be known all over the world
• The goblin promised and said that anytime any part of the stories were told elves, goblins, witches, and imps would have no power
• Shiva, a god, appeared and gave him a sword that would make anything he desired come true and promised him that he would eventually be united with him

(Shiva, by Arumugam Manivelu)