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

snowmen he had seen in his schoolbook. We piled up snow <strong>and</strong>
molded it into the shape of a person. Then Brother drew a
mouth, two eyes, <strong>and</strong> a nose for the snowman with his fingers.
At last, he searched <strong>and</strong> found a short stick, which he put into
the snowman's mouth so it seemed that he was smoking. "We've
made a snowman," he finally proclaimed.
I gazed with admiration <strong>and</strong> said, "You are great,
Brother. I want to learn how to make one someday."
We played a chasing <strong>and</strong> running game around the
snowman. Brother chased me <strong>and</strong> I ran. When he caught me,
then it was my turn to chase him. The ground was too slippery
to run swiftly. Brother slipped as he was running. I lost my
footing, fell on top of him, <strong>and</strong> found myself astride his right
leg. I burst into laughter, but Brother, on the contrary, was
crying bitterly. I could not believe my ears! In between bouts of
crying, he was saying, "You broke my leg! You broke my leg!"
At first, I thought he was pretending in order to frighten
me, but he was in earnest. Tears flowed down his cheeks <strong>and</strong>
covered his face. I did not know what to do <strong>and</strong> was so nervous
that I was as frozen as the snowman we had just made. I wanted
to do something but my mind was empty.
At last Brother whimpered, "Go tell Father." Only then
did I realize this was exactly what I should do, <strong>and</strong> only then
did I notice that I was still astride his broken leg. After alerting
my family members, they all rushed out. Elder Brother but him
on his back <strong>and</strong> carried him into our home. Brother continued
crying <strong>and</strong> some neighbors came to comfort him. It was
snowing again, this time even more fiercely. The snowflakes
went right through my heart <strong>and</strong> I could not stop shuddering
from cold <strong>and</strong> fear.
Father had attended a medical school for a short time.
He had been kept from further study because he married <strong>and</strong>
needed to farm. Thanks to his previous training he knew how to
deal with broken bones <strong>and</strong> tied splints around Brother's
fractured leg. This made Brother feel better <strong>and</strong> there was less
pain, which was a small comfort for me, too. When Brother
calmed, Mother scolded me for deceiving her <strong>and</strong> Father. Gaga
beat me with the sleeve of his Tibetan robe. Even my sisters
scolded me. I was so fearful that I dared not move. I just sat
quietly by Gr<strong>and</strong>mother, who was my only protection. Actually,
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