Baital Pachisi:
Vetala Panchavimshati or Baital Pachisi, is a collection of tales and legends within a frame story, from India. It is also known as internationally Vikram-Betaal. It was originally written in Sanskrit.
King Vikram once promised a tantric sorcerer that he’d capture a baital (a spirit with vampire like qualities) and bring it to him. But every time Vikram caught the baital, the spirit would escape by posing a riddle. The deal between the two was that if at the end of every puzzle, Vikram was unable to answer the question correctly, the spirit would willingly be taken prisoner. If Vikram knew the answer but still stayed silent, his head would explode into a thousand pieces, and if the king answered correctly, the baital was free to get away.
This cycle continued 24 times as Vikram, being a wise man, could solve every riddle, which mostly concerned philosophical questions about life. Finally, Vikram was unable to answer the 25th question and the baital kept his promise of being taken captive.
On the way to the tantric’s, the spirit revealed that he was actually a prince. He also said that it was the sorcerer’s plan all along to sacrifice the baital’s soul so that he could attain immortality, and that Vikram too would be killed in the process. The spirit advised the king on how to outwit the tantric and save both their lives. After Vikram assassinated the evil sorcerer, the baital cleansed him of all his sins, and he also vowed to come to his aid whenever needed.
Whether it is to preserve history or provide moral lessons, ancient folk tales have served a much bigger purpose that just entertaining people.