Once upon a time there lived an old Sheep in a low-lying valley of
Tibet, and every year she, with her Lamb, [5] were in the habit of
leaving the valley during the early months of summer, and going up on
to the great northern plateau, where grass is plentiful, and where many
Sheep and Goats graze throughout the summer.
One spring the Sheep, in accordance with her annual custom, set out for
the north, and one day, as she was strolling sedately along the path,
while her little Lamb skipped about beside her, she suddenly came face
to face with a large, fierce-looking Wolf.
“Good-morning, Aunty Sheep,” said the Wolf; “where are you going to?”
“Oh! Uncle Wolf,” replied the trembling Sheep, “we are doing no harm; I
am just taking my Lamb to graze on the rich grass of the great northern
plateau.”
“Well,” said the Wolf, “I am really very sorry for you; but the fact
is, I am hungry, and it will be necessary for me to eat you both on the
spot.”
“Please, please, Uncle Wolf, don’t do that,” replied the Sheep. “Please
don’t eat us now; but if you will wait till the autumn, when we shall
both be very much fatter than we are now, you can eat us with much more
benefit to yourself on our return journey.”
The Wolf thought this was a good idea.
“Very well, Aunty Sheep,” said he, “that is a bargain. I will spare
your lives now, but only on condition that you meet me at this very
spot on your return journey from the north in the autumn.”
So saying, he galloped off, and the Sheep and the Lamb continued on
their way towards the north, and soon forgot all about their encounter
with the Wolf.
All the summer they grazed about on the succulent grass of the great
plateau, and when autumn was approaching both were as fat as fat could
be, and the little Lamb had grown into a fine young Sheep.
When the time came for returning to the south, the Sheep remembered her
bargain with the Wolf, and every day as they drew farther and farther
south she grew more and more downhearted.
One day, as they were approaching the place where they had met the
Wolf, it chanced that a Hare came hopping along the road towards them.
The Hare stopped to say good-morning to the Sheep, and noticing that
she was looking very sad, he said:
“Good-morning, Sister Sheep, how is it that you, who are so fat and
have so fine a Lamb, are looking so sad this morning?”
“Oh! Brother Hare,” replied the Sheep, “mine is a very sad story. The
fact is that last spring, as I and my Lamb were coming up this very
road, we met an ugly-looking Wolf, who said he was going to eat us; but
I begged him to spare our lives, explaining to him that we should both
be much larger and fatter in the autumn, and that he would get much
better value from us if he waited till then. The Wolf agreed to this,
and said that we must meet him at the same spot in the autumn. We are
now very near the appointed place, and I very much fear that in another
day or two we shall both be killed by the Wolf.”
So saying, the poor Sheep broke down altogether and burst into tears.
“Dear me! dear me!” replied the Hare; “this is indeed a sad story; but
cheer up, Sister Sheep, you may leave it to me, and I think I can
answer for it that I know how to manage the Wolf.”
So saying, the Hare made the following arrangements. He dressed himself
up in his very best clothes, in a new robe of woollen cloth, with a
long ear-ring in his left ear, and a fashionable hat on his head, and
strapped a small saddle on to the back of the Sheep. He then prepared
two small bundles, which he slung across the Lamb, and tied them on
with a rope. When these preparations were complete, he took a large
sheet of paper in his hand, and, with a pen thrust behind his ear, he
mounted upon the back of the Sheep, and the little procession started
off down the path.
Soon after, they arrived at the place where they were to meet the Wolf,
and sure enough there was the Wolf waiting for them at the appointed
spot.
As soon as they came within earshot of where the Wolf was standing the
Hare called out in a sharp tone of authority:
“Who are you, and what are you doing there?”
“I am the Wolf,” was the reply; “and I have come here to eat this Sheep
and its Lamb, in accordance with a regular arrangement. Who may you be,
pray?”
“I am Lomden, the Hare,” that animal replied, “and I have been deputed
to India on a special mission by the Emperor of China. And, by the way,
I have a commission to bring ten Wolf skins as a present to the King of
India. What a fortunate thing it is that I should have met you here!
Your skin will do for one, anyway.”
So saying, the Hare produced his sheet of paper, and, taking his pen in
his hand, he wrote down the figure “1” very large.
The Wolf was so frightened on hearing this that he turned tail and fled
away ignominiously; while the Sheep and the Lamb, after thanking the
Hare heartily for his kind offices, continued their journey safely to
their own home.
[This story is a satire on the assumption and arrogance of Tibetan and
Chinese officials, and the timidity and submissiveness of the Tibetan
peasants. It illustrates how the meanest Government clerk, more
especially when armed with pen and paper, can strike terror into the
heart of the boldest and strongest countryman.]
STORY No. XI.