Folk Tales from Eastern Tibet

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Tales, fables and stories occupy an important place in the Tibetan way of life. This may not be co in the lives of Tibetans these days, but in the part Tibetans grew up listening to tales from their grandparents or storytellers, Fascinated by such extraordinary and ghostly characters, as ogres, demons, kings and princes, dragons etc, often sounded similar.

We are pleases to bring out this collection of folk tales from Eastern Tibet. The stories have been compiled and meticulously translated into English so that the non-Tibetan readers could take a trip into the world of Tibetan folk tales. The work is presented in a simple, straightforward language keeping as close as possible to the original flavour of the oral narration.

This publication will hopefully be a significant contribution towards fulfilling one of LTWA’s main objectives, which is to preserve and disseminate Tibet’s rich oral folk culture.

We wish to thank Linda Roman for going through the entire collection of stories and offering valuable editorial assistance. We also would like to thank Ms. Jashi Yangzom for her assistance in preparing this book.

Folk Tales from Eastern Tibet, an English translation of the traditional tales prevalent in the Amdo region of Tibet was originally published in Japanese by Professor Ryoshun Kajihama, Setsunam University.

This collection consists of twenty-eight tales; most of which come from the memories of the Tibetans. These folk tales convey a sense of the traditional nomadic life and within them we can catch a glimpse of a nomad’s friendships, enmities, and conflicts and can get a sense of his or her juys sorrows.

Just as in folk tales everywhere, this collection includes many animal stories, tales of family strife and community division, disputes about morals and laws and encounters with magic and magic being. These stories are governed by plots common to all fold tales: the rule of greedy kings is ended; wicked beings are punished, and usually the good are rewarded. One such tale, the final one in this collection, is entitles “The Mare’s Boy” which narrated the story of an extraordinary youth, born from a mare, who eventually becomes king of the land by defeating the copper-beaked she-devil who threatens the health and prosperity of the community and by living in peace with those who had formerly hurt him.

This translation will give non-Tibetan readers a glimpse of Tibetan folk tales and deep these traditions alive for our study and our pleasure today and in the future.