The Old Ogre

Tibet

In ancient times there were many devils in Tibet. They roamed freely in the forests and mountains, but did no harm to the meditators in retreat there. But, they were a nuisance to the shepherd, who had to keep a constant watch on them to prevent any of them walking off with a sheep.

Among these devils was one very ferocious, old ogre, of whom everyone was very afraid; even the other ogres were afraid of him. He not only stole sheep, but also human children and ate them in his cave. When he had nothing else to eat, he would go to one of the other ogres and snatch away his day's catch. In this way he was a bully to the other ogres and an object of constant fear to the villagers.

At the end of the village there lived an old woman and her daughter. They had no neighbors to talk to, or to ask for help, but they were very happy with their simple, isolated life. They were also happy because, though many other families had lost their children to the old ogre, they had not been visited by him at all. Every morning and evening the mother thanked the Gods for protection given to them so far and prayed for further protection.

One day the mother called her daughter to her and warned, "Do not open the door to anyone until 1 come back, otherwise the old ogre will come and take you away," and she went out to pick doma.

Just as her mother had instructed, the girl closed the door and the windows tightly and stayed inside. But after not very long, there came a knock on the door.

"Who is it?" the girl asked. "My mother told me not to open the door to anyone until she returned. "

"Why, I am your mother," came the reply.

"If you are my mother, show me your hands through the hole in the door."

When a very big, hairy hand appeared through the hole, she exclaimed, "These are not my mother's hands. Her hands are smooth and yours are hairy."

"It's all right if you don't want to open the door, but will you please give me some oil and some fire?"

The girl quickly gave him some oil and fire thinking that he would go away. But instead, he rubbed the oil on his hands and burnt off the hair. Then coming back to the door, he called, "Daughter, open the door. I am your mother."

"Your voice does not sound like my mother's, but anyway show me your hands."

When she saw the smooth hands, the girl opened the door; seeing that it was not her mother but the old ogre himself, she ran and hid behind a beam in the ceiling. He searched everywhere. He searched for her in the barrels, under the beds and in every corner, but could not find her. He was so tired, that he left off a booming fart and the girl gave a great shriek of laughter. Then he found out where she was and tried to reach her, but could not do so. He asked her how she got up there.

"I piled needles upon needles and climbed," she said.

So he piled needles upon needles but could not climb up. He threatened that she should speak the truth or he would smash her body into pieces and devour her.

"I piled wooden cups over wooden cups and climbed," she said, but he could not climb the pile of wooden cups. This time he threatened her even more strongly and said that he would devour her alive if she did not tell him the truth. She was very scared and told him that she had piled barrels on top of barrels and climbed. So he piled barrels on top of each other and climbed up and seized her and took her to his cave.

In the evening when the mother returned, she found her daughter missing and learnt that the old ogre had taken her away. She was very sad and upset that her only source of happiness and comfort was gone. So, she packed some roasted barley meal (tsampa) in a small leather bag and went in search of her daughter.

On the way she met a raven, who asked her why she was crying and where she was going.

"My daughter has been taken away by the old ogre and I am going in search of her," she answered.

The raven asked for some tsampa and promised to help her in her search. She gave him some, and they went on together. Next they met a fox, who asked why the old woman was crying and where they were going. She told him about the old ogre and her daughter. He also asked for some tsampa and promised to accompany them in the search. She also gave him some tsampa and the three of them went on together.

Then they met a wolf and he too asked where they were going. When the old woman told him about her daughter's misfortune, he also asked for some tsampa and promised to help in rescuing her daughter. Gratefully the old woman gave him some tsampa and accordingly the four of them went on together. As they were nearing the old ogre's cave, the wolf said, "We must make a plan to get the girl, otherwise we will also be devoured by the old ogre."

So, they made a plan and went right up to the old ogre's cave, which was like no other. It was very large with bones of different animals lying all around. Directly in front of the cave, they were surprised to find a big pen containing hundreds of sheep. It was the fox, who was the first to give up the idea of rescuing the girl. He was not only afraid of the old ogre, but very much tempted by the number of helpless sheep waiting to be eaten. But the raven and the wolf threatened to kill him, if he did not help them as he had promised.

And, so, as they had planned earlier, the wolf went into the pen and ran hither and thither among the sheep, scaring them and throwing everything into chaos. Immediately the old ogre came out of the cave and hurled a big stone at the wolf. The wolf pretended to be dead and the raven sat on him to show the old ogre that he really was dead. Thinking that he could eat the wolf later, the old ogre started to chase the fox away. As he ran faster and came closer, the fox increased his own speed and running as fast as the wind, swiftly disappeared into the forest.

Meanwhile, the wolf, the raven and the old woman entered the old ogre's cave and found the girl in a sack hanging over the fire-place. They rescued her, filled the sack with ice and thorns and fled.

When he failed to catch the fox, the old ogre returned to his cave and was very pleased to find that none of the sheep was missing, but he was still angry that the fox had cheated him and escaped. He was very tired froth the chase and decided to eat the girl to reward himself. As he lit the fire to prepare his dinner, the ice melted.

"Girl, don't wet yourself," he cried, but the ice continued to melt. In his anger he grabbed the sack and was pricked by the thorns. He thought that the girl was angry and pinching him and, in a fit of pique, grabbed for her again, so the thorns pricked him even more. To his anger and dismay he found only ice and thorns in the sack and then realized that the fox, the raven, the old woman and the wolf had come not to steal his sheep, but to rescue the girl. He was absolutely furious and burned to take his revenge, especially on the fox, who had fooled him. So, he set out to find him.

When the fox saw tile old ogre coming in his direction, with his fists raised and shouting abuse, he pretended to be winnowing sand. The old ogre accused the fox of cheating him and swore that he would eat him on the spot.

"On that hill yonder live a hundred foxes and over here another hundred; there are one thousand, nine hundred foxes in all. I am 'the river-side sand-winnowing fox' and not the one you are looking for."

"Then will you teach me how to winnow sand?" asked the old ogre. The fox agreed and told him to lie down and open his mouth, nose and eyes. Pretending to winnow the sand, he stuffed the ogre's mouth, nose and eyes with it and ran off.

A little later the ogre caught up with him and growled, "What mischief you have done. You have stolen away the girl, stuffed my mouth, nose and eyes with sand and run away. This time I am not going to let you escape."

"What are you saying?" asked the fox. "On that hill yonder live a hundred foxes and over here another hundred foxes; one thousand, nine hundred foxes in all. I am 'the cliff side glue-making fox' and not the one you are looking for."

The old ogre was convinced by the fox's words and forgot his anger in his anxiety to learn the fox's art. He asked the fox to teach him the art of making glue and the fox agreed to do so. He smeared glue on a rock and made the old ogre close his eyes and sit on it. As he sat down, the fox smeared glue all over his face and again ran away.

He sat at the edge of a cliff and while appearing to be weaving a basket, he pretended not to see the old ogre coming towards him. Growling and swearing, the old ogre came up, swearing that he would eat him. He said, "There is nothing that you haven't done to me. You stole the girl, stuffed my mouth, nose and eyes with sand, glued my bottom to a rock and smeared my face with glue."

The fox replied, "On that hill yonder live a hundred foxes and over here another hundred foxes; there are one thousand, nine hundred foxes in all. I am 'the cliff-side basket-weaving fox' and not the one you are looking for."

"The same was said to me before, you must be the one I'm looking for," said the old ogre, but the fox insisted that he was not the one.

"In that case, will you teach me how to leave baskets?" the old ogre asked.

Pretending to teach him how to weave, he asked the old ogre to get inside a half-finished basket, while he continued to weave, slowly encasing the ogre. When it was finishing the old ogre was safely enclosed and he could not get out. Laughing aloud the fox rolled him over the cliff and down into the river.

So, the scary, old ogre died at the hands of a small fox; the villagers thanked him heartily and lived in peace ever after.

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