New Tales of the Gobi Desert
Maryknoll Convent School (Secondary Section), Chong June See, Fiction: Group 3
E
ach desert has its own environment, no desert is the same and the Gobi Desert of
Mongolia is one of those unique deserts in the world. The animals that live there, the
rain, the sky, the cold, the hot, the wet and the dry all mix in a peculiar way that makes
it different from all other deserts. This is a story from the Gobi Desert. It is a legend of
the beautiful yet mysterious Princess Shrana who got lost in the sand dunes.
Before the Gobi Desert was exploited for its fossil fuels and gold, the Mongolians lived in
a small, walled town and dared not explore the Gobi Desert. They were petrified of the snow
leopards and wolves. They held on to superstitions that the Gobi Desert was cursed and only the
luckiest of men could go through it. They refused to set foot outside the town and only sent the
wisest young men to venture out into the desert to trade with another town.
All Mongolians lived in blissful oblivion of the whirlwind of sand outside their town, all
except one- the beautiful Princess Shrana. She was a young and kind girl full of ideas and
curiosity. She was wise and strong, but she never spoke. She was not born mute, but she never
spoke aloud. She just shared her ideas and thoughts on paper. Still, the Mongolians adored her.
They thought of her as their future Queen.
When Princess Shrana shared her hopes on exploring the Gobi Desert, everybody was against
it. Nobody wanted their exquisite princess to venture out into the horrible desert. However,
Shrana insisted and refused to hear them out. So on the next day, at the crack of dawn, she rode
on the camel with the wise young men and set out on her adventure.
At first, Shrana was excited about riding on an exotic animal that is called a “camel” and was
bewildered of the countless sand dunes. However, as she rode on and on for days, she got bored
with all the sand and wanted something a little more special. She would sometimes stray away
from the young men to search for the hidden animals in the desert. However, the young men were
under strict orders to take care of the Princess and so it was decided that Shrana was to be always
watched, no matter what. Princess Shrana never got a moment of peace.
Shrana got more and more frustrated with each growing day. So, one day, when the wise men
were sleeping, she slowly crept away from their camp and left with her notebook. She discovered
many things that morning, such as the jerboas, which were small rodents that have powerful hind
legs like a kangaroo. Shrana saw a snow leopard that was creeping silently on the grey-white
rocks. She was thrilled and was about to return to the camp when there was a sudden sand storm.
She quickly used her shawl to cover her face and hid behind a huge boulder. Shrana closed her
eyes and prayed that the sand storm would pass soon.
The sand storm lasted for minutes, hours, maybe even days, Shrana didn’t know. She just
knew that she had to return to the camp immediately. She was walking back when she heard a
low growl. She slowly turned around and saw a “mazaalai” which means Gobi bear in Mongolian.
She knew what she had to do. She had to keep calm and make no sudden movements until the
Gobi bear left. Maybe it was Shrana’s colourful shawl that caught the Gobi bear’s attention, but it
refused to look away. Shrana kept still for hours until the Gobi bear left.
By the time, Shrana went back to the camp, the wise young men had left ages ago. They had
decided they would send a rescue team who knows the desert inside out to find the beautiful
