Free The Prince and the Zombie by Tenzin Wangmo Page A

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.

    â€œWhat 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.

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    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:
    â€œIn 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.

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    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,