Reading Notes: Twenty-Two Goblins Part A

The story begins with a monk asking a kind to do him a favor and get a dead body that is hanging from a tree. Had the king been cruel and not done this, the monk may have had to do it himself, or find someone else to do it for him. This is one small change that could alter some parts of the story.

As the story carries on, the king is told riddles. If he answers correctly, the goblin escapes and goes back to the tree, if he knows the answer but lies about it, his head will explode, but if he doesn't know the answer, the king will carry on walking with the goblin. The king keeps getting the right answer because he is wise, so he must keep going back to get the goblin.

One thing that could be altered here is the rules. Perhaps the king must get the answer right to continue going, and if he does not know the answer, the goblin goes back to the tree. It would probably change the moral of the story, instead forcing a dumb king to be wise rather than the other way around.

Another thing about this story that I found interesting was the title- it is called "Twenty-Two Goblins". Before reading, I thought that it would be some kind of battle between twenty two goblins rather than twenty two battles with one goblin. I could write a story that I inferred from the title rather than how the actual story goes. Perhaps he has to get through twenty two goblins and their riddles before he is allowed to take a dead man, or a prisoner, home.

the goblin in a tree

Twenty-Two Goblins Arthur Ryder's translation of the Sanskrit Vetālapañcaviṃśati