ABSTRACT
They will often adapt their account to a particular audience, tailoring it to focus on the ancestors of their listeners. Alongside the right to tell, there is often a reward: payment in cash or kind for the teller. Storytelling may also have a seasonal dimension. In Ladakh, for example, winter is the time for telling stories. It is considered an inappropriate activity during the busy summer months when the agricultural workload is at its peak, as a local saying makes clear: ‘As long as the earth is green, no tale should be told.’3 It would be an ill-prepared and disappointed oral testimony project that set out to collect traditional stories in Ladakh during the summer!
