Tsewang Norzom comes from a family famous for a legend associated with a mysterious wall surrounding the village. (No other village in the Zanskar valley is surrounded by such a wall). According to legend, this wall is believed to have been built by a Balu, a small human-like supernatural creature (or ‘dwarf’) possessing magical powers. The grandmother of Tsewang Norzom caught the Balu and took his cap and stick so he couldn’t escape. He had to follow her orders, which included building the wall around the village. This story is known to everybody in the village and even in other villages, though not in such detailed form as her account. There is even a stone in the field next to the village with footprints. Villagers say this is the footprint of the Balu, when he was carrying the stones for building the wall and took a rest at this spot. Tsewang Norzom, aged eighty-three, is a farmer’s wife in the village of Kumik. She is the oldest person in her village and was suggested as someone who still remembers old tales. She learnt the tales from other people as a child. She can still recall the times when people were still coming and asking her to recite the tales.