Myth-Folklore Unit: Tibetan Folk Tales

Overview. These Tibetan Folk Tales were collected by Albert Shelton, a doctor and explorer who lived in Tibet for two decades in the early 20th century; he died there in 1922, and his wife published this book in 1925 based on his notes. You will find Buddhist legends here, along with traditional stories of Tibetan gods and goddesses, as well as magicians and wonder-workers. There are stories of ghosts and demons, plus many animal stories, including animal tricksters like the frog who is able to trick a tiger, or the rabbit who is able to trick a lion. There are fairy-tale stories, too, along with stories of human drama, both comical and tragic. Each of the stories is prefaced by a Tibetan proverb, and there are lovely illustrations for many of the stories, as you can see here in the first story when the frog confronts the tiger.

Language. The book is written in contemporary English, so the language used should not pose any problems.

Story Length. These are all single-page stories.

Navigation. You will find the table of contents below, and you can also use this link to see the story posts displayed on two pages total: Tibetan Folk Tales. Click "Older Posts" at the bottom of that page to see the second page.

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READING A:

1. The Tiger and the Frog.
2. The Cony Who Got into Bad Company.
3. The Story of the Donkey and the Rock.
4. How the Fox Fell a Victim to His Own Deceit.
5. The Ingratitude of Man.
6. Covetousness.
7. The Wise Carpenter.
8. The Story of Drashup and the Goddesses.
9. The Man and the Ghost.
10. The Story of the Two Devils.

READING B:

1. How the Rabbit Killed the Lion.
2. The Story of the Three Hunters.
3. How the Raven Saved the Hunter.
4. The Golden Squash.
5. The Man with Five Friends with Different Colored Eyes.
6. The Story of the Violinist.
7. How the Sacred Duck Got His Yellow Breast.
8. The Two Little Cats.
9. How the Wolf, the Fox and the Rabbit Committed a Crime.
10. A Rabbit Story.
11. The Man and the Monkeys.