As time progressed their tsangrno had grown into bold and passionate love songs.
Dangbo..o..o Dingbo..o..o.. somewhere among the valleys amidst the rugged mountains of Bhutan, there lived a poor farmer with her only son, Bo Serba Tung Tung, who used to herd the cattle every day on the mountainsides. These mountainsides were common grazing grounds and many other herders grazed their cattle there too. Bum Dolay Penzom, who was the only daughter of the richest family in the village, also brought her cattle to the pastures. As the cattle grazed the young herders would spend their time playing all sorts of games, telling stories or singing songs together. In the course of time Bo Serba Tung Tung fell in love with Bum Dolay Penzom. In the beginning their courtship had been confined to merely teasing or singing tsangmo to each other across the valleys. As time progressed their tsangmo had grown into Bold and passionate love songs. Now, the otherwise quiet and shy girl always made sure that she was not very far from where Bo Serba Tung Tung was grazing his cattle. They were in love with each other and they were happy to spend many days together. They kept their love secret because they knew that their relationship would not be approved by their families, for Bo Serba Tung Tung was a poor widow’s son while Bum Dolay Penzom’s family was rich and commanded respect throughout the village.
Soon Bum Dolay Penzom was expecting Bo Serba Tung Tung’s child. She tried to conceal her pregnancy by wearing two thick kiras together carelessly and tied loosely around her waist with a big kaira. But as she grew heavy with the child her methods of concealment failed and one day the mother found out. Everyone was outraged. “What shame you have brought upon this family,” they all accused Bum Dolay Penzom.
Bum Dolay Penzom’s brother was a cruel and arrogant man and he felt that it was his duty to avenge this humiliation. He began to devise and plot the murder of his sister’s lover. One day he said to his sister, “Today I shall herd the cows, you take a rest.” Bum Dolay Penzom had a premonition that something terrible would be done to her lover so she alerted him to keep away from her brother. Bum Dolay Penzom’s brother had resolved to kill Bo Serba Tung Tung at all costs.
Bo Serba Tung Tung knew he was in danger but he did not know the extent of the danger. One morning when he arrived at the pasture with his cattle, Bum Dolay Penzom’s brother who had been lying in wait for him suddenly attacked him and stabbed him several times with his dagger.
When the brother came home in the evening with a smug grin on his face, Bum Dolay Penzom knew that he had done something terrible. She rushed to her lover’s house and found him lying in bed, mortally wounded. Henceforth she went secretly to nurse him every day. When he was a little better she gave him a black scarf and a white scarf and said, “When you feel better, hang the white scarf out of your window so that I will know that you are feeling better. Hang out the black scarf if you feel worse. Although I cannot be with you I can at least know how you are.”
Every day Bum Dolay Penzom looked anxiously at his window. She was always relieved to see the white scarf at his window for then she knew that he was recovering well. One woeful day the black scarf hung ominously from the window and without a thought she ran to his house. She was overcome with grief when she reached the house and found out that he had died; in spirit Bum Dolay Penzom too died with her lover. From then on she went around dazed, not able to differentiate between day and night.
As the funeral preparations were being made she too prepared to go to his funeral. While others fried tsog, and distilled ara, she filled a bamairuchung or a mithan horn with mustard oil and ground a bag of chili powder. On the day of the funeral Bum Dolay Penzom stood aside from the crowds, gazing fixedly at the pyre. When the smoke and flames from the funeral pyre rose high into the sky, she knew it was time for her to go too. Taking handfuls of the chili powder she scattered them in the air. The fine powder drifted in the wind and got into the people’s eyes and noses. All the mourners and the choepas alike began to sneeze, wheeze, and cry. While the people nursed their smarting eyes and noses she doused herself in the mustard oil and jumped onto the pyre. The blazing flames quickly engulfed her Body and she too disappeared from this world. When the people could finally see they realized what had happened. But it was too late.
As the village slowly recovered from the shock of the unfortunate happenings two banana saplings grew on the spot of the cremation site. Bum Dolay Penzom’s brother saw that and, realizing that his sister and her lover were reBorn in the form of these saplings, he promptly uprooted them. The lovers then took on a series of rebirths and deaths. Their time together was always troubled and short. Their karma was still not cleansed enough, as we say in Bhutanese. They were the victims of a force stronger than themselves, they had to travel the entire path set by destiny. They were reBorn as a male and a female cat but a dog killed the male. Then as a rooster and a hen, but the hen was eaten by a fox. Then they were reBorn as a bull and a cow. The young bull was sold by the owner to someone far away and they never met again. It was only after several more births and deaths that they were finally reBorn again in the human form. As fate would have it, the lovers were Born far away from each other without any knowledge of each other’s existence.
Bum Dolay Penzom was Born as the daughter of a rich family while Bo Serba Tung Tung was Born as the son of a poor potter. Bo Serba Tung Tung became a potter and went about the business of turning pots and selling his products from door to door. In the meantime Bum Dolay Penzom lived a leisurely life befitting the daughter of a rich family but deep inside she felt a sadness she could not understand. One day, as usual, the potter filled a basket with his pots and started on his rounds. During the course of his day he happened to stop at the rich house of Bum Dolay Penzom to try and sell his remaining pots. On seeing the potter, Bum Dolay Penzom came out of the house to buy some pots. As she was selecting the pots and negotiating the price, she suddenly had a vivid recollection of her lover and the various lives they had lived together. She was so overcome with excitement that she swooned and fell to the ground.
Bum Dolay Penzom’s mother was alarmed on seeing what had happened and believing the potter to be responsible, she berated and chased him away saying, “You, dirty beggar. Look what you have done to my daughter. Now go away quickly before I set the dogs after you.” The poor potter was completely astonished, but he quickly gathered up his pots and went his way not even daring to cast a backward glance.
After a while Bum Dolay Penzom regained consciousness and she immediately asked for the potter. Her mother explained that the potter had been scolded and chased away because he had made her unconscious. To everybody’s amazement, without saying a word to anyone, Bum Dolay Penzom at once began to follow him.
When she finally caught up with him she told him of their past lives and asked, “Don’t you remember anything? I used to be Bum Dolay Penzom and you were Bo Serba Tung Tung.”
At this revelation Bo Serba Tung Tung was so overwhelmed with shock and gratitude that he too fainted. At last, they were free. Their fate had freed them to live together, and their love had prevailed.