Of the riddle-tales of the goblin that I read, three of them struck my interest the most.
The first was "The Three Lovers", since I found the answer to the riddle rather interesting, in the way that it characterized the actions of each of the men. The great journey to bring about the method of the girl's resurrection was characterized as being the actions a father would take to bring back their daughter. The man who traveled to wash her bones in the holy river so that they might be purified was characterized as having taken the actions of a son who wished to honor their mother. And the final man, who had built a hut near her grave and slept with her ashes each night, subsisted on food obtained by begging, was the one characterized as having taken the actions of a husband who had lost their wife.
The second was "Brave, Wise, Clever", and I found it fitting in the way it was determined who deserved the woman's hand in marriage. The wise man told them what had taken the daughter and where to find the giant's home. The clever man built a flying chariot and weapons in order to allow them to travel to the giant's home, and to give the brave man an arsenal with which to fight the giant. The brave man fought and eventually slayed the giant. And the riddle's answer was that the brave man should have the woman's hand in marriage, for it was him that actually rescued her, while the other two men only helped him along his journey.
The third that interested me was "The Three Delicate Wives", in the quite ridiculous way that the story worked. The first wife was wounded by a lotus petal falling from her hair into her lap. The second wife was burned by beams of moonlight. And the third wife was bruised by the sound of a mortar and pestle being used. The third wife was determined to be the most delicate, for she was injured by something she didn't even come into contact with.
Bibliography:
Story Source: "The Three Lovers" by Arthur W. Ryder
Story Source: "Brave, Wise, Clever" by Arthur W. Ryder
Story Source: "The Three Delicate Wives" by Arthur W. Ryder
Image Source: Vetal & Vikram by Harshad Dhavale
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