The Prince and the Zombie (5 page)

Thanks to his speed and skill, the little mouse recovered the precious object, and now he quickly made good his escape and set off to give it back to the cat. Happy and proud, the musician's four-footed friends were able to return the ring to the young man as soon as he woke up. His surprise was so great he thought he was dreaming. As a way of thanking his cat friend and the mouse as well, the guitar player played his most beautiful songs. He surpassed himself and played so well that his music not only filled his friends with wonder but also did the same for everyone they met as they continued their journey through the high plateaus of Tibet. Through his talent, the musician quickly earned back as much money and as many gold pieces as he had had before, and he and his three friends were able to lead a good life. One day, the mouse decided to part from the company and go back to his numerous family. The goodbyes were long and sad, but they all promised each other that they would stay in touch.

At this moment, still beside himself with the thought of the musician's lapse in awareness, the prince let his own vigilance slip and let the following words escape his lips: “What luck to have gotten the precious ring back with the help of his faithful friends!”

Immediately, the sack on the prince's back opened up all by itself and released its prisoner, the zombie Ngödrup Dorje. Gloating hugely, the zombie declared, “Here's the blow you deserve for talking back!” and he disappeared in a puff of wind.

Too late, the prince realized his fatal error. He was left all alone with an immense feeling of remorse and failure. “
Nga kugpa!
What an idiot I am!” he cried, full of anger toward himself. But neither his anger nor the tears that followed changed the situation in the least. Finally the prince regained his composure, took a firm hold on his courage, and decided to continue with the mission he had been given by the guru Gömpo Ludrup. With the firm resolve to remain more vigilant the next time, the prince went back to India.

7

Hunting Down the Zombie Again

S
O IT WAS
that Prince Dechö Zangpo once again traveled across the whole breadth of the kingdom and at last arrived again at Silwaytsal. He had hardly arrived there when he was 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!”

Again, following the teacher's instructions, he touched the heads of the dead beings with 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.

Looking around, he saw a dead being who had a very singular appearance. The top of him was gold, the bottom of him was silver, and he had a mane of pure turquoise. As the guru had predicted, this one fled to the top of a sandalwood tree, saying, “I am not the right one! I am not the right one!” Having found the zombie Ngödrup Dorje, “He Who Fulfills All Dreams,” the prince took up the second object the guru had given him, the ax, with which he lightly touched the sandalwood 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.”

Very cunning and sure of being invincible, the spirit replied, “Poor prince, you will tire yourself out. Therefore I will be the one to make the effort, and I'll come down to you.”

The prince grabbed him and put him in the sack, which immediately adjusted to the size of its captive. Then at once the prince tied the sack up with the magic rope. Because the prince was still carrying the red cone in his hand, the other dead beings did not approach again. Well content, the prince started out on the return journey with the intention of placing his precious burden before the guru as quickly as possible.

On the ninth day, when the prince was again in the midst of crossing the great barren plain, 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 one.”

The prince, who was very much on his guard, did not utter a word, and so the zombie picked up where he had left off telling the adventures of the guitar player and his friends.

8

The Traveling Guitar Player and the Power of Friendship

A
FTER HOURS OF WALKING,
the guitar player, the cat, and the dog stopped on the bank of a broad and deep river that they would have to cross somehow in order to reach the next village. The dog, who was the only one who knew how to swim, proposed swimming across the river with the cat on his back and pulling the musician behind, holding fast to his tail. Being the one good swimmer among them, the dog also proposed to keep the precious ring, the gift of the
naga
princess, in safe keeping during the crossing. The musician, relieved, consented to this, and to his surprise, the dog quite simply stuck the ring in his mouth.

Proceeding according to plan, the three friends were doing fine until they got to the middle of the river. That is when the cat saw that the dog had a little bit of dried yak meat stuck to his muzzle. Suddenly experiencing a big empty feeling in its stomach, the cat could not resist licking its friend's muzzle to get that little bit of leftover meat. “Ah ah ah choo!” went the dog, sneezing hard. At once the precious ring shot out of its mouth and fell into the deepest waters of the river. Hardly believing what had happened, the three friends tried their best to catch a glimpse of it, but to no avail.

The cat and the prince were unable to swim and the dog was getting weaker and weaker; it had to keep swimming if it were to get to the far shore. Once the dangerous crossing was over, the prince got angry at his two friends.

“It's your fault that we've lost the princess's precious gift. Oh, how awful! Poor me, poor me!”

Still completely out of breath, the dog tried to console its friend.

“Woof, woof! The lucky part is that the life of the princess is not in danger because the river is part of the realm of the
nagas
. So the ring will soon end up back on the princess's finger.”

But the cat, who was filled with remorse for what it had done, said in a very small voice, “Meow, meow. Dear friends, I am terribly sorry. My hunger pushed me to give in to temptation. I never thought it could have such consequences. I'm so sorry. Please forgive me.”

Seeing the cat's sadness and his big tears, the guitar player forgave it.

“Since the ring has surely returned to its owner, the princess of the
nagas
, her life is not in danger. Let's forget what has happened and continue on our way.”

Very happy that the musician had forgiven them, his two four-footed friends nevertheless expressed their wish to return to their respective families. The goodbyes were long and sad, but the three promised to stay in touch.

Moved by this touching friendship, Prince Dechö Zangpo once again let his attention lapse, and the following words escaped his lips: “What a strong friendship!”

Instantly, the sack on the prince's back opened up all by itself 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.

Too late, the prince realized his fatal error. For the third time, he was left all alone in that desolate place with an immense feeling of remorse and failure. “
Nga kugpa!
What an idiot I am!” he cried, full of anger toward himself. But neither his anger nor the tears that followed changed the situation in the least. Finally the prince regained his composure, took a firm hold on his courage, and decided to continue with the mission he had been given by the guru Gömpo Ludrup. He firmly resolved to be more vigilant the next time.

9

Hunting Down the Zombie Again

S
O PRINCE DECHÖ ZANGPO
once again traveled across the whole breadth of the kingdom in order to get back to India, to the place in that country that was the dwelling place of the dead. He had hardly arrived there when he was 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 remembered the first magical object that Guru Ludrup had given him. Following the teacher's instructions, he touched the heads of the dead beings with 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.

After a short time, as he looked around him he saw one being with a very singular appearance. The top of the being 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!” Having once again found the zombie Ngödrup Dorje, “He Who Fulfills All Dreams,” the prince took up 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.”

Very cunning and sure of being invincible, the spirit replied, “Poor prince—cutting down the tree, you will tire yourself out. Therefore I will be the one to make the effort, and I'll come down to where you are.”

The prince grabbed him and put him in the sack, which immediately adjusted to the size of its captive. Then at once the prince tied the sack up with the magic rope. Because the prince was still carrying the red cone in his hand, the other dead beings did not approach again. Well content, the prince started out on the return journey with the intention of placing his precious burden before the guru as quickly as possible.