Listen, O King!

King Vikram must carry a corpse-dwelling spirit through the night, and the Vetal fills the journey with twenty-five tales, each ending in a question the king is bound to answer. Deepa Agarwal's translation of the stories attributed to Sivadasa keeps the frame intact while making the language comfortable for readers today. Every tale sets up a puzzle about justice, loyalty or family duty, and the answers turn on reasoning rather than magic, which is what has kept this cycle in circulation for centuries. Things to expect: • Twenty-five linked tales held inside a single frame story • Riddles that hinge on ethical judgement • Translated from the Sanskrit tradition by Deepa Agarwal • Folklore figures familiar across South Asia Suits older children, students of folklore and families who read aloud together, available from Boipoka.