New Tales of the Gobi Desert
Shanghai Singapore International School, Helena Xie Overgaard , Fiction: Group 2
I
n the Gobi Desert, there lived a man, not just any man but a special doctor. This doctor was
called Dr. Rabut. He was a special doctor because he could cure every single sickness. Not
many people know this doctor because he lived in a part of Gobi that was hard to reach. He
chose the Gobi Desert because there are many rare plants and animals such as the Saltwort,
Ephedra, Saxual trees, Jerboas, Snow leopards, and Gobi bears, that can cure sicknesses. Dr. Rabut
knows that if a patient has the determination to find him, they will also have the will power to get
well. In another part of the world in Vietnam, there was a man, Leo. He had a very serious case of
asthma that doctors refused to treat. His asthma made it hard for him to work and earn a living. It
was getting worse as he grew older. He heard of Dr. Rabut and decided to find him.
While Leo was on a plane from Vietnam to the Gobi, Dr. Rabut was out in the desert, but
near his small yurt, searching for new rare species of plants and animals. Once Leo landed in the
Dalanzadgad Airport, he started his long journey. First, he bought a camel. He read that it would be
difficult to walk in the desert and he knew his asthma will not take him far. He asked the locals if
they knew in which direction he should go to find the so called “Amazing Doctor”. The locals told
Leo to go east until he finds a small yurt. So, Leo started riding his camel in that direction.
After 3 hours of riding, the sun started setting. He decided to take a rest. Luckily, Leo had
brought many bottles of water. That evening, he finished the last bottle because he was so thirsty.
He found a spot where grass-like plants with small flowers were growing out of the rocky ground.
Feeling thirsty and sensing the asthma starting, he grabbed a leaf and started to chew it. He then
felt some water coming out from the leaf and began to eat the whole leaf.
He set up a tent to call it a night. Just as he was about to drift into slumber, he heard some
very loud howls of wind. He was pretty sure it was going to be a sandstorm so he rode his camel
to a safe shelter and rested there. The next morning, Leo started his journey again very early,
he coughed non-stop the whole morning. He also didn’t have any water left so he didn’t have
anything to drink which made his cough worse. He tried to get over his thirst by swallowing some
saliva. Again, he found the same plant he ate the previous day and chewed on it to make himself
feel better. After travelling towards the east for a long time, he reached a small yurt!
He banged on the door excitedly, almost breaking it. Dr. Rabut came out and greeted him with
a wide smile. Dr. Rabut was not surprised to see his uninvited visitor since he occasionally got
visits from strangers. Leo sat down inside and told Dr. Rabut all about his health and his journey
to find him. Dr. Rabut gave him a bottle of potion and told him to drink one cup every day. He
showed Leo the plant that he had used to concoct the potion and explained that it is the Ephedra
plant that grows in the Gobi desert. Leo realized he had eaten the Ephedra leaf for his thirst and
that was also the cure for his ailment. Since then on, Leo lived many more years without serious
attack of his asthma and he visited Dr. Rabut every one to two years to get the Ephedra potion!
