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

Unfortunately, our teacher suddenly appeared <strong>and</strong> we
could not flee naked. We dressed nervously <strong>and</strong> approached the
teacher who slapped the back of our heads, marched us back to
the school, <strong>and</strong> ordered us to st<strong>and</strong> in front of his room.
"Why did you skip afternoon classes? I told you boys
never to play truant. You are not donkeys that can't underst<strong>and</strong>
anything," he said, shaking his head disappointedly. "Think
about your parents. They think you're studying at school, but
you're w<strong>and</strong>ering around."
This was like rubbing salt in an open wound, <strong>and</strong> caused
me terrible pain. A waterfall of tears flowed down the high
mountain of my cheeks, astonishing him. The teacher was
confused <strong>and</strong> could not figure out why I was crying. The sun
was extremely hot <strong>and</strong> it seemed to be shining as if solely to
burn me. My face turned crimson. There was no end to my
tears. I cried, cried, cried. I wondered where so many tears were
stored. Whenever I wanted to cry, they were there to shed, even
though I had already lost so many. Many insatiably curious
students surrounded us to see what was happening. I felt terribly
disgraced, but still could not control myself. I heard them
whisper: "Kondro Tsering looks unhappy these days…" "Dorji
Tsering led him…" "Kondro Tsering cries easily recently, like a
girl…" "…good at study, but why does he…"
The teacher lifted my head with his right index finger
<strong>and</strong> asked, "Have you cried enough?"
I tried hard to respond <strong>and</strong> finally managed, "No, I want
to cry more," which made all the students burst into laughter.
The only one who knew why was Dorji. Luckily, Brother was
not around at that time. My ceaseless crying annoyed the
teacher, who then told Dorji <strong>and</strong> me to go home. Afterwards, I
did not miss any more classes, for I could not bear the teachers'
shouts <strong>and</strong> curses. I was too weak to bear anything.
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