CHAPTER4

FOLK ETHICS
INTRODUCTION

Folk literature in most cases has as its general theme the problems of good and evil

or ethics. Folktales, legends and myths deal with folk ethics, that is a set of values and

ideas that teach how to behave in society and how to relate to the outsider. The concept of

morality is centred upon right and wrong in a society. They also depict the world

views--past and present, and legitimate social order. Most of the folk literature in the

world are but medium through which morality pertaining to proper behaviour in

maintaining social order, hierarchical structure and human relations are enunciated.

Folktales can be viewed as means by which a non-literate society perpetuates the values

that socialize and educate its off-springs into fully socialized members of the society in
which they would play responsible roles. By means of folktales, folk ethics is transmitted

to the next generations in a stimulating, entertaining and non-pedagogical manner.

The relativistic position, that is, the concepts of good and evil, right and wrong of

a society, is actually the basis of a culture. Every society formulates a set of values to

guide its own life. The wonh of those values are better understood by those who live by

them. In order to fulfil his needs, man has devised tales of popular morality that help him

and the posterity to channel thought and direct conduct. Thus, folktales. reflecting

relativistic point of view, offer guidance to the members of a society to identify the ethical

codes prevalent in that society; and also to maintain social harmor,y by conforming to the

social realities. In different societies and culture. there are different parameters of good
and evil, right and wrong.

4.1 CHINESE FOLK ETIDCS : NARRATION

We have already noticed how the philosophers from the Spring and Autumn Period
(770-476 BC) and the Warring States Period (475-221 BC) influenced the psyche of the

Chinese through ages. The teachings of Confucius centred upon proper human conduct
and above all maintaining status quo. However. his viewpoint on Mandate of Heaven was
opposed by philosophers like Xunzi and Mozi. Mozi taught dialectics, epistemology, and

312
love without distinction (jian'ai), whereas Han Fei advocated legalism. Zhuangzi put his

faith in naturalism, and opposed relativism and fatalism. All such concepts in

conglomeration laid the foundation of a value system in China. Adherence to pragmatism.

empiricism and diligence, and obedience to the superiors are retlected in most of the

folktales. fables and adages. Such fables collected in numerous classical texts are like

sugar-coated pills through which generation after generation get the notion of vices and

virtues often in an unconscious manner. With rich historical records and a high sense of

historicism, China could offer humorous tales from the pages of history, thus serving a

double purpose of imparting knowledge of historv. to and inculcating moral values in ~

young people in a most delightful way. The Chinese language is saturated with proverbs

that are legacy of various historical events and have engrossing stories behind them.

These stories, though with rare exceptions, convey message of morality.

The Foolish Old Man who Removed the Mountains'

There was a Foolish Old Man who lived in the northern hills. To the south of his

house stood two hills--Taihang and Wangwu 2 that obstructed easy entrance and exist. The

Foolish Old Man completely ignored the sneers of the Wise Old Man, and unswervingly

continued to dig the mountains with the help of his sons. He informed the Wise Old Man

that the work would continue generation after generation till the mountains are totally

wiped out. The God was deeply touched by the old man's spirit. He sent two angels and

had the mountains removed.

1. Lie Yukou (Warring States Period), Chapter "Tangwen" (A

Question of Dissipation) , Liezi (The Book of Lie) cited
in Zhao Wen, Yun Bo et al (Comp.), Zhongguo Lidai
Yuyanxuan (Selected Chinese Fables Through Ages) .
Taiyuan : Shanxi People's Press, 1986, pp.157-160.

2. The Taihang Hill is situated at the border region of

the provinces of Hebei and Shanxi. The Wangwu Hill is
situated in Shanxi. See Tan Jiajian (Ann.), Gudai
Shenhua Yuyan Xuandu (Selected Readings from Ancient
Myths and Fables). Beijing : Chinese Youth & Children's
Press, 1979, p.68.

313
The Roc Spreads its Wings 3

In the ocean lived a gigantic fish called Kun. And beyond the ocean lived a roc

called Peng. Its back was like a big mountain. Its spread out wings could cover half the

sky. It was said that it flew ninety thousand li with one flap of those wings.

A bramble finch, sitting at the seashore, giggled at such a great zeal of Peng and

muttered to himself with a tone of self-satisfaction that he could fly a few metres and feels

contented flying under the eaves of houses. But where will the Peng go after all, he

thought to himself.

Oin Oing --The Vocalist4

Qin Qing was a famous singer of the State of Qin. A singer named Xue Tan had

been learning vocal music from Qin Qing. After a few months Xue Tan thought he had

mastered his teacher's virtuosity and told his teacher that he was going home. Qin Qing

gave his pupil a send-off party. Sitting in a pavilion he sang a farewell song. The woods

were shaken by his marvelous voice. The clouds stopped floating in the sky. Xue Tan

was stunned by his teacher's singing. Tears misted his eyes. He was too far behind Qin

Qing to catch up, yet he was throwing away the opportunity to learn. Xue Tan changed

his mind and continued his study under Qin Qing.

3. Zhuang Zhou (Warring States Period), Chapter

"Xiaoyaoyou" (Free and Unfettered Tour), Zhuangzi (The
Book of Zhuang) cited in Zhong Qin (Comp.), Meiri
Hanyu: Yuyan, Yishi Liushipian (Everyday Chinese : 60
Fables and Anecdotes). Beijing : New World Press,
1983, pp.56-57. Tan (Ann.) n.2, pp.37-38. This story
reflects Chinese pragmatism. The original essence of
the story in Zhuangzi was that a big bird and a small
bird flying in the sky look quite different. Their
concept of big and small are just the opposite. Later
on, the bramble finch was painted with a shade of
ridicule and contempt. The finch more or less has some
similarity with the frog living at the bottom of a
well, unaware of the vastness of the world outside.

4. Chapter "Tangwen", Liezi cited in Zhao, Yun et al

(Comp.), n.1, pp.163-164 & Zhong (Comp.) n.3, pp.76-77.

314
The Termites' Meetings in the Pavilion5

This fable tells us that within a garden pool stood a wooden pavilion. The termites

bored through the pillars, cross-beams. rafters and eaves. After eating through the surface

of the wood the termites found themselves trapped. Seeing water below them, they knew

that they will get drowned if the pavilion collapsed. So the termites called an urgent

meeting which ended with a decision to stop eating the pavilion. But at the same time they

concluded that since the pavilion was so large and each termite's appetite so small, there

was no harm in eating just a little. And thus the damage to the pavilion went unchecked.

With the worsening of the situation, meetings were held but nothing changed. Finally,

one day the water pavilion collapsed into the pool, and thus the termites' meetings came to

a close.

Lu Ban -- the Master Craftsman6

Caishiji is a picturesque place in Anhui Province on the banks of the Yangzi River.

Not far from this place lies the grave of the great Tang poet Li Bo7 • Many people used to

visit the grave and were in a habit of writing a few couplets on the stone tablet of the

grave. Once during the Ming dynasty, a poet named Mei Zhihuan, who happened to visit

the grave, noticed that there were hardly any good poem on it. He thought it was

ridiculous for them who had written poems. and that too on the grave of Li Bo. So he too

wrote a poem there:

5. Chinese Literature, Beijing, Autunm 1989, pp.142-143.

6. Peng Chaocheng (Comp.}, Chengyu Gushi Xubian (A Supple-

mentary Reader of Annotated Chinese Proverbs).
Shijiazhuang : Floral Mountain Literature & Art Press,
1986, pp.488-489. Ma Weihe (Camp.}, Xiehouyu Gushixuan
(Selected Stories Based on the Two-Part Allegorical
Sayings}. Guiyang : Guizhou People's Press.1987,
pp . 3 52 - 3 53 ...

7. Li Bo, or Li Taiba (701-762) is the most well-known

and widely-quoted poet of China. His poems are mysti-
cal in nature vis-a-vis the realistic poems of one of
his contemporaries, Du Fu {712-770).

315
 By the river at Caishiji lies a heap of soil,

That belongs to Li Bo--crowned with eternal glory.

Many people going and coming by this way, leave a

couplet here,

It's just like showing off one's proficiency with the

axe before Lu Ban.

A Mantis trying to Stop a Chariot8

Almost similar is the story of a mantis attempting to block the path of a chariot by

stretching its limbs. Once the Prince 9 of the Qi State while riding on his chariot noticed a

mantis holding high its prelimbs and dashing towards the chariot-wheel. From his

charioteer the prince came to know that this insect knew only to advance, only to attack its

enemy. The prince admired its bravery and remarked that it would have been the most

courageous one, had it been a human being. He asked the charioteer not to crush the

mantis to death.

The chariot made a detour. After hearing this incident many brave men came to

the service of the Prince of Qi. They were all moved at how the prince cherished a

creature like mantis. However, a mantis obstructing a chariot assumed the meaning of one

who overrates himself; and lost the original implication of praise.

8. Chapter "Renjianshi" (Human World), Zhuangzi cited in

Beijing Language Institute (Comp.), Chengyu Gushixuan
(Annotated Chinese Proverbs). Beijing : Foreign Lan-
guages Press , 1982, pp. 113-114. Zhao, Yun et al
(Comp.), n.1, pp. 264-265.

9. Prince Zhuang of Qi ruled 553-548 BC. See Zhao, Yun

et al (Comp.), n.1, p.264.

316
Zhu Mei (The Pearl Girl) 10

There was an orphan--a girl of sixteen named Zhu Mei who worked in the house of

a landlord named Feng. She worked hard throughout the year and was very kind to the

poor. One day, when Zhu Mei went to the river bank to wash rice, she saw a little clam
struggling in the shallow waters. She threw a few grains of rice to the clam. It floated up

and ate those grains. Then it disappeared in the water. From then on, Zhu Mei and the

clam became bosom friends.

After a year the clam grew big. One day it gave Zhu Mei a sparkling pearl.
Whenever Zhu Mei went to the bank, the clam used to give her pearls much bigger than

the earlier ones. Once during the Mid-Autumn Festival, Feng invited his affluent friends

and was busy looking at gems and pearls. Feng overheard that Zhu Mei had pearls
brighter than all those exhibited. He tortured Zhu Mei and then wanted to catch the clam.

When the clam appeared before Zhu Mei, Feng wanted to grab it. After a brief

tug-of-war, Feng was pulled by a current deep down into the stream. Th~ clam opened its
shell, a girl came out and pulled Zhu Mei, and together they soared into the sky.

The Crab and the Earthworm 11

Formerly the domineering crab did not have eyes. As it could not see, it could not

catch anything for food. Therefore, it decided to get a pair of eyes. The crab came to
know that prawns had big eyes. So one day it pounced upon a prawn but could not snatch

10. This is a folktale from the northern bank of the Bay of

Hangzhou, that is in the Haiyan County of Zhejiang
Province. Yao Deguan & Yao Xiangsheng (Narr.), 'Zhu
Mei' (The Pearl Girl), in Gu Xijia (Comp.), Hangzhou-
wan de Chuanshuo (The Legends of the Bay of Hangzhou) .
Beijing Chinese Folk Literature & Art Press, 1984,
pp.25-30.

11. Shan Wei (Coll.), 'Pangxie he Qiuyin' (The Crab and the
Earthworm), in Wang Yiqi & Liang Ting (Comp.), Zhongguo
Shuisheng Dongwu Gushiji (Chinese Tales of Aquatic
Animals). Beijing : Chinese Folk Literature & Art
Press, 1984, pp. 199-200.

317
its eyes. Then it heard that the earthworm had big eyes. This time it changed its attitude.

and smilingly flattered the earthworm, saying that the latter was admirable for its social

service to mankind. The crab expressed its willingness to do sorr.ething good for all and

wanted to borrow the earthworm's eyes. The simple-minded earthworm had its own eyes

plucked out with great pain.

The crab after getting the pair of eyes, started acting tyrant. It bullied the weak

every now and then. Moreover, it did not bother to return the eyes to the earthworm.

Other creatures tried to retrieve the eyes for the blind annelid. But the crab was

unreasonable. It defended itself with the help of its hard shell and chelae. After several

quarrels it turned dumb. Whenever it meets anything strange, the crab till to this day tries

to protect the borrowed eyes, thinking that others might snatch them.

With a long coastal belt, China is rich in aquatic wealth. The creatures inhabiting

rivers, seas and oceans have enriched the storehouse of Chinese folk literature. We would

find many aquatic animal tales along the coastline of China.

The Prawns Guide the Jellyfish 12

A pair of prawns were getting married. Many fishes gathered there at the

ceremony. Miss Jellyfish was dancing when suddenly someone reported that the cuttlefish

was coming to kidnap the bride. Only the jellyfish bravely went forward to protect the

prawn pair. This cuttlefish was a local tyrant and a coxcomb, running after pretty girls.

As the cuttlefish tried to carry away the bride, the jellyfish tightly caught the cuttlefish's

tentacles in her mouth. In the ensuing battle the cuttlefish spouted his dark fluid and

blinded the jellyfish. However, the jellyfish broke the cuttlefish's tentacles before

loosening her grip.

12. Yao Dingyi (Coll.) 'Haizhe Xinglu Xia Dangyan'

I (The
Prawn Guides the Jellyfish) Wang & Liang (Comp.),
I

n.ll, pp.ll9-120.

318
 After losing her sight, Miss Jellyfish wept alone sitting on a coral reef. The prawn

bride came by her side and expressed her gratitude. She pledged not to leave Miss

Jellyfish alone. That is why whenever the jellyfish moves in the sea. the prawns act as her

eyes.

The Duke of Chu Beats the Drum 13

Duke Li of Chu once informed his subjects that in case of emergency he would

order the palace-drum beaten, and on hearing the drum they should be galvanized into

action.

One day when the duke was in his cups, he was tipsy as he passed the palace

drum-rack and began beating the drum in drunken excitement. His subjects gathered in

front of the palace in large numbers. An official came out and declared to the crowd that

it was nothing serious and that the duke was amusing himself after drinking. The crowd

dispersed.

Several months later, the subjects heard the drum being beaten again. This time

the State of Chu was really in danger, but none went to the palace where the beating of the

drum sounded all day.

The Red Prawn and the Dragon Dyke 14

Once the Dragon King of the Eastern Sea held a grand competition of crossing a

dyke. Fishes from rivers, lakes and seas took part in it. The prawn knew the carp was

expert in such feats. So in the semi-final round the prawn stealthily grasped the tail of the

carp. As the carp leapt on top of the dyke, the prawn loosened its grip. With a forward

13. Han Fei {Warring States Period) Hanfeizi (The BookI of

Han Fei) cited in Zhong (Comp.) n.3 pp.118-119.1 1

14. Zhu Defang (Narr.) & Guan Wenzu (Coll.) 'Hongxia tiao 1

Longmen' (The Red Prawn Jumps Over the Dragon Dyke) I

Wang & Liang (Comp.) 1 n.11 1 pp. 160-161.

319
thrust it overtook the carp to become first. But the carp discovered the trick. In the final

round, the prawn tried to repeat his trick. This time the carp while crossing the dyke

jerked its tail downwards. The prawn fell against the stone wall and broke its spine.

Fast Grew the Crops 15

In the State of Song there lived a man who thought that the crops in his field were

growing rather slowly. So he pulled the saplings and made them tall. He felt greatly

satisfied at his own endeavour. However, his son felt it quite strange and went to the field

only to find the crops dead.

The Portrait on the Wanted Poster 16

This fable tells us about a runner in a prefectural office who ran off with some

property belonging to the magistrate. The magistrate asked an artist to make a portrait of

the criminal. When the portrait was finished, the magistrate found that it closely

resembled the runner. But he wanted the portrait remade since he felt that the criminal

had been depicted as a hero. This time when the portrait was remade, it resembled the

real man. But the magistrate noticed that the criminal's face looked quite handsome. He

wanted the runner look like a typical criminal, and so sent the painter back with an order

to make the portrait afresh. This time the painter paid no attention to the real appearance

of the runner. Instead he created a clownish face after his free will. The magistrate saw a

portrait with a crooked face with brutal looks, typical of a criminal. He rewarded the

painter and printed several posters. The posters were pasted everywhere in the prefecture.

But none recognised the bandit in the picture because it did not bear the slightest

resemblance to the runner. Consequently, the runner remained undetected, getting off

scot-free. There is a story which has a similar message.

15. Chapter "Gongsun Chou Shangn {To Gongsun Chou), Mengzi

(The Book of Mencius) cited in Zhao, Yun et al (Camp.),
n.1, pp.11-12. Gongsun Chou was a student of Mencius
or Meng Ke (372-289 BC).

16. Chinese Literature, n.S, pp.147-148.

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Who stole the Axe? 17

A man lost his axe arid started suspecting his neighbour's son. He kept a keen

watch on the latter and felt that the latter's voice and every move resembled those of a

thief. After a few days the man found his axe. He had left it on a hill while chopping

firewood. Again he observed his neighbour's son. This time, neither his voice nor his

moves seemed like those of a thief.

Adding Feet to a Snake 18

In the Chu State a few men got a little pot of wine. Since the wme was less

compared to the number of men, they decided to draw a snake on the ground. They also

decided that the one who finishes first would take the wine. One of them finished first,

and taking the pot in his hand he quickly added feet to the snake. Another man who had

finished drawing a snake, said that a snake did not have feet. Saying so. he snatched away

the pot and drank the whole wine.

Can He Ever Reach Chu? 19

As the King of Wei was planning to attack Handan. a person named Ji Liang told

17. Chapter "Shuofu" (On Magic Figures}, Liezi cited in

Zhao, Yun et al (Comp.}, n.1, p.183. Zhong (Comp . },
n.3, pp.156-15~. Lie Yukou was a Taoist. So it is
likely that in this chapter he has talked about magic
figures drawn by Taoist priests to invoke or exorcise
spirits and bring good or ill fortune. Interestingly,
in Chinese, the magic figures and fortune are two
homophonous words (fu) .
18. The second anecdote on the Qi State in Zhanauo ~e
(Anecdotes from the Warring States) cited in Zhao, Yun
et al (Comp.), n.1, pp.l99-200. Hanyu Xiao Cidian (A
Little Chinese Dictionary) , Shanghai : Shanghai Lexi-
cography Press, 1979, p.195.
19. The fourth anecdote on the Wei State in Zhanguo Ce
cited in Tan (Ann.), n.2, pp.46-48. Zhao, Yun et al
(Comp.), n.1, pp.210-211.

321
the king that he had seen someone who was heading northwards on his chariot. And that

the latter told him that he was going to the State of Chu. Ji Liang said that Chu was in the

south, and inquired the reason behind heading northwards. The man on the chariot said

that he had very good horses. Ji said that it was not the road leading to Chu. Yet that

person persisted in saying that he had enough money and a skilled charioteer. Ji pointed

out that even after having these three things. it was impossible to reach Chu since the

direction, in which the person was moving, was wrong. Now that the king of Wei was

trying to become an overlord, Ji said, he should enjoy the trust of the people. After

having crack troops under his command, the king should attack Handan. Ji remarked that

if the king continued to act in a hasty manner, he would rather move far from his

objective. It would be just like going to Chu by moving northwards.

The Taboo of Zhu Yuanzhang 20

There were many haizhu(lit. sea-pigs) in the Yangzi River near Nanjing that often

destroyed the embankment by digging in the earth with their snouts. Once a report

reached Zhu Yuanzhang, the first emperor of the Ming dynasty, informing him of a new

collapse of the embankment near the capital. Zhu Yuanzhang asked his ministers what

could possibly account for the collapse.

The ministers knew well that Zhu Yuanzhang had a lot of taboos and anyone who

violated even one of these would certainly be decapitated. So everyone was extremely

careful in speaking before the sovereign. Who would dare to say that it was haizhu that

caused the damage? Now pig (zhu) was a homophone of the emperor's surname, and the

extermination of an entire family was the last thing the ministers wanted! Fortunately,

there was a quick-witted minister who made up his story in one second. He thought that if

he said it was dayuan (soft-shelled turtle) which had caused damage, the sovereign will

certainly be very happy, because yyrui. the turtle, is a homophone of the Yuan dynasty

20. Jiang Yingke (Ming Dynasty), Xuetao Xiaoshuo (Snow and

Wave Anecdotes) cited in Zhong (Comp.), n.3, pp.83-84.

322
conquered by Zhu Yuanzhang himself. The minister, therefore. said that it was the

damned dayuan that had destroyed the embankment.

Zhu Yuanzhang issued an order to exterminate all the turtles in the city, as well as

m its environs. The luckless turtles became almost extinct, but the sea-pigs went on

riddling the embankment day after day, year after year.

A Grand Tower Base 21

The King of Wei on a sudden impulse once decided to build an extremely high

tower and even had a name for it--Mid-Sky Tower. When the ministers urged him

strongly to change his mind, the king issued a decree saying that whoever dared to advise

against his plan would be executed. However, Xu Wan went to see the king with a spade

on his shoulder. The king asked him what work he could do in the construction. Xu Wan

said that the saying goes that earth is 15,000 li away from the sky. The Mid-Sky Tower

should be 7,500 li high. Such a high tower should need a base of at least 8,000 square li.

But the State of Wei was not as big as the area needed for the base alone. Other territories

have to be conquered. Besides, land should be provided for the builders to live on. land to

store grain and stack timber. Moreover, wider area was needed to plant crops. Xu Wan

thought that such an enormous project could absorb him in one way or the other. The

King of Wei heaved a sigh and rescinded his order.

Free Game 22

King Xuan of Qi once prepared to attack the State of Wei. Chunyu Kun narrated

him a story: Han Zilu was the best hound in the country, while Dongguo Qun was the

cleverest hare. The hound chased the hare for a long time around the mountain. At last

the hare could run no longer, nor did the hound. So both lay dead near the foothill. A

21. Liu Xiang (Western Han Dynasty), Shuoyuan (The Garden

of Anecdotes) cited in Zhong (Cornp.), n.3, pp.135-136.
22. Zhanguo Ce cited in Zhong (Cornp.), n.3, pp.100-101.

323
farmer passing by picked up the dead hound and hare without the slightest effort.

Chunyu Kun warned the king that the powerful Qin and Chu were waiting for the

right moment to cook another hare or hound that he would pick up free of charge. The

soldiers of Qi were exhausted, and the people were in agony. The king thought for a

while and decided not to send troops.

Which is the Original One? 23

Shi Caishu kept a valuable copybook of a famous calligrapher of the Tang dynasty.

Though he was very poor he was reluctant to sell this valuable book. When Wen Yanbo

became a high official in Chang'an, he borrowed this book from Shi Caishu and had it

copied.

One day Wen Yanbo invited many guests to a banquet. During the feast he took

out the two books, the original one of Shi Caishu 's collection, and his copy. He put the

two on the table and asked the guests which was the original one and which the copy. The

guests without exception insisted that Shi Caishu's book was spurious, while Wen Yanbo's

duplicate was the original one. Shi Caishu smiled wryly and said to Wen Yanbo that since

he was poor, his genuine book had turned false.

Father for Son 24

It is said that a Taoist alchemist, who claimed that he had taken cinnabar pills.

looked about twenty but said he was over three hundred years old. Out of admiration.

people swarmed to the alchemist's house for elixir pills. Several court officials called on

the Taoist one day. When all of them were talking, the janitor came in and reported that

the young master had come to see the Taoist. The priest with great reluctance let his son

23. Wang Mingqing (Song Dynasty), Yuzhao Xinzhi (The New

Records of the Illuminating Jade) cited in Zhong
(Camp.), n.3, pp. 144-145.

24. Wang Renyu (Five Dynasties), Miscellany of the Jade

Hall cited in Chinese Literature, Beijing, Summer 1989,
pp. 161-162.

324
m. A silver-haired, crooked old man entered the hall. He fell on his knees and kowtowed

to the Taoist. In a stern voice the father ordered the son into the inner quarters. Then he

turned to the guests and said that his son refused to take the elixir of life, with the result

that he looked senile though he was not yet one hundred years old. That was the reason

why the priest disliked him and kept him in the countryside.

All the guests were even more convinced that the Taoist was an immortal. Later it

came to be revealed secretly that the hunchback was actually the father of the priest.

The Cicada. the Mantis. and the Oriole 25

The King of the Wu State planned to invade the Chu State. He ordered his men to

execute those who would dare to remonstrate against the military expedition. There was a

young imperial bodyguard who wished to dissuade the king from going to war. So with

pebbles and a slingshot in his hands he roamed in the imperial garden. Dewdrops

drenched his clothes as he continued to do so for three consecutive mornings. The king

wanted to know the purpose of such an act. The bodyguard said that a cicada was sitting

on a tree and chirping loudly. But it did not know that a mantis was sitting behind it .

thinking to catch the cicada with its claws. But this mantis was unaware that an oriole was

sitting behind it. This oriole was thinking to peck at the mantis, but was unaware that the

bodyguard was aiming his slingshot at it. All three of them thought of their immediate

interest and did not think of the danger that awaited them at their back. The king said that

it was a good story, and subsequently cancelled the military expedition.

The Lobster-2 6

In the aquatic animal tales we find the Dragon King as the sovereign of the aquatic

25. Chapter "Zhengjian" (Honest Remonstrance), Shuoyuan

cited in Tan (Ann.), n.2, pp.64-65. Zhao, Yun et al
(Comp.), n.l, pp. 293-294.

26. Chen Houbao (Narr.) & Chen Haiou (Coll.), 'Longxia'

(Lobster), in Wang & Liang (Comp.), n.ll, pp.l53-155.

325
world. Once the third princess of the Dragon King of the Eastern Sea had been to the

Southern Sea to watch the excitement of the lunar New Year's day in the human realm.

She watched the fun from the seashore. And as she jumped in great joy, she started

sweating profusely. She put her jade gown into a crevice of a rock. When the tide was

ebbing she hurried back to her palace.

On the ninth day of the lunar year when the princess wanted to go to a party she

could not find her jade gown. The crab general and a shrimp soldier were sent to find it

out from the crevice. Even after frantic search they failed to find out the gown. On

inquiring, the shrimp came to know that it got lost on the New Year's day. As he wanted

to ask more, the crab general snubbed him. The Dragon King told the crab not to return

in case he failed to find out the gown. When the search failed, the crab took refuge under

a rock by the sea. The shrimp asked the king to give him three more days.

On the fifteenth day of the lunar year the shrimp swam to the Southern Sea. At

dusk he returned to the Dragon Palace with the gown. The king asked how he had found

it. The shrimp said that on the New Year's day there was a high tide after which the tide

was low. So there was no question of reaching the crevice all this time. On the fifteenth

day the tide was high again. The water reached up to the crevice. He had thought of this

problem earlier but according to the royal convention he was not allowed to put questions

to his superior.

The Dragon King was amazed at the shrimp's intelligent thoughts. He made the

shrimp the prime minister of the Eastern Sea, gave him a golden armour and golden

whips, and named him 'Dragon Shrimp' (Lobster). The lobsters that we find in seas are

his descendants.

326
Mulian's Descent to Hell 27

The Bodhisattva Mulian had a mother who was both lazy and greedy. She killed

animals and ate them. When he reproached her. she cursed him. causing him much grief.

When she died she was perpetually banished to hell as a punishment for the destruction of

life. So her son spent all his means on priests to pray for her soul. When his money was

exhausted, he became a monk to pray for her himself. By his meritorious acts he became

a Bodhisattva and was able to go to hell to rescue his mother. Seizing her in his arms. he

ran off until he sank exhausted in a field of radishes. His mother, whose torments had

included starvation, pulled up a radish and ate it. Mulian knew that if the ruler of Heaven

were to detect the theft, his mother would stay in hell for eternity. He cut off his finger

and pushed it into the hole from which the radish had been stolen. It grew as a red-cored

radish.

The Whale and the Cuttlefish 28

There lived a whale which used to run amuck all day long, bullying other aquatic

creatures with its rather crude show of strength. One day shoals of fishes held a meeting

and were discussing the possibility of moving into another sea. Only the cuttlefish did not

agree to such an idea, saying that fleeing is not the solution and moreover other seas might

very well have despots like the whale. As they were conversing, the whale came rushing

towards them. All dispersed except the cuttlefish. The whale wanted to swallow the

cuttlefish. But the latter emitted a black liquid that darkened the seawater. The whale got

puzzled. When the darkness disappeared, the whale once more attacked the cuttlefish.

The latter again spouted black liquid. This went on for a long time. The whale became

27. Anthony Christie, Chapter 5 : China, in Richard

Cavendish (Ed.), Mythology: An Illustrated
Encyclopedia. New York : Rizzoli International
Publications, 1980, pp.67-68.
28. Qiu Guoying (Coll.), 'Jingyu he Moyu' (The Whale and
the Cuttlefish), in Wang & Liang (Comp.), n.ll, pp.l35-
136.

327
tired and hungry. The cuttlefish, at an opportune moment, jumped on top of the whale

and pierced its tentacles deep into the crown of the whale's head. The whale felt a terrible

pain and tried its utmost to jerk the cuttlefish down. As its head started aching, the whale

implored the cuttlefish for mercy, and promised that it won't bully the latter anymore.

The cuttlefish made the whale guarantee that it would not harm any fish anymore.

There appeared a little hole on top of the whale's head because the cuttlefish had

penetrated its tentacles for a long time and with great force. The hole has remained till to

this day. We can see the whale spouting water when it surfaces on the sea.

Mister Dongguo and the Wolf9

There was a scholar surnamed Dongguo. One day when his donkey was carrying a

sack full of books, suddenly a wolf came running. It asked Mr. Dongguo to save its life

from the hunters. Mr. Dongguo took pity on the wolf and took out his books to pack the

wolf into his sack. When the hunters came that way, they were intentionally misled by

Dongguo. After the hunters had gone, the wolf came out and wanted to eat the scholar

up. Just then came an old peasant. Dongguo hurried to ask the peasant for a just

settlement. The wolf accused Dongguo of attempted murder. Dongguo said it was out of

pity that he had helped the wolf avert danger. The peasant told them that he could not

believe how a wolf can be packed in a sack. The wolf agreed to demonstrate before the

peasant. Once it entered the sack, the peasant took up his hoe and beat the wolf to death.

The Final Judgment30

There is a story behind the proverb-- "Shui di shi chuan "--dripping water wear~

29. Ma Zhongxi (Ming Dynasty), "Zhongshan Langzhuan" (The

Tales of Wolves of the Zhongshan Kingdom), Dongtianji
(Collected Works of Dongtian) cited in Zhao, Yun et al
(Comp.), n.1, pp. 512-522.
30. Luo Dajing (Song Dynasty), Helin Yulu (Records of the
Crane Forest and Autumn Dew) cited in Peng (Comp.),
n.6, pp. 135-136.

328
through rock. During the Song dynasty a person named Zhang Guaiya 31 became a county

magistrate. One day when a petty official--a treasurer in the county office was going back

home after work, someone discovered a coin in his head-dress. The magistrate arrested

him and as a punishment had him flogged with a stick. The petty official. instead of

admitting his guilt, made an insolent retort. saying that he had only taken a single coin.

He also asked why the magistrate had flogged him, did he intend to execute him for such a

small offence. Zhang Guaiya became infuriated at the official's audacity. He took up his

brush and wrote a couplet:

"One day one coin,

Thousand days a thousand.

A hempen rope can break a Jog,

Dripping water can wear through rock."

The petty official was subsequently decapitated.

4.2 CHINESE FOLK ETHICS: INTERPRETATION

The message behind the story of the Foolish Old Man is that a man reaches his

goal by his hardship and perseverance. He. who makes unremitting efforts. is certainly

rewarded--is an age-old concept that is inculcated through fables in any country of the

world. Unity is strength--is another aspect of this tale. This is actually a fable with a

mythical flavour which was adapted by Mao Zedong at the Seventh Congress of the

31. Literally, 'Guaiya' means unbending or out of harmony

with things in general. Most probably Guaiya was not
the actual name of the magistrate. He was named thus
perhaps because of his uncompromising attitude which
was not compatible with the general practice of the
day.

329
Chinese Communist Party 32 • In his closing address, Mao said that there existed two

mountains--imperialism and feudalism--that lay like a dead weight on the backs of the

Chinese people. In his viewpoint, the God was none other than the masses. And the

people's power was the sole factor that could remove the obstacles. Here the fable has

found a new dimension.

Side by side with perseverance there ought to be some humility. One's

perseverance finds significance when coupled with one's unassuming, modest and

courteous behaviour.

Such is the story of Kun and Peng, where we see a shortsighted bramble finch

living in a little corner, intoxicated with self-satisfaction, and brimming with ideas of

inertia and complacency. Its world is tiny, and its capability is limited. But it does not

hesitate to ridicule the gigantic Peng that soars into the sky with its magnificent wings.

The finch thinks that it is foolish on the part of Peng to fly so high. Its vision is so short

that it fails to understand the aspiration of Peng. The message is--do not befool yourself

by underestimating others' aspirations and capabilities.

Similar is the fable of Xue Tan learning songs from Qin Qing which tells us that

one has to be patient and modest in learning, delve deep into a subject before becoming

expert in that field. It is a warning against being satisfied with a smattering of a subject.

So powerful, so splendid was the voice of Qin Qing that Xue Tan came to realize that he

had become self-complacent. Xue Tan corrected his mistake immediately. In the legalist

interpretation of present-day China, such self-rectification is commendable when one is

aware of one's own errors. But when errors are committed in a recurrent manner even

after knowing the grave consequenceS, none can salvage the ones who commit such errors.

32. The Seventh Party Congress was held at Yan'an from

April 23, 1945 to June 11, 1945. Mao delivered the
lecture titled "Yugong Yi Shan" (The Foolish Old Man
who Removed the Mountains) in his closing address on
the last day. See Mao Zedong Xuanji (Selected Works of
Mao Zedong). One-volume edition. Beijing People's
Press, 1968, pp.lOOl-1004.

330
 The story "The Termites' Meetings in the Pavilion" conveys the message that

self-deceit only brings self-destruction. This fable is clearly a dig at the bureaucratic

structure of a society where many sound ideas are proposed and resolutions are drafted,

sounding drastic measures that would never be adopted in future. The termites represent

the bureaucrats who are concerned only with their individual interest, and are callous

about the general interest. The degeneration of a social system and the decay of social

institutions have been portrayed through the collapse of the pavilion. The dissipated life

led by mandarins have been ridiculed, for such a mode of living proved to be self-ruinous.

The futile exercise of high-sounding words by bureaucrats with no result whatsoever is

what the fable intends to condemn.

Like the bureaucrats, equally contemptible are the ones who without much

credibility pose themselves as great scholars. Such pseudo-scholars who overrate

themselves as poets have been derided by Mei Zhihuan in his couplet.Mei Zhihuan draws

an analogy between such random jottings and projecting of one's skill before Lu Ban--a

master craftsman during the Spring and Autumn, and the Warring States Period. This is a

reminder that ostentation would only expose one's inferiority before the expert. Such

display also amounts to making a fool of oneself before others.

The danger of conceit has also been taught through the lack of self-knowledge

projected by the mantis before the king's chariot. This fable is a lesson to those who are

not aware of their limitations. The colour of commendation of the original tale has long

been erased. The mantis which was praised for its bravery, was later considered as

arrogant and conceited. The Prince of Qi had the ability to appreciate the courage of the

mantis. But in the eyes of the common people, it was a shameless challenge. Even the

charioteer looked at the mantis with contempt and wanted to crush it under his wheels.

The viewpoint of the Prince and his subjects differed because the Prince by his own virtue

recognized the inherent quality of a mantis and treated it with affection. Whereas the

subjects maintained that the mantis' behaviour was audacious.

331
 Self-conceit is part of the general human nature. Shunning of self-conceit is part of

the teachings of human culture or values. Another aspect that comes under human values.

is reciprocity.

Perhaps almost all countries of the world have a common theme in fables, that is,

those who are kindhearted are rewarded. Zhu Mei was rewarded for her kindheartedness

by the clam which not only gave her bright pearls but also punished the landlord for his

greed. This is a relationship based on reciprocity: good for good, bad for bad. Zhu Mei

was treated with gratitude for feeding the clam. whereas the landlord went to his doom for

trying to harm the clam.

Such reciprocity can also be seen in the story of Miss Jellyfish whose kindness was

requitted with gratitude. But there are persons who requite kindness with ingratitude.

There is serious breach of trust where friendly feelings meet with treachery.

In the story "The Crab and the Eanhworm", the crab did not cherish the friendly

feelings of the earthworm who had not suspected the crab and had lent its eyes with an

open heart. The crab, instead of feeling indebted to the earthworm, resorted to treachery.

It not only did not return the pair of eyes, but also made use of them to bully others. It

also cunningly guarded against taking away of the eyes by anyone who demanded justice

for the earthworm.

Similar is the story "The Earthworm and the Shrimp" 33 • After borrowing the eyes

of the earthworm, the shrimp was overcome by a wicked idea. It jumped into the water

and disappeared. The earthworm was left groping in the dark. But a guilty conscience

worked within the shrimp, and that is why it always took shelter amidst the water-weeds

out of fear and suspicion. Neither the crab, nor the shrimp acted like a friend. The persons

who turn ungrateful after getting help have been represented by the crab and the shrimp.

33. Zhongguo Dongwu Gushiji (Animal Tales of China). Shang-

hai : Shanghai Literature & Art Press, 1978, pp.11-12.

332
 Diametrically opposite is what we see in the story of the jellyfish and prawns. The

prawns did not forget the spirit of self-sacrifice of Miss Jellyfish. They properly cherished

her friendship and gave the price for her turning blind by accompanying her on her way.

In all these tales the lesson is, do not be ungrateful to your benefactor; friendship

must be properly cherished. The friendship between the jellyfish and the prawns is based

on trust. But mistrust grows out of one's disrespect for and callousness towards others.

The story of Duke Li of Chu beating drums reminds us of the tale of a shepherd

boy who made a joke of the villagers by calling them for help when there wasn't any wolf

around. When the wolf really came and the boy shouted for help, the villagers did not

turn up thinking it a hoax. Therefore the lesson is--do not act in an irresponsible

manner--trust once lost might bring your ruin. In spite of an imperial order, the people

did not go to the palace because Duke Li of Chu had disappointed them in an earlier

occasion by behaving in an irresponsible manner. The duke did not tender an apology.

The people lost faith in him. They ignored the alarm, thinking it as another fanciful

humour.

The king lost his reputation by proving himself a liar. Such untruthful behaviour

can be found in the tale of the prawn leaping across the dyke. The prawn resorted to

unjustful and unethical means to surpass the carp. This is representative of those who try

to be on top by hook or by crook. But this fable gives a warning that tricks cannot go on

forever. Before the prawn could understand that tricks can never last long, it lost

consciousness and became a matter of ridicule. The trickster was exposed and all its

credibility were lost.

What we have just discussed are general human values that have perseverance.

humility, modesty, reciprocity and trust as themes. Now we would examine some

particular Chinese characteristics.

333
 Pulling saplings to let them grow. though rare in this world, actually speaks of

such persons who lack patience in doing things. They are over-anxious for quick results.

Some desire to see instant effect even without hardship. Excessive enthusiasm only spoils

things. It is not only counterproductive but also destructive in nature. Everything in the

universe has its own law of development. Violation of the objective law brings no

success. This is an example of Chinese pragmatism. Here, the man failed to consider time

as the crucial factor for the growing of crops. Similar was the case of the man who killed

his goose to extract golden eggs all at a time. Such realistic and objective outlook of the

Chinese has been reflected in the story WThe Portrait on the Wanted Posterw. A culprit

would not necessarily look like a hardened criminal. He might very well look handsome

and heroic. In this story the painter has been made to create a clownish face in order to

satisfy the magistrate's subjective vision of the runner. In the process a portrait was made

far from objective reality. This defeated the purpose of getting the culprit arrested.

Chinese realism has also given rise to the story of the man who lost his axe and

started suspecting that his neighbour had stolen it. This was wishful thinking which in

philosophy can be termed as subjective idealism. This story teaches us that subjectivism

leads nowhere. Every action needs prior verification. The man's suspicion was

unfounded and thus he violated the objective law of verifying and then reaching a

conclusion. This story is typically Chinese because the Chinese generally advocate

seeking truth from facts--shishi qiu shi. They themselves hardly indulge in accepting

things without proper verification. Imagination always takes the back seat.

In the story of adding feet to a snake, we once again discover the non-imaginative,

realistic outlook of the Chinese. Adherence to reality is characteristic of the Chinese. A

snake is a reptile that does not have feet. The feet added to the snake, in fact, robbed its

very nature and thus departed from objective reality. So the lesson is that doing something

superfluous ruins the effect. The man who drew feet to a snake, tried to be clever only to

end up with a blunder. His lost chance of having the pot of wine was actually the loss

334
created by his own subjectivism. We see such unrealistic attitude in the tale of the man

who tried to go south.

The tale of trying to go south by driving the chariot north tells us not to act in a

way that defeats one's purpose. The lesson is that whatever be the matter. firstly the

direction must be rightly ascertained. One's action and objective must be consistent,

otherwise one's goal would remain unattainable. however great his vigour might be. This

is an example of Chinese pragmatism.

Similar is the story of a wineshop 34 in the State of Song which sold excellent wine.

The owner was polite to his customers. But his trade instead of being brisk virtually

attracted none. The wine turned sour. The reason was that he kept a fierce dog which

barked at and even bit the customers. None was willing to take the risk of being bitten by

the dog. For the owner, it was sheer wastage of time and energy making good wine. It

was a self-defeating exercise with a fierce watchdog at his wineshop.

Such futility is also noticed in the story of Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang's taboo. Here

we notice the practice of shunning the use of 'sacred' names. Such superstitious

avoidance of emperors' names was very common in Chinese history. Originally Heng E

was the name of the lady who stole the elixir of immortality and flew to the moon. She

later became the moon goddess. But when her first name Heng was later found to be

homophonous with the personal name of the Han emperor Wudi (156-87 BC), it was

changed to Chang E because of the taboo of uttering the emperor's name. So was the

taboo of Zhu Yuanzhang who used to persecute people for negligible offence.. So scared

were his ministers that they had to tell a lie in order to save their heads. The innocent

turtles became the victims of the imperial wrath. The minister who said that it was dayuan

that had been responsible for the collapse of the embankment, actually resorted to flattery

and also wished to save his skin. But the purpose of exterminating the sea pigs was not

34. "Meij iu yu Egou" (Good Wine and a Fierce Dog) , Hanfeizi

cited in Zhong (Comp.), n.3, pp.72-73.

335
served. The lesson is that it is better to call a spade a spade in an ingenious manner.

Others might argue that it is better not to call a spade a spade when life is at stake.

The question of realism did not occur either to Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang, or to the

kings of Wei and Qi.

In the stories of the Mid-Sky Tower, and King Xuan's decision to invade the State

of Wei, we notice that both the King of Wei and King Xuan of Qi took hasty decisions,

unmindful of the hardship involved in the entire process and later their consequences.

Theirs were not well-thought plans but whimsies out of sudden impulse. Xu Wan and

Chunyu Kun saved the kings from probable disaster. thus imparting a lesson--think well

before taking an action. Fonunately the kings did not have the prejudice of being

infallible.

We already know that the human world is riddled with prejudices. One of the

prejudices is that against the poor. The story of Shi Caishu and Wen Yanbo conveys the

message that prejudice nullifies truth. The story exposes the hypocrisy of the ruling class,

and the fallacy of their statement. Attempts by the rich to project themselves as superior

to the poor in every respect has also been exposed. The elites, who attended the banquet.

of Wen Yanbo, indulged in flattery. Mutual hobnobbing between gentries was very

common in China. For the sake of sycophancy, truth was distoned to any extent--as we

see how the original copy was promptly dubbed as false. The prejudice that worked

behind such falsification was very much in vogue in feudal China. This story is an

example of Chinese adherence to empiricism. The Chinese generally emphasize on

seeking truth from empirical knowledge. Magic or the art of obtaining mysterious results

by tricks is opposed to empiricism.

In the story "Father for Son" we find that those fond of Taoist magic were cheated

like innocent children. The obscurantism involved in magic did not appeal to the Chinese

who prefer empirical knowledge rather than dogma. The unscientific approach of the

Taoists in extending one's life span by consuming elixir pills, or curing diseases by magic,

336
amounted to swindling. The Taoist thoughts were seen with sceptic eyes and subsequently

the Taoist priests were rejected as swindlers. We have already seen how Fahai 35 duped

and put the White Lady to torture. He robbed Buddha of his triratna, and was later

punished severely. The people rejected his wickedness, his tyrannic attitude, and sent him

to oblivion. In this story the message is clear--do not believe the Taoist magicians.

As a caution has been sounded against magic and magicians, similarly a warning.

against coveting gains ahead without considering the danger behind, has been given

through the fable of the mantis stalking the cicada. unaware of the oriole behind. This

projects the cautious steps taken by the Chinese in taking important decisions. They

prefer to handle every matter with circumspection. This fable is a satire on those who

keep their eyes on immediate gains and do not take precautions against uprooting the

future trouble. It exhorts us to heighten our vigilance and remove the hidden peril.

However, the ones who could not foresee the imminent disaster, unknowingly

invited their death.

In this context, another story can be thought of--a tale behind the proverb--yu bang

xiang chi. yuren de li 36 -- when the snipe and the clam grapple, the fisherman profits. It is

the third party that benefits from the tussle. The lesson is that the weak ones should not

enter into feud, otherwise the apparently strong enemy would capitalize by exterminating

both. This phrase was particularly used at a time when the powerful Qin Shihuang was

trying to annex all the small kingdoms and establish a centralized feudal empire. The

small kingdoms were fighting with each other only to be weakened further and

subsequently liquidated by Qin. Here a message of caution has been conveyed in regards

35. See "Baishe Zhuan" (The Story of the White Snake) in

Xihu Minjian Gushi Caise Lianhuanhua Congshu (Folktales
of West Lake Picture-Story Book Series) . Hangzhou
Zhejiang People's Fine Arts Press, 1986.
36. The second anecdote on the Yan State in Zhanguo Ce
cited in Tan (Ann.), n.2, pp.49-51. Zhao, Yun et al
(Comp.), n.l, pp.214-215.

337
to maintaining of peace and harmony between smaller princely states against the common

enemy--the State of Qin. Whereas Qin was considered a bigger enemy by the princely

states, it was also necessary to be on alert against smaller enemies within the society.

Such was the case of Zhang Guaiya who carefully dealt with the treasurer guilty of theft.

The treasurer could have saved his head had he admitted his guilt, and obeyed the

orders of his superior. The Confucian notion of hierarchy and obedience is evident. So it

is evident in the story of the shrimp, which later became a lobster.

Confucius advocated the theory of obedience to the orders of superiors by their

subordinates. A subject should always obey the orders of and be loyal to his monarch,

such is the Confucian ethics 37 • The shrimp soldier was snubbed by the crab general for

enquiring the whereabouts of the jade gown before going for a second search. It did not

have the guts to put further inquiries to the Dragon King. All the subjects were supposed

to adhere to the ethical code of blind obedience. That is why complication cropped up in

the entire process of searching out the gown. The crab general had to go to exile for its

unaccomplished task. The tale points at the futile exercise of adhering to Confucian

thoughts of hierarchy and obedience when the objective is at stake. Whatever be the

message, whatever be the criticism on Confucian thoughts, such hierarchic structure and

37. Wulun or the five human relationships, as advocated by

Confucius, behove the subjects to be loyal (zhong) to
their ruler; a son to do filial piety (xiao) to his
father; a younger brother to be modest (ti) towards his
elder brother; a wife to be obedient (shun) to her
husband; and friends to treat each other as equals.
Four of the Wulun or Tianlun (mutual obligation) with
the 'superior-inferior' equation can be illustrated
thus:

Loyalty Filial Piety Modesty Obedience\

£.9 Subjjt I Father Son

\ / Elder Younger
\ HLband Wife

\ J \
Benevolence Benevolence
J
brother brother

\
Benevolence
J \ Benevolence
)
338
 However, a happy life does not mean a life without problems, nor does it mean a

life with an all-embracing universal love. In the story of Mister Dongguo and the nasty

wolf, we find universal love without distinction advocated by the philosopher Mo Di,

popularly known as Mozi (c.468-376 BC). Such a philosophy has been satirized,

projecting Mister Dongguo, a believer in Mohism. as a person unable to distinguish

friends and enemies. The fate of Mister Dongguo proves the fallacy of universal love

without distinction. The fable teaches not to help harmful, treacherous beings or they will

bring harm. Therefore, a treacherous creature like the wolf can never be treated with

kindness. That is how the wolf met its end.

Similarly, we see how Zhang Guaiya showed no mercy to the erring official. The

story of Zhang Guaiya's judgement conveys the message that small error if not corrected,

develops into a big crime. The philosophy of Han Fei (c.280-233 BC) contributed greatly

to the legalist system of China. According to the postulates of Han Fei, ministers should

not be shielded from getting punishment for their crimes; ordinary men should not be left

out from getting reward for good deeds. 39 Han Fei also says that a ruler should not

devote his efforts to morals but should strictly adhere to law. 40 In the same line is the

criminal law of China which stipulates that a convicted person should be treated with

leniency for his clear confession, but stringent measures should be taken against those who

do not admit their guilt. 41

39. Chapter "Youdu" (Laws and Statutes), Hanfeizi cited in

Cihai, n.38, p.l991.

40. Chapter "Dingfa" (Formulation of Law), Hanfeizi cited

in Cihai, n.38, p.1991.
41. 'We must implement Chairman Mao's policies of "leniency
towards those who confess their crimes and severe
punishment of those who refuse to do so" .... ', wrote
Lin Piao, Report to the Ninth National Congress of the
Communist Party of China (Delivered on April 1 and
adopted on April 14, 1969). Beijing : Foreign Languages
Press, 1969, p.56.

340
pattern of obedience still exist in China and many other traditional societies of the world.

Such societies, mainly in the Orient, inculcate dutifulness and obedience to one's parents.

The story of Mulian 38 and his mother conveys the message of filial piety. The

exhausting of all his resources and lastly becoming a monk, demonstrated Mulian's deep

sense of filial duty. In spite of his mother's wickedness, he did not lose respect for his

mother. His trip to the nether world shows his deep concern for his mother and a

commitment to salvage her from hellish torments. Mulian's selflessness reached a climax

when he cut his own finger to replace the stolen radish.

In China, filial piety is still considered one of the greatest virtues of a man. One is

generally considered to have earned merits if he or she sacrifices life for the sake of one's

parents. Such was the case of the widow who took care of her father-in-law, and jumped

to death to put an end to slanders. But the Goddess of Taishan did not let her die because

the widow had earned merits by rightfully serving the old man. So was the story of the

widow who cut her own flesh to fulfil her mother-in-law's wish to have meat.

Mulian sacrificed his finger to rectify his mother's error. When rectification does

not come from the side of the offender, then punishment awaits him. In the battle between

the aquatic mammal and the mollusc, the seemingly weak cuttlefish signalled an

overwhelming victory over the gigantic whale. Here the moral lesson is--do not bully the

weak or they can teach you a good lesson. The attitude of the cuttlefish was to confront

the tyranny of the whale with courage. Not the least of escapism did creep into its mind.

The exploitation of fisherman by local tyrants has given rise to such tale where the former

could voice their struggle against despots and their aspiration for a happy life.

38. Mulian Ru Diyu Gushi (Mulian's Descent to Hell) is

actually a tale of Buddhist origin. Mulian is the
Chinese transliteration of Maudgalyayana, one of the
root disciples of Buddha. Cf. Lu Xun, Zhongguo Xiao-
shuo Shilue, Yang Xianyi & Gladys Yang (Tr.), A Brief
History of Chinese Fiction. Beijing : Foreign Languages
Press, 1976, p.132. Cihai (Chinese Encyclopaedia).
Reduced format. Shanghai: Shanghai Lexicography Press,
1979, pp. 1665, 1686.

339
 The petty official who stole a com, was executed by Zhang Guaiya for his

impudence. Moreover, he had shamelessly defended himself without admitting his guilt.

A seemingly minor offence can turn into a major crime if not corrected at the right

moment. As tiny water-drops make an ocean, so falling drops of water have the potential

to bore through rocks if things go on for a very long time. Likewise a petty thief can

become a notorious bandit if given the opportunity to rob others for a long time.

Therefore Zhang Guaiya found it necessary to destroy the seed of further embezzlement

before it could germinate.

4.3 TffiETAN FOLK ETHICS: NARRATION

We already know that the spiritual civilization of Tibet grew up on the basis of

religious teachings from India, though materially Tibet was mostly dependent upon China.

Religious practices became one of the major preoccupations of the Tibetans--living in an

unfriendly terrain and experiencing horrendous weather. Where life expectancy is terribly

low, the Tibetans found it all right to take refuge in Buddho-Tantric practices for spiritual

solace. Prayer, worship and meditation, gods and demons, sages and devils became part

and parcel of this god-fearing people. For more than a thousand years the Tibetans have

accepted and assimilated various ethical norms both from India and China. However. it

was Buddhism which taught the Tibetans that one's virtue lies in his being good, honest

and kindhearted towards all sentient beings. At the same time, the Tibetans in Tibet got

unconsciously influenced by the pragmatic and empiric outlook of the Chinese. The

Tibetan stories on popular morality remained stored in the memories and were transmitted

orally with constant modification from one generation to the other just ·Jike the sruti

tradition of India. 42 Again, it has to be pointed out that folktales and fables which are

part of the Little Tradition, got entirely submerged by the surge of the preachings of the

Great Tradition. Thus what we find now are tales which were written down very recently

42. The Vedas, the Upanishads, and the two epics the
Ramayana and the Mahabharata were handed down from one
generation to the other by the word of mouth.

341
after remaining unrecorded for a long time.

The Bird of Happiness43

This folktale recalls that long ago there was an extremely desolate area in Tibet

which had neither rivers nor fertile land, neither warmth nor fresh flowers, neither trees

nor green grass. The people living there suffered from hunger and cold. They only

yearned to see the Bird of Happiness that lived on top of a snowy mountain far away in the

east. Wherever the bird flew, happiness went with it. But this bird was guarded by three

monsters who killed those who sought happiness.

One year, a bright boy named Wangyal was sent to find the Bird of Happiness.

Wangyal walked eastwards for several days till he reached a mountain. There an old

monster appeared and asked him to kill Lobsang's mother. But Wangyal refused to do so.

As a result the monster changed the smooth road into a scree. Every stone on it was as

sharp as a knife. The soles of Wangyal's shoes were ripped apart, then his feet and hands

were torn badly. Later he crawled. And his clothes, knees and shoulders were torn.

After covering hundreds of miles, Wangyal met the second monster. This monster

asked him to poison old Tsering. But Wangyal refused to do so. As a result the monster

snatched his bread-bag and turned the mountains and rivers into a boundless desert.

Wangyal set off again. As he covered hundreds of miles, Wangyal was so hungry that he

felt terrible pain in his stomach. He suffered from starvation.

At the end of his journey through the desert, Wangyal was nothing but skin and

bone. There in his path stood another monster. This time Wangyal was asked to gouge

young Perna's eyeballs. But he refused to do so. The monster gouged Wangyal's eyeballs

and made him blind. Groping his way with his hands, Wangyal crawled several hundred
miles. He clambered to the peak of a snow-covered mountain, and there he heard the

43. John Minford (Tr.), Favourite Folktales of China. Beij-

ing : New World Press, 1983, pp.81-86.

342
I
voice of the Bird of Happiness. The bird caressed Wangyal and sang for him. He could

see again, and all his wounds were healed. The bird gave him some food and bore him

back to his village. With three loud cries, the bird gave the village the golden sun, warm

breeze, stretches of forest, mountains full of flowers and fruits, songs of birds, green

grassy fields and rivers. The people of that place lived happily ever after.

The Monkey and the Frog 44

In this story, it is said that a monkey became friendly with a frog. They often used

to play by the lakeside. One day the frog invited the monkey to his home beneath the

lake. The frog took the monkey on his back and went down into the lake. The frog had

heard that the monkey's heart can cure a hundred ailments. So he decided to kill the

monkey. The frog told the monkey that he needed the latter's heart to cure his mother's

illness. The monkey said even after such long friendship, it was unfortunate that the frog

was unaware that monkeys keep their hearts hanging from trees.

The frog brought the monkey back to the shore. The monkey quickly climbed up a

big tree and asked the frog to open his mouth so that he could put the heart in it. The frog

opened his mouth. Then the monkey defecated straight down into the frog's mouth and

laughed joyously.

A Donkey and a Tiger45

Once a tiger wanted to eat a donkey. But the latter advised the former to wait till

he became fat and eat him in winter. When winter came, they had a race on the snow.

The donkey could hardly match the tiger, so he said that he was lagging behind since he

had been busy writing something on the snow. The tiger admired this scholarly donkey,

and decided to befriend him.· As a friendly gesture the tiger offered his service to protect

the donkey from danger. He asked the donkey to bray only to raise alarm when other wild

44. See n.33, p.114.

45. See n.33, pp. 102-104.

343
animals bully him. The donkey was so happy at the prospect of getting such security from

the tiger that he brayed loudly. The tiger. which was roaming in the jungle. came running

and found that it was nothing. The same thing happened the second time. This time the

tiger went back not very happily. Then one day a pack of wolve.s came. The donkey

brayed but the tiger thought it was again a hoax. So he ignored the cry totally. And the

wolves devoured the donkey and went off.

The Cat and the Mice 46

In the Tibetan-speaking areas of Sichuan. we find this story. One day a cat told the

mice that he had become a Grand Lama, and like a Living Buddha he was going to recite

holy texts before them. The cat declared that he had already stop~ taking meat, and that

he survived on green grass and dewdrops. The cat sat on an altar and explained the virtue

of being vegetarian.
. After hearing the eat's sermon, the mice crowded at the exit. As they

were going out, the cat jumped down from his altar, caught and ate the mouse that was

lying at the end of the crowd. Thus the cat went on eating one mouse a day. After some

time it struck to the mice that there were very little left of them. So one day they

stealthily examined the eat's stool and found the body hair of mice.

Next day the mice presented a bell to the cat as a 'sign of respect' which the cat

wore around his neck. After the session. the cat as usual came from behind to catch his

prey. All the mice looked back at the sound of the bell and ran off. calling the cat a

hypocrite.

The Fox that Became a King 47

Similar is the story of a fox who became the king of all quadruped. A greedy fox

fell in a barrel full of dye. When he came out, he had a strange colour all over his body.

None in the forest could recognize him. He proclaimed himself as the king of the

46. See n.33, pp.l23-124.

47. See n.33, pp.92-93.

344
.quadruped sent from heaven. He rode an elephant. His bodyguards were the lions. Once

'he wished to see his mother and asked her to come to the court. But his mother refused to

'see him after she came to know about her son's tyrannic acts. The messenger who was a

~fox saw that the king's mother was a fox. He informed everybody that the king was a fox.

The elephant asked the foxes to howl. The king howled at hearing the cries of his

brethren. The elephant in a rage threw the fox down from his back and trampled him

under his feet.

'The Beetle that Stole a Cow 48

Once a beetle, a thread of wool and a blade of grass decided to steal a cow. A cow

:was stolen. The woollen thread said that it would ride the cow. The blade of grass said

·that it would pull the cow. And the beetle said that it would drive the cow.

They gladly walked by a bridge. Suddenly the cow ate the grass. Wind blew the

woollen thread down into the river. And the beetle got buried under a big heap of

.cowdung.

"Ku-tung" 49

This is a popular animal tale. By the side of a lake there was a papaya grove in

which lived six hares. Once a papaya got ripened and fell into the water from a tall tree.

The sound "ku-rung" of the falling papaya scared the hares out of their wits. They ran off

. ·as fast as they could. The fox asked what made them run. The hares said that "ku-tung"

was commg. So the fox too staned running. The monkey asked the fox and after

·knowing that ·ku-rung" was coming the monkey too sped away. So did the deer, boar.

48. See n.33, p.l46.

49. Wang Yinuan (Tr.), in Nationalities Literature Compila-
tion Section, Chinese Language & Literature Department,
Central Nationalities Institute (Comp.), Zhongguo
Shaoshu Minzu Yuyan Gushixuan (Selected Stories and
Fables of the Chinese Ethnic Minorities) . Lanzhou
Gansu People's Press, 1985, pp.49-51. Also see n.33,
pp.84-86.

345
buffalo, rhino, elephant, bear, leopard, tiger and lion. The more they ran. the more they

felt scared. A big-maned lion living at the foothills. asked those creatures why they were

running, and came to know that the hares had spread the news of "ku-tung". The hares

led him to the papaya grove. At that very moment another papaya fell into the water and

emitted the sound "ku-tung". The big lion pointed out to them the reason behind the

sound "ku-tung". and scolded them for their folly. The animals realized that they had

been running in vain, and heaved a sigh of relief.

The Mute Girl 50

Three friends--Phuntsok, the son of a chief: Wangdu, the son of a rich man: and

Topgyal, the son of a poor man used to solve their problems in a cooperative manner.

Once they came to know that there was a beautiful, gentle and clever girl in a valley who

used to remain mute to her suitors. So they decided to try their luck in marrying the girl.

Phuntsok went to the girl's house with lots of gold. silver and other gifts. Even

after a lot of effort he failed to make the girl speak. Wangdu also met with failure since

the girl had turned a blind eye towards his show of wealth. Finally, it was Topgyal's turn.

On his way to the valley, he gave some tsampa to a hungry old woman who happened to

know the secret behind the girl's muteness. Topgyal was told that the girl had a strange

thought of being a skylark originally. With her husband and babies she lived happily till

one day when a flood washed away their babies and they too were drowned in their effort
to save them. She was reborn as a thrush, and a fire lit by a boy destroyed their nest. In

grief they too threw themselves in flames. Then she was reincarnated as a tigress.

Tragedy befell them again when a hunter killed them all. So the girl believed that

marriage led to misery.

Topgyal went to the girl's house and drew her attention by narrating the stories of
reincarnation in a way as if he were her husband who had suffered the same misfortune

50. Norbu Chophel, Folk Tales of Tibet. Dharamsala :

Library of Tibetan Works & Archives, 1989, pp.l52-156.

346
like her. The girl vowed not to be parted with Topgyal. And so they got married.

Phuntsok and Wangdu kept their promises by giving half of their property to Topgyal.

The mute girl was no longer troubled by her tragic past.

Fisherman's Luck 51

A poor man used to prepare fish-paste near the tow-path of the river where he

caught fish. He earned his livelihood by selling the fish-paste in the market. One day a

monk, who was passing that way, admonished the fisherman for earning a bad after-life by

killing fish in the cauldron. The monk lifted up the heavy burning-hot cauldron and emp

tied its ten-gallon content at a single gulp. He thought to teach a lesson to the fisherman

for committing a sin. The fisherman put it politely that the monk had also committed a sin

by swallowing all the fish. Then the monk spewed out all the fish into the river. Once in

water, these fish became alive. The fisherman was bewildered at the feat performed by

the monk. The monk told the fisherman that he had to stop the latter from boiling the

fish, otherwise he would have shared the fisherman's sin. He also advised the fisherman

to do his fishing at an obscure place where none could see. The fisherman thought it was

his luck that one day he would be nibbled away bit by bit by all kinds of fish.

The Meditator and the ThieP 2

A simple, pious man lived in a cave. His only notable possession was a set of

seven silver bowls for offering water to the gods on his altar. A thief was tempted to steal

the monk's treasure. One night when the thief went to steal the bowls he saw the monk

asleep. Slowly he extended his hand to steal the bowls. In fact, the monk was sitting

upright, meditating. He caught the thiefs hand and beat it soundly, chanting that he took

refuge in the Guru, the Buddha, the Dharma and the Sangha. Then he set the thief free.

The thiefs hand was badly bruised but he could memorize the meditator's words. He

51. Sudhin N. Ghose, Tibetan Folk Tales and Fairy Stories.

Calcutta : Rupa & Co., 1992, pp.49-50.
52. Chophel, n.SO, pp.69-71.

347
recited them on his way home. On the way he saw a couple of figures approaching him.

They were ghosts. But when they heard his prayers. they disappeared. The thief did not

succeed in stealing but succeeded in saving himself from ghosts.

The Ori2in of a Popular Saying 53

This story is almost identical in essence with the preceding tale. An old woman

earnestly asked a trader to bring her a saint's relic from India. The trader promised to

comply with her request, but being busy in India forgot his promise. However, on his
way back he saw the skeleton of a dog that reminded him of the woman's request. He

broke off a tooth from its jawbone. Then he wrapped it in a silk scarf after wiping it

clean, and gave it to the unsuspecting supplicant, terming it as the tooth of Sariputra54 .

The old woman thanked the trader and with deep veneration placed it on her altar.

She worshipped it with devotion every day. Later some other fervent devotees joined her

to pray before the tooth. The trader laughed at their superstitious act and credulity.
However, later the trader and others were astonished to find rays of brilliance from the

dog's tooth which had already transformed into a truly holy relic.

The Dumb Cripple 55 .

A fine boy named Abja was endowed with the gift of recollecting the experiences
of his previous life. He remembered that in his past incarnation he had visited some seats
of sin and iniquity. He also recollected the wrong answers he had given. So Abja decided
to behave like a dumb and paralyzed cripple. His foster-mother, being very sympathetic
towards his 'plight', spent whatever she could in order to cure Abja. All the physicians

concluded that Abja was pretending to be dumb and cripple. His foster-mother thought
where medicine had failed, miracle was the only remedy. But her hectic running were all

53. Ghose, n.51, p.94.

54. Sariputra was Buddha's favourite companion. See n.53.

55. Ghose, n.51, pp.36-45.

348
I
in vain. Totally exhausted, she finally gave Abja to the Governor for proper care and

cure. From his physician, the Governor got confirmed of Abja's pretension. He asked

the public executioner to take Abja to the execution ground in order to see his reaction.

After quite a few trials when Abja refused to speak in front of the Governor. he

was ordered to be buried alive. The boy now thought that he was going to commit a crime

by aiding in his own burial while still alive. Besides, the executioner felt sorry for Abja.

At last Abja changed his mind and spoke before the Governor. Finding the boy quite

clever, the Governor sent him to a convent according to the boy's wish. The lamas found

him very intelligent. In due course, he became a famous teacher himself.

Flamingoes of the Manasa Lake 56

At the approach of winter one morning the flamingoes of Tibet's Manasa Lake

decided to migrate to the south to Lake Chilka57 • To reach their destination soon, they

flew non-stop during the night. As they neared the palace of King Janasruti, one of their

two leaders, Longbeak told the other named Shortsight that King Janasruti was famed far

for his piety and wisdom, and that he wished his people to share his prosperity and

bounty. Longbeak also told Shortsight that the king's fame was so great that it covered the

whole sky. So it was disrespectful to fly right over his palace. But Shortsight objected to

such an observation. He said that Raikva the Sage, who lay under his broken hand-can.

was a poor but wise man--wiser than any king. Shortsight also pointed out that acts of

piety or deeds of charity, whatever good folks might do. the merit was Raikva's.

As the flamingoes winged further away from the palace, the conversation between

Longbeak and Shortsight became lost to the hearing of King Janasruti who was watching

56. Ghose, n.51, pp.1-3.

57. Lake Chilka (literally, lagoon), situated in the State

of Orissa, is the largest (72 km. long and 16 km. wide)
lake of India. Formerly this lake was a part of the
Bay of Bengal. See Gita Dutta & Mrinal Dutta, Bhraman
Sangi (Tour Guide), in Bengali, Calcutta: Asia Publish-
ing Company, 1991, p.230.

349
the night sky from his roof-top. The king went back to his bed and spent a sleepless night.

His mind was occupied with the thought that whatever he had done was nothing compared

with the deeds of Raikva. He remained obsessed with what Shortsight had told Longbeak

: A kingdom is great but for its sages and saints. Raikva might be sleeping under the

stars, but he is a sage with wisdom, worth many times more than the mightiest monarch.

The Song of the Little Dog 58

A mother had three daughters. Every day one of the daughters went to graze herd

of yaks and dzos 59 • Once a dzo got lost after deserting the herd. Next day the mother

sent her eldest daughter to look for the dzo. She searched in vain. When night fell she

came upon a cottage. An old woman took her in and offered her food and shelter. The

old woman was a witch and had a little dog whom she allowed to starVe. When the girl

was eating tsampa, the hungry dog came to her and sang a song saying that it will tell her

sweet words if she gave it a bit of tsampa. But the girl shooed it away. At night the girl

slept on the lower bunk, while the witch slept on the upper bunk. At midnight the witch

got up, killed the girl, and used her brain and intestines to brew her magic potion.

The next day, the second daughter was sent to find out the dzo. But she too met

the same fate as her elder sister. On the third day, the youngest daughter went out on her

own accord. She could not find out the dzo and in the darkness she too like her sisters

came up to the witch's cottage. When the dog asked for some food, she gave it two
'
hands-full of tsampa. The dog ate it and advised the girl not to stay with the witch at

night. Instead, she should stay with the dog and run away early in the morning. The

witch insisted that the girl should stay in her room. But the girl was adamant and slept

58. Chophel, n.50, pp. 6-10.

59. According to Sarat Chandra Das, A Tibetan-English

Dictionary with Sanskrit Synonyms. Calcutta~ Bengal
Secretariat Book Depot, 1902, p .1051, mdso ( #-t E:· ) is a
breed between the yak-bull and the common cow. However,
according to Chophel, n.50, p.169, dzo is a female
yak, and as useful as a yak.

350
with the dog.

Next morning the girl ran away. The witch chased her. The girl dropped a needle

behind her which multiplied and pricked the witch's feet. The witch chased again after

picking out the needles. Then the girl threw thorns on the path that again multiplied and

pricked the witch's feet. The girl reached her home. Her mother dropped an iron chain

and the girl climbed to safety. When the witch came, she was given a woollen rope.

When she was half-way up, the rope snapped and the witch fell down and died.

The Dog Skin King 60

Long_ ago, there lived a mother and her three daughters--Dekyi, Dolkar and

Dolma. The family led a humble life. One day a dog came and asked the mother to keep

a bag of tsampa for him till he returned to fetch it. They kept the bag for three years and

then one day they ate it. The very next day the dog came and asked for the bag of tsampa.

They tried to fill the bag with their own tsampa but failed to do so. The dog demanded a

girl for his wife as compensation.

The mother sent the eldest daughter Dekyi with the dog. Dekyi hated the dog and

so on their way she gave him bones and crumbs instead of meat and tsampa. She also

refused to carry the dog across a river. The dog returned Dekyi to her mother and took

Dolkar, who fared no better with the dog. So she too was returned. The dog took the

youngest daughter Dolma. On their way Dolma gave the dog meat and tsampa, fully

recognizing the -<log as her husband. Putting the dog on her shoulder, she carried him

across the river. The dog felt that Dolma had the proper qualities of a wife. In course of

time, they had two puppies.

One day when they came across a palace, Dolma imagined herself as its queen, but

decided to remain faithful to the dog. The dog left Dolma and went towards the palace,

and was killed by the dogs guarding the gate. Dolma wept bitterly over her dead husband.

60. Chophel, n.SO, pp.65-68.

351
Some horsemen came and took her to the palace. On a golden throne sat a young king.

He was none other than her own husband. He had disguised as a dog in search of a

suitable bride. The king patted the two puppies and they turned into two royal children.

The ministers received Dolma and her children with honour and respect. On hearing the

story of Dolma's prosperity, Dekyi and Dolkar regretted their own lost chances.

The Stone Lion that Opened its Mouth 61

There was a very rich man named Tenzin and a very poor man called Phurbu who

lived at the foot of a mountain. Phurbu went up the mountain everyday to chop firewood.

He always took some tsampa with him. On the mountain, there was a stone lion. Phurbu

used to give some tsampa to the lion whenever he took his lunch. One day the lion opened

its mouth and thanked Phurbu for his kindheartedness, and also asked him to bring a bag

the next day before sunrise. The next day the stone lion asked Phurbu to take gold from

his mouth but warned him to finish taking before sunrise, otherwise his hand would get

stuck in his mouth. Phurbu had brought a small bag. He filled it and went back to buy

provisions, clothes, and set up a nice house. He also got married. Tenzin noticed all

these and learnt from the simple-minded Phurbu every detail of the activities for acquiring

gold. Next day Tenzin went up the mountain and acted exactly like Phurbu, giving tsampa

to the stone lion. After several days, the stone lion spoke out, asking him to bring a bag.

Tenzin brought a very large bag and in spite of repeated warning, he continued to take

hands full of gold. At last the sun rose and the stone lion closed his mouth. Tenzin cried

for his hand, unable to withdraw it on time.

Cleft-lipped Hare62

There is a fable telling how the hare got its cleft lip. Long ago, a hare, wolf, fox

and a raven got together and decided to rob a lone pilgrim who had a big load of luggage

61. Chophel, n.SO, pp.l57-160.

62. Chophel, n.SO, pp.94-97. Also see n.33, pp.Bl-83.

352
on his back. The pilgrim was cheated and made to leave his baggage behind. Four of

them stole it and found a Chinese shoe, a rosary a small bell and lots of tsog 63 and

torma 64 in it. They fought for a while but later agreed to listen to the hare. The hare

gave the shoe to the wolf and told him that it would be useful when chasing sheep. Then

he gave the rosary to the raven and advised him to wear it around his neck when asking

for food from the nomads. They would offer him food, thinking that a heavenly bird has

descended. The hare gave the bell to the fox and advised her to ring it to stop her children

from crying. He himself took all the tsog and torma.

When the wolf went to catch sheep, the dogs and the villagers heard the noise of

his shoe and caught him. They almost beat him to death. The raven wore the rosary and

got entangled with the nomads' tent pole. He too got beaten up very badly. The fox rang

the bell to stop her children from crying, but they fainted and died. So all three of them

pledged to take revenge on the hare for cheating them.

As they went in search of the hare, the hare--being guilty--knew that they had come

to fight him. He cut his lips with a sharp stone and went to meet them. He told them that

the pilgrim was a black magician and that he got his lips terribly cut after eating the tsog

and torma. The three went away cheated for the second time. The hare could avoid their

attack but the mark on his lips remained forever, becoming a hereditary mark of all the

hares-to-come.

Why the Hot Springs Dried Up 65

The sage Padma Sambhava was preaching in a village. The prince of that region

went to see the sage. At the approach of the prince the whole congregation stood up to do

63. Short cone-shaped religious cake. See Chophel, n.50,

p.l70.
64. Long cone-shaped religious cake. See Chophel, n.50,
p.l70.
65. Ghose, n.51, pp.47-48.

353
him homage except two men sitting on both sides of Padma Sambhava. These two

remained seated and greeted him as his equals. This irritated the prince. He sent his

counsellor to ask them to leave the country. Later the counsellor told him that they were

klu, the rulers of the nether world. To be precise, they controlled the two most famous

hot springs of the country. The prince, however, did not believe what the counsellor said.

But soon afterwards two big hot springs dried up because the klu had withdrawn from

them. Various other springs failed. Greatly alarmed, the prince went to Padma Sambhava

and begged him to appease the angry .!ill! and bring them back to Tibet.

The Drunken Sparrow 66

Once a peasant was drying grain in the sun. The sparrows were eating up his

gram. So he spread some distillers' grain on the ground. The sparrows ate those and got

drunk. None of the sparrows escaped the swift hands of the peasant except one. That

sparrow flew up to a poplar tree and soon felt intoxicated. He sang a song saying that he

neither feared the heaven nor the earth, and that he was the second greatest only after

Phoenix. The cicada was driven away from that three. The swallow fled after getting

pecked on its head by the sparrow. The magpie met with a similar treatment. The

sparrow sang and danced jubilantly.

Soon the news of the sparrow's forcible occupation of the poplar tree spread far

and near. The turtledove came to see the sparrow with a doubtful mind. But it too was

pecked badly before it could alight on the tree. The turtledove reported the incident to the

sparrow-hawk which flew into a rage and swooped down to punish the sparrow. The

sparrow however slipped into a thorny bush from where he begged for mercy. He was

rebuked by the hawk till he repented his wrongdoings. The sparrow did not dare to come

out of his hiding even after the hawk had left. The swallow, magpie and turtledove

scornfully laughed at him. The cicada started chirping "Shame! shame!"

66. See n.33, pp.l31-133.

354
 A wolf once fell into a trap laid by hunters. He cried for help. A goat was passing

that way. The wolf promised not to harm the goat if the latter helped him. The goat

found a long rope and pulled the wolf up from the pit. The wolf now wanted to eat the

goat. The latter did not find any solution because the wolf went on with his unreasonable

argument. The goat saw a hare coming that way and stopped him. He requested him to

judge between right and wrong. The hare listened to the contradictory versions of what

had happened from both the goat and the wolf. However, he showed his refusal to believe

what they said, and insisted that they should enact the whole episode for him. The wolf

readily jumped into the pit and shouted for the rope. The hare told the wolf that an

ungrateful creature like him should wait for the hunters' rope. By saying this, the hare

and the goat went off happily.

The Monk and the \\bl~

A monk on his way back home, found some people who had trapped a wolf and

wanted to kill it. He took pity on the wolf and bought it. He took it to a pass where the

wolf wanted to devour the monk. The monk wanted someone to judge whether the wolf's

desire was justified. They met a sheep which accused the monk, saying that he drank their

milk, burnt their dung for fuel, and still he preferred to kill them for flesh, and make

leather coats out of their skin. The sheep continued that it was wrong for the monk to

treat them cruelly while being benevolent towards the wolves. Saying so it left hastily.

Then came a cow whose reaction was the same as that of the sheep. Then came a hare

which declared that it was not in a position to arbitrate the dispute since it had not been on

the spot initially. At the hare's request. the wolf was tied up again. The monk and the

67. Yeshe Dolma & Yeshe Phuntsok (Tr.), in n.49, pp.54-55.

Also see n.33, pp.73-74.

68. Yang Liangcai, Tao Lifan et al, Zhongguo Shaoshu Minzu

Wenxue (Literature of the Chinese Ethnic Minorities) .
Motherland Series. Beijing: People's Press, 1985,
pp.l79-180.

355
hare left the place, leaving the wolf to die out of hunger.

How a Dog Saved the Khampas 69

This is a story older than the days of King Srong-tsan Gampo 70 • Those days the

Khampas--the dangerous well-armed brigands inhabiting desolate heights--used to rob

pilgrims and traders at the mountain passes. Once a king decided to exterminate the

Khampas, and ordered his men to get his war horse ready for the expedition.

In the palace there were two mastiffs called Ganda and Upaganda. They were the

king's pets. Though fed with delicacies, they liked to stealthily gnaw at the king's

horse-gear. The king was told that dogs had torn his horse-gear. The king in a moment

of anger ordered to kill all the dogs of the city. Filled with consternation, all the dogs fled

the city to take shelter in the hills.

There was a dog of the Khampas, a white chow, who was heading towards the city

for food. He came across the fleeing dogs and after knowing the story decided to have a

word with the king. The chow saw the king and asked him to make his two pets vomit.

They were made to swallow an emetic. Fragments of leather were found in their vomit.

They were exiled for their guilt and the city dogs were declared innocent. Now the chow

told the king that it would not be fair to destroy all the Khampas, and that there were

Gandas and Upagandas among them as well. The king found the chow very clever and

loyal. He called off the campaign against the Khampas, leaving their matter to be dealt by

the wheel of karma.

~9. Ghose, n.Sl, pp.33-35.

70. Srong-tsan Gampo (617?-650) was the King of Tibet.
During his re1gn Buddhism was introduced in Tibet and
Tibet eventually developed an alphabet of her own based
on different writing systems of India.

356
4.4 TIBETAN FOLK ETHICS: INTERPRETATION

In the story "The Bird of Happiness", the topographic features and the entire

distance were totally impossible for a man to traverse. But this is a folktale that reflects

the strength of will-power which overcame all obstacles. The little boy Wangyal

understood where there's a will there's a way. Wangyal is said to have moved in the

direction of the rising sun--the place where the Bird of Happiness lived. That means the

Bird of Happiness is none other than the sun--the source of warmth, growth and energy.

Tibet, the Land of Snow. finds no warmth more than half of the year. It is not the fertile

valleys of Tibet, but the snowy heights and obscure ravines that are want of bare

necessities of life. Existence becomes difficult without proper agriculture. There people

have to fight the natural odds almost every day. Uncertainty rules over the life of the

people living in those desolate corners of the land.

Wangyal, literally the King of Power, has been eulogized for his selflessness. No

gain without pain was his motto. The reference of Lobsang's mother, old Tsering and

young Perna, shows that Wangyal was actually the chieftain of a nomadic tribe in Tibet

who led his people to a warmer region in the east. Had Wangyal been alone in his

journey, the question of harming others would not have arisen. This is a story that reflects

the migration of a poverty-stricken community from the barren western end of Tibet to a

fertile land situated near the River Tsangpo after covering thousands of miles on foot.

Those fertile plains can very well be the districts of Kongpo, Yarlung or their adjacent

areas. It can also be the river plain of Mekong in the Kham region. Whatever be the

historical reality behind such a myth, the lesson is perseverance brings happiness.

There can also be happiness when there is trust between friends. In the story "The

Monkey and the Frog", the frog failed to cherish friendship with the monkey. The frog's

treachery met with a tit for tat from the monkey's side. It was the frog's sinister motive

that wrecked the friendship between the two. In this context we are reminded of the story

357
 71
of a sparrow that lived on top of a tree and a mouse that burrowed under that tree. One

day they quarrelled with each other over a trivial matter. They asked the cat to make a

fair judgement. The cat promptly devoured both of them. Here both the sparrow and the

mouse failed to realize that the cat was their common enemy. The weak ones should not have

quarrelled and wrecked their friendship in a way so as to invite their own destruction.

Therefore both these stories have a common message that there should be mutual trust

between friends.

Similarly, the story of the donkey and the tiger teaches us not to act m an

irresponsible manner. Trust once lost might bring one's ruin. The donkey did not

practise self-restraint and took it for granted that the tiger would protect him at any cost.

The tiger lost trust in the donkey, even when he was telling the truth.

Similar mistrust can be ·noticed where one is cheated by the other. The story of the

cat and the mice sends the message that tricks cannot go on forever. So does the story of

the fox that became the king of the quadrupeds. The story of the cat, posing as a Living

Buddha and reciting scriptures, urges us to be on guard against such cunning persons

pretending to be saints and covertly committing crime. Cats are traditionally considered

enemies of mice. So a eat's saintly behaviour with the mice is always sham. Equally

sham is the attitude of persons uttering sweet words on someone' s face, and at the very

next moment, giving a stab in the back. Such an attitude can be seen with the egret in the

story "The Egret and the Little Fish". 72 In the name of protecting the fish, the egret took

them out of water and ate them. A frog discovered the trick played by the egret and

throttled it, thus avenging the death of his friends.

Though this story tells us that tricks do not last long, the Tibetans, however, say

that the ones who believe sweet words, are duped easily. The fish that are greedy for the

71. "Maque he Laoshu Da Guansi" {The Sparrow and the Mouse

go to Court Against Each Other) in n.33, p.125.
72. Wang Ankang (Coll.} in n.49, pp.37-38.

358
fisherman's bait, court destruction. Naturally the trickster is to be shunned. The one's

falling into trap are to be blamed more for their folly. Here the focus of attack is

different.

There are yet others who are subjected to attack for their conceitedness. TI1e story

of stealing a cow teaches us the lesson that conceit is dangerous. The beetle, the woollen

thread and the blade of grass met with a disaster while toying with the idea of owning a
73
cow. They miscalculated their own strength. So was the case with the fox that

overrated his own abilities in dealing with the wild ox after seeing a tiger kill one of the

horned herbivores. The conceited fox was gored to death. All of them represent a class

of people who do not take proper measure of themselves, and are obsessed with the idea of

imitating others blindly. Generally such people are overcome by an inferiority complex, a

vain hope of attaining greater heights with inadequate strength and qualifications.

As moral lessons are taught to be humble and modest, so one is taught to probe

carefully without forming a preconceived notion of anything. In the tale "Ku-tung" the

lesson is that one has to verify everything carefully and not to nurture unfounded fear.

The terror that spread among the hares on hearing the sound of a falling object in the

water, made them believe that a creature named 'kutung' had invaded their camp. None

of the creatures, that followed the running hares, found it necessary to verify the

unidentified being. From his demeanour, the big-maned lion appears to be the King of the

Forest, who traced the cause of fear through an on-the-spot investigation. This is a story

where the method for seeking of objective reality with a fearless mind has been taught in a

simple but pointed manner so as to appeal to the common man.

Perseverance, trust, humility and carefulness are general human values. Now we

would examine the typically Tibetan characteristics. The religious beliefs of the Tibetans

are indeed very deep-rooted.

73. Wang Ankang (Coll.), "Yizhi bu Ziliang de Huli" (The

Fox that Overrated Itself) in n.49, pp.34-36.

359
 In the story "The Mute Girl", we find how in Tibetan society value is attached to

previous lives .and reincarnation. The Tibetan mind is generally plagued by the thought of

previous lives, this life and after life. The mystery of the mute girl lay in her previous

lives and the tragic events that terminated her happy dreams. The past events were both

weakness and obsession of the mute girl. The correlation between her disillusionment

with previous lives and her muteness was deeply felt by Topgyal. He broke her mental

agonies and loneliness, thus paving the path for a transition in her life.

This story has come down from the slave society in Tibet. When Phuntsok,

Wangdu and Topgyal decided to plead their suits with the mute girl, they promised to help

each other by contributing one's share to the successful suitor. Since Phuntsok and

Wangdu were rich, so they were to contribute part of their property. Whereas Topgyal

being poor was found suitable to serve in permanent bondage or as a slave. The equation

between the rich and the poor can be understood given the social framework of

slave-owners and slaves. It is rather proper to call it serfdom when the status of the rich

depended solely upon the ownership of land, serfs and domestic animals. But was it a

crime to own serfs in Tibet? Obviously, it was not. It was neither a crime nor a sin.

However, such a good luck did not favour the fisherman.

"Fisherman's Luck" is a story where the concept of sm ts pronounced.

Fisherman's luck is actually an ill luck because it is said that a taker of life would undergo

hellish torment after death. Practising of ahimsa, the basic tenet of Buddhist philosophy,

has been advocated though not in a very emphatic manner. The monk's intention was to

save himself from getting contaminated by the fisherman's sin. The monk left the

fisherman in a state of agony making the latter contemplate over his misfortune as a

sinner.

Nak.amura points out that due to extreme climatic and other unfavourable natural

condition, the Tibetan Buddhists could not help eating meat. Killing of a big beast like

360
yak is not considered sinful because its meat can feed many, whereas killing of tiny

creatures like birds and fish for the purpose of eating is quite sinful. 74

Another sinner like the fisherman was a thief who wanted to steal the silver bowls

of a meditator. However, the thief was enlightened after failing to achieve his objective.

The story "The Meditator and the Thief" attaches importance to prayers for averting evil

and protecting oneself from danger. The Tibetan saying goes that merely uttering a prayer

can save one from the evils and dangers that lie in one's path. Although the thief could

not dupe the monk, he managed to memorize the religious chants which acted as an

impregnable armour against evil spirits.

We would notice that the Tibetan meditators not only take refuge in ~he

triratna--Buddha, Dharma and Sangha, but above all it is Guru Rimpoche who occupies

the supreme position in the meditators' minds. Guru Rimpoche, better known as Padma

Sambhava, the Indian saint who founded Lamaism in Tibet, became popular in the Land of

Snow for his art of exorcism. Myriads of evil spirits and malignant ghosts fill the Tibetan

realm. The utterance of Guru Rimpoche 's name itself is said to have the magical power of

exorcising spirits. Though the thief's reciting of the meditator's words was totally

mechanical, it worked perfectly well to ward off danger.

The popularity of offering prayers in the Tibetan society can be cited in yet another

tale. Significance of a sincere prayer and worship has been emphasized in "The Origin of

a Popular Saying". In fact, the Tibetan saying is "Sincere prayer, worship and

supplication can make a thorn a relic of adoration". 75 Although, the trader had cheated

the old woman, yet it was due to the latter's supplication that changed the value of a

once-worthless bone, and made it precious. Her prayers were directed towards Sariputra.

The saint's soul which was humbly worshipped, entered the dog's tooth before adding

74. Hajime Nakamura, The Ways of Thinking of Eastern Peo-

ples. Reprint. New York: Greenwood Press, 1988, p.606.
75. See n.53.

361
brilliance to it. So it is evident that sincere and selfless supplication coming out of the

core of one's heart is greater than the object which is worshipped.

However great be one's supplication, one has to do what one ought to do instead of

shirking responsibility. ·The Dumb Cripple· is a story that urges us to do our duties

faithfully in this life. There is a time and season for everything. Abja, a healthy boy,

feigned disability and became a burden to his foster-parents. Abja became enlightened

with the words that one who avoids doing his duties is never excused but treated with

contempt.

The thoughts of past deeds in previous lives affect the course of activities in the

present life--such phenomenon is noticed in the stories "The Mute Girl" and "The Dumb

Cripple".

Yet there are instances where one's present deeds affect the course of activities in

one's present life itself. However, rich or poor one might be. his deeds are put to scrutiny

when it comes to the question of altruism.

In the story "Flamingoes of the Manasa Lake", we get the message that a man of

wisdom practising philanthropy but living without a roof over his head, is much greater in

all respect than a king generously giving alms and doing public welfare. A wise man

living in abject poverty but possessing high morals is qualitatively much superior to a king

who lives in a palace and doles out food and money in a ritualistic manner.

It has been projected through the eyes of birds that a man like Raikva, unknown in

the world of earthly riches, unknown to lords and monarchs, could lead a life spiritually

higher than the kings whose fame spread far and near as a result of their wealth. King

Janasruti became perturbed by the observation of the flamingoes. His mental unrest shows

that he could not surpass Raikva in wisdom and virtue because he failed to drown his own

ego. It also exposes the king's ostentatious nature of practising philanthropy. The king

lost his mental peace more because he knew that himself being a king, he would never be

able to reach the level of Raikva.

362
 Apart from King Janasruti and the sage Raikva, there are quite a few less-known

characters in Tibetan folktales who are good to the sentient beings.

The tales "The Song of the Little Dog" and "The Dog Skin King" reflect one

common phenomenon : the third or the youngest daughters turned out to be kindhearted,

and were consequently rewarded. They could also manage to avert danger. The elder

daughters were discarded or severely punished for their wickedness and lack of sympathy

towards other living beings.

Another striking similarity is that both the stories have dogs as makers of decision

over the fate of good and evil-natured beings. The third girl who went in search of her

dzo, could escape the clutches of the witch as a result of gratitude expressed by the dog

· that had got some tsampa from her and told her the secrets of the witch. The girl's elder

sisters died because they were unkind to the dog. In the second story, Dekyi and Dolkar

failed to qualify in becoming proper match for the king-under-disguise. Dolma could

qualify because she accepted the dog as her husband and treated him with kindness. She

accepted the fruit of her karma and started loving the dog wholeheartedly. We notice that

reward and punishment have a karmic connotation. They are meted out in the form of

reciprocation for good deeds and wrongdoings, kindly and unkindly behaviour towards

sentient beings.

"The Stone Lion that Opened its Mouth" is another story which conveys a karmic

message. The stone lion rewarded Phurbu for his kind~s. Phurbu was poor and simple,

but not greedy. Tenzin, on the contrary, was a man of avarice. In the guise of a poor

man he enacted a drama in order to become richer. Thus his greed brought his doom.

Just like avarice, another thing that demands retribution, is one's being

untruthful-especially to one's friends. The story "Cleft-lipped Hare" justifies the cut in

the hare's lip as a punishment for lying. The Tibetans would like to explain it as a result

of bad karma. The hare got such a severe punishment for deceiving his friends twice. He

363
indirectly inflicted harm to his friends, and then to save his own skin he uttered

falsehoods. The hare received an irreparable injury for his misdeeds.

If not misdeeds, but one's arrogance can cost him dear. "Why the Hot Springs

Dried Up" is a story which warns against rude behaviour with the deities, otherwise they

would get annoyed and bring irreparable harm. Here we are reminded of the wrathful

deities that populate the Tibetan pantheon. They are mostly malignant, becoming irritated

very easily. The Tibetans bestow their faith in such deities that are believed to inhabit

almost all spheres of the universe, and all natural elements of the world. The Tibetans

generally have interest and genuine belief in magic.

In this story, the outrageous behaviour of the prince angered the Nagas (klu) so

much that they deserted the springs. The prince was taught a lesson only when he found

the springs of his land getting dry. This story teaches the Tibetans to be polite and modest

in behaviour with everyone. The Tibetans believe that deities descend on earth in

disguise, so everyone should be careful in dealing with others.

Whatever be the moral lesson, there are persons who tend to misbehave with others

and are eventually cornered. The tale of the drunken sparrow conveys the message that

one who bullies others gets a good lesson. The sparrow could afford to bully the harmless

birds but could not stand before a predatory bird. The shameless sparrow is a typical

representation of persons who are essentially cowards. They have a lion's appearance but

a rabbit's heart. The weak ones become their target of exploitation. Such persons are

easily scared at the sight of a strong opponent. The sparrow had to beat a hasty retreat

and tender an apology to the hawk for his frivolous acts and utterances.

At least the sparrow was apologetic, but the wolf was incorrigible. The story

•Hare--the Judge• warns us against aiding harmful, treacherous beings. The inherent

nature of a wolf is to prey on other creatures, especially herbivores. The wolf has been

portrayed as a crafty creature--extremely ungrateful to its benefactor. Fortunately, the

hare outclassed the wolf by cleverly making the latter return to the hunters' pit.

364
 The story "The Monk and the Wolf", however, chooses to indict the monk or the

humans as a whole for treating the innocent creatures ruthlessly. This, in fact, reflects

certain characteristics of the then rulers and monks. Treating the harmless without mercy

and the harmful ones with benevolence has been put to criticism with a view to the

generally-accepted ethical codes.

Similar criticism has been voiced against the king for his unwise and unkingly act.

The tale of the white chow that saved the Khampas gives a lesson not to generalize, and do

justice without bias. The chow not only saved the urban canine population, but also taught

the king to mete out justice in an objective manner. It was karma that was found

appropriate to punish the marauding Khampas. Here the Buddhist philosophy of karma

has been propagated. The Tibetans believe that karma which pervades the entire span of

human life would definitely mete out retribution for evil. Such retribution does not always

come in this life.

We all know that tsampa is the staple food of the Tibetans. It is interesting to note

that tsampa is very precious and plays an important role in many Tibetan folktales. It is

like a magic key to all problems that do not find easy solution. In the tales "The Song of

the Little Dog", "The Dog Skin King", "The Stone Lion that Opened its Mouth", and

"The Mute Girl", the giving of tsampa facilitated the givers to attain their objective. In

"The Song of the Little Dog", the dog divulged the secret of the witch to the kindhearted

girl after the latter had given it hands full of tsampa. In "The Dog Skin King", Dolma

offered the dog tsampa and meat. Dolma's kind gesture pleased the dog which had got

only bones, and crumbs on previous occasions. In "The Stone Lion that Opened its

Mouth", Phurbu gave tsampa to the stone lion every day though he was himself very poor.

The stone lion rewarded him with gold that changed Phurbu's life radically. In "The Mute

Girl", Topgyal found the mystery behind the girl's muteness after giving the white-haired

woman a bag of tsampa.

365
 Apart from these tales on Tibetan morality, there are also other tales on morality.

Some other ethical aspects that find prominence in the Tibetan society are that merits are

gained through good deeds; or a sceptic makes a good convert. Whereas gaining merits

through good deeds is essentially an Indian concept, the cautiousness implied in scepticism

has been clearly borrowed from the Chinese pragmatic world view. The moral preaching

that it is better to forgive than to seek revenge, or faith in premonition, or rather all the

idealistic and metaphysical outlook is part of the vast Tibetan borrowing from the Indian

philosophy.

4.5 CHINESE AND TIBETAN FOLK ETHICS: COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS

In the comparative analysis, we would not only compare and contrast the Chinese

and Tibetan tales on popular morality, but also make a comparison between these tales and

tales from other cultures of the world as the case may be.

Attaining one's objective through hardship is a common theme in almost all fables

in different cultures. The Chinese tale of the Foolish Old Man removing mountains

succeeded in doing so when he impressed the God with his undaunting spirit. So was the

spirit of Wangyal. But Wangyal 's experience was much more painful than that of the

Foolish Man. Wangyal 's crawling through undulated plains and reaching the abode of the

Bird of Happiness reminds us of the self-penance that the devout worshippers of Tibet

undertake. On their way to the sacred places of pilgrimage, the pious devotees prostrate

on the ground instead of walking, which takes several months to reach their destination.

This is in fact an Indian concept of krcchrasadhana or penance.

The Foolish Man did not take up the mission of removing mountains all alone. He

made a collective effort by which he planned to solve the problem through generations to

come. Wangyal's was apparently an individual endeavour and accomplished in his own

life-time.

366
 The mantis that wanted to stop the king's chariot, was full of conceit. Yet its life
was spared owing to the king's magnanimity. In the Tibetan tale, the beetle that wanted to

drive a cow, was punished for its conceit. So was the case of the conceited fox that was

killed by the wild ox. The mantis enjoyed the king's appreciation of its bravery. Whereas

the beetle and the fox died a disdainful death perhaps because their actions were mere

imitation of others without an inkling of bravery.

In this context, we are reminded of a fable of Aesop-- "The Frog and the Ox" 76

that tells us how a frog puffed herself out and out in order to reach the size of an ox. At

last, she burst with a bang and fell flat. She tried in vain to look bigger and better than

she really was. This story was given a new connotation by Jean de La Fontaine
(1621-1695), a French composer of allegorical poetries, in "La grenouille qui veut se faire

aussi grosse que le boeuf" 77 (The frog that wanted to become as big as an ox). He

satirized the contemporary bourgeoisie of desiring to build fortresses and villas like those

of the big landlords: the petty princes of wanting to send ambassadors: and marquises of

wishing to have page boys.

The king of Chu acted irresponsibly and failed to gather his subjects around him
when he was really in danger. In the Tibetan tale it was the donkey which brayed unneces-

sarily and lost the faith of the tiger. We find a parallel in Aesop's fables. "The Boy who
cried Wolf" 78 is the story where the shepherd boy played tricks with the villagers very
often. At last he had to lose his sheep when the wolf really came prowling around. None
came to help him because no one believes a liar--even when he tells the truth.

76. Ruth Spriggs (Ed.), The Fables of Aesop, Lu Zhishi

(Tr.), Yisuo Yuyan : English-Chinese Bilingual Reader.
Beijing: Foreign Languages Teaching & Research Press,
1985, pp.72-73.
77. Fables de La Fontaine, Xu Zhongnian & Huang Gaoxin
(Tr.), La Fengdan Yuyanshi : French-Chinese Bilingual
Edition. Shanghai: Shanghai Translation Press, 1980,
pp.2-3.

78. Spriggs (Ed.), n.76, pp.68-69.

367
 In the stories where we get the lesson to properly cherish friendship, we see how

the crab or the shrimp got away with the eyes borrowed from the earthworm. In the case

of the monkey, he replied the unfriendly frog in a befitting manner. Here it is to be noted

that the Tibetan tale is a borrowing from Pancatantra 79 , a collection of children's fables

from India. The Indian tale is "The Crocodile and the Monkey" --found in the foreword

of the founh volume of Pancatantra. This tale from Pancatantra has also influenced the

Chinese tale "The Monkey and the Tortoise" 80 .

The Chinese fable of the snipe and the clam has great similarity with the Tibetan

tale of the sparrow and the mouse. The snipe and the clam fought each other and were

taken away by the fisherman. Whereas the sparrow and the mouse asked the cat to settle

their dispute, and were quickly eaten up. In the previous case, the snipe and the clam

failed to identify their common enemy--the fisherman. In the latter case, neither of the

two neighbours could see through the eat's motive. The Tibetan tale, however. is a

borrowing from the third story of the third volume of Pancatantra-- "the Cruel Judge" 81 •

The story of the fox, proclaiming himself the king of the forest. originated in "The

Jackal that became the King". the eleventh story of the first volume of Pancatantra. This

Indian tale has also influenced the Uighur tale "The Multi-coloured Beast". The other

79. The stories of Paficatantra were originally written in

Sanskrit. Legend has it that a king, who had three
foolish sons, engaged a versatile teacher, Vishnu-
sarman, who taught them how to be happy, and be suc-
cessful in life. Pafica means five, tantra means
doctrines of conduct or modes of action, namely con-
fidence or firmness of mind, creation of prosperity or
affluence, earnest endeavour, friendship, and
knowledge. Paficatantra depicts nitishastra (wise
conduct of life) through stories, mainly of animals.

80. Liu Shouhua, 'Yindu Wujuanshu yu Zhongguo Minjian

Gushi' (Indian Paficatantra and Chinese Folktales) in
Minjian Gushi de Bijiao Yanjiu (A Comparative Study of
Folktales). Beijing: Chinese Folk Literature & Art
Press, 1986, p.108.

81. Liu, n.80, p.107.

368
Tibetan tale "The Egret and the Little Fish" originated in "The White Heron and the

Crabs", the sixth story of the first volume of Pancatantra112 •

The Chinese tale " Mister Dongguo and the Wolf" ts quite identical with the

Tibetan tale "Hare--the Judge". In both cases the wolf proved itself to be ungrateful. In

both cases it foolishly tried to enact the episode once more in the vain hope of winning the

dispute. In both cases the judge sided with the victim, or rather the benefactor in the

given situation. We would notice that in both the tales the judge is of the same category as

the victim. In the Chinese case it is (scholar + peasant) versus wolf. In other words, it is

man versus predatory animal. ln the Tibetan case it is (goat + hare) versus wolf. In
other words, it is herbivore versus carntvore. However, such categorization is not

applicable in "The Monk and the Wolf". The monk or man as a whole had antagonized

the domestic animals: sheep and cow, to such an extent that they refused to pass a

judgement in favour of the monk. Nor did they utter anything in favour of the wolf. The

hare, that did not consider itself as exploited by man, came to save the monk's life. The
four-sided relationship can be sketched thus :

Sheep, Cow~---exploit--Monk-------save--------~wolf

(domestic ~
animals)----indict--~(man)~--ingratitude---(ungrateful creature)

victim/ /

~ hatred

sre/
Hare

(Unexploited
creature)

82. Liu, n.80, p.l07-108.

369
 The Tibetan story "Ku-tung" finds similarity with the Chinese tale "Beigong-

sheying"83 (Mistaking the reflection of a bow in the cup for a snake). A man fell ill after

he had seen 'a snake' in his wine cup. His host removed the bow that was hanging on the

wall, and the 'snake' vanished. The man recovered from his illness. The auditory

perception in one case, and the visual perception in the other, sent wrong signals to the

hares or the man with sense of fear and suspicion.

Such tales like "Ku-tung" and "Beigong-sheying" reflect the making of the rational

human mind which laid the foundation of future scientific experiments and research, and

also of repeated verification of theories before their practical application. The fear of

certain natural phenomena was dispelled by means of quest for knowledge and courageous

attempts in unravelling the mysteries existing in this world.

The Chinese dislike magic and that has already been exemplified by the story

"Father for Son". We have also gone through the story of Fahai, the Taoist priest. who

adopted an obscurantist policy in dealing with his patients. In "Father for Son", the ones

with a blind faith in magic were hoodwinked into believing that the old hunchback was the

son of the Taoist magician, and that the latter was a tricentenarian. The Chinese rejected

Taoism and its shamanic practices when it offered no solution to their daily requirements.

Whereas the Tibetans, inhabiting the barren cold heights, found solace in various forms of

the supernatural which they themselves had invented. The shamanic tradition of the Bon

and its elements that have influenced Tibetan Buddhism are embedded in the concept of

magic and the related rituals. At times miracle is considered as the only remedy to

complicated diseases. The quack doctors, sorcerers and wizards enjoy much respect and

83. Fang Xuanling (579-648), 'Yue Guang Zhuan• (Stories of

Yue Guang), Jinshu (The Book of Jin) cited in Zhao, Yun
et al (Cornp.), n.l, pp.370-372. Also see n.B, pp.22-24.

370
patronage from the populace. "A Naljorpa Wizard's Story" 84 and "Confessions of an
85
Apprentice Sorcerer" are examples to highlight how the Tibetans value magic.

In "The Dumb Cripple", Abja the malingerer ceased to either talk or walk after

cOncluding that his past deeds had been outrageous. Similar in essence is the Chinese

proverb--Yin ye fei shi 86 -- give up eating for fear of choking. This basically means to

refrain from doing something necessary for fear of a slight risk.

In each of the stories "The Dog Skin King" and "The Song of the Little Dog", the

third daughter is found to be kind, brave and honest. Success has always accompanied the

third daughter. A striking similarity exists between "The Dog Skin King" and the

Russian folktale "Alenky Tsvetochek" (The Little Scarlet Flower) 87 • The story of a

one-eyed giant and a merchant's daughter narrates how the third daughter willingly went

to meet the giant in order to keep her father's promise. She eventually fell in love with

the giant who was allowed to assume his own form, that of a graceful young prince after

remaining for many years under the magic spell of a witch. This story is quite identical

with "Beauty and the Beast" 88 .

However, the relationship between the beauty and the beast, that is the merchant's

third daughter and the giant in the Russian tale, or Dolma and the prince in disguise in the

Tibetan tale, can be elucidated in the following manner:

84. Ghose, n.51, pp.53-56.

85. Ghose, n.51, pp.4-22.

86. Lu Buwei {Warring States Period), Lushi Chungiu {Spring

and Autumn of Lord Lu) cited in Zhao, Yun et al
{Comp.), n.1, pp.215-216.

87. Retold by S. Aksakov. See Dyafilm {Manually Projected

Still-Films with Stories for Children), Moscow, 1966.

88. "Beauty and the Beast" is a famous fairy tale of a

frightful, but kindhearted, monster. The authorship of
this tale is attributed to Mme. Villeneuve.

371
 (Third

Sincere love Reciprocation of love

through marriage

~Prince in disguise/ under

magic spell
I
~
Actual image revealed

A Nenets 89 folktale, which is similar in form with "The Song of the Little Dog"'. is

"Khozyain Vetrov" (The Lord of the Winds) 90 • Long ago in a nomad camp, there lived a

poor old man with his three daughters. His choom (tent of skins) was tattered and at night

they shivered from cold. Once, in winter, a terrible snow storm came down on the tundra.

The old man sent his eldest daughter to the Wind God to appease him. But the eldest

daughter neither followed her father's instructions. nor did she obey the orders of the

Wind God. Moreover, she was unkind to the little bird that came to her for warmth. The

god flew into a rage and threw her out in the snow to perish. As the blizzard blew fiercer,

the old man now sent his second daughter to the Wind God. But she too did not do what

she was told to do. And so she too met the fate of her elder sister. Lastly, the youngest

daughter was sent. She obeyed her father's instructions and the god's orders. The little

bird found warmth in her fur-coat. She cooked meat for-the deity, pleased the mother of

the deity who lived in another tent, and made fine garments for the Lord with the help of

his sisters. The Lord was very pleased and took the third daughter to be his wife. No

89. The Nenets belong to the Russian Federation. Their

homeland-- Nenets is in the northern part of Russia;
44°E-85°E longitude and 63~-68°N latitude.

90. Retold by Mikhail Bulatov. See Dyafilm, Moscow

(Cf. n.87).

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longer blew the storm. No longer did the people freeze and suffer from hunger.

. In this case, the third sister, in the Tibetan tale, who entered the witch's cottage. or

the third daughter in the Nenets tale, are to be marked as D-1, that is, the ones in difficult

circumstances in the first position. Whereas the little dog of the Tibetan tale, or the little

bird in the Nenets tale are to be marked as D-2, that is, the ones in difficult situation in the

second place. In the narratives, either falling into the witch's trap or being ravaged by the

snowstorm is sequentially number one. The dog's distress caused by hunger, or the bird's

distress caused by the snowstorm is sequentially number two. The relation between D-1

and D-2 can be elucidated thus:

So we see how good deeds and the spirit of self-sacrifice become deciding factors

behind averting danger or achieving one's objective.

In the Tibetan tale "The Stone Lion that Opened its Mouth·. we notice that the

greedy turns out to be the rich man Tenzin, whereas the poor man Phurbu is humble and

honest. Avarice cost Tenzin his cruel fate. Though not in content, this story resembles in

form with a Karelian 91 folktale "Pochemu v more voda solyonaya" (Why the Seawater is

Salty) 92 • A poor woodcutter once met a hungry monster named Khisy in a deep forest,

91. The Karelians belong to the Russian Federation. Their

homeland-- Karelia is situated in the northwestern end
of Russia; 27°E-40°E longitude and 60°N-68~ latitude.

92. Retold by V. Vazhdayev. See Dyafilm, Moscow (Cf. n.87}.

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and offered him a big juicy bone. The monster thanked the woodcutter by giving him a

magic millstone. The woodcutter became wealthy overnight by churning out grains

enough to last his lifetime. His elder brother, a rich man. came and borrowed his

millstone. He went on churning foodstuff and had them stockpiled in his already

overloaded farmhouse. One day the rich man went to sea on a boat. He ordered the

millstone to load his boat with fishes. Then he ordered it to churr. out salt. Suddenly the

boat capsized under excessive weight. The greedy man got drowned. The millstone is

churning out salt till today, making the seawater more and more salty.

"Alibaba and the Forty Thieves" of the Arabian Nights is yet another tale almost

identical in form with the aforesaid stories. Alibaba, a poor woodcutter, became rich

overnight after he had discovered a cave full of treasure. This treasure was a booty of

forty dreaded robbers. Alibaba's elder brother Qasim, who was already a rich man,

became avaricious and jealous of Alibaba's fortune. He went to the cave and madly filled

his sacks with jewels and gems. The code-word that was the key to the cave-door slipped

out of Qasim's mind. The robbers came back and slew him.

Quite a few commonness can.be found in all these stories. The elder brother or the

rich man is greedy and hence punished. The younger brother or the poor man is humble

and hence rewarded. Incidentally in all these cases, that is, in Tibetan, Karelian and

Arabian tales, the greatest similarity is that the younger brother or the poor man is a

woodcutter. Forests were rich in resources and had hidden treasures which were often

discovered by woodcutters. That is why perhaps the storytellers found it easy to narrate

their tales with woodcutters as the fortunate ones.

Now we would examine the particular areas to which the Chinese and the Tibetans

attach more value. Folktales have come a long way to unveil such areas of emphasis by

means of which one people can distinguish themselves from the other. Since the moral

lessons have already been discussed earlier. we would extract the essence of the folktales

and fables, and arrange them in the form of a list for quick reference.

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 Chinese Values Tibetan values

1. Hardship and perseverance. 1. Value attached to spiritual

knowledge and compassion.

2. Objectivism and realistic 2. Low profile, egolessness and

approach to life. modesty.

3. Cautiousness in dealing with 3. Absolute submission to the

problems. Living Lama : Worship of
'Four Jewels' instead of
the usual 'Three Jewels'.
4. No benevolence towards 4. Honesty and truthfulness as
harmful beings. human virtue.
5. No faith in magic. 5. Reward and punishment for
good and evil, right and
wrong : concept of karma.
6. Seeking knowledge without 6. Giving up of material greed.
prejudice; seeking truth
from facts.
7. Honesty and modesty espe- 7. Living in harmony with gods,
cially in learning. demons and spirits.
8. Strong sense of responsi- 8. Doing justice without bias.
bility.
9. Proper care in reaping and 9. Value attached to the stages
patience in harvesting. beyond the present human
existence: rebirth or
incarnation.
10. Obedience and submission to 10. Value attached to premonition.
the superior.
11. Filial piety. 11. Sin committed when small
living beings are killed
for food.

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I
12. Legalist method to maintain 12. Value attached to prayer for
social security. self-protection and exorcism.
13. Value attached to pragmatism, 13. Better to forgive than to seek
empiricism and rationalism. revenge.

Lastly we would enlist the stories from both Chinese and Tibetan folk literature in order to

compare and contrast the two sets of stories, and also to find out the corresponding elements
between the two.

Chinese tales Tibetan tales

1. The Foolish Old Man who 1. The Bird of Happiness.

Removed the Mountains.
2a. A Mantis Trying to Stop 2a. The Beetle that Stole a Cow.
a Chariot.
b. Lu Ban, the Master b. The Fox that Overrated Itself.
Craftsman.
3. The Whale and the Cuttlefish. 3. The Drunken Sparrow.
4. The Snipe and the Clam. 4. The Sparrow and the Mouse.
5. The King of Chu Beats the 5. The Donkey and the Tiger.
Drum.
6. The Red Prawn and the 6a. The Cat and the Mice.
Dragon Dyke. b. The Fox that Became a King.
c. The Egret and the Little Fish.
7. Mister Dongguo and The Wolf. 7a. Hare--the Judge.
b. The Monk and the Wolf.

8. Zhu Mei (the Pearl Girl). Sa. The Song of the Little Dog.
b. The Dog Skin King.

9a. The Crab and the Earthworm. 9. The Monkey and the Frog.
b. The Earthworm and the Shrimp.
10. The Bow and the •snake•. 10. 11
Ku-tung 11 •

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