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

<strong>and</strong> died instantly. We owned the tractor which meant the local
policemen fined us <strong>and</strong> gave the money to the woman's family.
My relative was detained for some days <strong>and</strong> then released
because we had compensated for the woman's death.
Without a tractor, Father had no choice but to walk to
another village <strong>and</strong> rented a tractor <strong>and</strong> a trailer to take Mother
to Tewu County Town because it was closer than going to
<strong>Zorgay</strong> County Town. Father <strong>and</strong> my two oldest brothers went
with Mother to the county town hospital. My two elder sisters,
Tjobajo, Gr<strong>and</strong>mother, <strong>and</strong> I anxiously waited at home.
Gr<strong>and</strong>mother was unusually quiet, while my sisters, brother,
<strong>and</strong> I prostrated with our palms together, praying for Mother in
front of the images of lamas hanging from the walls of our
home shrine. This was our only way of easing our anxiety about
Mother.
Father returned <strong>and</strong> said Mother would be fine soon, not
telling us the true diagnosis. Then he returned to our local
township hospital, where Mother stayed to receive treatment. I
still do not know what Mother's exact illness was. All I was told
was that it was a stomachache.
The local hospital rooms were shabby with smokedarkened
walls <strong>and</strong> ceilings, which leaked when it rained. On
the bright side, there were knowledgeable Tibetan doctors there
who examined Mother every morning.
Mother grew progressively thinner. It was school time,
so I stayed with Mother <strong>and</strong> Father in the hospital every night,
but I could do nothing to help Father care for Mother. Father did
not want Mother to leave us children, especially me. He visited
various lamas, <strong>and</strong> asked them to bless Mother so that she
would live longer. It was extremely difficult for Father. He
could not sleep well at night, for he was responsive to Mother's
tiniest groan. Mother's pain made her impatient <strong>and</strong> scold Father
without reason. But to me, she was kind <strong>and</strong> gentle, no matter
how bad her mood.
As Father cooked for us, Mother <strong>and</strong> I would sit in the
sunshine in the hospital yard while she looked for lice on my
head. I would embrace her tightly to feel the warmth from her
heart. I sometimes resisted Mother looking for lice on my head,
but she told me if she did not catch <strong>and</strong> kill them, then they
would dig into my brain <strong>and</strong> I would die, as Gr<strong>and</strong>mother said.
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