Reading Notes Week 7: Tibetan Folk Tales

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The Tale of the Donkey and the Rock:

A wise ruler presided over a land.  In this land lived 2 very poor men with old mothers to support.  One of the men traveled down the road, with a jug of oil, selling it as he went for money for food for himself & his mother.  He grew tired & sat his jar down on a rock.  The other old man came along, with bundles of wood tied to his donkey.  The man & donkey didn't see the jar & accidentally knocked over the jar, breaking it & spilling all the oil.  The first man was very upset, as that was his only way to make money.  They quarreled & were brought before the ruler to be judged.  The ruler decided that it wasn't the 2 men at fault, it was the fault of the rock & the donkey so he had them both arrested.  The whole town showed up out of curiosity to see a rock & donkey on trial.  The ruler had the gates locked.  He told the whole town they were silly to come see a rock & donkey on trial & they must pay 1/2 cent to be able to leave.  The ruler then gave the money to the man who had lost the oil and all was fine again.

The Cony who got into Bad Company:  A poor old man lived in a tiny hut with a dirt floor up on a mountain.  He only had his one robe for clothes, an old worn piece of felt for his bed, a wooden bowl, and earthen ware pot for tea, and very little food.  Every day a rat & cony (rabbit) came to visit him & every night they snuck back in to steal his food.  The old man figured out they were stealing from him & set a trap for them.  He caught them, cut off their whiskers & tails & set them free.  The rat went to his king & demanded an army to go punish the old man, saying he didn't steal.  The king said that only if the king of the Cony's agreed.  So the cony went to his king but his king said he wouldn't help because conies didn't steal & it was the rabbit's fault for hanging out with rats who were known thieves.   



(Tibetan Folk Tales book cover from the UnTextbook)

Bibliography:  Tibetan Folk Tales.  Weblink.

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