A virtuous young woman journeys to the Land of the Dead to retrieve the still-beating heart of a king; a wily corpse-monster tricks his young captor into setting him free; a king falls under a curse that turns him into a cannibal; a shepherd who understands the speech of animals saves a princess from certain death. These are just a few of the wondrous tales that await readers of this collection of Tibetan Buddhist folktales. Fifteen stories are told for modern readers in a vivid, accessible style that reflects a centuries-old tradition of storytelling in the monasteries and marketplaces of Tibet.

As a child growing up in a Buddhist monastery, Yeshi Dorjee would often coax the elderly lamas into telling him folktales. By turns thrilling, mysterious, clever, and often hilariously funny, the stories he narrates here also teach important lessons about mindfulness, compassion, and other key Buddhist principles. They will delight readers of all ages, scholars and students, Buddhists and non-Buddhists alike.

Three Boys: And Other Buddhist Folktales from Tibet, Hawaii University Press, Paperback, 2007, 224 Pages, $17.95

Yeshi Dorjee was born in Bhutan in 1960. At the age of nine, he moved to Karnataka, India, and entered Gyudmed Tantric University, where he received a geshe ngarampa (doctor) degree in 1995. He is currently teacher-in-residence at the Land of Compassion Buddha Center in West Covina, California.

John S. Major taught East Asian history at Dartmouth College from 1971 to 1984. He remains active in the field of Asian studies as an independent scholar, writer, and editor, and as a senior lecturer at the China Institute in New York.

Table of Contents
Editor's Introduction	3
Chapter 1: The Three Boys 	15
Chapter 2: The King's Heart	30
Chapter 3: The Carpenter Who Went to Heaven	50
Chapter 4: The Woodcutter and His Son	56
Chapter 5: How Norbu Became a King	59
Chapter 6: The Shape-Shifter's Son	74
Chapter 7: The King Stands Up	88
Chapter 8: Penba and Dawa	91
Chapter 9: The Dream Eater	96
Chapter 10: The Boy Who Understood Animals	125
Chapter 11: The Cook, the Cat, and the Endless Story	138
Chapter 12: The Boy Who Never Lied	147
Chapter 13: King Salgyel's Daughter, Princess Dorjee 	 159
Chapter 14: The Pig's-Head Seer	169
Chapter 15: Langa and Jatsalu	189
Notes on the Stories	206
Suggestions for Further Reading	224