Looking to traditional narratives for help with modern problems by He Xingyan, Tsewong Lhamo Wang Chunying, Yongtso, Peter Adams and Jon Lambert, 07/2011   When we retell these stories we become a part of a community stretching back in time and reaching forward into the future. Graeme MacQueen, The Monkey King, 1995    Introduction The global increase in environmental consciousness is accompanied by new technologies and terms, from solar cells to ecological footprints. But there is a need to look back as well as forward, and rely on collected wisdom to help guide us as we confront and overcome growing ecological problems. Traditional narratives in particular offer guidance and perspective on issues of conservation, heritage, ethics and responsibility. The following stories come from communities on the borders of Chinese and Tibetan areas. Yongtso, Tsewong Lhamo Wang Chunying and He Xingyan offer three lessons in environmental awareness, retold in their own words, that lend traditional wisdom for modern problems.   People who like gold more than their lives by Yongtso Once upon a time, there were three people who were like a family and their relationship was very good. When they were children they helped each other... l think their friendship was true. "A friend in need, is a friend indeed" was their promise. One day, they talked with each other and decided to dig up gold. Then they accumulated a lot of gold. After a while, the old man asked one of the other men to go buy some food in the town. The old man and the other continued to dig. Unexpectedly, the old man told the other, "lf all the gold were divided into three, it would be very little. So, l think we should kill the other man and thus we will get all the gold." Afterwards the other agreed with the old man's idea. He thought, "lf l put poison in the food, l will get all the gold." Then he put poison in the food. He went back to where they were digging for gold. The other two friends used a wooden club to kill him. Later, these two friends ate all the poisoned food. Unfortunately, in order to get the treasure, all three people died.   New Year's Eve by Tsewong Lhamo Wang Chunying Long ago, it was the eve before Lasazei. There was a village named Gaboyi which had a family. They were rich. They liked their children very much. One of their children went to the toilet, and asked his mother to give him paper. Since his mother could not find paper, he used flour. At that time the god knew what the people did. She felt angry. She wanted to take back all the food. When she took back the sorghum, she used her hands. She cut her hands on the sorghum, so the sorghum became red. When the god took back the food, the dogs barked, so the god left some food for the dogs. The elders say the food we eat now is the food that the god left for the dogs. We need to treasure food. We have a tradition that we need to give the dogs food first on the day before Lasazei, and then people eat.   The Rhinoceros by He Xingyan In the spring, farmers often let oxen go to the mountains to search for food by themselves, because the farmers are busy planting crops. One afternoon, a farmer's ox came back home with blood on its body. The farmer felt so angry. He found a special way to help his ox. At that time, the farmer never imagined that his ox was fighting with a rhinoceros. On the top of the mountain, there was a big grassland lined by a big, deep lake. In the lake, there lived a strong rhinoceros. The next day, the ox went there as usual and gave off some strange sounds in order to inspire the rhinoceros' fighting desire. After a few minutes, the rhinoceros floated out of the water and fought with the ox. It was a thrilling fight. Before the fight, the farmer had tied a sharp sword to the head of the ox. During the fight, the sharp sword cut into the rhinoceros' body deeply. Suddenly, the water turned red. The rhinoceros shouted loudly. The sound filled the whole valley. After an hour, the water looked rough. Waves rolled furiously. It seemed that a bad thing would happen. What's more, it became dark quickly with heavy rain and storm. After that, there was a big gap that appeared along the lake. And then the rhinoceros flowed along the valley with the red water and disappeared forever... According to the story, we can draw a conclusion that we should think twice before acting. In addition to this, we must enhance our awareness of protecting the rare animals. This is our responsibility.   Conclusion As these stories, passed on by parents and grandparents, discuss protecting rare animals, treasuring food and resisting greed, they brighten our present by reconnecting it with our past and contextualizing our future. Such insights are invaluable as we continue using resources at unsustainable rates, abusing our intelligence and influence over the earth for short-term gains with long-term consequences.   References He Xingyan (April 2011). The Rhinoceros <www.grandala.org/multilangidentitytextsgz/rhino.html> MacQueen, Graeme (1995). "Foreword" In G. Ondaatje, ed. The Monkey King & Other Stories. Toronto: Harper Collins Publishers Ltd. Tsewong Lhamo Wang Chunying (Dec 2010). New Year's Eve <www.grandala.org/multilangidentitytextsgz/newyearseve.html> Yongtso (April 2011). People who like gold more than their lives <www.grandala.org/multilangidentitytextsgz/gold.html>