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Vikram and the Vampire (1870)

40 points by ArtWomb 8y ago

ArtWomb 8y ago
Happy Easter Sundy HN! Bit of counter-programming for those indulging in too much Kyregma and Jelly Belly's ;) Slipping into Burton's prose is like mounting a white elephant for a long stroll into humid, tiger-ravaged jungles. Native folktales provide the antidote to Myth of a Thousand Faces Ur-texts. They're stochastic. Endless. Authorless. Abundant with seemingly coincidental frissons. "Pearls with a thread draw through" indeed!
vram22 8y ago
This series is well-known to Indians under the Sanskrit name Vetala-Panchavimshati - which means "ghoul('s) N" which is short for "N (stories of the) ghoul [1]". Pancha means 5, I forget or don't know what vimshati means - could be that the whole number part (panchavimshati) means 25. So the whole name of the series means 25 stories of the ghoul (vetala) - as told to king Vikramaditya, a famous king of ancient times, on whose back a ghoul somehow landed, and who then had to carry the ghoul on his back from somewhere to the cemetery 25 times. Each time, while going there, the ghoul told him a different story ending in a puzzle or question. Vikram was renowned as a good and fair judge. The ghoul would tell him each time, that if he answered the question right (which involved judging the protagonists of the story, and saying who of them was right or wrong), he (the ghoul) would get off his (Vikram's) shoulders and let him go. But, if by the 25th time, Vikram still did not get the question right, the ghoul would kill him. Entertaining stories we heard or read as kids. Often with some moral. Typical of Indian legends / folk tales. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghoul https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghoul Edited for better wording / typos.
- vram22 8y ago
  Sorry: s/cemetery/burning ground since Hindus cremate, they don't bury.
  - selimthegrim 8y ago
    The Bhils in interior Sindh bury. Some sadhus bury as well.
    - fellellor 8y ago
      So do lingayats in Karnataka iirc.
      - selimthegrim 8y ago
        Yes, I had forgotten about them too
    - vram22 8y ago
      Interesting, didn't know both those points, or that there were Bhils in Sindh, although I lived some years in Madhya Pradesh, a nearby state where Bhils also live.
  - godzilla82 8y ago
    Hinduism is so diverse and varies by region, that any blanket statement you make about it has a very high chance of being incorrect!
    - vram22 8y ago
      >Hinduism is so diverse I'm well aware of that - Hindu here :), by birth anyway, and have read a lot of books about Hindu philosophies (note the double plural). >and varies by region, Not quite correct, only partially. I'm not an expert on the intricacies of it, but it is somewhat generally known to people that the are many branches / sects / whatever you want to call them, and they vary (or varied, originally, at least), by the main god / founding guru / philosophy for that sect or branch, not by region (although that may have even coincided in some cases, others were/are nationwide). Over time that variation may have morphed into being somewhat along regional lines, but even now, it is not fully so. You can find plenty of people of different branches of Hinduism, in the same town or city (even somewhat in villages, is my guess, though less so there). Just look at the print or online matrimonial ads, for example, of any leading Indian newspaper, and see how many ads there are for prospective brides and grooms from different Hindu sects, but from the same state or even city. >that any blanket statement you make about it has a very high chance of being incorrect! See above points. And anyway it was not meant as a blanket statement. We are talking about human affairs here, not algorithms, so a certain degree of looseness is generally acceptable and understood. In this context, we don't need to add (math) existential or universal quantifiers (like "there exists ..." or "for all ...") to every statement we make.
- markbnj 8y ago
  Seems like there are some interesting parallels with the 1001 Arabian Nights. Thanks for sharing it.
  - vram22 8y ago
    That's true. Welcome.
- yumraj 8y ago
  There was even Television series many years ago.[0] [0] https://m.imdb.com/title/tt0390792/ https://m.imdb.com/title/tt0390792/
  - vram22 8y ago
    Yes, good point. I think I may have seen parts of it, but forgot to mention it above.
- cmonnow 8y ago
  it is more well-known as 'vikram and vetaal'. vimshati = 20
  - vram22 8y ago
    >it is more well-known as 'vikram and vetaal'. Right. >vimshati = 20 Good to know.
cassandrahere 8y ago
Can't access the link from Germany. Apparently Project Gutenberg is blocking German IPs because of a court ruling.
- cmonnow 8y ago
  Gutenberg blocked in Germany.. Irony

40 points by ArtWomb 8y ago

Happy Easter Sundy HN! Bit of counter-programming for those indulging in too much Kyregma and Jelly Belly's ;) Slipping into Burton's prose is like mounting a white elephant for a long stroll into humid, tiger-ravaged jungles. Native folktales provide the antidote to Myth of a Thousand Faces Ur-texts. They're stochastic. Endless. Authorless. Abundant with seemingly coincidental frissons. "Pearls with a thread draw through" indeed!

vram22 8y ago

This series is well-known to Indians under the Sanskrit name Vetala-Panchavimshati - which means "ghoul('s) N" which is short for "N (stories of the) ghoul [1]". Pancha means 5, I forget or don't know what vimshati means - could be that the whole number part (panchavimshati) means 25. So the whole name of the series means 25 stories of the ghoul (vetala) - as told to king Vikramaditya, a famous king of ancient times, on whose back a ghoul somehow landed, and who then had to carry the ghoul on his back from somewhere to the cemetery 25 times. Each time, while going there, the ghoul told him a different story ending in a puzzle or question. Vikram was renowned as a good and fair judge. The ghoul would tell him each time, that if he answered the question right (which involved judging the protagonists of the story, and saying who of them was right or wrong), he (the ghoul) would get off his (Vikram's) shoulders and let him go. But, if by the 25th time, Vikram still did not get the question right, the ghoul would kill him. Entertaining stories we heard or read as kids. Often with some moral. Typical of Indian legends / folk tales. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghoul https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghoul Edited for better wording / typos.

vram22 8y ago
Sorry: s/cemetery/burning ground since Hindus cremate, they don't bury.
- selimthegrim 8y ago
  The Bhils in interior Sindh bury. Some sadhus bury as well.
  - fellellor 8y ago
    So do lingayats in Karnataka iirc.
    - selimthegrim 8y ago
      Yes, I had forgotten about them too
  - vram22 8y ago
    Interesting, didn't know both those points, or that there were Bhils in Sindh, although I lived some years in Madhya Pradesh, a nearby state where Bhils also live.
- godzilla82 8y ago
  Hinduism is so diverse and varies by region, that any blanket statement you make about it has a very high chance of being incorrect!
  - vram22 8y ago
    >Hinduism is so diverse I'm well aware of that - Hindu here :), by birth anyway, and have read a lot of books about Hindu philosophies (note the double plural). >and varies by region, Not quite correct, only partially. I'm not an expert on the intricacies of it, but it is somewhat generally known to people that the are many branches / sects / whatever you want to call them, and they vary (or varied, originally, at least), by the main god / founding guru / philosophy for that sect or branch, not by region (although that may have even coincided in some cases, others were/are nationwide). Over time that variation may have morphed into being somewhat along regional lines, but even now, it is not fully so. You can find plenty of people of different branches of Hinduism, in the same town or city (even somewhat in villages, is my guess, though less so there). Just look at the print or online matrimonial ads, for example, of any leading Indian newspaper, and see how many ads there are for prospective brides and grooms from different Hindu sects, but from the same state or even city. >that any blanket statement you make about it has a very high chance of being incorrect! See above points. And anyway it was not meant as a blanket statement. We are talking about human affairs here, not algorithms, so a certain degree of looseness is generally acceptable and understood. In this context, we don't need to add (math) existential or universal quantifiers (like "there exists ..." or "for all ...") to every statement we make.
markbnj 8y ago
Seems like there are some interesting parallels with the 1001 Arabian Nights. Thanks for sharing it.
- vram22 8y ago
  That's true. Welcome.
yumraj 8y ago
There was even Television series many years ago.[0] [0] https://m.imdb.com/title/tt0390792/ https://m.imdb.com/title/tt0390792/
- vram22 8y ago
  Yes, good point. I think I may have seen parts of it, but forgot to mention it above.
cmonnow 8y ago
it is more well-known as 'vikram and vetaal'. vimshati = 20
- vram22 8y ago
  >it is more well-known as 'vikram and vetaal'. Right. >vimshati = 20 Good to know.

cassandrahere 8y ago

Can't access the link from Germany. Apparently Project Gutenberg is blocking German IPs because of a court ruling.

cmonnow 8y ago
Gutenberg blocked in Germany.. Irony