I chose this reading unit because the description mentioned that it would contain riddles, which I think are really fun. In fact, a couple weeks ago I wrote a story that included some riddles from the Mahabharata and I really enjoyed it. Hopefully I’ll have the chance to write a similar story this week. We’ll see!
Introduction:
· King
Triple-victory = Son of King Victory. Lives in the Abiding Kingdom on the
Godavari River.
· The
monk, Patience, brought the king fruits that contained priceless gems.
· In
return, the monk asks the king to fetch him a body that is hanging in a tree.
· A
goblin lived in the body and offers to tell a story as the king carries it to
the monk.
The Three Lovers:
· Each
of these stories is some kind of puzzle that the king must answer.
Unfortunately, if he answers correctly, the goblin returns to the tree and the
king must restart the journey back to the monk. One might logically think that
the king should just not respond, but there is a stipulation that if he knows the
answers and does not offer it, then his head will explode. So, the king has
found himself in quite an interesting situation. The only way that he can
fulfill his agreement with the monk is if he’s beaten at the game of riddles.
· The
king analyzed the situation of the first riddle and identified that the woman’s
husband must have been the man that slept with her ashes each night.
· The
goblin returned to the tree and the king quickly followed because he is
committed to upholding his promise to the monk.
Brave, Wise, Clever:
· This
story refers to Rama and Ravana! How cool is that?!
· The
king concluded that the daughter should be given to the brave man because the
wise man and the clever man were simply helpers, while he actually put his life
on the line to slay the giant.
· Again
the goblin returned to the tree and the king followed.
The Girl, Her Husband and Her Brother:
· King
Glory-banner was the leader of the city, Beautiful. Interesting names…
· Also,
the husbands name was Spotless…
· Again,
the king answered the riddle correctly and the goblin returned to the tree.
· This
may have been my least favorite puzzle in the reading unit.
Food, Women, Cotton:
· In
this riddle, the specialist of cotton was declared to be the cleverest.
· Once
again, the king was correct.
· He
has to be getting tired by now!
The Four Suitors:
· Lotus
City à
Pleasure City à
Golden City à
Ujjain. (progression of name)
· The
king’s name was Heroic.
· The
warrior’s daughter was given to the warrior Swordsman and the goblin returned
to the tree yet again.
The Three Delicate Wives:
· The
wife who was bruised without being touched was determined to be the most
delicate.
· The
king must be hoping for a riddle that will actually stump him by now!!
The Snake’s Poison:
· This
was the most interesting story so far. I really liked how the king explained
his reasoning that ultimately left the dead man to blame for his death.
· I
honestly had no idea how he could have gone about answering the riddle because
the death seemed to be the result of a complete accident that was beyond
anybody’s control.
· Unfortunately
for the king, he did manage to offer the correct answer, so the goblin returned
to the tree once again.
The Girl and the Thief:
· This
story is set in Ayodhya (a place that we are quite familiar with!).
· I
also really enjoyed this story.
· The
thief both laughed and cried at the sight of the young girl wishing to give up
her life with him.
· I’m
sure that the thief will make an excellent general.
· The
king is very dedicated to fulfilling his promise to the monk. He follows the
goblin back to the tree once again without any complaints.
The General’s Wife:
· From
the little description at the start of the story, I would imagine that the king
who died for love of his general’s wife is more worthy of her than the general,
who followed the king to death. It would appear that the king was more
committed to the wife than the general if he was willing to leave her behind in
order to follow the king in death.
· Though
the reasoning was not identical to mind, I did predict which character was more
deserving, so that’s cool!
· And
the goblin ran back to the tree again… At some point, the goblin has to get
tired and offer the most challenging riddle that he can think of, right?
The Four Brothers:
· I
thought that it was funny that the king openly admitted that he was willing to
keep chasing the goblin back to the tree as long as he wished to escape.
· The
one that gave life to the lion was at fault for the lives that it took. This
was a pretty easy riddle.
The Old Hermit:
· The
hermit gave up his own body and took over that of a dead boy.
· The
hermit wept for the loss of his previous body, with which he had associated so
many memories but danced to celebrate his newly acquired youth.
· Yet
again, the king must follow the goblin back to the tree.
Father and Son, Daughter and Mother:
· Finally,
the riddle that stumps the king!
· What
a strange concept to have to explain. If the father married the daughter, then
the son married the mother, it would definitely be difficult to explain how everybody
was related once they all started having children. This situation would yield a
very unusual-looking family tree.
· Once
the king is stumped, the goblin reveals a terrible secret that the monk is
actually planning to kill the king in a ritual.
· What
is the king going to do?
Conclusion:
· The
king obeyed the goblin and the riddles became a kind of repellent for magical
beings wherever they were told.
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