Reading Notes: Tibetan Folk Tales, Part A

(Tibetan monastery temple; source: Pixabay)

My favorite of these Tibetan folk tales was the one about the wise carpenter and the trick he used to deceive the painter. As I was reading this story, I noticed that it felt very familiar to me. Upon some further research I discovered that a similar version of this tale was told in the Akbar and Birbal stories I read when I was younger. In that version, the conflict is between Birbal, the wise minister to the King, and the King's barber.

Plot:

• King Gendong of the city Snalong had recently died and passed on rule of his kingdom to his son Genchog. A very talented painter and carpenter worked for the King and were rivals.
• One day, the painter approaches King Genchog and tells him that his father Gendong had called him up to heaven and sent him back with a letter for his son.
• The letter outlined the Gendong's desire to build a temple to the gods and a request to send to heaven the best carpenter in the land.
• The King summons the carpenter and tells him he will have to go to heaven to build this temple for his father.
• The carpenter deduces that this was all part of the painter's plot to be hid of him. He agrees to the King's request but asks how he is to travel to heaven.
• The painter says that the carpenter must gather all his tools and allow a pyre to be built around him and set on fire so that he may use the smoke to travel to heaven.
• The carpenter agrees to these terms but requests that the burning take place on his land. He goes home and with his wife, builds a tunnel from the place of the burning to his home.
• On the day of the burning, the carpenter slips into the tunnel when the fire is raging around him. Everyone, including the painter assumes he has gone to heaven.
• The carpenter remains in hiding for three months and has godlike clothes stitched for himself. He then goes to visit the King with a letter from his father.
• The letter states that the carpenter deserves to be handsomely rewarded for his assistance in building the temple. Furthermore, it stipulates that the best painter in the kingdom is needed in heaven to paint the temple.
• The painter, noticing the carpenter's grand clothing and pale countenance, believed that the man really had been to heaven and agreed to go there himself.
• On the day of the burning, the carpenter suggested that everyone play loud music while the flames were roaring. This noise drowned out the painter's screams and the painter ended up really going to heaven.

Characters:

• King Genchog - loyal to his father, foolish for believing the letters procured by both the painter and carpenter
• Painter - seemingly smart for coming up with the initial plan, foolish because he ended up truly believing in the carpenter's ascent to heaven
• Carpenter - a wise and witty man, immediately recognized the painter's plan, acted quickly to ensure his own safety and fortune

Style:

• All the folk tales begin with a proverb. The one from this tale is: For men there is no hope, except to find happiness in the worship of the gods.
• This proverb did not really seem to tie into the story directly. However, this could be used to explain King Genchog's willingness to believe that his father would want to construct a temple to the gods in heaven.

Bibliography. Tibetan Folk Tales by A.L. Shelton with illustrations by Mildred Bryant (1925).