Folk tale from Bhutan: How Acho La La, the full moon, saved a young girl from being eaten by a demon

Dangbo … o … o, dingbo … o … o … (once upon a time) in a lonely house on a hilltop, there lived a farmer, his wife and their daughter. The elderly couple were tired of farming their little patch of land, which yielded so little. But more than anything, they had heard rumours of a sinpo in the area, a sinister creature that had been terrorising the villagers. They decided to flee, even if it meant leaving their daughter behind.

One day, the mother handed her daughter a roll of bamboo mat and said, “Bomed, spread out this bamboo mat and dry the barley in the sun. Tomorrow, I shall grind some flour. Stay there and guard the grain.” As is always the case when grain is laid out to dry, pigeons and ravens would swoop down, risking everything just for a few grains.

So, the girl sat by the mat, where the barley lay spread, waving a long bamboo stick and calling “shoo, shoo” to chase away the birds. Meanwhile, her parents busied themselves with preparations to leave.

Suddenly, the girl noticed a raven sitting on the peach tree near the house. Its cawing sounded urgent, as if it had...

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