Reading Notes: Week 05 "Twenty-Two Goblins" Part A

    For the fifth week of this course, I've chosen "Twenty-Two Goblins" from the Frametale Stories unit. Its two main characters are King Triple-Victory (from here on out, he'll be referred to as the King) and the goblin.

Picture of Vetal hanging by a tree and Vikram in the background. Harshad Dhavale. (Source: Wikimedia Commons)

    Favorite Things

• How each story is like a snapshot of someone else's life.
• How each story leaves the protagonist, and sometimes their family, in such a dilemma that only wisdom and a certain way of clever thinking could go about to solve, both of which the King has.
• I'd like to think that each of these stories holds real people inside them who are forced to repeat the story over and over again until someone, like the King, solves their riddle.
• I think it would be fun to see how the rest of them get on with their lives in an epilogue-ish sort of thing.
• I like the use of both English words as names and names that sound like I would expect from India (e.g. Coral versus Hariswami).
• I assume names like Moon, Coral, Star, Merit, Wise, etc. are more like direct translations? In any case, I'm not sure why there's the switch because I don't know nearly enough about story traditions from India, but I find the swapping of unfamiliar names and familiar words used as names to be jarring in a good way.
• Normally, I wouldn't like the jarring feeling, but it fits with the fact a goblin is telling the stories. I think it would be a very goblin-y thing to do.
• The story I like the most is the Introduction. I love a good introduction that not only sets everything up for the subsequent stories/chapters but one that makes me curious about the story and characters. Already, I'm rooting for the King to get the goblin back to Patience. Already I'm super suspicious of Patience (I feel like he's planning something because he definitely knew the goblin was there). Already I begrudgingly like the goblin who's kind of a likable jerk because he's not actually mean, he just knows he's being a major pain and inconvenience for the King.

Interesting Things I've Noticed

• The unit "Twenty-Two Goblins" is in is called Frametale Stories. They're called this because each story is part of the same frame (i.e. all the stories have continuity), but something I've noticed is the stories also frame the pinnacle of Indian ideals (at least at that time).
• The pinnacle of delicateness is being so delicate you're bruised by sounds
• The pinnacle of devotion is praying fervently every day and being ready to sacrifice yourself in a flash if the opportunity/order arises 
• The pinnacle of beauty is always described as being greater than the nymphs in heaven
• The answers to the riddles surprise me. Of the six riddle stories in Part A, I only got two correct. Of those two, I got one reasoning incorrect and the other was just a lucky guess.
• The differences between American and Indian ideas and views on the same subjects are completely different, and I think that's fascinating! How they differentiate the types of love (like in "The Three Lovers") or the use of a science (craft) is so cool! It's so different from what I'm used to, and I love that it is. It's always really nice to be introduced to a new way of thinking, even if I don't end up going along with it.

Bibliography

Introduction from Indian folklore by Arthur W. Ryder

The Three Lovers from Indian folklore by Arthur W. Ryder

The Three Delicate Wives from Indian folklore by Arthur W. Ryder