But she was soon confronted by a big surly leopard who roared, “Whay, Bomed, I am going to eat you.”
Dangbo..o..o Dingbo..o..o.. there was a young girl called Mekhay Doma who had to carry food provisions to her parents who were meditating far away in the mountains. Their tsamkhang or hermitage was a long way from home but the girl did not mind the journey. Her parents were aged and could no longer work on their little farm so they had decided to spend the rest of their lives in prayer and meditation. Every month she would prepare a huge load of flour, butter, tea, and vegetables. Bent almost double under this heavy load she would struggle up the mountainside, for this was just one way of fulfilling her dinlam or repaying her parents for what they had done for her. The forest on the mountain was full of wild animals. Some of the animals had watched this girl with interest for several months now. One day they positioned themselves along her usual path and waited for her.
As she trudged up the mountainside carrying her heavy load she first met a wild boar who greeted her, then grunted and said, “Whay, Bomed, I am going to eat you.”
“No, no, not now. Look at me. My skin is stuck to my bones. I am thin and full of sinews. When I come back from my parents I’ll be fat and tasty. Then you can eat me,” pleaded Mekhay Doma.
The boar grunted once more, looked at her skeptically and then agreed, “Ya, ya.”
So Mekhay Doma walked on until she met a monkey who came by, chattering and screeching wildly in front of her. “Whay, Bomed, I want to eat you,” he said as he hung upside down from a branch, all the time scratching himself.
Once again the girl replied, “No, no, not yet. Look at me. My skin is stuck to my bones. I am thin and full of sinews. You can eat me when I come back from my parents. At that time I’ll be fat and tasty.”
The monkey too agreed and swung through the trees screeching and chattering as he went.
Then Mekhay Doma walked on quickly, hoping that this was the last animal she would meet before she reached her parents’ tsamkhang. But she was soon confronted by a big surly leopard who roared, “Whay, Bomed, I am going to eat you.”
“No, no, not yet. Look at me. My skin is stuck to my bones. Eat me when I come back from my parents. I’ll be fat and tasty by then,” pleaded Mekhay Doma.
The leopard walked past her. Then he cocked his head to one side, “I’ll be waiting for you,” he reminded her.
Mekhay Doma finally reached her parents and gave the food provisions to them. They were happy to see her but soon they realized that she was very forlorn and cheerless and refused to eat any food at all. The mother was anxious and asked her, “Something is worrying you. Tell me. Maybe I can help you.”
Mekhay Doma replied, “I am sad because this is the last time I shall be seeing you and father. There are three animals on the way home who are waiting to eat me.”
The mother was a resourceful person and saying, “Don’t you worry about that”, she at once proceeded to make a huge barrel of lac. When the lac was heated and shaped into a bumbu or barrel she asked her daughter to get in. Then she closed the lid and rolled the barrel down the mountainside.
The leopard was waiting by the side of the road when the barrel rolled past him. “Whay, bumbu, have you seen Mekhay Doma?” questioned the leopard.
“Ma thong, Ma thong. Nga ni bumbu runglungma, rung lung, rung lung song ma go” (I haven’t seen, I haven’t seen. I am a round barrel and I must be on my way rulung, rulung),” replied the girl from the barrel.
Both the monkey and the pig were waiting when the barrel passed them. They asked for Mekhay Doma and she again said, “Ma thong, ma thong. Nga ni bumbu runglungma, rung lung, rung lung songma go.” As soon as she had said this the barrel hit a boulder and out came Mekhay Doma. The animals quickly seized her and prepared to cook her. The leopard went to collect the fire wood and the monkey went to fetch the water. The pig was to guard the girl.
Mekhay Doma sat against a big boulder and watched the pig as he browsed in the ground searching for roots and tubers and munching loudly, quite oblivious of his duty. She saw that he hardly looked in her direction. So she quickly dug a hole in the ground and hid in it.
After a while the leopard arrived with the firewood and the monkey with the water, “But where is the meat?” they both exclaimed together.
“Yaaa, she must have escaped,” said the boar, looking around, startled.
“Then you will have to be the meat,” declared the leopard and the monkey and they caught him and killed him.
Mekhay Doma listened to all the confusion and the noise. Then the ground began to get hotter and hotter for the fire had been built right above her. After a while it was becoming quite unbearable and she had to move a little. As she moved the stones on which the pot had been placed moved a little too. The two animals suddenly pricked up their ears in alarm. Mekhay Doma by now could no longer bear the heat and at the risk of being caught again came out of her hiding place. As she emerged, the pot containing all the pieces of meat fell over, spilling everything. The leopard and the monkey both sprang backwards in fright and ran away into the forest saying, “What evil thing is this?”
After Mekhay Doma came out of the ground she dusted herself and looked around. None of the animals was there any more. She wondered what had happened to frighten them off. She rekindled the fire which was dying down, as the water from the pot had spilled on it and roasted some meat which she found there. She ate all she could and carried the rest of the meat home.