Gratefulness: A Tibetan Folktale

Long ago in northern Tibet, there lived a farmer named Trapa. He worked the land diligently, but the lord who owned the estate was an insatiably greedy man who extracted crushing taxes, leaving Trapa with almost nothing year after year.

Unable to bear the burden any longer, Trapa made the difficult decision to flee. As the Tibetan saying goes, “It is our parents who show us the greatest kindness, but it is our hometown that is hardest to leave”. Yet with no other choice, Trapa gathered the only things of value he had — three scrolls of Pulu (a traditional hand-woven woolen fabric) — and set off into the world.

On the road, he came across a few children who had caught a mouse. They had tied a thin rope around its neck and were pulling it back and forth, laughing as it struggled. The sight stirred something in Trapa's heart, reminding him of how the lord had tormented him. Moved by compassion, he asked the children to release the mouse, but they refused. Then he offered the children one of his precious Pulu in exchange for the mouse’s freedom. The children accepted and ran off, and Trapa gently released the mouse.

Further along the road, at a crossroads, he found another group of children whipping a small monkey, making it cry out in pain. Again the memory of his own suffering rose in him. He traded his second scroll to free the monkey.

When he reached a town, Trapa saw several hunters who had caught a bear cub and were beating it with sticks, forcing it to perform for a crowd. Once more, his own years of hardship and cruelty came flooding back. Without hesitation, he traded his last scroll for the little bear’s freedom.

Now Trapa walked on with nothing but the shadow at his feet. Days passed. Weak with hunger and close to fainting by the roadside, he looked up to find three small creatures standing before him — the mouse, the monkey, and the bear cub. They had become fast friends in the time since their rescue, and together they had been searching everywhere for the person who had saved them.

Eager to repay his kindness, the three animals set off into the forest and returned with armfuls of wild fruit, enough to restore Trapa's strength. Then they led him to a remarkable discovery they had made: a Ruyi Treasure — a magical jewel known in Tibetan tradition to grant the sincere wishes of its holder.

With a grateful heart, Trapa knelt and made his prayer. When he opened his eyes, a warm and comfortable house stood before him, surrounded by trees. He moved in and, at long last, began to live in peace.

Some time later, a merchant named Ralpacan passed through the area. He and Trapa were old acquaintances, and when Ralpacan saw how well his formerly penniless friend was living, he pressed Trapa again and again to explain his good fortune. Trapa, trusting and open-hearted, told him everything.

Ralpacan listened with a smile, but behind it, greed was already taking root. “Old friend, you have done so well for yourself. And yet look at me — I still toil every day with nothing to show for it. Surely you could lend me the treasure, just long enough for my luck to turn?” he said warmly.

Trapa, whose compassion had always made it difficult to refuse others, handed over the Ruyi Treasure.

That very night, Ralpacan locked his doors, knelt before the treasure, and prayed with all his might: “Grant me endless riches and glory!” By morning, the Ruyi Treasure had drawn all the wealth it could find — from far and near — into his house.

When Trapa awoke, he was lying on bare cold stone. His house was gone. Everything was gone. He was once again a man with nothing, exactly as he had been before.

Days later, the little bear, monkey, and mouse spotted Trapa begging by the roadside. Alarmed, they gathered around him. “How did this happen?” they asked. Trapa told them about Ralpacan, and the three animals burned with anger.

“Ralpacan’s mouth is as sweet as sugar,” they said, “but his heart is as sharp and wicked as a thorn. We will get the treasure back.”

The animals scouted the situation. Ralpacan’s home had become a grand and heavily guarded estate. The mouse slipped inside to investigate and discovered that Ralpacan slept in a locked room, while the Ruyi Treasure was tied to the top of a tall decorated arrow in the granary, with a cat standing guard beside it.

The mouse reported back, and together the three friends formed a plan. On the first night, the mouse crept into Ralpacan’s bedroom while he slept and gnawed off his braid. Ralpacan woke to find it gone and was furious. That night, suspecting the mouse, he tied the cat to his bedpost to keep watch.

With the cat now away from the granary, the three animals moved. The bear and the monkey stood guard at the entrance while the mouse slipped into the granary. The treasure was bound high on the decorated arrow — too high for the mouse to reach. So the mouse began to dig and scratch away at the grain heaped at the arrow’s base. Slowly, the pile shifted; the arrow tilted; and the Ruyi Treasure tumbled to the ground.

The animals hurried back to Trapa, who was by then on the brink of starvation. When they placed the treasure in his trembling hands, his eyes filled with tears. “You’ve worked so hard,” he said. “Thank you — from the bottom of my heart.”

He held the treasure close and made his prayer. A spacious, welcoming house took shape around him.

And from that day on, Trapa lived in comfort and contentment, never forgetting the lesson the animals had taught him: that kindness, however costly, is never truly lost.