Free The Prince and the Zombie by Tenzin Wangmo Page B

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.”
    â€œWell, 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.
    He shut him up in the sack and closed it firmly—as firmly, he thought, as he would keep his mouth closed this time, no matter what happened—and set out in the direction of the cave in Tibet, impatient to deposit his heavy burden at the feet of his venerated guru.
    But the thirty-sixth day, as he was in the process of crossing the immense empty plain, feeling physically exhausted, Ngödrup Dorje began speaking in a very sweet and soothing voice:
    â€œIn this desolate region,