Flower in the hair (Tibetan tale)

From the first time I read this story, I was enchanted by the richness of details and
with the inventiveness of this narrative construction. I have always considered traditional tales
as works of art from time immemorial, and this story is an excellent example of the
creator power human and unknown authorship. I found it a collection originally
produced in the former Czechoslovakia and later translated and edited in France. There are countless
large books, hardcover, each illustrated by a different artist. The titles
we gather stories by cultures or other themes (such as, for example, 'legends of the Sun, of
"It is of the stars"). It was in one of those books, called Tales from Tibet [Contes du Tibet],
that I found this story. It reached my hands through the French translation
of this edition, on a distant day in May 1986.
Losang was a young man who lived with his father near a great river called Tzangpo. With the
the hunter father had learned since he was a boy to handle the bow and arrow with agility
impressive. He was strong, was not afraid of anything and, as if that were not enough, was so
It was said that there was not a young woman in the village who did not wish to be his wife. He did not care.
for none of them. Until one day something surprising happened: losang had
back from a hunt and lay down by the river, as he always did. His thoughts
we ran away, cradled by the incessant murmur of the waters; it was as if he himself
she was part of the river. She was a young woman walking with light steps, carrying a
wooden bucket. In her long black hair, she carried an orange blossom,
brightly white. By the river, she leaned over to fill the bucket with water, then
River to Losang and without further ado started to speak:
- Wow, what a lazy guy! Just lying there, with his head in the clouds, without
distrust that happiness awaits you, far from here.
On the other bank, Losang heard those words. He drew the bow and shot the arrow that
hit the bucket right in the middle. The water started to run through the hole and the young woman shouted to
she is very angry
- But is that something to do? In your place, I wouldn't be proud at all to have
right on the bucket. There are things much more difficult to do. For example: putting together the
seven-spurred horse of your father. If you could tame this horse, then you could indeed
to vaunt
Then she turned and walked away down the path. As soon as she disappeared among
high mountains, Losang returned home and went to look for his father and went to ask about the said
horse, which he had never heard of. The father initially did not want to answer, but
then said very worried:
This horse is too dangerous, it would be risky to approach it. I myself never
I managed to assemble it, so I thought it was better for you not to know of its existence. But
maybe it's time for you to go through this test. If you are sure that this is really it
So go to the gray mountains and cross three peaks and three valleys.
When you reach a mound full of yellow stones, look for a basin of water. If it
if it is empty, go down to the valley and there you will find the horse. Good luck, I will be here
waiting for you my son. Losang did as his father had instructed and finally found.
the place where there was the basin without water. He went down the mountain and saw a huge horse, with the mane

to the ground, standing near the lake. He had no time to think or do anything, as the
The horse was already galloping in his direction. He leaned against the boulder and the horse passed.
like a lightning bolt, leaving a trail of dry dust. Losang knew it would be impossible to mount
He did as he always did, then had an idea: he climbed a pine tree and waited for the horse.
pass underneath. At the exact moment when the animal approached the branch on which it
he was, Losang jumped over him and held on with all his strength to the animal's mane. For
but even as the horse jumped and shook its mane violently, Losang did not let go of his hands.
They galloped like madmen all day long, in a fight without truce. When the sun set on
the horizon or the horse yielded, calmed down as if by enchantment and began to obey the rider
that he had conquered. Losang returned home riding his horse, and when he passed
by the bank of the Tzangpo river he saw again the young woman with the orange blossom in her hair,
dipping the bucket into the water. Again he shot his accurate arrow, piercing the bucket, and
the water has all escaped. Furious, the young woman said:

I don't think it's a big deal to be able to ride this horse. Much harder is to achieve one.
another river that is two miles from here. There lives the beautiful Boumo, who to this day no man
was able to conquer. But you will never be able to get there because you keep losing your
time demonstrating useless skills, shooting arrows into buckets...
There she had already disappeared among the tall mountains, while Losang felt
completely awkward on top of your huge horse.
Although your father welcomed you with the greatest joy and praised you for your bravery,
Losang couldn't stop thinking about the beautiful Boumo. No matter how absurd it seemed, he
he was sure he needed to leave and go to meet her, even though he knew nothing about her.
father tried to discourage him, the path was full of dangers and threats, in the village there was
many beautiful young women who could make him very happy, he said. But it didn't help. Losang
it was the next day, mounted on his gigantic horse. He crossed the river and continued through the
path towards the high mountains, but when he got there the ground seemed to move
under the horse's hooves. And soon he realized that it was not ground at all: he
I was actually riding on the back of a huge clay dragon. But further on
there were 38 young people holding hands, screaming for help. Losang shot an arrow at the
dragon's head, and the black blood that gushed from the wound hit his chest with such
force that brought him down. Losang fainted and the young women surrounded him. The youngest among them went to
he took the head of the dead dragon and removed a luminous pearl from its forehead. With great care,
he knelt before Losang and placed a pearl on his chest, gently pressing it.
Losang agreed and saw all those beautiful smiling faces leaning over him.
Very well - said one of the young women - we are very grateful for saving us from the
dragon. We want you to fly, choose one of us to be your wife.
That's not possible - replied Losang. - I am traveling to find the beautiful Buomo and it is
with her that I am going to marry.

But they insisted so much that he decided to choose the youngest of them to accompany him.
He had the impression that he knew her from somewhere.
Before they left, they received a gift for the trip. The young women shaped it with clay.
on the ground a perfect horse wrapping the luminous pearl. And when he was ready, with the
the breath of wind turned into a true horse, imposing, magical. The young woman
she chose the mount and said goodbye to her companions.
On the way, Losang said to him:
When we arrive at my destination, I'm sure you will meet a young man.
to get married. As for me, I think of no one else but Boumo.
After a long time of travel, the two arrived at the edge of a raging river.
Crossing over a tree trunk extended above the river, they were able to reach the other side.
bank, where there was a dark cave. At the entrance of the cave was a girl tied to
a stone around the wrists and neck. She said that inside the cave lived eight
terrible monsters and that she was their prisoner. When they slept, they tied her up to
that she wouldn't run away. Then she revealed to Losang that behind the cave there was buried a
machete, the only instrument that could kill the monsters. Losang went to fetch it. He entered
in the cave and killed seven monsters by cutting off their heads, one by one. But the eighth emerged from
suddenly in the darkness of the cave and grabbed Losang from behind, immobilizing him. When the monster
I was about to kill the boy, the young woman who had stayed outside was loosening the ties of the
the girl entered the cave with a iron bar in her hand and hit the monster on the head
knocking him down. Losang grabbed the axe and killed him. And there they were, Losang and the two
companions, in a hurry to leave that horrible place. The girl, very grateful,
gave Losang a little bag full of herbs as a gift. It was agreed that the young woman
would accompany the girl to her village and they would ride on Losang's horse, which was
big enough to carry both. Meanwhile, Losang would continue on the magic horse
and he would wait for the young woman at the top of the hill. And so he did, however, the young woman never arrived,
time was passing and it started to rain. The magic horse began to dissolve in the rain,
it gradually diminished until it completely disappeared, leaving behind only the luminous pearl that was there
inside it. After waiting a long time, Losang put the pearl in his pocket and continued on foot.
down the path with the axe strapped to his waist. A cloud of fierce insects emerged from
suddenly about him. Losang remembered the pouch of herbs that he had hanging around his neck,
and that is what saved him. Rubbing the herbs on his body scared away the insects, which
they disappeared in an instant. Soon after, the young travel companion appeared
mounted on Losang's horse.
- It’s still not too late – she said. – You don’t even know what this Buomo is like, why not
Give up on her and marry me?
Losang smiled and said nothing. By his face, it was useless to insist. They continued in
silence along the winding road lined with flowering trees until they entered a valley
very green, from where one could see a village at the foot of an imposing mountain. It was the village
of beautiful Buomo. To get there, it was necessary to cross the last river of the journey, a wide river
the mysterious.
We have arrived - said the young woman. - From here on, you will go alone. Do you see these
little houses on this side of the river? There live some people I know, I will stay with them
while you find the beautiful Buomo. Can you wait for me, I'll see you at your wedding.
She jumped off the horse and said goodbye to Losang.
Some time later he arrived at the village and, after asking for Buomo, he was taken to the
your father's house, which was called Norbu. He was not a kind and friendly man. With few and
harsh words, said that Losang needed to prove that he was worth something before he could have
permission to marry your daughter.
- I am willing to do anything - said Losang. - It wasn't easy to get here and know that
I will not give up on the beautiful Buomo for anything in this world.

Very well, then we can start right now – replied Norbu. – Come with me.
In the yard of the house was a brown horse. In its saddle, Norbu pinned a tiny coin.
copper that had a hole in the middle. Then he gave a slap on the back of the animal, which ran out.
gallop.
- Now you have to shoot an arrow and hit right in the hole of the coin - he said.
tom challenging.
Losang leapt on his horse and drew the bow in a second. The arrow whizzed by, faster than
than the wind. When Norbu's horse returned to the yard, Losang's arrow, stuck
exactly in the hole of the coin.
Reasonable - said Norbu. - You were lucky this time, I don't know if you will continue to be. But it is
it's better if we continue tomorrow, it's already almost night.

They returned to Norbu's house, where he showed Losang the room he would sleep in.
She opened the door and, when Losang entered, quickly closed it and locked the young man inside.
It was total darkness, and Losang remembered the glowing pearl he had in his pocket.
As soon as she placed it in the palm of her hand, the room lit up. And he saw that he was surrounded by
mosquitoes and other insects, on the floor, on the ceiling, on the walls. This time he didn't have the slightest
suddenly, after all it was a problem he knew very well how to solve. With great
calm took the herbs from the bag that she had received from the girl in the cave and rubbed them on the
body. The next morning, when Norbu came to open the door, he was very surprised. In bed,
Losang was sleeping peacefully and on the floor there were thousands of dead insects.
Norbu couldn't say a word about what had happened. He just said,
dryly, that there was one last test missing.
They left the house and went to a place where a small crowd had gathered.
Losang passed among the people until he saw in their midst a circle of fire. And in this
at that moment he felt paralyzed upon realizing that, on a wooden platform placed right on
At the top of the bonfire that burned in the middle of the circle, there was a young woman, holding a flower of

orange tree in the long black hair.

The people were shouting:
Great hero, cross the fire and save Boumo.
In a second he realized that Boumo was the young woman he had seen carrying the
bucket, and it was also the one that had pressed the pearl against her chest and had
accompanied on the trip. In less time than it would be possible to count, he took the axe
magician who carried it at his waist and began cutting the wooden trunks, clearing a path in the
through the fire until reaching where the young woman was and managing to carry her out in his arms.
ring of flames.
There was no way. Norbu was forced to acknowledge that Losang was more than worthy of marrying.
with his daughter and there was nothing he could do to stop it.
As soon as he could be alone with the beautiful Boumo, Losang asked her:
- Why didn't you tell me right away who it was when you saw me near the river and then when the
Did I save from the dragon?

- Well, I had already heard about you and wanted to get to know you better - she replied with
a very sweet voice. - And then, I wouldn't find it the least bit funny to marry a man who
thought that the greatest feat to win over a young woman was to pierce a bucket with a
arrow.

When Losang returned home with Boumo, riding on his gigantic horse, a sun
magnificent illuminated o path during o day.
At night, it was a bright star that guided them toward the utmost happiness.