The Prince and the Zombie

by Tenzin Wangmo

  One day, the wife began again to ask questions: “My dear husband, what secret are you hiding from me? Where does all of our wealth come from, and what are the powers of the magic stick?”

  On his guard, her husband told her nothing then and there, but faced with his wife’s insistence, he promised he would share his secret with her at the right moment.

  Then the wife became pregnant and gave birth to a beautiful little girl. The former beggar was very happy and proud of his beautiful baby, and he became careless. His wife took advantage of this to pry from him his secrets about the powers of the stick and the sack. But a small inner voice warned the young man to say nothing about the hat that brought invisibility or about the two magical flowers.

  One sad day when he had gone out, his wife stole the sack, mounted on the stick with their little girl, and returned to her home village, leaving her husband all alone on the uninhabited island. Coming back home, the former beggar found the house empty and realized that his wife had fled with their daughter, taking the stick and the sack with her. All the regrets he felt about revealing his secret to his wife and all his anger toward her and toward himself accomplished nothing. He remained alone, very alone, on this uninhabited island in the middle of the sea. He was profoundly unhappy at having been so brazenly deceived by his beloved.

  He pondered and pondered how he might leave the island, but no solution presented itself, not even an idea. He was devastated. He lost all hope and thought of ending his life. He climbed up to a high point on top of the cliffs from where he could throw himself into the sea. Suddenly he heard the anguished cries of newly hatched birds coming from just below him. The cries were coming from a nest built into the rocky cliff face. At the same moment he saw a big snake who was about to attack the little ones and devour them. Forgetting his despair, the former beggar could think of nothing else but how he might be able to help these poor little defenseless creatures. He picked up a big stone and threw it hard. He was on the mark! He hit the snake and the force of his throw pitched it out into space. It tumbled into the deep waters below.

  The former beggar was relieved and happy that he had managed to protect the little birds. But then he heard a strange noise in the sky, and the next thing he knew a huge bird was attacking him viciously with its claws. What a shock! His heart almost stopped beating. This creature must be the mother, who had mistakenly presumed that he was the one who had threatened her babies.

  “Mama, Mama, leave that man alone! He was the one who saved us. He killed the wicked snake who was trying to eat us!” the little ones cried out all together. The mother bird quickly calmed down and went and perched by her young ones, the better to listen to their account of the snake attack. In the end she understood what had taken place and flew back to the young man, who was still in a state of shock. The mother bird asked his forgiveness for the mistake she had made and thanked him profusely. As a proof of her profound gratitude, she promised to fulfill his dearest wish. The young man, victimized by his unfaithful wife, did not take long to think of what his wish should be. He asked to be taken to the region where his parents-in-law lived. That is where he fully expected to find his wife and daughter.

  He had barely finished expressing his wish when the bird took her babies’ savior on her back and rose majestically up into the air. In no time at all, she had crossed the sea and reached their destination. Before leaving the young man, the bird gave him several of her beautiful feathers with the following words: “My dear friend, if someday you find yourself in great peril, all you have to do is burn one of these feathers and I will immediately fly to your rescue.”

  Deeply touched, he accepted this gift, and thus the two separated on very good terms.

  The young man put the magic hat on his head, and having become invisible, he entered his in-laws’ house. There he saw his faithless wife. Without delay, he touched her with the red flower and without the slightest compunction transformed her into a monkey. Then he departed, still invisible. Terrified by what had happened to her, the young woman who had become a monkey cried horribly, jumped all around the house, and in a rampage broke everything she came across and even injured some members of her family. She was soon shut up in a cage to prevent further ravages.

  “Oh, what a cruel revenge!” the prince cried out, so taken with this incredible story that yet again he had thrown all restraint to the winds.

  Alas, the sack on the prince’s back opened up 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.

  The prince was left all alone in this desolate place with an immense feeling of remorse and failure. “Nga kugpa! What an idiot I am!” he cried out, filled with anger toward himself. But neither his anger nor his tears could change the situation in the least. After a long time he 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 never to let his vigilance lapse again, he returned to Silwaytsal to capture “He Who Fulfills All Dreams.”

  15

  Hunting Down the Zombie Again

  THUS IT WAS that Prince Dechö Zangpo yet again traveled across the whole breadth of the kingdom and finally arrived in India at the dwelling place of the dead. Making use of the cone-shaped red object given him by the guru, he continually forced aside the numerous dead beings who were attempting to speak to him until the moment he finally saw a zombie different from all the others. The top of the zombie was gold, the bottom of him was silver, and he had a mane of pure turquoise. This zombie fled to the top of a sandalwood tree, but the prince, employing the persuasive power of the magic ax, easily managed to get hold of the zombie Ngödrup Dorje—because it was indeed him. This time the prince had resolutely determined to hold his tongue the entire length of the return journey no matter what story the sly spirit might relate to him.

  The twenty-first day, as the prince, with his burden on his back, was crossing in silence 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, a living being, will tell me a story, or I, who am a dead being, will tell you one.”

  The prince was completely on the alert and did not breathe a word. Thus the zombie began telling him of the beggar’s further adventures.

  16

  Justice Is Served

  WELL, THEN, the family of the young man’s in-laws and everyone in the village were terrified by what had happened to the beautiful young woman. No one could calm the monkey down or think of a way to change it back into a woman. The young man let three long months go by in order to punish his wife. Finally he disguised himself as a great spiritual master, burned one of the giant bird’s feathers to get the bird to return, and had himself carried on its back above his parents-in-law’s village. Everyone in the region thought they were seeing a miracle. At the sight of the young man being carried about in the sky, they thought that the Buddha himself had descended from the heavens. The people prostrated to this phenomenon and recited a great number of mantras.

  The false master had himself put down on the roof of the house of his parents-in-law and was received with extreme devotion by the family, who did not recognize him at all. Honored by this high-level visit and full of hope that they might receive some precious help for their daughter, the family showed this grand master the monkey shut up in the cage and related what had transpired. The false master played his role to the hilt, and after a long silence he said: “Hmm! I see that your daughter has an extremely worthy husband to whom she has caused great harm. She stole some special objects from him. If you do not do what is necessary for these things to be returned to him at once, you will all also be transformed into
monkeys!”

  These words had a powerful effect on the family, who were terrified. The parents-in-law pondered hard trying to remember what their daughter had had with her when she had returned home.

  “We didn’t see anything in her hands but a stick and a sack,” they said.

  Happy to hear this news, the former beggar disguised as a great master asked that these objects be brought to him, and said, “Yes, indeed, it seems to me these are the things in question. Now you can stop worrying—I can help you. Let me have the monkey. I will take her with me and change her back into a human being!”

  Overjoyed, the family accepted this proposal and let him take the monkey away with him. When they had reached a sufficient distance from the village, the false master touched the monkey with the yellow flower, and it became once again the young woman he had married.

  Beside herself with happiness, the young woman threw herself down at the great master’s feet, wept tears of joy, and thanked him from the bottom of her heart. As she was doing this, the former beggar removed his disguise so as to reveal to her his true identity. When the young woman again got to her feet, how great was her amazement and shame to find herself thus standing before the husband she had so coldly abused! With great remorse, she begged a thousand pardons.

  He was concerned now to learn the whereabouts of their daughter. Trembling from head to toe, his wife told him that in the course of their voyage on the stick, the little one had slipped from her mother’s hands. She had tumbled into space and perished on the spot. Infinitely saddened by this irreparable loss and very angry with his wife, who was responsible for the death of their daughter, he had the magic stick beat her. In spite of that, his wife said to him, “My dear one, I regret very much what has happened and I ask you to forgive me. I beg of you, take me with you again. It is no longer possible for me to stay in my parents’ home, where I would only live in pain and suffering.”

  The young man answered her thus:

  “I took you with me at your own request, because you wanted to live a free and adventurous life. You robbed me, you deceived me, and you left me of your own free will to go back to your parents. I can only conclude that you prefer suffering to happiness. Count on me no longer. I want nothing to do with you!”

  At this moment, the zombie made a long, well-calculated pause, and, caught up in the story, the prince lost his attention for a moment and cried out: “What a stupid woman! She has no idea what she—” He broke off sharply but too late.

  Yet once more the sack opened to allow its prisoner, Ngödrup Dorje, to escape. Gloating hugely, the zombie said, “There you have the humiliating blow you deserve for talking back!” and he disappeared in a puff of wind.

  Dechö Zangpo was left all alone in this desolate place with an immense feeling of remorse and failure. But neither his anger nor his tears could change the situation in the least. In the end he 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 firmest possible resolve never to let his vigilance lapse again, he went back again to capture “He Who Fulfills All Dreams.”

  17

  Hunting Down the Zombie Again

  SO IT WAS that the determined prince Dechö Zangpo traveled across the entire kingdom again until he reached the place called Silwaytsal, where the dead dwelled. Forcing aside the numerous dead beings who crowded around him, by touching their heads with the cone-shaped red object, he finally caught a glimpse of the object of his hunt, the zombie Ngödrup Dorje. The zombie was gold on the top, silver on the bottom, and had a mane of pure turquoise. As soon as he was seen, the zombie fled into the top of a sandalwood tree, saying, “I am not the right one! I am not the right one!” But once again, being very sure of himself, he finally came down from the tree and ended up in the prince’s magic sack, which the prince tied up securely with his magic rope.

  The twenty-fourth day, when the prince was once again in the process 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 know very well 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, a living being, will tell me a story, or I, who am a dead being, will tell you one.”

  The prince, sorely tried but more than ever on his guard, did not answer a word, and the zombie resumed where he had left off telling him the story of the beggar.

  18

  The Beggar Is Reunited with His Friends

  RID OF HIS perfidious wife, the young man set off again on his journey across the high Tibetan plateau. One day, he felt an irresistible desire to see once again the three friends he had left behind in different villages after their respective weddings.

  So it was that he came first to the region where he had parted from the son of the king. From a distance he saw a flock of sheep with their shepherd, and he decided to have a chat with the man in the hope of getting some information about his friend. As he was speaking with the shepherd, he discovered with surprise that this herdsman himself was no one else but the king’s son. His complexion had been darkened by the sun and his body, formerly so strong and resilient, had become feeble and sickly because of the bad food he was being given. He had changed so much that the young beggar had not even recognized him!

  The beggar learned that at the beginning of his marriage, the king’s son had lacked for nothing and had lived a happy life in the bosom of a good family. But as time went on, the family had shown him less and less respect, had given him terrible food, and had taken away his royal raiment, exchanging it for a herdsman’s clothes. At last they had cast him out of the house and made him stay outdoors with his herd.

  It was with great joy and indescribable happiness that the shepherd, who had had to endure so much suffering in the meantime, laid eyes on the beggar again. The beggar promised he would find a strategy to help him. He warned him, above all, not to mention anything about their meeting to anyone and not to be surprised by anything that happened.

  In order to provide his starving friend with some decent nourishment, the young beggar took out his magic sack and drew out of it a feast of eighteen courses, each one more succulent than the last. The two ate their fill and fell asleep together, surrounded by the sheep. That night the shepherd had the impression that the sky was more illuminated than usual by all the stars and by the thousand buddhas who were smiling down on him from up there.

  Very early the following morning, the two separated and proceeded as though their meeting had never occurred. When the beggar arrived at the village, he put on his hat, and invisible to all eyes, he entered the house of his friend’s in-laws. As he had done with his own wife, he touched his friend’s wife with the red flower, which transformed her instantly into a monkey. She was terrified and began jumping about in every direction. She broke everything in the house that she touched and injured everyone who crossed her path. The family was shocked and did not know what to do. They could find no solution but to shut her up in a cage for her own safety and the safety of everyone else.

  The beggar, still invisible thanks to the magic hat, left the house and, by burning another feather, summoned his friend the mother bird to his aid. Disguised as a great spiritual master, the young man mounted on the bird’s back and flew over the village. Everyone thought that the Buddha himself had descended from the sky. They burned sticks of incense, prayed fervently, and prostrated on the ground. The bird alit on the roof of the house of the shepherd’s in-laws, and the false master climbed down into the house, where he was received with great deference. The family did not recognize him at all.

  Honored by this dignitary’s visit and full of hope for his precious aid, the family showed the great spiritual master the monkey shut up in its cage and told him what had transpired. The false master played his role with skill. After a long si
lence, he said:

  “Hmm! I see that your daughter has an extremely worthy husband to whom your whole family has caused great harm. That is why the local deities have punished your daughter and have changed her into a monkey. If you do not ask your son-in-law’s forgiveness and do not accord him his legitimate, respected place in the family as before, you are all in peril of being turned into monkeys sooner or later.”

  This had a major effect. The family was terrified and summoned the shepherd. They returned to him his royal garments of old and asked his forgiveness. They pledged to honor him and treat him as they had at the beginning of the marriage.

  Then the false master kept his word, and secretly, using the yellow flower, he transformed the monkey back into a woman. She was very happy to have regained her original form and promised to love and honor her husband. Delighted at having been able to help his friend, the beggar took his leave and resumed his travels. Though it was difficult to for them to say goodbye, the two friends were glad their strong friendship had remained intact.

  While on the road, the young beggar began wondering what had become of his friend, the son of the wealthy family. So he decided to go and pay him a visit. But when he arrived in the area where this friend lived, he found a situation analogous to the previous one. This friend had also been maltreated by his wife’s family. Starting quite soon after the wedding, he had had to endure a great deal of suffering. The beggar promised to come to his aid and restore the situation to how it had initially been. He went about it in the same way as he had with his own wife and the wife of the king’s son. He made himself invisible using the hat, entered the house, and transformed the wicked wife into a monkey by touching her with the red flower.