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Reading Notes, Twenty Two Goblins, Part B

The Four Brothers who Brought a Dead Lion to Life. Which is to Blame when he Kills Them All?
(Lion Skeleton from Wikipedia Commons)
Plot: Four brothers are born to a family. When the father dies they are left in poverty. Sad to be poor the oldest tries to kill himself. When he fails to do so the four brothers decide to travel around the world to learn some magic. The first brother learns to put the proper flesh on any skeleton. The second brother can put any hair or skin on a skeleton with the proper flesh. The third brother can put the eyes and other sensory organs on a skeleton with proper flesh and hair or skin. The fourth brother can bring any animal with the proper skeleton, flesh, skin or hair, and sensory organs to life. To prove their skills the four brothers go in search of a skeleton to demonstrate their skills. They happen upon a lion skeleton and each performs their magic. Once the lion is brought to life he eats all of them. Which brother is to blame for their deaths? It is the fourth brother's fault as he knew the animal was a lion since it was fully constructed but let his desire to prove he had the best magic lead to their deaths.

Characters: The four brothers are the main characters of this story.

Lesson: Do not let your pride/desire to prove yourself overrule your common sense.

Ideas: I really liked this story because of its good lesson. This lesson can easily be applied to other stories. I liked this one so I would probably do something similar where they create some sort of monster due to their hubris. 

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

Comments

  1. Hello, Meghan!

    I would like to begin by saying thank you for your concise summary of the “Twenty Two Goblins” story. Aside from the goblin aspect, I had no idea what to expect when I began reading your reading notes. I would honestly blame all of the brothers – the skeleton had canines so that should have clued them in that it was a potentially dangerous carnivore. I also really like the fact that you included a lesson in your notes!

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