Twenty-Two Goblins

Twenty-Two Goblins is a collection of Indian folktales translated into English by Arthur William Ryder an American Sanskrit scholar and translator. The original text titled Vetalapancavimsati is a classic collection of Indian stories and legends that belong to the genre of Vetala Tales.The central framework of the stories involves a king who encounters a ghost (vetala) and is then compelled to listen to a series of tales and solve the puzzles within them. The ghost inhabits the body of a dead body hanging from a tree and poses riddles and challenges to the king which often have moral and ethical dimensions.Each of the twenty-two tales in the collection presents a unique narrative with its own characters settings and themes. These tales include elements of fantasy magic humor and moral lessons making them a rich and diverse collection of folklore.Arthur William Ryder's translation of Twenty-Two Goblins is renowned for its literary quality and ability to capture the essence of the original Sanskrit tales. His work has made these Indian folktales accessible to English-speaking readers preserving the cultural and storytelling traditions of India.