Four Uncle Dunba Stories by Tsering Drolka, 01/2010   Tricking a Person  Download MP3 - 1.5 MB. Recording in Shak Ching Tibetan by Tsering Drolka, 12/2010    A long time ago, there was a person called Uncle Dunba. He was good at joking with people. He was also a funny man. He was very smart. He liked to trick people.    One day, when Uncle Dunba was walking beside the sea, one of his villagers also walked beside the sea with his horse. When the person saw Uncle Dunba, he called to Uncle Dunba to wait for him. Then he said, "People always say you like to trick people. Can you trick me now?"    Uncle Dunba asked, "Are you sure?”    The person said, "Yes."    Then Uncle Dunba said, "OK, but I forgot the container for tricking people on the other side of the sea. So I should borrow your horse to bring it here."    The person said, "OK, I will lend you my horse."    Uncle Dunba rode the horse, but then he came back to the person. The person said, "What's up?"    "The horse will not walk. I should wear your clothes, and pretend to be you," replied Uncle Dunba.    The person said, "OK," and took off his clothes. Uncle Dunba wore the new clothes and rode the horse to the other side of the sea.    When Uncle Dunba had arrived at the other side of the sea, he shouted to the person, “This was how I tricked you today.”   Cut Apple Trees    Uncle Dunba's house was very bright. The sun shone through his windows. There was a big apple tree in his neighbour's garden. It was very strong. Uncle Dunba's house was behind this garden. The apple tree became bigger and bigger as time went on. One day, the apple tree was higher than Uncle Dunba's windows. That made Uncle Dunba's house very dark. Uncle Dunba made fires inside during the daytime. Uncle Dunba was unhappy, because he sat in the dark house. Uncle Dunba thought, “I should think of a good way to cut down that big apple tree.”    One day, Uncle Dunba cut down all his own apple trees. He tied up all his apple trees together. He carried his apple trees and went to the street. On the way, he met his neighbour. The neighbour looked strangely at Uncle Dunba. The neighbour asked, "What are you doing?"    Uncle Dunba solemnly replied, "I want to sell all these apple trees. I heard that people buy the apple trees. The buyers want apple trees at any price. Don’t you know this?"    The neighbour said, "I didn't… Wow, can you wait for me? I'll cut down my big apple tree. I will get a great price."    Uncle Dunba replied, "You should be quick. I heard the buyers will go soon. I'll wait for you."    The man went to his garden and cut down the big apple tree. Then the man took the big apple tree, and walked to Uncle Dunba who was waiting for him.    When Uncle Dunba and the man went to the street, there was nobody buying apple trees. The man said, "You have tricked me."    Uncle Dunba replied, "No, I had already said that you should be quick, because the buyers would go soon. Now, you see the buyers have already gone. We have no chance to sell these apple trees. It's all your fault."    After that day, Uncle Dunba's house became bright again.   Uncle Dunba Tricked a Greedy Businessman    Many greedy people were tricked by Uncle Dunba. Uncle Dunba helped poor people to punish the greedy people. But the greedy people never learnt their lessons.    One day, Uncle Dunba walked beside the river. He saw many poor people drying their clothes, so he came and helped them. The poor people liked him very much. They welcomed him. Everybody knew he was a good man. And he was also funny. He always made poor people happy. Uncle Dunba not only helped them but also made conversation with them. At noon time, those poor people said, "Now, it's time for lunch. We will go and eat lunch."    Uncle Dunba replied, "OK, you go and eat lunch. I will look after your clothes. I'm not hungry now."    So those poor people said, "OK, thank you."    When all the poor people had gone, Uncle Dunba sat on a big stone. He took a rest. When he saw a greedy businessman walking by, he closed his eyes quickly. Uncle Dunba acted like a Lama praying for something. The greedy person saw many clothes, and then he looked at Uncle Dunba. The person asked, ''What are you doing?"    Uncle Dunba replied, "I'm praying. This is a jewel stone. If you sit on this stone, and close your eyes, and also let your mood become calm, then you will see in front of you the things that you want. Those clothes are what I am praying for today."    Then the greedy person looked at poor Uncle Dunba. He thought, "If it were not true, how could the poor man have those clothes." So the greedy businessman believed it. He asked, "Could I sit on this stone for a while?"    Uncle Dunba replied, "No, you can't."    The businessman thought for a while, and then he said, "Could I exchange my horse and goods for your stone?"    Uncle Dunba replied, "No."    The businessman cried and begged. Uncle Dunba wanted to laugh, but he looked serious. Uncle Dunba said, "OK, don't be so sad. I agree." The greedy businessman was very happy. Uncle Dunba took the horse and goods. And then he said, "You should remember, you must close your eyes. If you don't calm your mood, you can't pray for anything."    The greedy person said, "OK, I will do what you say." He sat on the big stone, and then he closed his eyes. He thought of a big palace, many foods and many servants. After a long time, he opened his eyes. In front of him were just some clothes and no other things.    Then he thought, maybe my mood is not calm enough. He closed his eyes again, and then he heard many people talking. He opened his eyes. He saw many poor people coming. One of the poor people said to her partners, "Now, these clothes are dry enough. We can take them back." When the poor people found out the person who sat on the stone was not Uncle Dunba, they asked, "Where is Uncle Dunba?"    Now the greedy person realized that the other person was Uncle Dunba. The greedy person knew he had been tricked. He had lost his horse and goods. He thought, "I will take back my things." So the greedy person looked for Uncle Dunba everywhere.    One day, the greedy person and Uncle Dunba met in front of a temple. Uncle Dunba knew there was no chance to run, so he sat and took a boot that had been put beside the door. And he took a knife and cut open the sole of the boot. The greedy person said, "I have been looking for you for a long time. Now, thank goodness. I have found you."    Uncle Dunba replied, "Is there anything else?"    "You tricked me. Return my horse and goods quickly."    Uncle Dunba said, "Oh, I know. Now that you have become rich, you don't need that jewel stone any more, right?" The greedy person replied, "How can you say that. You are a liar."    Uncle Dunba said, "How can you scold me? It's you who begged me to exchange your things for my stone."    Then the greedy person said, "OK, the goods belong to you now, but please return my horse."    When Uncle Dunba had received the goods and horse, he gave them to poor people. But he said, "Your horse is in my house. Now, I am busy cutting open these soles. It must be finished before sunset. And I also need to wash them. It is work given by monks."    The greedy person thought for a while, and then he said, "OK, I'll do your work instead of you. You go home and bring my horse back."    Uncle Dunba said, "OK, but you should do the work quickly," and he left the temple.    The greedy person did the work very diligently. When the monks finished their chanting, they found a person was cutting open their boots. They were very angry and they hit the greedy person. This story is finished. It is a funny story. Don't you think so?   The Poor and the Rich    Long ago, there were two households. Even though they were neighbours, their family backgrounds were very different. One was poor and the other was rich. The poor master was Uncle Dunba. The rich master was called Dundro. The rich person was a greedy and bad tempered man. He had a lot of food to eat, many clothes to wear and many things to use. He also had a lot of livestock. But he was eager to get more. Uncle Dunba was so poor, but he liked to help people. One day, Uncle Dunba went to a place far away to borrow money. On the way, it was snowing. Uncle Dunba went to a cave. A little while later, a hurt bird also went there. When Uncle Dunba saw that the bird was injured, he was very sad, so he took this bird and covered it with his clothes. After the snow stopped, Uncle Dunba took this bird to his house. He took care of it. At last, the bird became well. When the bird left, it gave him a big carrot seed.    Uncle Dunba put this seed in his garden. This seed became a big carrot as time went by. In winter, Uncle Dunba's family had no food to eat. Then Uncle Dunba went to his garden and took this carrot. When he took this carrot to his kitchen and cut open the carrot, there were suddenly so many golden things in this carrot. Uncle Dunba took them and bought foods to eat. Uncle Dunba also bought clothes and a lot of livestock. Uncle Dunba became richer and richer. The rich neighbour was very surprised about this. He was very jealous. He couldn't sleep or eat well.    One day, this rich person told his servant to invite Uncle Dunba to his house. When Uncle Dunba reached his house, the rich person smiled and treated Uncle Dunba very well. Uncle Dunba knew this person would ask him the way to riches. But he didn't say anything. This rich person told his servant to bring wine to them. They drank wine. When Uncle Dunba was a little bit drunk, this rich person asked, "How did you become rich?" Uncle Dunba replied that he had saved a bird in the snow and the bird gave him a seed. And he explained how he had become rich.    One day, this rich person got up early. He did what Uncle Dunba had said. He went to that same road. At that time, it was snowing. He also went to that same cave. He waited for a bird, but there were no birds flying into the cave. This rich person was very hungry and angry. He saw a bird on the ground. He went out and took it. He broke this bird's leg and then took it into his house. He also took care of it. After a long time, this bird became well. When this bird left, it also gave him a carrot seed. This rich person was very happy. He put this seed in his garden quickly. And he often went to his garden, and saw how big his carrot was growing. As time went by, this carrot became bigger and bigger. This rich person was very greedy.    One day, this rich person took his carrot and cut it. Suddenly there were many children in this carrot. They were crying for food. From that day on, there were many children eating many foods, and they always made their father give them the best food. This rich person became poor.    Download the stories' RTF or PDF with English language worksheets.   Notes: The writer's grandmother told her the stories called Tricking a Person and Cut Apple Trees.The other two stories are translations.