Min tibetanska barndom i Zorgay - Life and Culture on the Tibetan ...

my feet braced against the edge of the bed frame. The mat was
easy to pull out <strong>and</strong> I suddenly fell to the floor <strong>and</strong> smacked the
back of my head hard. I blamed Gr<strong>and</strong>mother for the pain, but
not in her presence. When I returned with her sleeping mat, she
stroked my head <strong>and</strong> said, "My good son, you are only five, but
you are already a helpful man. Please, put it here beside me,
smooth it out, then come <strong>and</strong> sit on my knees." When she said
such things to me, banging my head painfully was like seeing
black clouds in the sky suddenly vanish without leaving a single
trace.
"OK, Gr<strong>and</strong>mother, but won't your knees hurt if I sit on
them?" I said.
"No, it doesn't matter, dear son," said Gr<strong>and</strong>mother.
I sat on her knees, touching her prayer beads, <strong>and</strong>
thinking about how messy I had made her bed. Farming
families' beds consist of straw under sleeping mats, but I did not
tell her I had messed up her bed because she had just praised
me. Her wrinkled face was happy in the hot sun, but then I
noticed she was looking for something on the mat. I asked
curiously, "What are you looking for, Gr<strong>and</strong>mother?"
"Lice!" said Gr<strong>and</strong>mother.
"What?" I asked, having never heard of such things.
She caught something from her sleeping mat <strong>and</strong>
showed me a hideous looking insect. She said, "See? This is a
louse." Then she squashed it between her thumbnails, spilling a
drop of blood that colored her thumbnails red.
I did not know what a louse might do, but I said, "Yes, I
see."
"No, my dear son, you don't know how bad lice are.
They suck your blood. They make you feel itchy, <strong>and</strong> you can't
sleep well at night. Because of them, I am as skinny as
Milarepa." 5
There was another new word for me. I asked,
"Gr<strong>and</strong>mother, who is Milarepa? Please tell me."
"OK, but first you must help me catch <strong>and</strong> kill lice in my
5 Milarepa (1040-1123) was a famous Tibetan yogi, who
achieved enlightenment in one lifetime. He is renowned for
being extremely thin because he ate very little during long
periods of meditation.
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