Reading Diary A: Twenty-Two Goblins

King Victory is presented daily with a single piece of fruit by a monk named Patience. Each day the fruit is then given to the King's treasurer. One day the king instead gives the fruit to a monkey who had wandered in and as the monkey split open the fruit a large gem fell to the floor. The king had the treasurer check the other fruit and all was filled with gems. The following day the king asked the monk why he was doing this and the monk requested the kings aid. The king meets the monk in the cemetery and the monk asks him to collect a body that will be hanging from a tree to the South. The king finds the body and cuts it lose, hearing it yelp as it hits the ground. The king rushes to the bodies side and realizes a goblin has occupied the body. The king throws the body over his shoulder and the goblin begins to tell the king a story. Each story the goblin tells ends with some type of riddle that if the king answers correctly the goblin its transported back up into the tree. If he answers the question incorrectly then the goblin move onto the next story.
Twenty-Two Goblins Homepage

The three brothers who brought a dead girl to life-
Three Brahman brothers request Coral's hand in marriage and her father has to pick 1 of the 3. Once he decides Coral still doesn't marry because she doesn't want to hurt the other two. She then when day gets very sick and dies. The 3 brothers mourn her death, one taking her ashes to sleep on, one taking her bones to the ganges and the third becoming a wandering monk. The monk ends up in a village called Thunderbolt where he meets with the family of a Brahman. The mother throws their crying child into the fire and he is turned to ash. The monk is shocked by this doing but the Brahman begins to explain to him that he has mastered the skill of bringing the dead back to life. He shows the monk by reading a spell and sprinkling some water onto the ashes. As he does so the boy rises back up and back to life as if nothing had even happened. The monk then steals the book that night in hopes of bringing Coral back to life. He returned to his brothers and cast the spell on Coral's ashes. They watched in amazement as she reappeared before their eyes. The goblin then asks the king which of the three should now be the wives husband. He explains his answer and chooses the one who slept in the cemetery with her ashes because thee were the acts of a husband. The goblin then escapes his grasp and ends up back in the tree. The king goes back to get him once again because he intends to honor his word to the monk.
The Three Lovers

Brave, Wise, Clever-
The daughter of the kings counselor, Moonlight, says she will marry either a brave, wise, or clever man and will die if she is married to anyone else. The counselor is off in the southern country to make peace for the king when he is approached by a Brahman youth requesting his daughters hand in marriage. He states that he is a clever man and proves himself by creating a flying chariot. The counselor arranges the marriage for the 7th day. Moonlight's brother is approached by another Brahman youth who claims he is a brave man. He shows the brother his skill with weapons and is also promised arraign for the 7th day. The mother was approached by a third Brahman youth who claims he is a wise man, he is also granted marriage for the 7th day. All 3 men show up on the 7th day but moonlight has been kidnapped by a giant named Smoke-tail. The clever man made a chariot once again to carry the men to the giants den. When they arrive the brave man fights and kills the giant. The goblin then asks the king which of the three men should be the one to marry Moonlight. The king explained it should be the brave man because he truly recused the girl while the other two were just helpers. Once again the goblin escapes his grasp and ends up back in the tree.
Brave, Wise, Clever
The Girl, Her Husband, and Her Brother-
In the city of Beautiful there is a lake called the Bath of Gauri in which once a year people come from all over to bathe in. One day a laundryman named White comes to the lake to bathe and sees a girl who catches his eye. Her name was lovely, he inquires about her and her family then goes home. White's father, Spotless, encourages his son that he will be able to obtain the girl for marriage. White and Lovely are married and invited by Lovely's brother to their families festival. They come to the temple of a goddess in the city of Beautiful and each plan to honor her. White goes in first and decides to favor her with a sacrifice. And so he cuts off his own head in her honor. The brother-in-law follows White into the temple, sees what he has done, goes mad with rage and also cuts his own head off. Lovely goes into the temple to find both her brother and husband dead on the floor and begins to grieve. Before killing herself she begs the goddess to give her the same husband and brother in each of her following lives. A voice comes to her as she is about to hang herself and tells her not to be rash and to place a hand on each of the men and they shall rise back up. In her rush though she placed the wrong heads on the wrong bodies and they came back to life. The goblin then asks the king which of the two should be her husband. The king answers that is should be the body with her husbands head because it is the head by which we recognize people. Once again the goblin slips away and back up into the tree.
The Girl, Her Husband and Her Brother
Food, Women, Cotton-
Three brothers are sent by their father to obtain a turtle from the ocean for his sacrifice. Once the brothers get the turtle they begin to argue about which should carry it. Each has a reason why it should not be them so they go to pinnacle to find the answer. The king plans to judge each of the brothers. He first judges the brother who is the critic of food and finds that he does indeed know food and everything about it. The king then sent the most beautiful women to the second brother to see if he really was the judge of women. She seemed to be extravagant but the brother was disgusted by her and said she smelled goaty. It was found that she girl had been raised on goat's milk and the king was impressed with the second brother. The third brother was tested with quilts, he arose in the middle of the night writing due to the presence of just one hair on one of the quilts. The boys were given gold by the king and decided to stay in the city, failing their father. The goblin then asked the king which of the three boys was the cleverest. The king chose the cotton specialist because the other two may have known of the issues beforehand. Once again the goblin ran off and back up into the tree.
Food, Women, Cotton
The Four Scientific Suitors-
King Heroic goes to the Ganges and prays to Shiva to be blessed with children. He is told he will have two children, one brave son and one beautiful daughter. His wife has their son Brave followed by their daughter Grace. When the girl comes of age the king begins to try her a husband. He is unable to find a man who he finds suitable and Grace tells him that all she wants is a husband who understand one science completely and throughly. Four scientific men come to the king and explain to him their sciences, a suite maker, a farmer who understands all animals, a swordsman, and a Brahman who can restore life to the deceased. The goblin then asks the king which of the 4 men should be given Grace. The king answers that the swordsmen is the only viable option for the daughter of a warrior. Once again the goblin escapes the kings grasp and makes his way back into the tree.
The Four Scientific Suitors
The Three Delicate Wives-
The king of Uijan had three wives, Crescent, Star, and Moon. While playing with his wives in the forest Crescent was wounded by the fall of a lotus petal onto her lap. The king then lay with Star that night and awoke to her crying with burns on her skin from the beams of moonlight touching her skin. Moon then moved through the castle to find the king and heard the grinding on grain following through the halls. At this moment she cried out in agony with bruises appearing all over her palms. The king loved all three of his wives dearly but their delicacy was quite inconvenient. The goblin then turned to the king and asked him which of the three wives was the most delicate. The king answered that it was Moon who was injured just by the sound of pestles and didn't actually come into contact with anything like the other two. Once again the goblin escaped and returned to the tree.
The Three Delicate Wives

Famous Last Words: Week 11

This week has been quite the crazy and eventful one of not only me but also my entire family. I missed most of this weeks class work because I was at home since last Friday for the birth of my first niece. My sisters baby girl was born on Tuesday, October 28th at 12:35 pm and I was lucky enough to be there for this wonderful event. My sister and her husband named her Jubilee Nevaeh Reynosa which none of us were told until she was born. My sister wanted to keep the name a secret so none of the family could put in their two cents (she is quite stubborn). I am quite the proud uncle and cannot wait to get home again to see her. Once I made it back to Norman I had a lot of catching up to do because of my few days out of town. However, all the work was definitely made up for by the fact that it was Halloween weekend. Halloween is one of my favorite holidays and I love getting to dress up for it. This year I went as a lost boy from the movie lost boys which not many people even know exists. However, I think I came up with a pretty good costume for it and even went as far as to pierce my ear just to really sell the look. I went into claires to buy the earrings and proceeded to tell the sales woman that "no, I don't need you to pierce it, I'll just do it myself". She gave me quite the panicked look when I informed her of my plan but just shook her head and kept her comments to herself. Wednesday night I had a friend use a safety pin and pierce my ear. Probably not one of my brightest decisions but it did the trick and really completed my outfit. I definitely got a few strange looks at my job though, especially because the only small earring the girl had happened to be hot pink. I didn't want to where one of the long dangling ones that was for my costume the entire day so the pink stud seemed to be the better option. Overall I just don't think earrings are "my look". It turned out to be quite the amazing week and weekend even with the hole still in my ear.

Happy Gilmore and a Lost Boy

Personal Photo 

Reading Diary B: Week 10

Key Points-

• Krishna plans to make one last plea for peace and visits Duryodhana
• Duryodhana plans to take Krishna prisoner but realizes this will be impossible 
• The battle is to occur
• Arjuna is worried about fighting his teacher and his own family but after speaking with Krishna (in his true form) he is ready to fight
• Bhisma is killed by Arjuna and now Karna joins the battle 
• Arjuna's son is killed, Arjuna vows to avenge him and Krishna is able to use his discus to hide the sun drawing out the man who killed his son, he slays him. 
• Krishna plans to trick Drona using the love of his son against him 
• Yudhisthira tells Drona his son had been killed while whispering the truth under his breath, as Drona falls to his knees he is killed
• Karna and Arjuna battle one another, Arjuna is victorious 
• Duryodhana is killed
• Yudhisthira becomes king 
• Yudhisthira is the last of his brothers to pass, the son of Arjuna becomes king and continues the Pandavas rule 

Reading Diary A: Week 10

Key Points-

• Camp is made near the Pandavas
• Duryodhana is captured by the gandharva's then freed by the Pandavas (Plan=Failure)
• The bothers help a brahmin find a giant deer who stole his staff
• First 4 brothers drink water from the lake without answering the questions and die
• Yudhishthira is last to drink but answers questions
• Was a test by their father Yama and the other 4 brothers return to life
• 13th year of exile (year in disguise)
• Court of King Virata
• Draupadi is raped and Bhima kills the general who did it 
• Cattle raid is attempted, Susharman is captured
• Arjuna goes into battle as a charioteer for Virata's son but ends up fighting 
• The king finds their true identity but is not mad, gives his daughter to marry Uttara (Arjuna's son)
• A war is to occur between the Pandavas and Duryodhana
• Krishna fights with the Pandavas while his 1 million soldiers fight with Duryodhana 
• The Pandavas attempt to avoid war (5 villages requested, 1 for each brother)
• Dhritarashtra wants to switch sides but is drawn to Duryodhana when he is around, told this war will be his downfall 

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Storytelling: Week 9, Ganesha the Bottomless Pit

Kubera, the god of wealth, one day travels to Mount Kailash in order to request the presence of Shiva, the supreme god, in hopes of gaining the darshan or vision of Shiva. As he arrives, Shiva's handmaiden escorts him to the chambers of Shiva where they begin to sit and discuss his travels and future plans. It is at this time that Kubera invites Shiva to a large spectacle that he will be holding in his city the following day. Kubera does so in order to show Shiva the wealth he possesses and hopefully gain his approval. Shiva is uncomfortable with such an idea and decides that he must decline the invitation. However, he presents to Kubera the idea of allowing his son Ganesha to go in his stead but warns of his voracious appetite. Kubera shrugs off such a comment, believing that his wealth could feed all of the gods for a lifetime and accepts Shiva's proposal. The following day, Ganesha accompanies Kubera to the city of Alakapuri, arriving just in time for the beginning of the banquet. As the serving of the first few dishes begins, Kubera starts realizing that he may slightly be in over his head. Ganesha not only eats the plates set in front of him but also those of the guests around him. He now even begins walking down the lengthy table, grabbing and guzzling the plates of all those in sight. Kubera orders all of his servants to bring out as much food as they can possibly carry and only serve it to Ganesha. This action was moot, for as Kubera turns his back to tell them this, Ganesha makes his way to the kitchen and polishes off every piece of food in sight. As he reenters the dining hall, Ganesha even begins to consume the plates, cutlery, and now even a few of Kubera's esteemed guests. Knowing that things can only get worse, Kubera immediately leaves the city, frantically making his way toward Mount Kailash. As he arrives back at the mountain, Shiva is awaiting him at the base.

Shiva laughs to himself saying, "I told you the boy had quite the little appetite, did I not?"

Kubera stares awestruck at the god, not knowing whether to laugh at this statement or return to his city in hopes that it may still be standing.

Shiva once again snickers and says, "I will give you the one solution to your problem if you promise that you will always be loyal to my son and me."

Kubera agrees to the terms presented by Shiva and in turn Shiva hands him one single laddoo, a traditional indian sweet. He wonders to himself how such a small item can possibly fill the appetite of that boy but he doesn't question the actions of Shiva. He bows his head in thanks and then dashes back to his chariot, hoping that upon his return the walls of his city may still be standing.

As he pulls up to the city gates, nearly half the city has already been destroyed and Ganesha is on the path to finishing it all off. Kubera finally finds Ganesha within the ruins and kneels at his feet. He dare not make eye contact with the ravenous boy yet he extends his hands with the offering tucked neatly between them. Ganesha takes the laddoo, tosses it up in the air and scarfs it down just as he had everything else that night. However, at this point, he takes a seat next to Kubera, places a hand on his bulging stomach and exclaims, "What a meal! I haven't eat like that in ages. I don't think I ever could again." At this comment he regains his feet and begins to strut out of the city as if nothing has happened, returning to his father's side and offering to always take his father's spot at dinner parties whenever Shiva feels that it is necessary.

Ganesha holding a plate of laddos

Wikipedia

Author's note: This story comes from the Puranas, a set of ancient Indian texts that discuss all of the well known Hindu gods. I have tried to maintain a theme of food within my portfolio stories so although many of you will have never read the original, I figured this would be better suited for that purpose. I have also included a laddoo recipe for anyone who is interested in trying the Indian sweet. The original story uses the same setting that I used and includes the same characters. Basically Kubera hopes to have Shiva attend his grand feast but in turn gets the presence of Shiva's son, Ganehsa. Ganesha is said to be quite the voracious eater but Kubera assumes that his palace will be able to handle any appetite. As the feast commences Kubera begins to realize that Ganesha cannot be satisfied and that if he is not quickly stopped, the entire city will be consumed. He travels back to speak with Shiva and is given grains of roasted rice to give to Ganesha. He cannot believe that such a small offering could possibly fill the boy but he knows he must trust Shiva's advice. Once the grains are given to Ganesha in true humility, his rampage ceases and he is full at last. I chose to change from the rice grains to the laddo in order to incorporate a traditional Indian sweet. By doing so, I was able to include a recipe for the preparation of laddos and hopefully expand the knowledge of the class. I really enjoyed this story and the message that is intertwined throughout.

Laddoo Recipe and Cooking Instructions

Wikipedia: Ganesha

Reading Diary B, Week 9

The Pandavas and Dhritarastra make peace and part of the kingdom is given to them. The Pandavas build the city of Indraprastha. They are warned of the conflicts that may come from the issue of sharing a wife. Duryodhana is enraged with the Pandavas and seeks revenge on them. He invites them for a game of dice knowing that they are bad players and that he and Shakuni will win.

During the game of dice, Yudhishthira loses everything and in turn gambles away himself, his brothers, and their wife Draupadi. Then for some reason it is all given back and everything is forgotten, not exactly how gambling works but ok. The idiot brothers are invited back for a second game and still accept the offer even after what happened last time. They lose and are sentenced to 13 years of exile. The are taught a mantra to get weapons from the gods and told that all of their enemies will be killed in battle.