Sacred Texts Asia Index Previous Next
Buy this Book at Amazon.com
Tibetan Folk Tales, by A.L. Shelton, [1925], at sacred-texts.com
|
Women have 6 faults--1st, when her legs are long she will fall down; 2nd, when they are short she will stand up; 3rd, when she is fat she will run; 4th, when her face is red she will cry; 5th, when her face is black she will get angry; 6th, when her mouth is big she will laugh. |
ONCE upon a time two women were quarreling over one boy, trying to decide to which one he belonged. They could not settle the case, so they took it before the king of the land, who, being wise and of great understanding, thus ordered: "One of you take hold of the right hand of the boy and the other of the left hand and pull, the one who gets him may carry him off."
When he had so spoken, she, who was not the boy's mother, because she had no love for him, and not caring whether she hurt him or not, pulled with all the force she had. She, who in truth was the boy's mother, because she loved him, and fearing she might hurt him, though she was the stronger of the two, did not pull very hard. Then the king said to her who had pulled very hard, "He is not your son, but belongs to the other woman," to whom he gave the boy, who at once happily carried him away.