All the Way to Lhasa: A Tale from Tibet
Philomel Books, 2002
Less dramatic, nevertheless quietly powerful is Barbara Helen Berger's story of a young boy's journey to Lhasa. The obvious comparison is Aesop's fable featuring a tortoise and a hare. In both instances the lesson is to practice steadiness in striving toward a goal, but the Tibetan tale the lesson expands more easily to encompass non-competitive situations. Quiet resolve and courage are not pitted against smugness, as Aesop would have it. Rather, those virtues succeed where anxiousness, which diverts and saps one's energies, creates its own obstacle. It's a lesson well worth learning, and learning sooner than later. Berger's gentle prose draw us into the simple, but profound story.
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