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NO. I 



CH UAN MIAO SONGS AND STORIES — GRAHAM 



19 



mountain wilderness. When the ancient Miao 

 came to the time of waking up, he remem- 

 bered his farm work. When those Miao first 

 came, he remembered that they should clear 

 a wilderness. He came out from that small 

 bend. He carried on his shoulder a harrow. 

 He also came from below and carried on his 

 shoulder an iron plow. When he plowed a 

 furrow, darkness came from both sides. He 

 also plowed a furrow toward his own fortress. 

 Night had already come, and that Miao came 

 back to find a bed to sleep on, and he slept 

 until midnight. He slept steadily until morn- 

 ing. When the sky became light, he, when 

 reclining and then when sitting up, remem- 

 bered his farm work. He constantly thought 

 about clearing some of the wilderness. He 

 also carried an ax on his shoulder as he went 

 to work. He carried a curved ax (or sickle) 

 and went to make a clearing. When he had 

 cut down three rows and approached the edge 

 of the land, the sky became dark (it was 

 night). He again returned and got a bed to 

 sleep quietly in. He slept on the bed. He 

 slept until midnight and opened his mouth 

 and said, "We have no seed yet." He again 

 slept until daybreak and again said, "I have 

 no seed yet." He himself said, "Where shall 

 I go to find seed?" The Miao grandfather 

 replied, "I do not know where you should go 

 to get seed." 



Then the ancient Miao opened his mouth 

 and said, "To get the seed you must go above 

 the Lo Ts'en Tsi land and look for it." Then 

 that Miao grandfather released a green bird, 

 which flew to Lo T'ien Ts'i. The sound of its 

 flying as it went to the broken window in 

 Lo T'ien Ts'i was like "p'ong, po'ng." It also 

 flew to Ntzi's rice granary. Then the green 

 bird picked up in its bill Ntzi's rice seed and 

 also picked up some seed of tares. Thus the 

 green bird secured seed of rice and tares and 

 carried it back to its home and the ancient 

 Miao secured seed to plant. Later the Miao 

 grandfather reaped the seed and took it home. 

 The ancient Miao then received the seed and 

 put it into a barrel. He waited until spring 

 arrived with two cool months. There are 

 two cold months during winter. When the 

 weather was temporate, during the first moon, 

 and the place was warm and the sky was dry, 



and the land was also dry, then the ancient 

 Miao took fire and burnt off a mountain, 

 and the Miao grandfather lighted fires to burn 

 the grass and trees on the mountain. The 

 first burnt from the two sides, and it spread 

 from the center to unburnt spots on both 

 sides. Then the ancient Miao returned home 

 and rested, and the Miao grandfather also 

 came back and slept. 



They slept until they awakened then said, 

 "We must take this seed and put it in the 

 breast of our clothing." The ancient Miao 

 slept until midnight and said, "This time 

 we must take seed and put it in the seams of 

 our garments" (in lieu of pockets) . 



The ancient Miao took seed and put it in 

 the seam of his garment. He sowed three 

 handfuls in the soil. It grew up like bamboo 

 sprouts. The Miao grandfather also went and 

 sowed three handfuls in the depression on 

 the mountain. When this seed grew it was 

 like the ban chuh (a bamboo of medium 

 size). They also sowed three handfuls on 

 the ridge. When it grew up it was like a 

 bamboo forest. The Miao grandfather also 

 sowed three handfuls on the edge of the land, 

 and when it grew up it was like thorn bushes 

 in thickness. Its heads were like growing 

 millet. The stalks were like those of tall grass. 

 A strong son could carry only three handfuls, 

 and a weak son could carry only three stalks. 

 The strong son carried it into his home. The 

 weak son followed along behind, carrying his 

 and scolding about it. The strong son car- 

 ried his and placed it in the ninth section of 

 the ancient Miao, upstairs. The weak son 

 carried his and put it in the ninth loft. Then 

 the ancient Miao said that he had already 

 secured food. Then he took the seed and 

 made a big jar of fire-wine. The Miao grand- 

 father also took the seed he had reaped and 

 made white wine, as sweet as honey, fragrant 

 and hot (peppery) like the honey of cliff bees. 

 Then they said, "We can take this wine and 

 drink it." The Miao grandfather said, "I 

 have some brothers living near the creek." 

 They said, "We can go and ask them to come 

 and drink." The older brother came from 

 the borderland. He said, "This wine may be 

 used by you to engage a good bride." The 

 younger brother came and said, "This wine 

 can be used to help in a good marriage affair." 



Social Customs 



How People Lived in Very Ancient Times (1) 

 In very ancient times people were not ac- 

 customed to wearing clothing. A man wore 

 only a grass skirt to cover his lower organs. 



A woman wore a wooden apron over her 

 abdomen to cover her shame. They had no 

 good things to eat. In warm weather they 

 had merely the fruit they picked, and during 



