Tales Of The Turquoise: A Pilgrimage In Dolpo

Dolpo, a remote Himalayan region of Nepal populated by a Tibetan people, draws more yetis than tourists. In 1961, French sociologist Corneille Jest tagged along on a pilgrimage to sacred shrines around Dolpo, accompanied by a young local and a toothless old yak herder named Karma. Writing like the scientific observer that he is, Jest notes with a detached reverence the landscape and the flora, the gestures and equipment of the people he meets, and the stories he is told--so many stories. Karma, it turns out, is a walking library of Tibetan folklore, despite his illiteracy, and at every bend in the road, at every stop for butter tea, "Karma tells the story of yaks," "Karma ... describes [the goddess] Drolma in one of her incarnations," "Karma speaks of the pastoral life," "Karma ... tells the story of the tail that talks." In fact, Karma's tales of mummified lamas and hats of invisibility monopolize the pages and make Tales of the Turquoise an utterly charming collection. Translated from the French, Tales of the Turquoise could have been written yesterday or a thousand years ago. Such is the timeless magic of folktales. --Brian Bruya