In dedication to Sam (Charlie)

who proved he was a ninja after all

 The Quest for Respect

A story from Nepal
A long time ago, there was a boy named Cha Loi, who lived in what is now called Nepal, where the sun rises every morning behind Sagarmth in front of his village. His village was small and had huts and farms made out of straw. It was cold and there were many illnesses, but Cha Loi loved it. The village grew many orchids and was home to animals such as goats, cows, ducks, and chickens. Cha Loi was no ordinary boy. He was small and weak. He always kissed his lucky amulet every night, ever since he found the purple rock inside, hoping that something good might happen to him. Even when he reached his late stages of his life, he was scrawny, but when he was around 20-30 years old, he turned from a scrawny weakling, to a scrawny man. You see, when he was that age, people criticized him the most. They called him a weakling and a child. He was always looking up to his father for help, but even his family didn't want him. They knew he was too small and weak to help around the house. Cha Loi wanted to prove himself and stop this hatred. That's when his door of opportunity opened. "Chor! Someone stole my gold!" Cha Loi heard as he was heading home from the market. There had been many thefts in his village and it was always gold or silver. He thought to himself, "Someone should put an end to that thief. It was always one person, if not, he wouldn't have been so silent every night. It was always gold or silver, so the thief must have had an eye for shiny things, as he would have only stole the gold. Of course, the scrawny, little child I am couldn't do that." Cha Loi thought of himself as others thought of him. That way he could get used to the insults. Cha Loi tried to block out things that made him feel good, so he wouldn't get used to it. One of the thoughts he blocked out was that he was very persistent. He would never give up, except when it came to the impossible, like lifting a few things for his father. It dawned on him that if he did do something about this thief, he wouldn't seem like a scrawny weakling anymore. So Cha Loi investigated.

Cha Loi arrived at the hut, that the items had been stolen from, and was careful to take off his shoes. The hut was circular with a cooking station in the middle. The beds, tables, and chairs decorated the sides. The woman who exclaimed the theft was cooking grumpily in the station. She was wearing a sari. He asked the wife about the thief but they replied with, "Get out mouse, even if you found out who this was, you could never catch the chor." But Cha Loi's persistence to nd respect kept him there, despite the insults. Cha Loi looked around and saw something that made him lose condence, a giant foot mark in the ground by the house. Even worse was the direction of the foot. The 18 inch wide and 30 inch long mark was positioned towards a mountain, the largest mountain in all of Nepal, Sagarmth. No one had ever climbed Sagarmth. Surely Cha Loi couldn't, but persistence was Cha Loi's illness. Cha Loi did not want to be treated like this. Nobody else would do it, they had nothing to lose. This was his only chance to prove himself. The robberies were so bad, they even happened to all the neighboring villages around Sagarmth. They always lost the same thing. They lost gold or silver. At least if he tried, people would

respect his courage. It bothered him that people thought he was weak, even though he knew he was. Cha Loi wanted to respect himself too. Cha Loi got all the equipment he could tote. He brought water, momos from mother, and clothes. He tried to bring armor, and weapons, but Cha Loi was just too weak. What Cha Loi did bring was his lucky amulet. It was small and decorated with a purple rock he found one day. From that day on, whenever he had his rock, luck followed. Cha Loi put on extra layers of daura suruwal dhaka topi for the hike, picked up a walking stick to help him, and then headed for Sagarmth. When Cha Loi arrived at the base, his mouth dropped open as he stared up the mountain. He couldn't see the top, as there were clouds blocking it. Cha Loi decided not to think about it too much, and began to walk up the mountain. It got steeper and steeper as he climbed, forming a curve in the mountain and he thought of new ways to climb this mountain. He used a zig-zag method where he walks back and forth slowly up the mountain. That made it easier but night was coming and the sky quickly turned dark. Cha Loi set up a bed next to a at outcropping in the mountain, but rst he ate very little of his meal. Then he kissed his amulet, as he did every night. When Cha Loi was in bed, he thought about many things. He thought about the giant footprint and what kind of man or beast could leave a mark like that. He wondered how it got down. He must have a transportation contraption, or maybe the beast was born with something. Hopefully Cha Loi would nd out. Villagers had said stories about the man. He was 12 feet tall, taller than any man they had ever seen. They had only seen silhouettes of it. It didn't only steal gold. Anything that was shiny or silver, was stolen. It must have a liking for shiny things. He thought about where he would look in the mountain but couldn't come up with anything. Cha Loi thought that since the chor could come down so easily, then maybe he stayed close. But of course if he didn't want to be found, he would live up high. But it might be too cold to live there, unless he had adapted to it. There was no way of knowing. Persistence, his main trait, left and was replaced with the thought of home. He wanted to lie in his cramped bed in his home with his bitter family. Even though nobody liked him, it didn't mean he didn't like them. He loved the way his family had arguments about the smallest things. It made Cha Loi feel better when things other than him were argued about. His cramped bed was cozy and warm because of the small space, and any bed was better than this one. He got up and could see the village res from where he was. He was wondering why there was

a re. They hardly ever have a re except at an important event or a happy ceremony. They also had it at funerals. He felt a sense of despair build up in him. They thought he was already dead. They thought he had already failed, that he had already died since he was weak. That's how they thought of him. Cha Loi decided that he should keep going on his adventure so that he could prove himself even more. Cha Loi left in the morning and headed up Sagarmth. The voyage made him thirsty but Cha Loi did not give in. Cha Loi knew that he needed save his water, especially since he had gone longer without water, but soon headaches came, and Cha Loi was forced to drink some water. Once Cha Loi reached the snow, he would not need to drink the water. He could boil the snow. Cha Loi navigated his way up the mountain for hours. Soon he needed food. There was too much energy needed from this small boy to climb Sagarmth. No man had done the task before. Whenever someone tried, they never came back. They had always disappeared. Either they died of the sheer cold, or someone or something got them. Cha Loi got rid of that thought. Efciently, Cha Loi ate some momos while walking. This process continued. He slept, ate, drank and walked, then slept again. It continued until he reached the snow. It was cold and he barely had any clothes. His clothes looked like long sleeved cloth for arms and legs with a red cloth around his waist. He also had a round hat on his head with a point to cover his head. His robes made him blend in nicely with the snow. The snow looked like a white blanket, trying to trick him to lay down in it, waiting to engulf you with it's icy temperature. He had heard many stories of how people died in the snow. It scared him, but persistence to get respect kept him walking. He wanted to be talked to like a normal man, and looked up to as a role model after this journey. Eventually, Cha Loi hade to climb up the mountain because it was so steep. It looked like a at wall from where he was, but when he got closer, he saw it had many rocks sticking out. He couldn't eat, drink, and climb. He wouldn't be able to stop. The cold of the mountain would freeze his hands to the mountain. Cha Loi started. After being ve feet off the ground, his arms and legs started to feel tired, and he started to lag. Cha Loi knew of the dangers of being slow so he sped up. He grabbed on a rock but slipped on it. He was hanging on the rock from his left hand. Cha Loi hung from his hand but knew that he would just freeze to death if he stayed there. He swung with all his strength and managed to get his grip on another rock. He studied the one he slipped on. Instead of a

rock, it was a piece of ice sticking out. That told him that the more he climbed up, the more ice there would be. It also told him he would have to climb even faster to avoid freezing and slipping. Cha Loi progressed on. He avoided the agonizing pain that lled him as he climbed. Not only the strain, but the cold that lled his hands. He tried to focus on one thing as he climbed the mountain. It was hard to do as he kept moving up. He also knew not to look down. Then a shock of pain entered him. He looked at his hand and it was frozen. He couldn't lift it, and when he tried, the same shock of pain entered him. Cha Loi was so close to the edge. He tried something that strained his muscles too much. Cha Loi, swung himself for the last time. He swung onto the ledge above him. The strain was killing him. His arm was still stuck the the side of the ledge he was on. At least he could've rested. He thought to himself, "This wouldn't be a bad place to die. It's soft and cozy. There's also a drummer's beat, resonating through the air, something to lullaby me to sleep." Then he realized, there's no drumming on a barren mountain. He looked around and saw a cave. The drumming was coming from the cave. Cha Loi wondered if there were other people in the cave, or maybe the thief. Cha Loi wanted to enter the cave, but he needed to break free rst. He tugged once, pain stopped him. He tugged again, the pain was unbearable. The third time he tugged, he had an adrenaline rush, and the

pain left, leaving him to pull as hard as he could. He broke free. But now, he had a sharp piece of ice stuck to his right hand. Cha Loi wished he could've wrapped his hands in another cloth, but he had no extra cloth. He couldn't use his body heat because it was covered in cloth and his it would freeze to the ice. Cha Loi entered the cave and saw ice stalactites hanging off the top. It scared Cha Loi, since they might fall on him, but then, at the entrance of the cave, he saw the same footprint that was at the house. He knew the thief was in there. The good thing about the ice was that there was enough light able to get through the cave. He heard the same drumming and wasn't sure if he should enter. It was loud and didn't echo as it should've. Then Cha Loi saw the thief. The drumming was coming from its feet. Frightened, Cha Loi ran to the nearest obstacle. He ran and hid behind behind a rock. Cha Loi looked like he was going to break down in tears. If he broke down in tears, Cha Loi thought, his eyes would just freeze because of it. He thought of his village, and how they would laugh at him if he came down, if he made it down. Then he looked again at the beast. It had white fur all over its body, except for the soles of its feet, palms of its hands, and its face. Its body was like a human, but 12 feet tall and easily stronger than any man from his village. The only advantage Cha Loi had on the beast, was that he was small, which meant he could be agile, compared to the lumbering giant. Cha Loi thought he was going to die anyway, so he charged the beast, without any plan whatsoever. Instead of a sword or spear, Cha Loi used the ice on his palm. As soon as the beast saw him, he sat down and watched with joy and clapped. The clapping was like thunder. Cha Loi slowed, and came to a stop. He slowed because he was unsure about this beast. It acted like a child that had seen a playful puppy. The beast then scooped up Cha Loi and showed him his home. The cave wasn't as Cha Loi expected it. It was nice and cozy, a lot cozier than the snow. The furniture was mostly the same. Cha Loi guessed the beast had gotten inspired from the houses in his village. The only difference was that there were rooms, while in Cha Loi's village, everything was in one room. The beast had its own bedroom, stolen items room, which Cha Loi promised he would come back to, and a kitchen. Cha Loi saw a pot about the height of himself, and three times the width. The beast was cooking some sort of soup, but then, Cha Loi noticed something was wrong. There was no meat. Cha Loi saw lots of bones at the entrance, which made him realize, he was the meat. No wonder no one had climbed

the mountain. They had all been hunted. The thought of all the dead heroes of Nepal that climbed this mountain horried Cha Loi. If they died, Cha Loi would probably die too. Who knows, maybe the beast preserved the bodies and put them in the pot. The beast dropped Cha Loi in, turned to get some vegetables, and left enough time to let Cha Loi roll over the sides, careful to keep his only weapon, the ice, dry. The pot was hot, but not too hot. Cha Loi guessed it was like this because the beast had adapted to the cold so it was used to it. The pot felt so good, being in the warm, but death was worse than being cold. That's when the beast turned. The beast roared while Cha Loi ran away. It picked up stalactites that had fallen from the roar, and then threw them at Cha Loi. They sounded like earthquakes were forming as they hit the ground. Cha Loi screamed and ran the other direction. His eyes were bulging so much that they looked like they was going to pop. Another stalactite landed in front of him. Cha Loi headed for the exit, but another stalactite landed in front of him. The slanted angle made him come up with a way to kill the beast. Instead of running away, Cha Loi stayed. The angle was like stairs. When the beast turned around to pick up another stalactite, Cha Loi ran at full speed, climbed the back of the giant as he bent over, and held on to his neck. The giant roared again, but this time, there were no stalactites to fall on Cha Loi's head. Despite the shaking of the beast, Cha Loi managed to bring out his right hand. He got it into position, and pushed with all his strength. The beast stopped moving, and slumped to the ground. Cha Loi felt accomplishment, but he still had to bring the beast, the gold and silver down. But at least the worst was over. He looked down and kissed the amulet again. He noticed that it had been glowing a brilliant purple. Cha Loi wondered what kind of magic it hid. He decided not to dwell on it too much. Cha Loi thought about what he had accomplished. He had managed to kill this terrible giant. He almost got killed, several times. Sweat tried to drip down Cha Loi, but the air was too cold. He felt like collapsing because he had done the impossible. This required too much brawn and power while Cha Loi didn't have that. He had climbed a dangerous and snow covered mountain, and killed a beast at least twice the size of Cha Loi. Now he had to bring it down the mountain. Cha Loi, headed for the kitchen, where the soup was, and jumped back in. This time, he let his right hand into the warm soup. The ice melted off with ease, but left a large gash in the palm of his hand, which would it

make near impossible to climb back down, especially with the gold, since it would take one arm to carry it. Cha Loi went to the beast, and tried to cut some fur off to protect his palm. He tried using it on one of the fallen stalactites, there was no pain, but the fur made the ice very slippery. He would never get a grip. That gave Cha Loi an idea. So Cha Loi collected all the gold, and put it in a big pouch, then dragged it along. He headed for the corpse rst. He got on it's back, loaded the gold too, and picked up two broken rocks that he could hold up to push him and the beast off. He was careful to cover his hands with some fur so they wouldn't stick to the rocks. The beast slid down the mountain with ease, even on the climbing area, though that was very steep. Cha Loi almost fell off twice. Cha Loi brought the rocks so he could turn, slow down, or stop for the night, but at the rate he was going, he wouldn't need to. Just before dawn, Cha Loi arrived back home. The villagers were so shocked like they had seen a bhut. They were mostly shocked because Cha Loi was riding on the beast. "Yeti." They murmured. "Yeti." "Yeti." Eventually, the chief came by to see what the commotion was. He did not even notice the beast, he just walked up to Cha Loi, and welcomed him home. "The weakling has succeeded. Now, where is that gold?" Cha Loi gladly handed over the gold, while the villagers claimed what was theirs. Cha Loi looked at himself while he got himself cleaned up. A feast was served, and the main course was the beast Cha Loi killed. The lost child, had risen up to the the challenge, while everyone thought he died. Cha Loi forgave them as he knew that they respected his bravery since they had a funeral on the day he left. His family rushed over to him and showed their love. Cha Loi looked down once more and saw that his rock had disappeared, as if all the kisses from him, had payed off for this one time. All that was left, was an empty amulet. His parents led the chant while others joined in. Soon, all the villagers were shouting his name. "Cha Loi! Cha Loi! Dhanybhad ghorkhali!" They bowed down, and the only thing that stood up, was the new found hero.

 Glossary
Sagarmth : Mount Everest in Nepali Chor : Thief in Nepali Yeti : Magical Creature in Nepali Dhanybhad ghorkhali : Thank you gurkha (Nepali Warrior) in Nepali Bhut : Ghost or spirit in Nepali

About the author

Christian Due, 13 year old Canadian writer, now lives in New Delhi. He goes to school at AES every day. Christian used to live in Canada, Pakistan, and Singapore before India. When he was two, he left Canada, he then lived in Pakistan for one year, but left when the tragic events of 911 occurred. Christian went to school at SAS or Singapore American School, but when he got through semester one of seventh grade, his father got posted in New Delhi. He now goes to AES or American Embassy School, where he produced this folktale. The most important part in Christian's life was when he moved to India. It was a big jump from Singapore, a clean and well organized country, to India, a third world country which he had never been in long enough to remember. Christian has written other folktales, such as "The Gopher and the Farmer". Christian has written many narrative stories in Singapore but many ctional stories. He had longed to write this folktale because of that. Some interests of Christian is playing music, listening to music, and playing sports. Christian always

thinks to the future, especially in India. For example, PE for the last class of the day, or his friend coming in one week. One of the things that Christian now does to this day, is chasing peacocks out of his farmhouse with Nerf guns.

Maps -From Nat Geo World Atlas and Bing Maps


"...more than satisfying." -New York Readings

"...exciting...thrilling...the only book I will ever read for the rest of my life." -Daily Review co.

"I wish I came up with this rst..." -Samuel Vyon Chalmers / Author of "The Light of the World"

"...astounding...jaw-dropping..." -Washington Reviews