Tibetan Folk Tales

Tibetan Folk Tales
by A.L. Shelton
[1925, not renewed]
Contents
One: The Wise Bat
Two: The Tiger and the Frog
Three: The Cony Who Got into Bad Company
Four: The Story of the Donkey and the Rock (A Black Tent Story)
Five: Story of the Foolish Head-Man
Six: How the Fox Fell a Victim to His Own Deceit
Seven: The Ingratitude of Man
Eight: Covetousness
Nine: The Wise Carpenter
Ten: The Story of Drashup and the Goddesses
Eleven: How the Louse Got the Black Streak Down His Back
Twelve: The Man and the Ghost
Thirteen: The Wicked Stepmother
Fourteen: The Story of the Two Devils
Fifteen: The Wise Woman

Sixteen: The Three Friends
Seventeen: The Rabbit and Bumblebee Bet
Eighteen: How the Rabbit Killed the Lion
Nineteen: How the King Lost His Great Jewel
Twenty: The Story of the Three Hunters
Twenty-One: The Hunter and the Unicorn
Twenty-Two: The Decision of the Official as to Who Owned the One
Hundred Ounces of Silver
Twenty-Three: Story of the Prince's Friend
Twenty-Four: How the Raven Saved the Hunter
Twenty-Five: The Two Thieves. (A Black Tent Story)
Twenty-Six: The Golden Squash. (A Black Tent Story)
Twenty-Seven: The Story of the Bald-Headed Man
Twenty-Eight: The Man with Five Friends with Different Colored Eyes
(A Black Tent Story)
Twenty-Nine: The Story of the Violinist
Thirty: How the Sacred Duck Got His Yellow Breast
Thirty-One: The Two Little Cats
Thirty-Two: Story of a Juggler's Tricks
Thirty-Three: How the Wolf, the Fox and the Rabbit Committed a
Crime

Thirty-Four: The Pewter Vase
Thirty-Five: A Rabbit Story
Thirty-Six: The Story of a Juggler
Thirty-Seven: The Story of a Turquoise
Thirty-Eight: A Wise Idiot
Thirty-Nine: The Man and the Monkeys
Forty: The Story of the Tree of Life
Forty-One: The Story of the Man with the Goitre
Forty-Two: The Story of the Beggar
Forty-Three: The Wily Poor Man
Forty-Four: The Quarrel of the Five Friends
Forty-Five: The Frugal Woman
Forty-Six: The Story of Yugpacan, the Brahman. From Jaschke
Forty-Seven: The Story of Da Jang. From Amundsen
Forty-Eight: Like unto Solomon. From Jaschke
Forty-Nine: Tibetan Song
*** TIBETAN FOLK TALES
TRANSLATED BY A. L. SHELTON, M.D. (Shelton of Tibet)
EDITED WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY FLORA BEAL
SHELTON
ILLUSTRATED BY MILDRED BRYANT

ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI UNITED CHRISTIAN MISSIONARY
SOCIETY [1925]
Scanned at sacred-texts.com, July 2005. Proofed and formatted by John
Bruno Hare.
This text is in the public domain in the United States because it was not
renewed in a timely fashion at the US Copyright Office as required by
law at the time. These files may be used for any non-commercial
purpose, provided this notice of attribution is left intact in all copies.
DEDICATED TO MY TWO LITTLE GIRLS
DORRIS AND DOROTHY
WHO HAVE MADE SUNSHINE IN THE LAND WHERE THESE
TALES WERE GLEANED
PREFACE
It is found among the old, old histories of the Tibetans that a female
demon living among the mountains in Northern India mated with a
monkey from the forests of Tibet, and from this union sprang the
Tibetan race of people. The greater part of their literature is of a sacred
nature, telling of their creation, of the formation of the world, of
Buddha and his miraculous birth and death, of his reincarnations and
the revisions of his teachings.
A kind of almanac, a little astronomy, plans for casting a horoscope,
and many books filled with religious teachings and superstitions,
including the worship of devils and demons, are about all that can be
found.
The little stories in this book are told as the people sit around their
boiling tea made over a three stone camp-fire. They are handed down
from father to son, from mother to daughter, and though often filled
with their superstitious beliefs, through them all run a vein of humor
and the teachings of a moral truth which is quite unexpected.

These tales were gathered by Dr. A. L. Shelton on his trips among the
Tibetans, around their camp-fires at night, and in their black tents high
up in the mountains. p. viii
Every country has its folk-lore tales that have always been a joy and
pleasure to the children, not only of their own land, but of other lands
as well.
May these stories add a little to this pleasure and enjoyment
everywhere, in whatsoever tongue they may be translated or in
whatever land they may be read.
FLORA BEAL SHELTON.
(Mrs. A. L. Shelton.)
***
TIBETAN FOLK TALES
***
ONE The Wise Bat
If you are a parable unto yourself--there exists no evil.
Tibetan Proverb.
A LONG time ago, a very long time ago, when men and animals spoke
to each other and understood the languages of one another, there lived a
very powerful king. He lived far off in a corner of the world and alone
ruled all the animals and men