书城传记聆听史诗丛书-格萨尔王传:英文
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第77章 Prince Zhalha Ascends the...(2)

Not knowing what was happening, the herd of horses looked at Gyaingar Pebo quietly. Constantly neighing, the Heavenly horse careered around the mountain.

Some fine horses, the old battle companions of Gyaingar Pebo, gathered, curious to know what was happening.

The Heavenly horse Gyaingar Pebo stopped running and said:

“My friends, we were born in the same place and have been living together in this land. Unfortunately, now the Lion King will go back to the Pure Land and I will go with him.”

With that, Gyaingar Pebo started singing:

“For the fine old horse ridden by a father,

when his son gets it,

he will sell it or the old pien niu (the offspring of a bull and a female yak) milked by a mother,

when her son gets it,

he will slay it;

for the bow decorated with horn passed down from a hero,

when a fool gets it,

he will break it off.

As Lion King must return to the Pure Land,

I must follow him instead of staying here.

I, Gyaingar Pebo, descended to the world with Toipa Garwa, the son of the deities.

I bear with me three abilities known far and wide.

The first is my speed which can match the strong wind.

The second is I can talk with human beings.

The third is my pyrotechnic intelligence which enables me to rival other horses.

I have participated in wars and conquests along with the Lion King for many years leaving behind countless stories.

Now the King passes on the throne to Prince Zhalha and I believe it’s time to pass on my saddle to the Prince’s horse.”

Then the Heavenly horse launched himself into the air. The gold saddle on its back with a jade dragon entwined on it came into view. The front upper part of the saddle was shining like a golden sun while the rear lower part of it was like a Conch Moon. The square saddlecloth, embroidered with silver thread, was inlaid with five kinds of jewellery. The stirrups hung down on both sides like two jade tubes held down along its belly. Attached to the stirrups was a golden crupper, looking like a golden road leading into the mountains. A rear saddle bow beset with jewellery seemed as a horsewhip entering into the plain. The girth was studded with a white snake tied under the ribs to secure the rider while the horse was running….

After Gyaingar Pebo landed on the ground, he gave all the saddle decorations to the White-Arm Treasure Horse and said to it and the other horses:

“We must cherish the grass though we need not pay for it. You should not stir the clear stream water dirty though it is running forever. You eat the grass on the same grassland and drink water from the same spring. You should go to the mountain together and unite to fight against the wolves. If you are going to run, you should run together. You shouldn’t take orders from the enemies and do harm to the common people. You shouldn’t fight against each other. You must bear my words in mind.”

After Gyaingar Pebo had finished saying so, he wallowed three times on the ground and stood up to shake his hair three times. With a long neigh, he rose up into the sky and went away.

The horses were upset. Some of them kept careering on the mountain and into the valley; and some lay down sadly with their jaws on the ground.

At the same time, the flame arrow, with a vulture feature on its end, in the quiver stood up to speak to the rest of the arrows:

“The Lion King is going back to the Pure Land and I will go with him. You must stay here to fight against the enemies; you must pierce their bodies and safeguard the people of Ling. If a war starts someday, we will get together again.”

With that, the flame arrow left the quiver and flew towards Heaven.

Meanwhile, the holy sword which came to the world with the Lion King jumped out of the sheath and spoke to the swords in the armory: