Wednesday, February 8, 2017

Week 4 story - The Three Riddles of Genie

Off of the Godavari River a Queen ruled the Abiding Kingdom. This Queen was called Brave for all she did was done in bravery. Everyday for years a monk named Patience came and gave her a piece of fruit. Little did she know there were gems hidden in each fruit.  She found out because one day she had given the fruit to a monkey to eat instead of giving it to one of her servants.  Once she found out by seeing the monkey with the gem she asked the monk why he had given her such expensive gift and what he wanted in return. He said that he needed help with some business and that he needed her to meet him on the first night of the waning moon, by the great lake at dusk by the moon temple.
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It is the first night of the waning moon so at dusk the Queen slips out of her castle at dusk. She brings her royal sword and dresses in all black. When she sees the monk, he is preparing for a spell of sorts. When she got to him he was overjoyed and said " If you are still willing to help me then go to the wisdom tree and bring back the Genie who sits on its branches. She did as asked and came upon the wisdom tree but only saw a doll. As she grabbed the doll, a Genie came out and said " If you which to take me answer me these riddles, if you fail then beware! " She nodded in agreement and so the Genie started the first riddle. 
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A man once had a daughter named Coral, when she came of marring age, three suitors came and asked for her hand in marriage. Coral's father said that he could not choose his daughters fate and that he will let her choose. She did not want to hurt anyone so she waited. The three men stayed with her for 3 day an 4 nights when she fell sick and died. The three men were heart broken but still adored her body. The first man made a bed with her ashes and made a hut by her grave. The second dipped her bones in the Ganges river to make them sacred. The third traveled all across the world and found a way to bring her back. All the men came together and was able to bring her back. Now, who is her true lover? 
The Queen thought about this and then answered. " It was the first man, for he stayed with her no matter how she was." 

The Genie was pleased with her answer and started the next riddle. 
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This story is about a girl how found her brother and husband who had sacrificed themselves by decapitation to Gauri. The girl wept for both and prayed to Gauri to bring them back. She replied and said she would if the Girl put their heads back on. She did so not knowing she had switched the heads of her brother and husband. The Question is, who is her husband and who is her brother now? 

The Queen thought about this and knew the answer, " The Body that has the husband's head on it is the husband, because it is the head that is the most important member."

The Genie was pleased and moved on to the last riddle
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A Queen and her daughter get banned from their kingdom and end up in the forest lost after the king was killed by thieves. A hunter and his son are out and find the foot steps of these girls. The hunter says to his son, One of the ladies can be your wife, whichever you choose. The son said he wanted the smaller footed one and that his father could have the other since he is now widowed. They followed the foot steps and ran into the Queen and her daughter. While they agreed to marry, The Queen was the one with the smaller feet so she ended up marrying the son and the daughter married the Hunter. The riddle is, when the couples have kids, what will the kids be to each other? 

The Queen thought about this over an over again, finally she told the Genie that she did not know. 

The Genie smiled and said that she is brave for telling the truth, and for that the Genie would tell her a piece of truth. When you bring me back to the monk he will try a sacrifice you to the gods. When he tells you to lay down and to have an attitude of reverence, tell him you do not know how and to have him show you. When he does, cut his head off and the gods will thank you. 

She did ask the Genie said and when she cut off the monks head the gods came down and thanked her and said he was trying to be king of the faeries and was not a good monk. So they wanted to bestow the honor on her for she was worthy of it. 


Authors Note: The original Story is called Twenty-Two Goblins, translation by Arthur Ryder, where a king is given a task to bring a goblin to a monk but the goblin escapes each time the king answers his riddle. If the king does not answer it but knows the answer he will die but if he is stumped on the answer the Goblin will go with him. The king is needing the Goblin to bring him to a monk that has been giving him lots of gifts to return the favor. When the king is finally stumped on one of his riddles the Goblin lets him know that the monk is scamming him and how to go about stopping it. Which ends up being that he has to kill him to sacrifice him which is what the monk was planning to do with the king.

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