Story 139: The Story of an Ox, a Donkey, a Chicken and a Couple Folktales

The Story of an Ox, a Donkey, a Chicken and a Couple Folktales

Author: Anonymous

Once upon a time, there was a hard-working young man named Suolang Tashi. His property was pitiful, only one ox, one donkey, five chickens, and a small field. Later, he found a wife who didn’t want to do any hard work. She only knew how to eat and eat every day. Others gave her a nickname, Xiabazhuo.

One day, the ox came back from plowing the fields and lay in the pen and kept sighing. The donkey felt very sad, so he came to comfort him: “Hey, my friend, you are tired.” The ox shook his head and replied: “Well, you are working. It’s my job to be tired, and I don’t care. That woman from Xia Bazhuo not only didn’t let me eat enough, but also beat me with a stick. I really couldn’t stand it.”

“This woman, she treats us all the same!” the donkey shouted angrily; “Friend, let me teach you a way, just lie down and eat nothing. The master will think you are sick and will tell you to rest.”

The scalper followed the method taught by the donkey and lay down in the pen to pretend to be sick. Suolang Tashi was very heartbroken after seeing this, so he hitched the donkey and let it plow the land instead of the ox. The donkey worked for a day and was exhausted. It thought, “This plowing work is really hard. I have to find a way to ask the oxen to do it by myself.”

At night, the donkey limped up to the ox and said in a fuss: “Brother! I have some bad news that I have to tell you. When the owner was plowing the land, he said that if the ox continues to be so sick, he will sell it to the butcher!” “The Ox was frightened to death, and its legs were trembling: “Oh my god!” The Donkey said: “Brother, it’s okay! From tomorrow on, you can eat well, work hard, scream with your neck straight, and shake your tail toward the sky, and the master will I won’t sell you anymore.” The ox listened to the donkey’s words and went to plow the land obediently.

Suolang Tashi worked hard for two or three years, and his life gradually became rich. There was some meat, butter, highland barley and tsampa in the warehouse. One day, Xia Bazhuo said to her husband: “Hey! Sonam Tashi, during the Wangguo Festival, I want to invite some relatives to come and eat and drink happily for a week.” Sonam Tashi quickly advised: ” Ajia, this is not easy to come by. I think it’s better to save it and eat it slowly.”

Xiabazhuo said angrily: “Bah! You still feel heartbroken after eating such a small amount of food. Let me tell you, if you agree, we will Let’s get on with it; if you don’t agree, we can get divorced!” When Suolang Tashi heard about the divorce, he was so frightened that he had no choice but to change his mind and say with a smile: “Ajia, don’t be anxious, we will discuss it later!”

The couple’s quarrel was heard by everyone in the house. The next day, Suolang Tashi harnessed the ox and donkey and plowed the vegetable field in the backyard. While drinking tea, the big rooster came and said to the ox and the donkey: “Gee! Our master Suolang Tashi is really unmanly! Yesterday Xia Bazhuo said that he would eat and drink everything in the house. , or divorce him and break up.

My hands were itchy after listening to it, and the master even said something about discussing it in a low voice. Friends, look at me, there are four ladies around me, and none of them refuse to listen to me. I go out to find food during the day. , they all followed me; when I went to bed at night, they all asked me to go first.”

The donkey said: “This Xia Bazhuo only knows how to eat and eat by himself. He doesn’t care about us at all. We don’t have enough to eat every time. Maybe the owner doesn’t know at all.”

The ox lay on the grass and said slowly: ” Yes! Our master just knew that he was exhausted, so he didn’t find a way to ask Xiabazhuo to work too. If Xiabazhuo knew a little about the hardship of labor, he would not abuse us like this, nor bully her husband like this.”

While drinking tea, Suolang Tashi listened to the conversation between the rooster, the ox, and the donkey, and felt that he was greatly educated. He finished work early that day and personally fed peas and grass to the oxen and donkeys, and tsampa to the roosters and hens. Xia Bazhuo looked at it, felt very unhappy, and asked: “Hey! You are finishing your work like this today.” “It’s early and you feed the livestock with your own hands. What does this mean?” Suolang Tashi smiled and said to her: “Wife Xia Bazhuo, do you know how our family’s good life came about?” Xia Bazhuo replied Said: “Huh, of course it’s your labor that’s good and my blessing that’s good!”

“So, who cultivates our land?”

“Of course it was plowed by scalpers.”

“So, who carries our manure?”

“Of course it’s carried by a donkey.”

“Okay!” The husband asked again: “Who laid the eggs we eat and sell?”

“Of course it was born by a hen.” Xiabazhuo answered quickly.

“That’s right! Without oxen plowing the fields, donkeys delivering manure, and hens laying eggs, we wouldn’t have a prosperous life. Not only do you not feed them, but you also beat them at every turn. Is this appropriate?” Xiabazhuo lowered his head. , couldn’t say a word.

“Ajia, starting from tomorrow, I think you should also deliver fertilizer to the vegetable fields! Five trips in the morning and five trips in the afternoon. Any more will make you exhausted.” Suolang Tashi said in a negotiating tone.

“What’s so big about this!” Xia Bazhuo replied while preparing a basket for delivering dung. After three days of delivering excrement, she was so tired that she was swaying around, her shoulders were swollen, and a piece of skin was abraded on her waist. She was in so much pain that she couldn’t do anything about it.

At this time, she thought: “I have only been working for three days, and I am already so tired. Suolang Tashi has been working all day, and I don’t know how tired I am. The donkey carries things every day, and my back hurts so much. The cattle plow the fields every day, and my neck feels so uncomfortable.”

From then on, Xiabazhuo became hard-working and kind. She was considerate and kind to her husband; she treated the family’s livestock as if they were her own children. No one would envy such a harmonious and prosperous family!

Narration: Abi, a Hui member of Xiangyang Cooperative in Chengguan District, Lhasa
Recorded on September 14, 1979
Compiled in February 1981

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