Reading Notes: Tibetan Folktales, Part A
For this week's readings, I chose Tibetan Folktales as seen in Tibetan Folk Tales by A. L. Shelton with illustrations by Mildred Bryant (1925). My favorite story out of those listed for Part A was The Ingratitude of Man because I think it teaches a very important lesson--sometimes those we don't think can help us are actually the most willing to help whereas those we believe could help us a lot are the most unwilling to help. Oftentimes the most wealthy and fortunate people are the most ungrateful and the most selfish.
The Ingratitude of Man:
A man, a rat, a crow, and a snake are all walking together at night when all of a sudden they fall into a pit. They cannot get out and believe that they will starve, though why the crow cannot just fly out of the pit, I do not know. Anyway, a man hears their screams for help and saves them, expecting that he will be repaid in the future by the man but not by the animals. The crow is the first to repay the kind man, giving him jewelry stolen from the land's queen. However, the ungrateful man who was saved from the pit tells on the merciful man who saved him, reporting him to the king as the thief of the jewels which results in the kind man being thrown in prison to die of starvation. The rat finds the man in prison and repays him by bringing him food while the snake repays him by turning himself into a ghost, strangling the king half-to-death, and convincing the king and his wise men that he is a powerful patron saint of the man they threw in prison and will torment the king if they do not release the kind man.The kind man is released and is treated very well by the king until the end of his days.
In my retelling of this story, a rich man will be traveling with three poor men on a boat. The poor men own the boat collectively and are carrying the rich man to shore on the other side. The boat strikes a rock and starts to sink but a kind fisherman picks them up in his boat and takes them to safety. All four men pledge to repay the fisherman, but the fisherman only expects that the rich man will repay him and scoffs at the promises of the others. Well, one day one of the poor men who is a master thief steals money from a local lord and gives it to the fisherman. The rich man hears about the theft and also sees that the fisherman now has money and puts two and two together, reporting him to the authorities. The fisherman is thrown in prison where one of the poor man, the brother of a guard, sees him and gets him extra rations of food to keep him alive. The last poor man, a practitioner of black magic, bewitches the king of the land and makes him believe that he owes his life to the fisherman. The fisherman is released and given land and wealth by the king. The ungrateful rich man later drowns when another boat he is on sinks.
The Ingratitude of Man:
A man, a rat, a crow, and a snake are all walking together at night when all of a sudden they fall into a pit. They cannot get out and believe that they will starve, though why the crow cannot just fly out of the pit, I do not know. Anyway, a man hears their screams for help and saves them, expecting that he will be repaid in the future by the man but not by the animals. The crow is the first to repay the kind man, giving him jewelry stolen from the land's queen. However, the ungrateful man who was saved from the pit tells on the merciful man who saved him, reporting him to the king as the thief of the jewels which results in the kind man being thrown in prison to die of starvation. The rat finds the man in prison and repays him by bringing him food while the snake repays him by turning himself into a ghost, strangling the king half-to-death, and convincing the king and his wise men that he is a powerful patron saint of the man they threw in prison and will torment the king if they do not release the kind man.The kind man is released and is treated very well by the king until the end of his days.
In my retelling of this story, a rich man will be traveling with three poor men on a boat. The poor men own the boat collectively and are carrying the rich man to shore on the other side. The boat strikes a rock and starts to sink but a kind fisherman picks them up in his boat and takes them to safety. All four men pledge to repay the fisherman, but the fisherman only expects that the rich man will repay him and scoffs at the promises of the others. Well, one day one of the poor men who is a master thief steals money from a local lord and gives it to the fisherman. The rich man hears about the theft and also sees that the fisherman now has money and puts two and two together, reporting him to the authorities. The fisherman is thrown in prison where one of the poor man, the brother of a guard, sees him and gets him extra rations of food to keep him alive. The last poor man, a practitioner of black magic, bewitches the king of the land and makes him believe that he owes his life to the fisherman. The fisherman is released and given land and wealth by the king. The ungrateful rich man later drowns when another boat he is on sinks.
Photo of Yamdrok Lake in Tibet, taken by Esther Lee. Source: Wiki Commons
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