The Blind Man And His Brothers

Once upon a time there were seven brothers - one of them was blind, another was a cripple. As soon as their father died, five of the brothers got together and they threw out the two weak ones without giving them their share of the paternal property.

The blind man lamented, "If there is someone to guide me along the road, I"ll take him as my god."

The cripple also cried, "Oh, God, if someone will only carry me!"

Presently it dawned upon the blind man that although both of them were helpless yet they could help one another. So, the blind man carried his brother on his back and the latter guided him along the road.

Before they had gone far, the cripple saw a swing, of which only a piece of rope was left. He said to his brother: "That is a piece of good rope. Let's take it. We might have a use for it."

The blind man said, "How can I carry it?"

"Let me take it," said the cripple.

So he took the rope and on they went. Presently the cripple saw a nice piece of rock lying on the road, and he said: "Brother, that is a beautiful stone. Let's take it."

But the blind man objected: "I must carry you. How can I carry the stone too?"

"But we might have a use for it one day," said the cripple, "Let's take it along."

"Well, you can take it," said the blind man.

They had not gone far when the cripple cried out, "Ah, there is a winnowing tray. We must take it with us, Brother."

"Oh, Brother, what shall we ever do with a winnowing tray?" said the blind man, "We have no wives. Who will use it?"

"That is true," said the cripple, "Yet we might have a use for it. Let me carry it."

In the evening they came to a house. They stopped and the cripple called, "Hallo, anyone here?"

An old woman came out and said, "Hush, this is no place to stop. Go away from here."

"We are tired," said the man, "We cannot move at all, Old Mother."

The old woman told them about the ogres that lived in the hills. Every day they used to come and kill many people in the neighborhood until it was agreed to let them have one person daily. Each house in the village, therefore, took turns to send a member of the family every evening to this house. Here the ogres came for their dinner. It was the old woman's turn this evening.

"My brother is blind," said the cripple, "In the dark, I am also blind. Where else can we go in this darkness? Let us stay here, Old Mother."

"I it is my duty to warn you," said the old woman, "But do as you please."

Indeed, before long the ogres arrived. As soon as they came near the house, one of them cried aloud, "Ah, I can smell my supper."

Seeing that there was now no escape for them, the blind man cried out boldly, "Oh, yes, I am here waiting for you."

The ogres were surprised to hear the man, for those who waited for them were always so terrified that they scarcely made a sound. They hesitated at the doorway, and one of them said, "Throw out your ears to me. I'll eat them up."

The blind man was not to be daunted. He spoke in a louder voice: "I too can eat your ears. Throw them in."

"Throw me yours first," said the ogre.

"Here comes my child's ear then," said the man and he threw down the winnowing tray.

The ogres said to themselves that if a child had such a large ear, the man must be very big indeed.

Another ogre now called out, "Let me see your teeth."

"Ah, here is my servant's tooth," said the man as he threw out of the window the rock picked up earlier on the road.

The white hard stone frightened the ogres.

A third ogre now called out: "Let me see your intestine. I'll eat it up."

"Here comes my child's intestine," said the man and he flung down the coil of rope.

The ogres were now really frightened and they ran away as fast as their legs could carry them. They never returned and the blind man and his brother lived in the house happily ever after.

A Clever Daughter

A long time ago there was an old man who had four sons and one daughter. The daughter lived with her husband in a distant place while the sons and their wives lived in their father's house. But neither the sons nor their wives took good care of the old man.

Once the daughter came home for a visit and she asked her father, "Do your daughters-in-law take good care of you, Father?"
"I have become old," said her father, "Who will take care of me now? They will look after me if they can expect something from me."

Hearing of her father's plight, the daughter was sad and she said to him: "Alas, I cannot stay here for long, nor can I come often, Father. A daughter is destined to live away from her parents. Therefore, I'll tell you something and you must do accordingly."

She then gave him a golden chain and said, "You can return it to me later, but now you must wear it, and you can tell your daughters-in-law that whosoever takes care of you will get it."

Needless to say, before long the women noticed the chain and they asked the old man, "Father, what will you do with the golden chain?"

"Ah, the one who takes care of me will get it," said the old man.

Thereafter, the women began to look after him, vying with one another in the hope of getting the golden chain.

Some time after this, the old man got ill and he knew that he had not many days to live. So he hid the chain under a pile of firewood in a corner of the yard.

By the time the daughter arrived for another visit, the old man was dead, and she asked her sisters-in-law, "Did my father leave me a parting message?"

"Oh, yes," they said, "He asked us to tell you that the firewood is especially good."

Hearing this, the daughter went to the courtyard, removed the pile of firewood and recovered her golden chain.

The Handsome husband

Once there was a most beautiful princess. Her father the king was very fond of her and his only desire was to marry her to the wisest person on the earth. So he asked his ministers to find a suitable husband for his daughter. The ministers went in all the directions and at length they came back with a wise young man named Tendi. But he was not handsome and the princess dismissed him at once. She complained to her father. " This Tendi is no match for me. Please find me a better man than him." Tendi then said to the king, "I know someone wiser than me." "Then bring him here," said the king.
Tendi travelled on and on until one day he saw a man high up on a tree. He was cutting the same branch on which he was perched but he was young and handsome. Ah here is the husband for the princess, said the Tendi to himself.
Tendi then called to the man to come down the tree. He said: If you come with me, you wont have to work the rest of your life. Now, won't that make you happy?
The man was pleased and along with Tendi.When they came to the castle, Tendi said to the man "as soon as you come before the king, bend your knees and present him with a flower. But mind you, not to speak one word."
The princess was happy when she saw how handsome the Young man was. No questions were asked and she married him at once. before long, however,she realised her mistake, but she had no one but herself to blame for it.

How The Yetis Killed Themselves

Long, long ago a large number of yetis or abominable snowmen lived in the mountains of Khumbu.

All day long the yetis watched the villagers at their work and when night fell they came down the mountain. They went over the fields, in imitation of the villagers, trampling upon the plants and in the end, they undid everything that the villagers had done during the day. The villagers themselves remained behind closed doors in fear of the yetis.

One day the villagers hit upon a plan to stop the destruction by the yetis. They went to a place where the yetis could see them all very well, carrying with them jars of chhang or beer and swords made of wood. They drank the chhang and in a seemingly drunken state, they staged a mock fight among themselves with their fake swords. Then, under the full gaze of the yetis, they retired to their homes, leaving behind the jars and swords.

As soon as evening fell, some of the villagers went back quietly and refilled the jars with chhang, with rice wine added to make it very strong. They also replaced the wooden swords with real blades, bright and sharp. Then they hurried back home, bolted their doors and closed the windows.

At their usual hour of mischief, the yetis descended from their perch in the mountain, full of excitement. They soon had their first taste of the brew out of the jars and before long they were all very drunk. One step led to another, and, in a final act of imitation of the villagers, the yetis took the sharp swords and fought a deadly battle among themselves, killing every single one of their species before the night was over.

From that day to this, the villagers have lived in peace, free from the mischievous yetis.

The Pheasant And The Vixen

Once a vixen was very friendly with a pheasant and became her meet ritually, so that there was no secret between them and they shared their joys and sorrows.
One day the pheasant laid some eggs. When the vixen heard of it, she asked for the eggs to eat.
The pheasant lied and protested, "There is only one egg."
She kept the eggs hidden until they hatched. But when the vixen saw the chicks, she knew that she had been deceived and she decided that the time had come to make a meal of the pheasant herself.
Every morning the vixen asked the pheasant where she would feed herself that day.
"I'll go up the mountain," she would say.
The vixen, therefore, climbed up the mountain and waited, but the pheasant went down to the stream instead.
Some days she told the vixen, "I think I"ll go to the stream today."
So the vixen went to the stream and waited while the pheasant spent the afternoon up in the mountain.
After some time the vixen became wise. When the pheasant said she was going up the mountain, the vixen went down to the stream instead, and, so the pheasant and her chicks were found feeding by the stream bed.
The chicks escaped but the vixen seized the mother. The pheasant confessed she had deceived the vixen for a long time and so, as a punishment, she was prepared to face death. She only said, "Burry me in the sand for a while and stick some bamboo splinters upon my back."
The vixen accordingly covered the bird with sand and struck some fine bamboo splinters upon her back. But, as she was about to be killed, the pheasant suddenly flew away, blinding the vixen with the sand and throwing the splinters into her nose and mouth.

Why The Cock Crows

In the beginning there was no fire in heaven nor light on earth.
One day God sent for a cock and told him to fetch fire, but he was warned not to make a noise while he was down on the earth.
The cock flew down and asked Man for fire.
"Promise me something first," said Man.
The cock gave his word of honor three times over to do what was required of him in order to get fire.
Man then said to the cock, "Will you please crow?"
"That I cannot," said the cock, "For God had told me not to crow."
"Then you will break your promise and take no fire with you," said Man.
The cock didn't know what to do, but, in the end, he crowed loud and long. It was then just past midnight.
He crowed a second time and there was a gust of wind.
He crowed a third time and there was a faint light in the east.
He crowed a forth time and it was full daylight.

God, Man And Mouse

In the hoary past when the gods and men moved together, there was a man who had married a goddess.
One day the god, the man's father-in-law, came down to earth and asked him to go hunting together. After they had walked for a while, the god said to the man: "I'll take the dog and go down to the stream. Will you stay up here in this hill?"
The god wenr up hill and down dale, crossed streams and looked for the tracks of animals, but he found none. At last he went back to the man and asked, "Did you see any animal?"
"No," said the man, "Not a creature."
But the dog kept sniffing the ground where the man stood.
"Tell me if you have caught an animal and kept it hidden," said the god.
"Oh, only a small bird came flying this way," confessed the man.
He then removed his cap from the ground, uncovering a small bird.
The god took the bird and tore it to pieces. He made an offering of tiny pieces of bird meat to all the gods in the four quarters of heaven and then gave a piece to the man to take home.
The man found his wife at her loom. He threw down the bird meat to her saying, in disgust, "Here is your father's kill."
Hit by the tiny piece of meat, the loom broke into seven pieces. A piece of the loom fell upon her leg and the goddess was hurt.
When the god learnt how the man had behaved, he decided he would have nothing more to do with men. So, the man was invited to heaven for a last visit, and when he came, the god made him drink chhang untill he was dead drunk. The god then took his daughter away and hid her. The man was taken back to the earth.
When, many hours later, the man became sober, he found himself alone in his home; his wife was nowhere. He didn't know how he could live without her, and he lamented loud and long.
Having punished the man for his thoughlessness, the god took pity upon him. He came down to earth and said to the man, "Now you had better clear the bush and grow your food."
"But where can I get the seed? I have none," said the man.
The god sent for a mouse and said to it: "The man needs some seeds to grow his food. Will you go and bring him some from beyond the seven seas?"
"But what shall I get in return?" asked the mouse.
The god said, "Bring him the seeds first and you shall have your reward."
The mouse dug a tunnel under the seven seas and came to a bin fullof maize. And it came back with some maize. It went a second time and brought some millet for the man.
"Now, give me my reward," said the mouse.
Said the god: "You shall be the lord of the farm and the granary. You shall be the first to taste the fruits of man's labour. He may eat only after you have eaten. He will try to get rid of you and your offspring. He will lay traps and he will use poison. Yet your offspring shall multiply a hundred thousand times."