Reading Notes, Twenty-Two Goblins Part A

The Girl who Transposed the Heads of her Husband and Brother. Which Combination of Head and Body is her Husband?

Plot: A laundry man finds a beautiful woman and falls desperately in love. Their fathers arrange for them to be married. The two are very happy and in love. One day the husband goes to the temple and is inspired by his reverence for the goddess and decides to make a sacrifice of himself and beheads himself. His brother-in-law comes into the temple and seeing this is devastated and does the same thing. The wife comes in and is horrified to find her husband and brother both beheaded. Distraught she goes to hang herself in a tree. The goddess stops her and says that if she puts the heads back on the bodies they will awaken. In a rush, the woman accidentally puts the wrong head on each body. The goblin asks the king which is her husband, the body or the head? Her husband is the body with the husband's head and the brother's body as the head is the thing you recognize others by.

Characters: The beautiful girl Lovely, her eventual husband White, the goddess Gauri and the unnamed brother are the main characters in this story.

Ideas: I liked this story mostly because I thought it was kind of funny. I also agree that the head/mind is what defines a person more than their body. I would probably stick to a classic retelling in the past but maybe change what causes them to behead themselves. Instead of a sacrifice maybe they get in an argument?

Story Source: Twenty-Two Goblins translated by Arthur W. Ryder

Comments

Week 2 Story: The King and the Farmer's Daughter

There once was a village on the edge of a large kingdom. In this village lived the beautiful and clever daughter of a poor farmer and his wife. In this kingdom, there also lived a king renowned for his riches and power. One day the king came to the village to collect taxes where he caught sight of the girl. Struck by her beauty, he went to her parents and demanded her hand in marriage. While her parents did not want to force their daughter into a marriage, they did not wish to enrage such a powerful king. They went to their daughter and informed her of the king’s demands. The girl asked to speak to the king herself. The next day the king met the girl at her home. Once again struck by her beauty, the king demanded, “Be my bride.” The girl responded, “My lord, I am but the daughter of a lowly farmer, I am not worthy of being your bride. My parents do not have any money to their name.” The king was so in love with her beauty he granted her all the jewels in the castle treasury. The next d...

Comment Wall

Here is my storybook site! (Ring on Book by Ylanite Koppens ) Will You Marry Me?

Reading Notes More English Fairy Tales Part A

The Old Witch (Wicked Witch of the East from Wikipedia Commons ) Plot: In this story, a girl goes to find work as a servant. On her way to find a job, she hears a loaf of bread asking to be taken out of the oven. Kindly, she does this. Then she hears a cow asking to be milked. Kindly, she milks the cow. Then she hears an apple tree asking to be picked. Kindly, she picks the apples. Eventually, the girl reaches the home of a witch who agrees to take her on as a servant but warns her to never look up the chimney. One day the girl forgets the instructions and looks up on accident and finds bags of money. She runs away with this money and the witch chases after her. She comes upon the tree and asks it to hide her from the witch. Then she does the same with the cow and the oven. When she gets home she becomes rich and marries her sweetheart and lives happily ever after. Her sister then decides to try and accomplish the same thing but refuses to help the cow, oven, and apple tree. When...

Mythology and Folklore Blog

Search This Blog