Ｔｅｎｚｉｎ Ｄａｎｃｅｓ ｗｉｔｈ Ｇｅｅｓｅ

Ｙａｎｇ　Ｙｉｎｄｉ

Intoxicated by the charming snow-capped mountain peaks surrounding the lake I relaxed, I took out my camera and started to shoot. Suddenly, a beautiful song was carried to me on the gentle breeze, and I turned to seek the origin. The sound gradually grew louder: “At the top of the east mountain, the white moon is rising; a young beautiful girls beauty haunts my mind...” It was a love poem written by Tsangyang Gyatso and entitled “At the Peak of the East Mountain”. Tsangyang Gyatso was the sixth Dalai Lama in Tibetan history, and a famed poet as well. The lyric sung by the girl originated from the lovely poem by Tsangyang Gyatso that is rather popular in Tibet. The song was so beguiling it urged me to find the singer. Finally, I discovered a girl in Tibetan dress guiding a raft while pursuing a flock of geese as she sang. The geese stretched their necks and trippingly danced into the lake. As they called out “Er...Er...” it seemed as though they were in chorus with the girl. I couldnt believe that the geese could perform with such enthusiasm. What a beautiful picture! I sat quietly on the lakes edge listening to the pleasant song and enjoying the dancing geese.

The girl turned the raft toward me and found I was watching her.

She immediately turned her body in a sudden movement that almost tipped the raft tip over.

I tried to not scare her and called to her pleasantly in Tibetan: “Pomu (Young girl)”.She slowly turned towards me again, lowered her head shyly and then polled the raft towards me. Her charming appearance was now clearly apparent. Her thick, black, luxuriant hair was tied behind her head. I immediately decided she was a lovely girl and called for her to disembark. She nodded and jumped onto land. I said: “Your beautifulclothes and charming song brought me here. Who taught you such a beautiful song?” She lowered her head again and said: “Nobody taught me, I learnt from the TV. Almost all Tibetan girls can sing this song.” She looked up and stared at me, and then lowered her head again. Knowing she was very shy, I had to change my topic and asked: “How come you have such big geese! Do they belong to your family?” My words excited her interest; she shook her head and said: “The geese belong to the farm named “Namde Farm for Taking a Scientific Approach to Raising Geese” which was founded by one-to-one support cadres from Guangdong Province. All the geese were imported from France by airplane. I am a causal worker at the farm and living in Shigatse. My name is Tenzin.” she said and then looked at me boldly. Now, she showed me a completely different personality from at first. She looked like a 17-18 years old girl but spoke in standardized mandarin. I became very interested in her journey to Nyingchi from Shigatse.

A mountain range surrounds the “Namde Farm for Taking a Scientific Approach to Raising Geese”. The farm, at 2800 metres above sea level, has a lake at its centre. Blessed with nice weather and a favorable environment, it is an ideal place for raising geese.

I explained my wish to visit the farm to the manager. He hospitably arranged accommodation, which really gave me an opportunity to get more closely acquainted with Tenzin. By interview, I discovered that the farm was a program designed by the fourth group of oneto- one support cadres from Guangdong Province and was mainly designed to assist local farmers to improve their incomes. The program was presided over by Mr. Ye, a Canadian Chinese.

Tenzin left her hometown to be a baby sitter when she was just nine years old. At 16 she had to go back to Tsongda Village of Lhamo County, her hometown, as a farm worker because the baby was no longer small enough to need a sitter. By chance, she became acquainted with a one-to-one support cadre from Guangdong Province. On seeing her familys economic situation, the cadre decided to arrange for her to work on the farm. Since then, her life was changed.

Namde farm is incredibly beautiful. The lake is surn rounded by weeping willows while geese frolic on its surface. I was sitting with Tenzin on a wood pen and chatting. She told me that, due to the poverty of her family, she did not get a chance to go to school. What she earned from her work had to provide schooling for her brother and two younger sisters. Since working away from home, she has recognized that it was hard to make a good living without any learning. She urged her younger sisters to study hard whenever she returned to her family.

When Tenzin spoke, she was sad. I had to change the topic and said: “Tenzin, on the day I heard your song, I found all the geese trotted around and around you frolicking; they seemed to understand what you were singing to them.”

On hearing this, Tenzin immediately became excited, and said: “The geese here are quite different from what I have seen before at any other place. They seem very proud with big bodies. At the beginning, I did not really like them. But soon, after I spent time with them and feeding them, I feel we have formed a mutual affection. I was fond of singing songs and then the geese started to go round and round me looking up at me. It was like they were singing the songs with me. In particular, when the time came to take the geese back to where they sleep and Id say ‘Ai, come ... come... They are always very good listeners and they voluntarily walked in a line to follow my instruction to return to their shed. Usually, this was my most exciting moment everyday”, she said withouthesitation. Then she stood up, cupped her mouth and called: “come, come...” while she faced towards the lake. Having heard her voice, the geese looked up and quickly swam together around in the lake; apparently they were very happy. Looking at the geese, Tenzin said proudly: “Look, they are dancing for you.” “Yes! In my life time this is the first time I have seen such inspired geese.” I said.

Still looking at the lake, Tenzin added: “The technician here told me that we need to take a scientific approach to raise these geese from France. We usually buy enough feed to last three months, and then take out the liver of the geese to sell to the big cities or even abroad, which brings us a favorable income. The technician also informed me that goose liver is one of the three best foods in the world. Products from TAR are all pollution-free; naturally they were the best in the world and could bring the best price. Nevertheless, I did not get an education and am completely illiterate. I regret it so much and I had no choice but to look after the geese. I couldnt learn more about the technology of raising geese. Therefore, my salary was lower than others. Without knowledge a person has no chance to get a high salary.”

I tried to comfort Tenzin by lightly patting her shoulders and saying: “Dont worry. If you learn three words every day from now on, day by day, you will know many. And if you study well, you are surely better than others.”

I touched her thick black hair and felt that, within a few days of getting along with each other, I had gradually learnt she was an uncomplicated, zealous, and forthright Tibetan girl. A girl of her age should be studying in high school and taken care of by her parents, but she had undergone much hardship in her life.

On hearing my encouragement, she smiled a gorgeous, happy smile.

At dawn, I wandered along the side of the lake and looked at the mountain range in the distance. The breeze stirred the willows with a soft sound. Again, Tenzins song floated by the lake: “In early morning, when I stood on the grassland, I saw an eagle was flying in the morning sun-just like a cloud drifting in the blue sky. It will be an auspicious sign to our Tibetans. Here is a mysterious road to the paradise...”

What beautiful natural sounds...!