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

14
TRUANT
M
other had been gone for almost five months. The
more days that passed, the more I missed her. When
the treasure had been in my h<strong>and</strong>s, I had not realized
its value <strong>and</strong>, only when it was gone did I recognize its
importance. Her departure changed me. I cried frequently. The
memories that I had of Mother were like a mirror, reflecting
everything about her to me, especially her constant concern
about my study.
Our new summer semester began. Our Chinese teacher
wanted to test our Chinese level after the long holiday, <strong>and</strong> on
the very first day asked us to write something about our mothers
<strong>and</strong> describe their appearance in detail. I dared not tell him that
Mother had passed away. I stayed in my seat quietly without
writing anything. I did not want to imagine Mother's colorless,
pale, pain-filled face. I wrote the title 'My Mother', <strong>and</strong> then
wrote only "I miss Mother very much." I was the last student to
h<strong>and</strong> in my paper <strong>and</strong> put it under the other papers so the
teacher would not notice that I had written so little.
I was in no mood to attend class that afternoon because
of the hot weather <strong>and</strong> the morning writing test. I leaned against
my desk tiredly <strong>and</strong> was about to take a short afternoon nap to
rid myself of my unhappiness. My best friend, Dorji Tsering,
came to share my sadness <strong>and</strong> asked what I wanted to do.
"Kondro, let's skip school this afternoon <strong>and</strong> go swimming.
What do you think?" he said.
It was an offer I immediately agreed to. We avoided
Brother <strong>and</strong> the teachers, snuck out of school, <strong>and</strong> hurried to the
shallow river where we usually played. We were from a high
mountain village <strong>and</strong> there were no deep rivers in our home
area, only some mud-bottomed pools. We did not know how to
swim. Students from villages near rivers teased us by saying
that their pigs rolled in the water we swam in to cool off in
summer. We could do nothing to deflect their insults, for it was
true. We threw our schoolbags on the bank, took off our clothes,
▪61▪