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SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS 



VOL. 123 



Na Bo Tsai then told her oldest daughter 

 Ngeo Dong Glo to go and cut down a bam- 

 boo tree and told Mi Nts'ai Bang Ma also to 

 go and cut down a tree. As to the bamboo 

 tree that the older daughter cut down, the 

 strength of the two girls was not great, and so 

 the younger sister touched the tree and cried. 

 The older daughter carried the tree on her 

 shoulder and wept. The younger sister cried 

 in the dark place, and the older sister cried 

 in the light place. Her mother was also help- 

 less, and so she sent a message to the older 

 son's home. The father was also helpless, and 

 he sent a message to the home of the younger 

 son. 



The younger son was far away. The next 

 day at daybreak the older son arrived. He 

 soon called 9,000 carpenters to come from 

 distant places. The younger son also sent a 

 message to three families, and 300 people 

 came to help with the work. They worked 

 until daylight on the next day and then called 

 the people of 300 strongholds to come and 

 help. In their hands they carried axes, and 

 saws on their backs. With the axes they 

 hewed, and with the saws they sawed. Then 

 they hacked off the head of the fir tree, sawed 

 off the foot of the fir tree, measured the wood, 

 and erected the house. The house was 19 

 sections long. When they had erected the 

 eaves they built a pavilion in the pool, which 

 had 19 upright posts. 



The next morning the mother came and 

 looked, and the father also became cognizant 

 of it. The mother said that she now had this 

 house with a big tile roof to live in. The 

 mother thought that she could take the oldest 

 daughter to change for her oldest son who 

 should come back to control the home. The 

 father also decided to take the smaller daugh- 

 ter to change for his smaller son. Thus it 

 may be said that they took these girls to go 

 the marriage road, and the sons to live in 

 their own big home. 



The mother and the father thought it out, 

 and that year the time for the mother's oldest 

 daughter to go as a bride had arrived and 

 also the time for the father's smaller daughter 

 to go and be a daughter-in-law. But on that 

 day the mother's daughter had no comb, and 

 she got angry and would not go as a bride. 

 The father's daughter had no silver orna- 

 ments to wear, so she got angry and would 

 not go and become a person's daughter-in- 

 law. The mother sent a message, and the 

 message reached the comb makers. The father 

 sent a message which reached the distant 

 metal workers. The next morning the comb 

 makers and the metal workers arrived. In 



their hands they carried 99 bellows and 99 

 implements. The bellows blew away the ashes 

 and fanned the fire into flame, and blew clean 

 and silver ornaments until they were very 

 bright. They also used silver and beat out 

 silver combs and gave them to the older sister. 

 When the older sister had received them she 

 said, "Now I can go and get married." They 

 used the golden metal and made golden 

 combs and gave them to the younger daughter 

 who said, "Now I can go and become some- 

 body's daughter-in-law." 



When the day for giving away the older 

 daughter in marriage arrived, it was the same 

 year when the younger daughter was to be 

 given in marriage. The older daughter, when 

 she had received the silver ornaments, began 

 to cry. When the younger daughter had re- 

 ceived the golden combs to comb her hair 

 with, she also wept. The mother secured two 

 mothers to escort the brides. The father also 

 secured two guests to escort the brides. When 

 they had climbed the mountain they came to 

 a forest and then went down to a level plain 

 and reached the place where they changed 

 the shoes of the camels and also the place 

 where the mules had their saddles taken off. 

 The mules brayed gladly. The donkeys brayed 

 out more fearfully. When the mules and 

 donkeys were through braying and had eaten 

 grass, grain was also fed them. 



But the two girls wept and would not eat 

 dinner. The older brothers who came with 

 them ate their noon meal. The older brothers 

 finished eating and then said, "Formerly you 

 stole our food. Now you will go the same 

 road we went before." ^^ 



When they had finished talking, the dinner 

 was over, and then they started on. After a 

 while they reached Bang Leo Deh Leo's home. 

 When they had arrived at the main room of 

 his house Bang Leo Deh brought a table to 

 welcome them.^^ When the older brother 

 arrived he ate a meal of the master's food. 

 When the younger brother arrived he drank 

 a cup of the host's good wine. When the 

 older brother arrived he laughed and visited 

 with his sister that night. The younger 

 brother also visited with the sisters all night. 



Before daylight arrived, at midnight the 

 master ordered the neighbors to bring wood 

 to burn, and the fire burned well. The wood 

 heated hot water, and the breakfast was 

 cooked. 



When daylight came, water and food were 

 brought, and the brothers who escorted the 



28 When the two sons were given in marriage. 



29 Sweetmeats, wine, etc., were placed on the 

 table. 



