The Cave of the Yellow Dog (2005)

Nansal Batchuluun: Oldest daughter

Photos 

Quotes 

• Oldest daughter : Will I be reborn as a person in my next life?

  Older woman : Come here, I'll show you something.

  [dropping a palm-full of rice grains onto an upward needle] 

  Older woman : [handing the needle to the girl]  Tell me when a grain of rice balances on the tip of the needle.

  Oldest daughter : [dropping rice onto the needle for a while] 

  Older woman : [chuckles] 

  Oldest daughter : That's impossible!

  Older woman : See, my child? That's how hard it is to be born again as a person. That's why a human life is so valuable.

• Mother : Stretch your hand, like I'm doing. Now, try to bite the palm of your hand.

  Oldest daughter : I can't!

  Mother : You can't? Try again. And now?

  Oldest daughter : It doesn't work.

  Mother : Although it seems so close, it's still too far away to bite. You can't have everything that you see.

• Oldest daughter : Mom, can I have some dung?

  Mother : Go ahead and take some.

• Mother : Nansal, instead of playing could you collect some dung to cure the meat?

  Oldest daughter : But I've never collected dung before.

  Mother : Then just give it a try.

• [first lines] 

  Oldest daughter : Dad, what are you doing with his tail?

  Father : I'm putting it under his head so he'll be reborn as a person with a ponytail and not as a dog with a tail.

  Oldest daughter : Oh, really?

• Oldest daughter : Zochor, do you want to go back to your cave or stay with me?

• [last lines] 

  Oldest daughter : You're always asleep when I want to play. Maybe you were a real lazybones in a previous life.

• Oldest daughter : Mum, do you remember your previous lives?

  Mother : I don't think so.

  Oldest daughter : Why not?

• Oldest daughter : What happened to the yellow dog?

  Older woman : The young couple got married, and then they had a child. Perhaps the dog was reborn with a ponytail.

  Oldest daughter : Really?

• Older woman : You're lucky the dog didn't end up in the Cave of the Yellow Dog.

  Oldest daughter : What's the Cave of the Yellow Dog?

  Older woman : I'll tell you the story. Long ago, a rich family lived in these lands. They had a beautiful daughter. One day, the daughter became very ill. No medicine could help; so, the father decided to ask a wise man for advice. The wise man said, "Your yellow dog is angry. You must send him away." The father asked, "But why? He protects us and our herd." The man replied, "That's what I have to say and what you wanted to know." The father didn't have the heart to kill the yellow dog; but, for his daughter's sake, he had to do something. So he hid the dog in a cave from which it was impossible to escape. He brought it food every day. One day, the dog was gone. But the daughter really did get better. The reason being that the daughter was in love with a young man. And with the yellow dog gone, the couple could meet without being disturbed.