Week 7 Story: Intangible Souls
Author's Note: Arthur Ryder's translation of Vetālapañcaviṃśati, or Twenty-Two Goblins. The story of the Twenty-Two Goblins, as translated by Arthur Ryder, details a king's quest to deliver a body to a monk. The body is possessed by a goblin, which asks the king riddles. If he can answer them correctly, the goblin jumps back to the sissoo tree and the king must go and retrieve him once more. For this story, I'll be adding another riddle to the collection.
Sweat dripped heavily from the king's brows. Over one of his shoulders, he carried the body tirelessly back to the sissoo tree. The goblin sat on one of the branches, ephemerally phasing his fingers through the evergreen leaves of the tree. He sat up urgently at the sight of the king, quickly whirling in a mist towards the body. Through the mouth he entered, like a soul. He spoke in a multitude of tones, as if himself a congregation of spirits.
"Good to see you again, my king. Where were we?"
The king grunted as he heaved the body to a better position on his shoulder.
"That's right!" the goblin exclaimed. "Another riddle to pass the time on our dainty little walk will do just fine, don't you think? Let's waste no time then!" The goblin extended his presence beyond the body, appearing as a shimmer at the periphery of the king's vision.
"This is a story of a man who did nothing wrong. This man, a Brahman from the Valley of Virtue by the name of All-Star was peculiar in many of his acts. For instance, All-Star was born before his father. It was not long after this that he killed his mother. All-Star was deeply saddened by this happening, and devoted himself to his studies. Years and years later, All-Star married his sister. But this is not to say that All-Star did anything wrong. In fact, he was no more a murderer than he was a participant of incest, and he surely was younger than his father. But how can this be, I ask? What say you, my king?"
With sweat still dripping from his brow, the king declared, "My goblin friend, you sure do know how to make a man think." He paused, scratching at his unkempt beard. "All-Star was born before his father not in time, but in space!" The goblin cocked his head to the side.
The king restated, "What I mean to say is that All-Star's father was in front of him during his birth. This is how he was before him. As for the death of his mother, the only instance I could imagine him as having killed his mother but not being truly responsible is that his mother died during his birth". The goblin nodded his head excitedly. "Finally," the king began, "It was the art of the ministry that All-Star studied. He did not become wed to his sister, but rather wed her off at her ceremony". The goblin quickly zapped back to the sissoo tree, and the king swiveled his step to turn around and head back to pick up the old ghoul.
Source: Illustration by Perham W. Nahl (1869-1935) from Arthur W. Ryder's Twenty-Two Goblins (1917)
Sweat dripped heavily from the king's brows. Over one of his shoulders, he carried the body tirelessly back to the sissoo tree. The goblin sat on one of the branches, ephemerally phasing his fingers through the evergreen leaves of the tree. He sat up urgently at the sight of the king, quickly whirling in a mist towards the body. Through the mouth he entered, like a soul. He spoke in a multitude of tones, as if himself a congregation of spirits.
"Good to see you again, my king. Where were we?"
The king grunted as he heaved the body to a better position on his shoulder.
"That's right!" the goblin exclaimed. "Another riddle to pass the time on our dainty little walk will do just fine, don't you think? Let's waste no time then!" The goblin extended his presence beyond the body, appearing as a shimmer at the periphery of the king's vision.
"This is a story of a man who did nothing wrong. This man, a Brahman from the Valley of Virtue by the name of All-Star was peculiar in many of his acts. For instance, All-Star was born before his father. It was not long after this that he killed his mother. All-Star was deeply saddened by this happening, and devoted himself to his studies. Years and years later, All-Star married his sister. But this is not to say that All-Star did anything wrong. In fact, he was no more a murderer than he was a participant of incest, and he surely was younger than his father. But how can this be, I ask? What say you, my king?"
With sweat still dripping from his brow, the king declared, "My goblin friend, you sure do know how to make a man think." He paused, scratching at his unkempt beard. "All-Star was born before his father not in time, but in space!" The goblin cocked his head to the side.
The king restated, "What I mean to say is that All-Star's father was in front of him during his birth. This is how he was before him. As for the death of his mother, the only instance I could imagine him as having killed his mother but not being truly responsible is that his mother died during his birth". The goblin nodded his head excitedly. "Finally," the king began, "It was the art of the ministry that All-Star studied. He did not become wed to his sister, but rather wed her off at her ceremony". The goblin quickly zapped back to the sissoo tree, and the king swiveled his step to turn around and head back to pick up the old ghoul.
Source: Illustration by Perham W. Nahl (1869-1935) from Arthur W. Ryder's Twenty-Two Goblins (1917)
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I read Twenty-Two Goblins as well and considered creating my own riddle that the goblin would ask the King. I think that it is really cool that you went with this idea! It is very creative. I also like the way that you matched the the language and set up of your story to the original. It truly makes it feel like it is an addition to the story! Great job!
ReplyDeleteHey Daegan! This was an interesting story to read. Sometimes, stories that are wrote like this can be difficult to read and understand, but I thought you did an excellent job of writing it in a way that made it easy for the reader to understand what was going on. I'm interested to read the original story now. Overall, nice job!
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