The Prince and the Zombie (10 page)

Reading this notice, scores of people coming from different countries thronged the court hoping to be presented to the king so they could cure him. Among these people were renowned doctors and healers, but also magicians and a great number of charlatans. Everyone wanted to try his hand.

Weeks and months passed without any improvement in the king's condition. On the contrary, the headaches got worse and worse, and the king thought he would soon die.

One day the Darpo brothers, who had traveled through many a country, also heard of the sick king's offer. And this is what happened to them as they were passing through a dense forest: Darpo Born-in-Summer heard a voice that seemed to be coming from the top of a tree. Fascinated, the two brothers stopped and looked closely to see just where this strange voice was coming from. Darpo Born-in-Summer discovered to his great surprise that he was able to understand everything being said by a large crow perched on the top of the tree:

“It is a great pity that nobody understands me, because I know the answer to the enigma of the king's illness. In his head, a poisonous spider is hidden. There is an effective method for getting it to come out. The king has to lay one of his ears down on a piece of cloth that is green like a lawn. Then somebody has to imitate the sound of thunder by turning a stone grinding wheel very close to his other ear. To imitate lightning, all that is necessary is to light an incense stick and move it back and forth near one of his ears. Next a wet branch has to be shaken near one of his ears to imitate a heavy rain. As a result of these tricks, the spider will think that a powerful summer storm is in progress, and all by herself she will crawl out of the king's head. But because human beings don't understand the language of crows, I can't help them. What a shame! What a shame!”

And the crow flew off into the distance, leaving behind a perplexed Darpo Born-in-Summer, who had heard and understood everything.

Excitedly he told his brother everything. His brother looked at him somewhat incredulously. Yes, he thought, it was quite possible that living through a long period in darkness at the bottom of a well could have produced a transformation in Darpo Born-in-Summer's perception, even to the point where he now possessed special powers. Without delay, the brothers made their appearance before the king, pretending to be powerful shamans from a very remote corner of Tibet. In spite of his many disappointments—because to this day no method had succeeded in helping him—the king was impressed by the persuasive words, the charm, and the singing of the two Darpo brothers, and his hope was revived. Thus he commanded that everything be brought and set up very exactly in accordance with the strange instructions of the two brothers, who themselves were following to the letter the indications of the big crow. And so indeed it happened that the spider came out of the king's head, and in no time at all his headaches disappeared. After three days the king, once again completely himself and infinitely grateful, kept his word and gave half his kingdom to the two Darpo brothers as a reward. And that is not all! The king had two very beautiful daughters whom he gave to the Darpo brothers as brides.

Having become rich and noble, the brothers decided to continue to live together under the same roof. And when the old king died, they peacefully divided the kingdom between them. And they became a source of inspiration for all of their subjects.

“What good luck the Darpo brothers had in the midst of their bad luck!” Prince Dechö Zangpo exclaimed without thinking, spellbound as he was by this excellent story. Hardly had his words been said—he didn't even have time to regret them—when, presto! the sack on his back opened up and released its prisoner, Ngödrup Dorje. Gloating hugely, the zombie declared, “Here's the blow you deserve for talking back!” and he disappeared in a puff of wind.

With a heavy heart and with a conscience heavily afflicted by this renewed failure of his, yet with a strong sense of perseverance, the prince turned on his heels and started back on the road to Silwaytsal. He promised never to let himself fall into the zombie's trap again.

23

Hunting Down the Zombie Again

P
RINCE DECHÖ ZANGPO
once again traveled across the whole breadth of the kingdom to reach India and the dwelling place of the dead. He had hardly arrived there when he was again surrounded by large numbers of dead beings elbowing each other and all calling out at the same time: “
Halala!
” and “
Hululu!
” “I am the one you are looking for. Take me! Take me!”

At that point the prince followed the guru's instructions and forced them away with the help of the cone-shaped red object, repeating over and over, “You are not the one. You are not the one.” This caused them to flee immediately.

Having done that, he saw that one among them was not behaving like the others and had a very different kind of body. The top of the odd one was gold, the bottom of him was silver, and he had a mane of pure turquoise. This one fled to the top of a sandalwood tree, saying, “I am not the right one! I am not the right one!” The prince knew for sure that this was Ngödrup Dorje, “He Who Fulfills All Dreams.” He took hold of the second object the guru had given him, the ax, with which he lightly touched the tree. This simple action made the top of the tree tremble, and the prince began to speak to Ngödrup Dorje: “Come down to the ground. If you don't, I will cut down this sandalwood tree.”

You can guess what happened next. The prince used the magic ax to persuade the zombie to come down and let itself get captured in the sack, which was securely tied up with the magic rope. And so it was that the prince took his prisoner on his back and set off once again on the long road to the guru.

On the thirty-third day, as the prince was crossing that so-very-barren plain, weakened by thirst and hunger, Ngödrup Dorje began speaking to him in a very sweet and soothing voice:

“In this desolate region, there are no people and you will not find a place to rest, not even a place the size of a prairie-dog dropping. So to make this long journey a little more pleasant, I propose two solutions. Either you, who are a living being, tell me a story, or I, who am a dead being, will tell you a new story.”

The prince, who knew what to expect if he opened his mouth, restrained himself from replying, and the zombie recounted another tale yet more compelling than the previous ones.

24

Nana the Tiger

O
NCE UPON A TIME
there was a man who one day was pursued by a ferocious tiger named Nana. To escape from him, the man climbed as fast as he could into the nearest tree. Showing no pity, the tiger tried to catch hold of the man's right foot, which was resting on a broken branch. With a horrendous aggressive roar, he bounded into the air toward his prey. The man immediately drew up his right foot and, with his last strength, climbed up a little bit farther toward the top of the tree. The mouth of the tiger, gaping wide, instead of biting the man's foot, closed down on the broken branch. The tiger couldn't get loose. A sharp and unbearable pain spread through his mouth. The more he twisted and turned trying to free himself, the more deeply he hooked himself on the point of the broken branch. Blood began flowing from his mouth, down along his muscular neck, and down along his empty belly.

Nana shrieked with pain and begged the man to help him. Seeing such a noble beast suffering so horribly, the man felt his heart fill with a feeling of compassion that replaced his terror. He quickly climbed down out of the tree and lifted up Nana the tiger as best he could in an effort to get his mouth off the hook of the pointed branch. At last free, the tiger regained his spirits and jumped on the man again with the intention of devouring him. The man, stunned, cried out, “I just saved your life. Could it be that you are so wicked and ungrateful that you want to eat me?”

Nana knew nothing but the law of the strongest. He knew nothing of gratitude and nothing of compassion. He expressed his way of seeing things, and the man shouted and expressed his regret for his act of kindness. They had been arguing a good while when a hare came along and heard them. Curious, the hare approached and asked them what it was they were arguing about. Glad to have somebody willing to listen to him, the man readily recounted to the hare what had happened. Very slyly the long-eared animal pretended not to fully understand the situation. He told them that he could help them determine which of them was right, but he would have to gain a better understanding of the situation. He asked them to show him what position each one of them had been in so he could sort out their disagreement. Right away the man, who had understood the hare's plan, climbed back up the tree, and Nana, who was without doubt ferocious but also stupid, leaped up as he had before, his mouth open, and once again got himself hooked on the broken branch. Once again the beast shrieked with pain and begged the man for help. At this moment, the sly hare calmly said, “So there you have it. The situation is back the way it was before your argument. Now you have a second chance to think over carefully just what it is you want to do.”

“Well, that's the end of Nana the tiger!” cried Prince Dechö Zangpo recklessly, having once again entirely dropped his vigilance. Immediately the sack on his back opened up and released its prisoner, Ngödrup Dorje. Gloating hugely, the zombie declared, “Here's the blow you deserve for talking back!” and he disappeared in a puff of wind.

So there Prince Dechö Zangpo was, alone again. Full of regret but also of courage, he quickly got a grip on himself and, feeling both perseverance and patience, resolved to go back to Silwaytsal. He promised himself that this time he would catch “He Who Fulfills All Dreams” and then hold his tongue all the way to the end of the long journey back to the guru's cave.

25

Hunting Down the Zombie Again

C
HEWING AND
re-chewing his thoughts and reliving his failures again and again, Prince Dechö Zangpo at last reached India and the place called Silwaytsal. He did not waste more time than he had to getting rid of the dead beings who tried to attract his attention, and he quickly caught the zombie, Ngödrup Dorje, who was taunting him from the top of the sandalwood tree.