Page 14 - GALIET THE KING AND THE CORPSE: The Four Cardinal Corners and the Quest of the Blue Cloak, the Mask and the Sword IV GALIET THE KING AND THE CORPSE: The Four Cardinal Corners and the Quest of the Blue Cloak, The Mask and the Sword

wisdom, courage, temperance and justice5 3⁄4 his antagonist, Mendicant-Monk Ksantisila, impostor and fraud, exemplifies the malevolent forces of vice, ignorance, excess and injustice6. King Trivikramasena, while dancing in circles with Vampire Vetala, answers every riddle wisely (except the unsolvable one), he shows courage by remaining in the vicious circle of darkness, temperance by acting cautiously and justice by exercising his selfless virtues. Ksantisila, on the other hand, traces a magic circle that possesses him and his insatiable greed to become King and master of the aerial spirits. Ksantisila’s evil excess ultimately spells his doom: he prostates his eight limbs where death crawls, impulsively, thoughtlessly, and loses his head. Yet Vetala, the epitome of thumos, the radiant dweller between logos and epithumia, is the true, nurturing monk, the beautiful spirit that reminds us that we ought not to be deceived by appearances and that we ought to listen, carefully, deeply, intuitively to the riddles of the soul for its seed of guidance during the perils of our quests and odysseys on earth.
5 These are the four classical virtues. Grube, G.M.A. ed. and trans. Plato Republic. Book IV. Indianapolis: Hacket Publishing, 1992. 427d – 434d
6 We notice that while King Trivikramasena views justice as intrinsic, that is, for its own sake, by selflessly offering his help to Ksantisila, Ksantisila views justice, not as intrinsic, but purely for its benefits. Vetala’s view on justice embodies the Socratic ideal for he views justice as both intrinsic and for its benefits. In a way, we can infer that the spirit’s justice is greater than the mind’s justice.
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