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Story 111: Young Amei Quqiong Story

Young Amei Quqiong

Author: Anonymous

Once upon a time, there was a young man herding horses in Amei, named Amei Quqiong. He has kind parents and a newlywed wife, and lives a happy life. On the third day after the wedding, the young man went out to let his horses go. The young wife helped him prepare all kinds of food and sent him out, singing:

My husband listen!
Drive the stallion to the left slope,
Drive the mare to the right,
Bring the jumping pony,
Come to Xiangyang’s nest.
Wear the white Pupou Tibetan robe well.
Don’t take off your Huapupu boots randomly;
Mubian Qumiguduo (Qumiguduo: the name of Mubang.) Oh,
Tie it tightly around your waist and don’t lose it.
Don’t sleep in the haystack,
Don’t joke with the rocks,
Don’t joke with a crawling dog,
Don’t joke with the wind and thatch,
You are twenty-five this year. (Twenty-five: According to Tibetan custom, twenty-five for men and twenty-one for women are the years of calamity, and they are easily harmed by ghosts and gods.)
It would be terrible to meet the devil.

The young man came to the river, dispersed the horses, forgot his wife’s instructions, and lay down on the haystack to sleep. He dreamed that three iron men came from Samye Monastery (Samye Monastery: a past Tibetan saying that people’s life and death are controlled by Samye Monastery.), with air bags on their backs and nooses in their hands. , said to him: “Anibaigu, the goddess of Samye Temple, please go there.”

When the young man woke up, he had no strength all over his body and walked staggeringly. After driving his horse back home, there was only a small amount of air as big as a ponytail coming in and out of his throat. His father was sad, his mother was sad too, and his newly married wife was crying her heart out. The young man said to his father:

Please listen to it,
My strict father!
Your son wants to eat some meat,
Please cut the meat finely,
Please stew the meat till it becomes tender.

Abba hurriedly cut the meat. He sang to grandma again:

Please listen to it,
My loving mother!
Your son wants a sip of tea,
Please make the tea strong,
Please make the tea very fragrant.

Grandma quickly went to make tea. He turned to his wife and sang:

Please listen to it,
my beautiful wife!
Your husband wants to see the flowers,
Please go and pick a handful of halo flowers,
Please go pick a handful of Gesang flowers.

When his father came in with the meat, his mother with the tea, and his wife with the flowers, the young man had already passed away. His soul left his hometown and wandered towards Samye Temple. On the way, he met a friend who came back from Samye Temple.

He told the young man: “Friend, when you arrive at Samye Temple, the goddess Anibai asks you to eat human flesh, but you must not eat it; she asks you to drink human blood, but you must not drink it; and she asks you to wear human skin, but you must not do it. You can’t wear it; if you do it, you can return to life.”

The young soul comes to Samye Temple and walks into the first tall and mighty temple door,” the iron men guarding on both sides sang in unison:

The young people in Ami listened:
When entering the temple gate,
You must make three bows,
You have to kowtow three times!

The young man entered the first door and then the second door. When he entered the third door, the goddess Anibai came out. The young man asked her:

Please listen to it,
Sanyeanibaigu!
Please let me go back,
I have a newlywed wife,
I have elderly parents. “

Ani Baigu ignored the young man’s request and ordered the kid to take out human flesh, blood, and human skin and sing:

Please listen to it,
A young man from Ami!
You must have been hungry on the way,
Eat some human flesh quickly;
You must have been thirsty on the way,
Drink some human blood quickly;
You must have been cold on the way,
Quickly put on a human skin.

The young man remembered his friend’s advice and quickly replied:

I have never eaten human flesh before.
I don’t want to eat it now;
I have never drank human blood before.
I don’t want to drink it now;
I have never worn human skin before,
I don’t want to wear it now either.

Ani Baigu was angry; she threw down a soul bag, a life rope, and an ox tail, ordering him to collect people’s souls.

The young man returned to his hometown with three things, and met men, women, old and children basking in the sun at the edge of the village. He came to a group of old people. The old people were sitting under the wall, shaking prayer wheels in their hands.

One of them sighed and said: “Alas! A good man like Ame Quqiong left when he was young, leaving us alone. What are you doing in the world, Old Bones?” After hearing this, the other old people also shook their heads and sighed.

The young man couldn’t bear to take away one of them, so he went to the group of young people; the young people were playing the game of throwing horns, and suddenly a young man said: “Oh! We are having so much fun together, but it’s a pity that Qu Qiong is poor in herding horses. Let’s go.” After everyone heard this, they walked away, no longer in the mood to play games.

The young man couldn’t bear to take one of them away, so he went among the girls; the girls were playing shuttlecock, laughing and joking, without any sign of sadness. There happened to be a little girl who said, “Oh, the young horse herder is dead. His wife is so lonely and pitiful. Let’s just leave her alone!”

The girls are so kind-hearted, and the young man can’t bear it even more. He wandered around the world and couldn’t find a suitable person. Suddenly, he saw a dead dog and took the body away. Anibaigu said: “No!” He got another dead yak. Anibaigu was very unhappy and sang:

Please listen to it,
A young man from Ami!
If you want to come back to life,
Find a stand-in first.
He’s about the same height as you.
I’m about the same age as you.
He looks about the same as you,
If you find it, you can go home
If you can’t find it, you have to follow me.

The young man had no choice but to search everywhere in the world. Once, he came to the city of Lhasa and walked into the Gasha Government (Gasha Government: the local government of old Tibet.) and saw Doren (Doren: one of the largest nobles in Tibet) sitting on a high cushion. The young master looked handsome and knowledgeable, so he walked over and asked: “Master! Do you dare to enter the three main gates of Samye Temple?”

Master Duoren said with dignity: “No matter how high the temple gate is, there is no such thing as the Gasha Government.” The government office is high; no matter how big the temple gate is, it is not as big as the government office in Gasha; what are the three small gates of Samye Temple,?!”

The young man led young master Duoren to Samye Temple. When he walked into the first door, the young master turned pale with fright; when he walked into the second door, his knees trembled; when he walked into the third door, the young master bowed repeatedly and said: “The gate of Samye Temple, Biga The yamen of the Xiamen government are much taller, bigger, and scarier!” Anibai walked out with a smile and told him to eat human flesh, and he ate it; she told him to drink human blood, and he drank it; and she told him to wear human skin, and he did it. He wore it obediently.

From then on, Master Duo Ren stayed with Aunt Anibai. The young man returned to Amei’s place and reunited with his parents and wife.

Narration: Nima Penduo, Chengguan Town, Shigatse

Note: There is Sangdeng Temple in Zhalang County, Shannan Prefecture, Tibet. It was built in the eighth century AD during the Trisong Detsen era and is the first temple in Tibet. According to legend, King Baigar in the temple controls the life and death of everyone in Tibet. King Baigar sent people to collect the souls of all those who were about to die. Ani Baigu. She is a goddess in charge of life and death under King Baigar.

This story is called “The Story of Amei Quqiong“. Amei is the name of the place and Quqiong is a divine man. Therefore, we think it is probably a legend about the origin of Ami.