He was the Lu Throwa or the Ferocious Lu.
Dangbo..o..o Dingbo..o..o.. a young shepherd could be seen grazing his flock of sheep on the banks of a clear blue lake every day. He loved to sit and gaze at the lake to see the fish swishing about in the water, the animals that came to drink from it, or simply to watch the waves and the ripples that danced and played in an endless game. Everybody in the village whispered that nothing good would come of a boy who did nothing but laze around watching ripples on a lake.
One day while he was sitting on the banks of the lake he saw a white rat fighting a black rat. Fascinated he watched them for a long time. He could see that the black rat was much stronger and was about to kill the white rat. Being a compassionate man he picked up the white rat to save it from its enemy who was attacking it viciously. He held the gasping and beaten rat in his hand and blew on it gently. Then he dipped his finger into the lake and let the water from his finger drip into the mouth of the rat in an effort to revive it. Suddenly the water in the lake began to swirl and bubble in the most unusual way, and then it opened up and a woman came out of the lake. The beautiful and gracious woman smiled and said that she was a messenger from the underground world. She had been sent to get back the son of the subterranean king, who had carelessly ventured into the middle world disguised as a rat. She added that the subterranean king was pleased with the shepherd for saving his son and wanted to reward him. She then asked him to close his eyes and get on her shoulders. As they were going down through the water she said, “The king will offer you everything but you must insist on taking only the dog behind the door. Everything from here is illusory once in your world. Only the dog is for real and will be of some use to you. Do not stay under the lake for more then three days or you will forget your human world.”
As soon as the shepherd opened his eyes he found himself in a beautiful palace. The pillars were made of coral and the walls and the floors were made of turquoise and they shone like mirrors. There was feasting and music everywhere. Amidst the crowds of half-serpent half-human beings sat the Luyi gyalpo. He was the Lu Throwa or the Ferocious Lu. His angry and fierce face was encircled by a ring of serpents that seemed to lash out and dart their forked tongues threateningly. The enormous serpentine lower body thrashed and whipped about ominously. At the end of three days the shepherd asked the king to let him go. The king offered him bags of turquoise, but the shepherd refused. The king offered him gold and silver but he still refused. When the king asked, “What do you want that you refuse everything I offer?” the shepherd replied, “I would like to have only the dog behind your door!”
The king’s face darkened and he said that he would not like to give away the dog. But the shepherd insisted that he wanted nothing else except the dog. Finally the king agreed saying, “Ya, Ya, if that’s the only thing you want, take it. Be good to it and keep it clean.”
The shepherd once again closed his eyes, this time with the dog tucked under his arm and he found himself on the banks of the lake. His sheep were still grazing around the lake. As it was close to sunset he rounded them up and took them home. As the dog sat in the corner of the kitchen looking at him with its head cocked to one side he began to wonder what it was that might be special about the dog because it did not look very different from any of the ordinary dogs. Perhaps the messenger had deceived him.
The following morning he took his sheep to graze on the meadows near the lake as usual. He kept the dog at home. When he brought the sheep home in the evening, he was pleasantly surprised to find that his house was swept and clean and there was fire in the stove and delicious food waiting for him. He wondered who had come to his house and done this for him. For several days this was repeated. Now he was really curious to see who was doing this for him. So he decided to hide and see. He pretended to go with his sheep as usual but he came back and hid behind the door. There was nobody in the house except his dog. As he watched, the dog took off the dog skin and a beautiful girl came out of it. The girl bathed in the stream and made offerings of milk towards the lake, chanting, “Offerings to my father, king of the subterranean world. King Tsuena Rinchen take my offering.” She then set about to cleaning and sweeping the house and cooking the food. The shepherd at once jumped out from his hiding place, snatched up the dog skin and threw it into the fire. The girl saw what had happened and she said, “I am a nonhuman being and the skin was my protection from attracting too much attention. I am the daughter of the Luyi gyalpo. Now that you have prematurely destroyed my disguise you will face some trials and tribulation before we can live a normal life.”
For many days the shepherd and his wife lived happily together. But one day the king of the region saw the girl. Instantly he saw that she was more beautiful than any of his five hundred wives and he wanted to marry her. So he called the shepherd and gave him an impossible task to perform, failing which the king would take his wife. The poor shepherd was extremely distraught because he was sure that he would not be able to do what he was asked to do. He went to his wife and told her.
“I will lose you to the king, because I will not be able to slash and burn all the trees on the mountainsides all by myself in one day,” and he began to cry.
The girl said, “Do not worry. Perhaps the king of the lake can help us. Early tomorrow morning you go to the lake and ask the king of the Lu to loan you the sword box.”
The next morning the shepherd went to the lake and shouted, “O, King Tsuena Rinchen, King of the Lu, please loan me your sword box for today.” Suddenly a wave welled up from the bottom of the lake and splashed on the shore. When the water receded a tiny box was left on the shore of the lake. The girl then told her husband to take the box to the mountainside and open it. As soon as he had opened the box hundreds of swords came out of the box and slashed all the trees on the mountainside in a very short time.
The king said, “But that is not all. Now you must prepare the land for buckwheat cultivation within one day.” This was an unachievable task that could never be done in a day’s time! For it involved digging the ground, making the mounds, burning the turf, and spreading the mounds again.
The shepherd was once again in agony and went home to his wife and said that the king had given him an even more difficult task than the last one. The girl once again assured him that the king of the Lu could help him and he should not worry. So, instructed by his wife, the shepherd went to the shore of the lake and asked the king of the Lu for a loan of his hoe box. When the box was put on the shore of the lake in front of him he took it to where the mountainsides had been cleared on the previous day and opened it. As soon as he opened the box thousands of hoes came out and began preparing the land at an unbelievable speed and by midday the field was ready for sowing the seeds. The shepherd went to the king who gave him hundreds of measures of buckwheat which he quickly broadcast over the land. The shepherd was now sure that the king would be satisfied and not ask him to perform any more impossible tasks. He was mistaken. This time the king mocked, “Anyone can broadcast seeds, but if you really are so clever I want you to pick up all the seeds and bring them back to me. Every single seed.”
At this the shepherd felt totally defeated because he thought now even the king of the Lu would not be able to help him. But his wife again assured him that her father could help him.
Full of anguish and apprehension the shepherd walked down to the lake and called, “King Tsuena Rinchen, King of the Lu, I have come to you once again to borrow the bird box.”
Once again a wave welled up and splashed on the shore. When the wave receded the familiar box was on the shore. The shepherd took up the box and at once went towards the field. He put down the box and opened it, and out came thousands of birds twittering and fluttering about and within a short time all the buckwheat seeds were back in the bags. The shepherd took the bags to the king who became vehement.
“So, you are really very clever and you have done all the inconceivable tasks I have asked you to do. Now there is nothing more I can ask, except to declare war on you. We will meet tomorrow and see who is better. The winner will take the woman.”
The shepherd’s wife told him to borrow the people box this time So he carried the people box and went in front of the king’s army. As soon as the army came forward he opened the box. Hundreds of tiny men armed with swords, spears, bows and arrows came out of the box, hollering, “Ga lo chap ni, ga sed ni (Who shall we strike, who shall we kill?).” At this the shepherd said, “Gyalpo seda, marmi go chap (Kill the king and strike his army).” The little men killed the king and struck the army. With the king killed and his army defeated in the battle the shepherd did not have to worry about losing his wonderful wife and they lived in happiness, prosperity, and peace.