Reading Notes: Tibetan Folk Tales (Part A)

(Tibetan Folk Tales)

The Tiger and the Frog: 

• There was an old tiger named Tsuden who went out hunting for food
• A frog saw the tiger creeping along a stream so he climbed up on some sod and called out to Tsuden. 
• The frog asked him where he was going and the tiger told him he was going to for the est to hunt for some food
• Tsuden said he would eat the frog but the frog challenged him to see who Ould jump across the river. The frog grabbed Tsuden’s tail and made it across with him and father up the bank of the river faster than the tiger could notice. 
• The frog then challenged him to vomit and the tint could o=only vomit up some water while the frog vomited up some tiger hair. 
• The frog told Tsuden that he ate a tiger yesterday. 
• Tsuden saw this so he ran away from the frog fearing that he would be eaten next
• Tsuden then met a fox who asked him why he was running and the tiger told him about the frog.
• The fox laughed and said that the frog could hurt anyone. Tsuden suggested they go face the frog together then and to tie their tails together so the fox could not run away in fear 
• They agreed and went back to the frog who asked if the tiger was bringing the fox to him as a meal. Frightened, the tiger ran and is still running to this day. 

The Cony Who Got into Bad Company: 

• There was a lama who lived in a hut in the mountains 
• There was also a cony and a rat who were great friends. They pretended to be friends with the lama but at night when he was sleeping they stole all of his grain 
• The lama soon realized they were not his friends and made a plan to set a trap for them at night. 
• The next morning he saw them stuck in his trap and he cut off their whiskers, ears, and tails and then set them loose 
• They were very angry and told the lama that they did not lie or steal anything from him. They told the lama they would go to their king and come back with an army to take all his grain 
• The rat told the king of what happened to him and told him that he was innocent. The king said he would help the rat if the king of the conies agreed to do so as well but the king of the conies refused 
• The king of the conies called the cony to him and judged him as guilty. He told the cony that he is to never be found in the company of the rat to his kind people again.  

The Story of the Donkey and the Rock: 

• There was a small land ruled by a kind king and in this land lived only two poor men who were very good and worked hard to support their old mothers 
• One of the men started to a village high up on the mountain selling oil from a jar as he walked 
• He stopped to take a break when a neighbor come by with his donkey who was carrying a stack of wood 
• He did not see the jar of oil and accidentally knocked it over, breaking it 
• The two men argued about who was at fault. They went to the fair king who asked them about the matter and declared that it wasn’t either of their faults. He said the donkey was at fault as was the rock 
• The donkey was then chained and led into a prison. People from all over began to learn of the trial the king would have for a donkey and a rock and they thought he had gone mad
• The Judge showed up to the trial and locked everyone in the room and told them that there cannot be a trial for a rock and a donkey and charged them all money so they could leave
• The money collected was given to the man who lost his oil

How the Fox Fell Victim to His Own Deceit: 

• There as a tiger and her baby cub living in the mountains 
• She asked a little fox to be the playmate of her cub and he agreed happily. Now he did not have to work or hunt because the tiger provided him with food 
• One day the tiger brought home a little calf to be a playmate to her cub as well 
• This made the fox jealous and he planned his revenge on the calf
• As the mother was dying she told her cub and the calf they are brothers and to never believe anyone’s lies about them and to always be friends
• The fox told the tiger cub one day that the calf hated him and was plotting to kill him
• This made the tiger suspicious 
• The fox told the calf that the tiger was growing strong every day and was preparing to kill and eat him 
• One day the tiger and the calf talked and air their grievances with each other 
• They soon realized the fox was trying to trick them and so they pretend to fight until the fox got close
• The tiger jumped and killed him then feasted on his carcass 

The Ingratitude of Man: 

• A man,, snake, crow, and a rat were walking together down a path in the mountains when the road gave way and they fell into the depths below.
• They were not hurt but were shaken from the incident 
• A traveler happened upon them and rescued them one by one 
• They all thanked him and said that sometimes they would help him 
• The trailer did not think the animals could do much for him but believed that the man might be able to aid him in some way 
• Sometime later, the crow saw the queen washing her hair and he swooped down to steal her jewels to give to the traveler who had helped him 
• The travel went to the man to show off the gift he got from the crow 
• The man went to the king at once and told him of where to find the travel with the stolen necklace 
• The traveler was arrested and put into prison 
• As he starved in the prison the rat he saved came to him and brought him some food that he stole 
• The next day the snake saw him in the prison and told him he would set the traveler free 
• The snake was magical and turned into a ghost and scared the king into letting the traveler go

Covetousness: 

• In the mountains, there was a pool the animals would drink out of. 
• Near the pool of water sat a hunter who was armed with a bow that would shoot a spear 
• A bear was killed instantly but the hunter’s setup 
• A fox came by and cut the string that triggered the spear thrower but it set it off and killed him immediately 
• Near the body laid elephant who was awoken by a rabbit that was jumping around him 
• The elephant decided to jump around so I just front feet loosened a big rock that fell on his back and killed him
• Seven robbers came along and saw the three bodies and decided they would stay there for a few days to eat them
• The robber stayed there and took the meat and ate that and in a little bit they were dead to
• The moral is that people shouldn't be greedy when there is plenty for all

The Wise Carpenter:

• Once upon a time, there lived a king and among the people under him were two men, won a painter and the other a carpenter
• One day the painter told the king but as he was going to sleep he saw the King's father and he gave him a letter to bring to him. The painter told the king that the letter was about the Carpender that dwells in the city
• The King opened the letter and saw that his father wanted him to send the good carpenter up to heaven because there were no good carpenters there
• The King Cole the carpenter before him told him that his father is in the dwelling of the gods in wanted him to send the carpenter to help him
• The carpenter thought it must be a scheme of the painter’s to get rid of him so he decided to think of a plan to get rid of the painter first
• The king called the painter and asked him how he was to send the carpenters father. The painter told the king that he has to bring all his tools that he will need a fair put them on a pile in the ground and sit on them. Then the wood must be proud around him and set on fire and that's the smoke goes up he can ride on it to heaven
• The carpenter said that was alright but he wanted to start from his own field so the king gave him seven days to get ready
• The Carpender returned home and told his wife that the painter had fixed the scheme to kill him and then he only had seven days to wait to be burned up 
• Pick up and he told his wife he wanted to build a tunnel from his home to his own field
• When seven days we're up the king ordered several loads of wood and ordered his people to each carry a load of wood and a bowl of oil
• The wood was piled onto the field and set on fire
• The carpenter slipped into the tunnel underneath the field and returned home
• He had in his home for three months and made clothes to mimic the gods
• After three months he went to see the King and gave him a letter from his father
• The letter told his son he was a good ruler and wise and that he wanted the painter to come to heaven in pain for him
• After he read a letter to Kingston for the painter and told them that the carpenter had just returned from heaven and brought a letter asking for the painter to go to heaven to pay for his father
• The painter gathered all of his things and was given 7 days prepare
• When everything was ready they've lit the fire and does the painter yelled that he was being burned up the noise was so great that he couldn't be heard and he went to heaven.

The Story of Drashup and the Goddesses: 

• There was a man named Drashup who was all alone in the world
• All of his kin were dead and he had no wife, children, and it was very poor
• One day he wandered up the mountain and lay down and went to sleep
• Any small village far below the foot of the mountain
• Near where the man went to sleep well number goddesses. It was their duty to foretell the little girls future.
• They began to forecast that in her future she would only be middle-aged when she would die from eating the shoulder of the sheep and the man asleep under the tree was to be her husband
• The man heard all this and declared it foolishness but nevertheless, he started out to hunt this child
• He traveled all over the country and finally found the Village at the foot of the mountain he found the little girl and struck her with an ax. 
• Believing he had killed her he ran away to the country but she had recovered in grew to womanhood
• By for parents died she left her home when traveling and by chance, she made Drashup and instantly fell in love
• They were married and live happily ever after even though he was much older than her
• He was always very careful to eat the shoulder of the mutton for himself
• She always wondered why he never let her eat the shoulder of the sheep and one day when he was gone she tried it for herself
• She became violently ill and died

The Man and the Ghost: 

• There was a man walking along a narrow mountain pass him at a ghost
• The ghost turned around and walked along beside the man
• Even though the man is frightened he didn't let the ghost know it
• They soon came upon a river that had to be crossed but there was no bridge for the boat so they both had to swim
• The man made a lot of noise swimming across the river while the ghost made none at all
• The ghost asked the man why he made so much noise in the water
• Command told him that he was a ghost and have The right to make all you wanted to
• The ghost suggested they become good friends and offered his help if the man agreed to do the same
• The Main agreed and the ghost asked him what he feared more than anything else in the world
• The man said he was not afraid of anything he saw and then he has to go stay the same
• Just said he was afraid of nothing at all but the wind as it blows through the tall headed to barley fields
• As they near the city to go said he was going into the town but the man so that he was tired and that he would lie down and sleep in the barley field at the edge of the city
• Just wanted to tell you played havoc install the soul of the king son
• The ghost carried it to the field with the man slept and called out to him he asked the man to take care of the soul of the king son because he had business elsewhere
• A man disguised himself as a holy lama and grabbed the sack and headed toward the city
• He went to King's chamber and told him he could heal the Kings son who is dying
• Main use The sack to heal the Kings son so the king gave the man half on he possessed
• Because never returned for the sake of life with me

Story Source: Tibetan Folk Tales by A.L. Shelton with illustrations by Mildred Bryant (1925).