Story: The Man and his Wife

Based on Tibetan Folk Tales: The Man and the Monkeys by A.L. Shelton with illustrations by Mildred Bryant (1925)

A Cop and Lamborghini by Richard Masoner

There once was a man who won the lottery. He would no longer have to work, no longer have to cook or clean up after himself, and could buy anything he wanted. One day, the man fell asleep in his large and comfortable memory foam bed. While he was asleep, a burglar came into his home in order to hold the man hostage for ransom. His maid saw what had happened when she showed up to work the next morning, but she wasn't strong enough to fight back for him. She decided to go to the at home gym upstairs and work out until she was strong enough to fight the burglar. She drank protein shakes and constantly weighed herself in order to see how much muscle she was gaining. Finally, she was strong enough to fight back and save the man. He was quite shaken up after being freed, and the maid suggested a good workout in order to relieve some stress. After working out, the man was very tired and laid down to rest on the hard floor of his gym. Meanwhile, the maid was in the kitchen making them protein shakes with the blender. The blender was so loud and annoying, and the man thought it would be much easier to relax without the maid making so much noise. He thought to himself, I should just fire this maid and have my girlfriend move in with me. So, when the maid left for the day he texted her and told her she was fired... knowing that without the money he paid her, she would be unable to provide for her own family. He was happy with his decision and went to go and get his girlfriend in his bright red Lamborghini. Little did he know, the neighbor of the maid was a police officer who dearly loved the sweet maid next door, as she looked after his children when he worked late shifts. When the cop saw the man in the Lamborghini, he pulled him over for speeding, driving while under the influence, resisting arrest, and assaulting a police officer. The man was thrown into jail for the rest of his life.

Authors Note: This was one of my favorite stories from the Tibetan folk tales, and so I decided to completely change it up. Instead of a man finding the garden of Eden and killing monkeys that helped him, I decided to try and modernize the story to reflect a rich man who is punished for being a back stabber to the person who rescued him. In the original story, the man is eaten by the monkey king that is turned into a snake, but as you can imagine I didn't think that ending matched with my revised story.

Reading Notes: Tibetan Folk Tales-Part B

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

An Adorable Rabbit

How the Rabbit Killed the Lion: One day, the rabbit didn't feel like getting up from the grass to bow to the king (lion). But then the lion appeared before him, so the rabbit lied and said that a she-devil scared him. When the lion asked if she harmed him, he said no, but that the devil yelled about how she was the ultimate ruler that could kill the lion. The lion was not happy with this idea, and decided to go and prove to the devil that he was the best of them all. So the rabbit took the lion to the stream, and when the lions reflection was visible, the rabbit shouted that the devil was there. The lion jumped in to kill his own reflection and drowned.

The Story of the Three Hunters: There once were three married brothers and one sister. After a hunt, the men and their wives ate and gave a leg to the sister. The sister made delicious marrow, and the wives were so jealous that they wanted to kill her. The youngest brother's wife didn't agree with the other two, but they still decided to move forward with the plan without her. The brothers were still out on a hunt when they killed her, and her soul entered a bird. When they came home, the sister was gone and they confirmed the killing by the third wife. So they killed the first two and shared the third wife among them.

How the Raven Saved the Hunter: There once was a very poor hunter. He was very tired from a long day and he came across a stream on the mountain he was on. He decided to make a cup out of a leaf so that he could drink. When he raised it up to drink, a raven flew by and knocked it out of his hand. He thought it was an accident until it happened again. So he angrily shot the bird dead. He followed the stream and found out that it was from a snake, soiled with dead bodies. Then he felt bad because the raven had saved him and he killed it.

The Golden Squash: There was once two old men; one was good and one was bad. The nice one saw a hurt bird one day and nursed it back to health. The bird then flew away and came back with a special seed for him. It grew and grew until it was ready to be pulled. It turned out to be made of solid gold, that he could help the community with. The bad man was jealous and decided to shoot a bird in the leg and nurse it back to health. The bird came back with a seed as well, but when it grew and grew... he cut it open only to find a man inside. He weighed/judged him and decided to cut his head off.

The Man with Five Friends with Different Colored Eyes: A man told his son to choose friends based on their eyes, and to only tell his wife secrets when they had ten children. The son grew up and the dad died, but the son didn't listen to what his dad warned him about. The wife and him got in a fight and just like the dad said, she went against him. Then four of his five friends went against him as well. But the friend who fit the bill for what the dad wanted, was wise and helped to get the son out of trouble.

The Story of the Violinist: There once was a family of three sons. One writer, one a carpenter, and one learned how to play the violin. The father wasn't pleased with the violinist, and kicked him out. So he went to a new country where he broke up a fight. The king was happy with him and sent for a woman to bring him to the palace. She told the boy to ask the king for a hen, with hopes that he would get the princess who was so pretty that she covered herself in chicken skin. So he did just that and gained a wife, They moved to a kingdom where there was a wicked ruler, and they decided to invite him for dinner after plotting a plan. The princess shed her skin and when the king saw her, he wanted to trade wives with the son. So they did, but in the midst of it all, the son was conspiring with the old wife. They were able to open the gates of hell and lead the king and his men inside. Then the musician and his queen lived happily ever after.

How the Sacred Duck Got His Yellow Breast: One day a rabbit and fog were playing around when they found a gold pot. They fought on who saw it first, and decided to race for it. The frog however, decided to cheat because he knew he was slower. The cheating worked and the rabbit lost. However, the fog had no way of getting the pot down the mountain. A duck came by and said he could help if he had half of it, and so he did.

The Two Little Cats: One day, two cats needed salt for their butter tea. But on their way, they saw a monster who would eat them. As they ran, they came across an army of animals who said that they would protect the cats from the monster. They got home and set up a series of booby traps for the monster when he came. Everything worked out successfully and they were able to kill the monster, and they were able to be at peace.

How the Wolf, the Fox and the Rabbit Committed a Crime: One day a wolf, fox, and rabbit came across a wizard. They decided to trick him so they could get his pack. Their plan worked, and they all convened at a meeting place. The wolf got boots, the fox got a bell, and the rabbit got all the food. But the wolf's boots caused him to be caught by the shepherd and the bell scared the fox babies to death.

A Rabbit Story: There once was two families of son and mom; rabbit and bear. The moms dug roots for food, but since the rabbit was faster, the bear killed her and cooked her up. The rabbit son saw and swore to get revenge. So he got an arrow and killed the bear son. Then he knew the mom would come after him and so he asked the tiger for help. While the rabbit was hiding in the tiger's ear, he munched on some roots. But he told the tiger it was his eye balls, and the tiger decided to eat his own eye balls if the rabbit would be his eyes. But he lead the tiger to fall off a cliff, told the shepherd to get the dead tiger, told the wolf to kill the sheep, and told the raven to pick out the baby wolves eyes. The rabbit had done so much harm that he ran away.

The Man and the Monkeys: One day a man came across the perfect garden of Eden and decided to stay there. He decided to sleep in a tree, but fell out of it and into a lake. A little monkey who saw was too small to help, so he worked out every day until he could save the man. The man was tired and able to sleep, but on the ground. He wasn't able to sleep though with all the monkeys in the tree, and so he shook all the trees so that the monkeys would fall out and die. The man then wanted to get his family to come live with him, but the monkey god punished the man instead by turning into a snake and eating him.

Reading Notes: Tibetan Folk Tales-Part A

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

Tiger and Frog by garlandcannon

The Tiger and the Frog: One day, a very hungry tiger stumbled upon a smart little frog. The tiger was going to eat the frog, but he tricked the tiger by beating him in a couple of small challenges (in which he cheated of course). So the tiger actually became afraid of the frog, and ran far away. Soon he came across a fox, who laughed at him for being afraid of the frog. So they decided to tie their tails together and go face the frog as one. When they approached, the frog put on a tough act yet again and scared the tiger so much that he began to run away. He dragged the poor fox along with them in a perpetual sprint. 

The Cony Who Got into Bad Company: There once was a lama who lived in a far away little hut, and he lived with very few things. He had two friends (so he thought) who were a bunny and a rat. Secretly, they would steal grain from the lama at night. One day, he found out what they were doing and caught them in the act. So he cut off their ears, whiskers, and tails before letting them loose. They lied and said they weren't stealing at all, and that now they would send an army of animals to steal everything. However, the bunny king knew they were lying and refused to help, therefore neither did the rat king. All in all, it was the bad nature of the rat that lead to all of the dismay.

The Story of the Donkey and the Rock: In a village of a kind king, lived two poor men. One day one of the men was selling a jar of oil when a man on a donkey spilled the entire jar due to running into a rock. When they ask the king what to do, he said that the donkey and rock were to blame, so they were chained up. Basically everyone thought that the king had gone crazy, especially when he ordered for a trail. However, the king actually had a plan. When everyone showed, he asked why they thought this was important, and that they all had to pay money to leave. This money was given to the man who's oil was spilled.

How the Fox Fell a Victim to His Own Deceit: When a baby tiger was born, his mom went out and got a fox to be his friend. They played and played without a care. But, when the mom brought a calf to be a playmate too, the fox got jealous.

The Ingratitude of Man:

Covetousness:

The Wise Carpenter:

The Story of Drashup and the Goddesses:

The Man and the Ghost:

The Story of the Two Devils: