书城传记聆听史诗丛书-格萨尔王传:英文
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第43章 The State of Hor Kidnaps...(10)

Gesar was furious when he realised that this was Chatsa’s killer. But he knew that this was not a good time to kill him as his death would send a message to the evil King and other princes of Hor. He could settle old scores with him later.

Gesar pretended that he did not understand what he said, saying: “I"m not Gesar. You made a mistake. How can your honour pay respect like this to an old beggar like me? I cannot accept it.”

“Lion King, I swear I will keep the secret of your whereabouts. I am truly sincere to you about this. From now on I will stay in my home.” When Merotse had finished speaking, he left.

Gesar picked up the hada scarf and the ring from the ground. Looking at them, he smiled and walked away.

Gesar spend the next few days forging his climbing chains. When he had finished, Chichun Yexei showed up and told him: “My lord, what you should do is to drill nails into the heads of the three wild yaks which house the souls of the Hor King and that two evil Hor princes. Then you can defeat them easily.”

Gesar went to the area at the back of the snow-capped mountain, where he knocked long nails into the heads of the three yaks as he was told.

The Hor King and the two Hor princes fell ill again. Plagued by illness, King Bacham asked Chichun to tell his fortune.

After pretending to pray for a while, Chichun suddenly turned pale with fright and said: “My lord, the divination reveals bad luck. You got sick because you have annoyed the Buddhist Guardian Zerman Gyimo who left you and returned to Heaven. In order to get her back, you must pay respect to her. Five beautiful girls with their best ornaments should be sent to burn aromatic plants for auspicious smoke on the mountains in front of the palace. You should also leave the three main doors of the palace open for three days.”

At this stage, King Bacham would do anything to cure his illness. He immediately prepared everything as Chichun Yexei had told him. However, concerning the security of the palace, the Prince of the Yellow Tent and the Prince of the Black Tent disagreed with the idea that all three doors of the palace should be left open. King Bacham then ordered to keep the inner door closed.

On the 15th day of the lunar month, when the moon grew full in the sky, Gesar bid farewell to Chichun Yexei. He turned himself into a Hor person. As the first two doors of the palace had been kept open, Gesar got easy access to the inner door. He then used the iron chains to climb into the palace. He kept climbing until he got to the shrine sacred to god. During that time, the war gods of Ling and the evil gods of Hor fought at close quarters. Cholmo’s child was frightened by the noise and started to cry. Cholmo had felt unsettled ever since the day she had met that old beggar. She knew that Gesar had arrived in Hor. She sprinkled some black soybeans where King Bacham would definitely pass. At the moment the Lion King jumped into the house through the window, King Bacham woke up. He was aware that someone had broken into the palace. When he got up and tried to make a move, he slipped on the soybeans. Taking his chance, Gesar stepped onto his chest and placed a golden saddle on him to prevent him from going anywhere. Then he drew his crystal knife and scolded him: “You evil devil, it is time for you to go to hell!”

“Who are you?” King Bacham asked in a scared voice.

“Lion King Gesar!”

“My lord, please forgive me, I will give you all my jewellery, my golden palace, my cattle and sheep, and my entire valuable belongings! Please spare my life!” King Bacham pleaded.

“I will not spare your life even if my brother Chatsa and the people of Ling that you murdered could come back! I will kill you with my crystal knife!” Then Gesar killed him along with the Prince of the Yellow Tent and the Prince of the Black Tent.

According to the customs of ancient Tibetans, people being killed under a saddle was the severest punishment, and people who died in this way could never be reincarnated in a new body.

After he had finished, Gesar went back to Cholmo and found that she had the child on her back. He asked with a grave expression: “What do you want to do with the boy of Bacham?”

“My lord, please let me take him. I know he is the son of Bacham but he is also my child. He is not yet weaned. He will not survive without me.”

“How could you say that? Do you know how many children and people of our state Bacham had killed? I cannot let you take the boy.”

Cholmo understood Gesar’s feeling but it was a hard decision for her to give up the boy. Cholmo kissed the boy’s face and prayed that someone would find him and raise him. Finally she wiped her eyes and left the boy and went with Gesar.

The Lion King thought that as the boy was the child of King Bacham, he may grow into an enemy. So he went back and killed the child. Then he took Cholmo and, joining Chichun Yexei, they left the palace together.

The people in the town all came out to celebrate his victory. Tsinpa Merotse was among the crowd. Gesar burned with anger when he saw him, and ordered him to be killed. However, the huge masses of the people kowtowed to Gesar for mercy. They told Gesar that Tsinpa Merotse was indeed a great person. He had stood against the invasion at the beginning when King Bacham went into the State of Ling. Cholmo also said that Merotse had nothing to do with the war between the Hor and Ling. Seeing that Tsinpa Merotse stood high in the public love and esteem, Gesar pardoned him and appointed him a minister of the Hor State. Merotse sincerely declared his subjugation to Gesar. Gesar told him to administer the state well so as to ensure the people a happy life. He would give him the opportunity to make amends for his crimes by performing good deeds.