Twenty Two Goblins: Reading Diary A

This week my reading unit comes from the India section and is entitled the Twenty Two Goblins story unit.  I decided to read this unit because of the description that sets it apart as being based on paradoxical riddles.

The premise of Twenty Two Goblins is a Monk asks a King to fetch him a body that is hanging from a Sissoo tree.  The King agrees to complete the task.  When he finds the body and attempts to bring it back he comes to encounter the goblin.  The goblin proceeds to tell the King stories that end in various riddles.  A false answer means the king’s head will explode.  A correct answer returns the goblin to the sissoo tree.  A genuine wrong answer will cause the goblin to tell another story.

So far the king has correctly answered all of the goblin’s riddles.  The king continues to have to go back and collect the goblin from the sissoo tree as he tries to bring him to the Monk.  I find the concept of this story to be somewhat confusing.  The king’s correct answers stereotypically would be grounds for some kind of victory or reward.  Instead he keeps having to restart and is essentially being punished for being wise. 

I’m interested to see how the story will turn out and what the message is.  Although writing it out I think the king’s journey may be a paradoxical riddle as well.  Hmm… we will see what happens! To be continued. 

Scene from The Hangover 2