Reading Notes: Twenty-Two Goblins (Part A)

Twenty-Two Goblins follows a very rhythmic structure; each story begins with the king's retrieval of the goblin, who tells the king a story with a riddle that the king is able to answer. The themes of each story are similar to each other as well, commonly asking about personal traits such as bravery, wit, and beauty.

The Hindu goddess Gauri, featured in one of the Goblin's stories. (Wikimedia Commons)

The "riddles" that the goblin asks are more like moral judgments than they are puzzles. The king is asked about such things as what traits make a good husband or which career choices are most respectable. Because there is assumed to be a "right answer", these stories might be seen as offering a window into the culture that birthed them.

Bibliography. Twenty-Two Goblins, translated by Arthur Ryder. Web Link.