I: Introduction
The Tibetan literature is one of the richest in the world. There are five categories: (1) Buddhist translations from India and their commentaries, (2) Bonist imitations of Buddhist literatures, (3) Stories, (4) Riddles, and (5) Poems.

For item (1), there are two great scriptural cannons, the Kangyur (`bka-gyur') and Tengyur (`bsTan-gyur'): the former containing works regards as expressing the Word of a Buddha, the latter the commentaries. The works were completed about the middle of the 14th century, and printed in the 18th century. The collection exists in several Monasteries including Yon-Ho Monastery in Beijing. The Kangyur usually takes up a hundred or a hundred and eight volumes, The Tengyur two hundred and twenty-five, and the two together contain 4,569 works.

We will not comment on items (1) and (2), since they belongs to a different article. We will only talk about the items (3), (4) and (5) in the present article. The history of Tibet began with `story-tellers' and `riddle-singers'. They played important roles in the Tibetan culture.

II: Story
The literature is vast. We will only discuss the most famous epic `Story of Gesar'. The story is about King Gesar of `Ling' which is a different name of the kingdom `Lang' at the northern Tibet, the southern Qinghai and western Szechuan.
The story was transmitted orally by numerous folk story-tellers and dramas . Only recently it had been collected into more than a hundred volumes consisted of half million lines of poem. It was the longest poetry in the world.
There were many parts of this epic. King Gesar was born a son of supreme god Indira. In the youth, he was mischievous to the point of wickedness, unruly, but divine by nature and possessing supernature. His great antagonist was his paternal uncle, cowardly, vain and pretentious, who hoped to rule the country. The hero was banished with his mother, but his exile enabled him to build up hidden strength. He came out victorious in a horse-race, whose winner was to become the country's king.
Then he started to conquer the kingdom of demons, the Jiang kingdom and the Hor (northern people, Mongolian) kingdom. The war between `Ling' and Hor kingdoms was one of the central pieces in the story.
The war between `Ling' and Hor started with a beautiful girl, Qomu. the queen of king Gesar. The Hor king, `white tent king', heard about her beauty, and sent a messager to `Ling' king for her. Upon the refusal, Hor king sent troops to attack `Ling' kingdom. After several battles, another girl was sent to Hor king in the place of Qomu. The trickery was discovered, and battle renewed. The capital of `Ling' was captured by Hor troop with queen Qomu. King Gesar summerized all his troops and with the help of an important Hor general, captured the capital of Hor, killed the `white tent king' and rescued Qomu.
The `story of Gesar' is considered as important as `Iliad'.
III: Riddle
In the ancient time, the singers of riddles were considered as `protecting the kingdom'. From ancient time on, the question-and-answer songs dealt with the creation of the world and with human and divine genealogies as in the following example,
Question:
Who catches the wild yak by the horns?
Who pick up water with his lasso?
Who builds a castle out of sand?
Who strikes water with a sword and wounds it?
Which bird can give birth?
............................

Answer:
He who catches the wild yak by the horns,
Is Makchen Pampa.
He who pick up water with his lasso,
Is the Yaksa Shongthok.
He who builds a castle out of sand,
Is the bird Karakukti.
He who strikes water with a sword and wounds it,
Is none other than the water itself.
The bird that can give birth,
Is the bat.
............................
In the modern festivals and marriage ceremonies, men and women sing antiphonies of the question-and-answer. A modern version of Tibetan riddles is as follows, Question:
From its behind hangs the moon at its best,
While ears of grain dangle from its breast.
Answer:
Gazelle.
IV: Poem
In the ancient texts a quick dactylic rhythm is punctuated by the particle `ni'. This function is identical with that of the particle `hsi' (`xi') in the ancient southern songs of Han (Ch'u tz'u). The rhythm of these poems suggests songs accompanying dance steps. In the Tun-huang manuscript, we find,
`The chief of men `ni' mighty king,
Lovelier `ni' than green artemisia
Chief of beasts `ni' the stallion,
Lighter `ni' than is wool,
The strangers `ni' Turks-Han,
Heavier `ni' than a gold bar.
There were some discussions about the ancient pronunciation of the Han character `hsi' (`xi'). Some proposed the sounds of `oo' (`u') or `ah'. Maybe the right one was `ni'. The later poets used longer sentences, as in the following
Of myself I've naught to mention:
Of the eagle, king of the birds, the son I am.
From inside the egg already, both my wings were quite unfolded.
All my years of early childhood, in the nest I lay a-hiding.
And in years of adolescence, the door of the nest I guarded.
Once become a full-grown eagle, summit of the sky I outflew.
In boundless sky I don't waver.
On narrow earth I have no fear.
Most poets composed maxims in the revival period of Buddhism in Tibet. These texts already bear the stamp of Han ethical and Buddhist religious ideas, as
When the wise praise the wise: pillar of the turret of the sky;
When the base disparage the base: beneath the nine storeys of the earth.
One of the exceptions was the 6th Dalai Lama (Tshangs-dbyangs rGya-mtsho 1683-1707, from `Mon' area). He wrote love poems. The following was an example, Cuckoos fly from `Mon' area,
The songs of spring are echoed everywhere.
I meet my lover.
Happinesses of the hearts are upon us.