The following story is based off of the Twenty-Two Goblins: The Three Lovers translated by Arthur Ryder (Source)
I chose to loosely base my story on the story of the three lovers, but I changed the ending to something a little darker. In the original tale, the young girl comes back to life.
The Brahman stepped out onto the balcony and spread his arms to the heavens. He was the happiest man alive. The Brahman's first daughter, Coral, had just been born in the middle of spring. She looked just like his lovely wife, and they could not wait to watch her grow up into a beautiful woman.
Years later Coral had indeed grown into a beautiful woman and many young men were vying for her affection. Three in particular had distinguished themselves as the favorites to win her heart.
The three young men continually showered her with gifts and flowers to finally win her heart.
During a particularly cold winter, Coral became very sick and eventually died. Her mother and father were devastated that their lovely little girl was taken from them.
The three young men were also devastated and mourned for months.
When the leaves began to fall, the young men each decided to try and find out how to get the beautiful young girl back.
One decided to move into the woods and live by himself. One chose to become a monk and moved to a local monastery. And the last one chose to travel the world in search of different brahman that might have cures to bring back the dead.
As the last young man traveled the world, he came upon brahman after brahman that did not have the answers that he was seeking. However, just before he was going to head back home, he was eating in a brahman's house and he found his answer.
The brahman's family invited the young man over for dinner, and as they were eating the brahman's baby son began crying. No matter what the mother and father would do, the child would not stop crying. The mother then got up and through the child into the fire. The young man sat aghast and did not know what to say when the brahman told him to not worry because he could easily bring the child back to life. As the brahman worked to bring the child back to life, the young man took detailed notes to take back to his love and bring her back to life.
The young man made the long journey back home and went to the girl's gravesite where he did exactly as the brahman had done, but to no avail. The young girl could not be brought back to life.
A Wise Old Man (Source)
