He thought to himself, here we go again, grandpa's got another wild story that will go for days and eventually have no point to it. However, he did as his grandfather had instructed him, taking a seat on the couch.
"This is the story of Twenty Two goblins, an ancient tale telling of the trials and tribulations of King Victory" said grandpa.
A very long long time ago there was a great King named Victory. His name was quite fitting seeing that he had never been defeated in battle and his kingdom was the most renowned in the land. Each day the king received a single piece of fruit from a weary monk, never speaking a word, juts handing over the fruit and then returning to wist he came from. The king never thought anything of it until one day a wild monkey had wandered into his palace just as the monk had given him the fruit. The king being a generous man gave the papaya to the monkey who split it open only to reveal a large ruby lying within. The king quickly asked his treasure what he had done with the rest of the fruit, they rushed to the storage room and quickly found that each and every piece held a beautiful gem. The king instantly assembled his men to go and fetch this ever so gracious monk for him. Upon his arrival the monk informed the king that he needed his help and that is why he always presented him with the fruit. The king agreed to help the man and met him later that night under a fig tree outside the city walls. The monk then explained what it was that he wanted from the king. He asked that the king trek through the cemetery to the far side where in the tree would be hanging a dead man. He asked that the king bring the dead man to him. The king being a man of his word agreed and headed off in the direction of the tree.
As he came out of the far side of the cemetery he found the man rung by his neck hanging from the tree. He swiftly climbed its branches to cut the man lose. With one foul swoop he sliced through the rope and the man crashed to the dirt. However, unlike most dead men, this one grimaced and winced as if he had actually felt such a fall. The thought that he must be hearing things and proceed to pick up the body. As he did so the mans head rotated in his direction and began to speak to him. Unaware of how this could be possible the king began asking the man various questions which he however, refused to answer. The king had only once heard of such black magic but thought it only to be a myth. What he had heard was that a goblin and only a goblin could take over the body of the dead, he assumed that this is why the monk needed this man, to banish this dark creatures back to his hole and free this mans poor soul. As they walked along the goblin asked the king if he liked stories, especially ones with riddles embedded throughout. The king, thinking himself to be quite the intellectual told the goblin that never has there been a riddle that he couldn't solve. The goblin took this remark as a challenge and began to tell his first story of the night. He told the king that he must answer the riddle if he does in fact know the correct answer, if he doesn't do so then his head will explode. There was also the small stipulation that if in fact the king was correct in solving the riddle then the goblin would be put back in the tree and the king would once again have to fetch him. And so a long night of exchanges began between the goblin and the king, each trying to outsmart the other and each having a secret agenda of their own.
Amusing Goblin
Author's note: This story comes from the un-textbook reading of Twenty Two Goblins. It was quite challenging to actually retell any of the stories because they are written very well and already provide a lot of detail. I did however decide to rewrite the introduction and added a few small parts to it. If you would like to read any of the stories they are all summarized (in a lot of depth) in my reading diaries and there are also links to the originals.
Hi Austin! So I am reading Buck's Mahabharata instead of doing the Untextbook option, and so had no idea where this story was going. However, I was quickly drawn into your tale by the mysterious monk and his enigmatic task. You did a great job of portraying the mystery of this quirky tale, and your image is truly adorable, haha. Great job!
ReplyDeleteHey Austin. This was a very interesting story, and your retelling was pretty well done. It seems like pride is a motif that runs throughout old sprouts like this one, and man is it frustrating sometimes. It's like, why would the king enter into this lose-lose situation just to prove to some Gollum-looking schmuck that he's got a big brain? I swear it's a miracle that humanity has come as far as it has. Anyway, good job with the assignment this week. Keep it up! The end of the semester is almost here.
ReplyDeleteHi Austin! I actually chose to read these stories for my untextbook option as well. This is a really good retelling, capturing the key details of the story. Pride is definitely a leading cause to the issues in most of the stories we are assigned. I really like the way that you open the story. Keep up the good work!
ReplyDeleteHey Austin! First, I just have to say that I LOVE that picture. It's kind of funny and adorable. I have not read the original telling of this story, but your story was well-written and an overall good read so I did not feel like I needed to have read the original. I like that this story centers on pride. I feel like pride has become an issue in my household as of late. My roommate and my boyfriend are both very stubborn, very proud people. It is hard for them to let stuff go and this leads to them butting heads just about every week. Being the go-between is annoying, but it's better than having to choose between them. I feel like they should read more stories like this one. Maybe then they would get the hint that they both need to get over their pride and stop fussing at each other. Anyway, I enjoyed your story! You did a wonderful job and I look forward to reading more from you.
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