Twenty-Two Goblins: Tales from the Vikram and the Vampire Cycle

Twenty-Two Goblins is Arthur W. Ryder's celebrated English verse translation of the Vikram and the Vampire cycle from classical Sanskrit literature.

Drawn from the ancient Baital Pachisi (Twenty-Five Tales of the Vetala), these interlinked stories follow King Vikrama as he repeatedly attempts to capture a spirit-variously described as a vampire, goblin, or ghoul-who inhabits a corpse hanging from a tree. Each time the king carries the being away, the creature tells a tale ending in a moral riddle. If the king knows the answer and remains silent, his head will shatter; if he speaks, the goblin escapes and returns to the tree. Thus unfolds a sequence of paradoxes, ethical dilemmas, dark humour, and narrative ingenuity.

Arthur W. Ryder's translation, first published in the early twentieth century, preserves the wit, irony, and structural precision of the original Sanskrit while rendering it in clear, rhythmic English verse. The work stands at the intersection of folklore, moral philosophy, and early detective-style riddle literature. Both macabre and playful, these tales offer insight into classical Indian narrative traditions and the enduring appeal of frame stories built upon logic and moral reasoning.