165174
Story 128: Businessman’s Wife’s Secret Folktales
Businessman’s Wife’s Secret
Author: Anonymous
A businessman came back from doing business in northern Tibet and found that his wife was not behaving well at home. He was so angry that he told a friend in detail about his suspicions. The friend said: “Brother, don’t be suspicious. I’ll pretend to be a lama and help you find out the truth!”
Three days later, the merchant went out to do business again. The wife is busy at home, waiting for a tryst with her sweetheart. When it was getting dark, an old lama with a hunched back stumbled in from outside, clasped his hands, and kept begging: “Master, I am a wandering ascetic. Seeing that it is getting dark, please take me in for the night.” Come on!” At first, the businessman’s wife refused to agree. Unable to bear the old lama’s bow and begging, she let him stay in a hut in the yard where firewood was piled.
After a while, the businessman’s wife opened the back door and admitted her lover. The two of them killed a black goat, made a pot of gnocchi, and brought out a jar of highland barley wine from the wine room. They sat next to each other and drank happily. Needless to say, they felt very comfortable. Suddenly, there was a banging sound on the door in the yard. When the businessman’s wife heard it, her face turned pale with fright, because from the sound, it was her husband coming back.
However, she did not panic. While agreeing, she threw the goatskin into the corner of the door, poured the gnocchi into the ashes, poured the wine into the ditch, and asked her best friend to hide it in a big log. In the box, I went to open the door.
The businessman walked in and said to his wife, “Oh, I’m very unlucky today. Just when I walked to the ferry, I suddenly felt dizzy and had chest pain. Go and ask a lama to help me see a doctor!” The wife said, “Brother, Don’t worry, I happen to have a master staying at my house and he lives in the courtyard.”
The old lama was woken up by the businessman’s wife and asked to come to see the businessman. He looked at it for a long time and said: “Boss, you are possessed by a devil! I was sleeping in your yard just now, and suddenly I saw a black cloud flying in the sky. The black cloud was as big as the goatskin in the corner of the door; then, There was another hailstorm, as big as gnocchi in the ashes; and at the same time, heavy rain fell, as much as wine poured into the gutter. I also saw a black-headed devil, crawling into the ditch. Into that big wooden box.”
After hearing these words, the merchant’s wife became really scared. As for the businessman, he saw a piece of black goatskin in the corner of the door, a large pile of gnocchi in the ashes, and found that the highland barley wine he had just poured out was still flowing in the ditch. Finally, he took a big wooden stick and knocked on the big wooden box a few times, shouting: “Come out, devil!” After waiting for a while, the lid of the box slowly opened, and a man’s head came out of it. out. The businessman was shaking with anger and raised his stick to hit him, but the old lama blocked him.
The old lama said: “Boss, don’t take action yet, let’s clarify the matter!” The businessman’s wife cried and said: “You are running business outside, and I am lonely at home, so I secretly interact with my neighbors. These are all My fault.” The man also said: “I am your neighbor. Not only can I not help you take care of the housework, but I also do such embarrassing things. I am really shameless.
From now on, let alone playing drums, I don’t even have drumsticks. I dare to touch you.” Under the advice of the old lama, the businessman forgave his wife and neighbor. The two were very grateful to the lama and bowed repeatedly to express their repentance.
Narration: Mingzhu Dorje, Xiangyang Commune, Chengguan District, Lhasa City
Recorded on October 2, 1979
Compiled in February 1982
