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SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS 



VOL. 12; 



saw that his large wicker vine was bearing 

 fruit, abundant like persimmons. Hwa Ch'in 

 saw his large bamboo forest bearing fruit 

 abundant like pears. Hwa Man would not 

 eat. Hwa Ch'in said that he would not agree 

 to this and that he (Hwa Man) certainly 

 must eat, so Hwa Man picked the fruit and 

 put it into one side of his mouth. It was sweet 

 like honey, truly sweet like litchi nuts. When 

 Hwa Man had eaten it, he became drunk. 

 Hwa Man found a place where he could rest. 

 Hwa Ch'in rested on the edge of a cliff of a 

 mountain covered by a dense forest. Hwa 

 Man rested also in a dry rock shelter in a 

 large dense forest. 



While Hwa Man slept he heard his son 

 calling him by name to return to his home for 

 the burning of spirit money because in his 

 home they were just then having ceremonial 

 offerings. Hwa Ch'in was sleeping and heard 

 his son calling him by name to return home 

 for the burning of incense. Hwa Man said 

 to Hwa Ch'in, "Let us go back (home)." 

 Hwa Man returned to the lower flat and met 

 Ntzi's slave who tended the hogs. Hwa Ch'in 

 returned to the great flat and met Nitzi's 

 shepherd. The swineherder said, "You must 

 go back and see your son who is about to burn 

 spirit money." 



Hwa Man returned (to the world) and 

 Hwa Ch'in also returned. Hwa Man saw that 

 his son was just engaged in memorial cere- 

 monies and in his hand held the bamboo 

 divining sticks and called him by name. Hwa 

 Ch'in's son held a cup to his breast, and pick- 

 ing up a flowery vessel full of wine called 

 repeatedly "My father Hwa Ch'in's soul, arise 

 and drink wine," or called, "Soul of my dead 

 father, arise and eat." 



Until the middle of the night and nearly 

 daybreak Hwa Man's son detained his guests, 

 and the guests opened their mouths and said, 

 "We have nothing to use to express our fel- 

 lowship by giving or by burning for Hwa 

 Ch'in. We have nothing to offer or to be 

 burnt as incense to express our good will 

 for Hwa Man. We will lead a cow to be 

 sacrificed for Hwa Man to use as spirit money, 

 and bring a small male pig to kill and use 

 at the incense-burning of Hwa Ch'in." They 

 waited until the sky brightened, until morn- 

 ing, until daylight, and Hwa Man got a cow 

 and led it to the corral and went to Ntzi's 

 stone enclosure. Hwa Man's son detained the 

 guests and saw a sparrow hawk. It went to 

 the edge of the sky and they saw the hawk 

 call a swallow. They shot into the sky and 

 killed the sparrow hawk and put it into a 

 bamboo basket, and killed the swallow and 



put it into a quart measure, and used them 

 as offerings. 



When Hwa Man's memorial ceremonies 

 were over he went westward. When Hwa 

 Ch'in's ceremonies were over he went east- 

 ward. Hwa Man went westward and saw his 

 ancestors for nine generations back. Hwa 

 Ch'in went eastward and saw his ancestors 

 for ten generations back. They went into the 

 green sky and never returned again.*^ 



The Soul Comes to See\ Food •*- (364) 



When the weather is clear the spider comes 

 to weave webs. The spider weaving a web 

 flies and lights on the eaves of the house. 



Then the soul of the ancestor comes and 

 goes around the house. The sons and grand- 

 sons of the soul (born in the world of de- 

 parted spirits) also come and go (fly) around 

 the house. This soul comes to get the life 

 of the cow from the filial family. The sons 

 and grandsons of the filial family come to 

 get the cow king (means a good cow) from 

 the filial family. 



Now the filial son leads the cow and ties 

 it to the doorsill. He brings a boar and ties 

 it to a peg in the ground below the window. 

 The filial son puts a quart of rice with eggs 

 and salt on the table and calls the soul of 

 the cow (into the house). When he has fin- 

 ished calling, he strikes the head of the cow 

 with the back of the ax. The cow (always 

 a bull) falls down. Then the knife cuts the 

 throat of the cow, and the blood flows into 

 the bucket. The beef is pliced in the big 

 kettle. The flesh and the soup are eaten and 

 drunk by the entire group (of relatives and 

 guests). 



This year, in the eleventh moon, when it 

 is cold, there is snow and ice in the sky and 

 on the earth. Again wait until spring arrives, 

 when the sky and the earth are mild (neither 

 hot nor cold) and the thunder comes down 

 from above and the wind and the rain de- 

 scend until the ricefields of the filial family 

 are all full. Other people have a cow, and 

 they take the harrow and the plow and put 

 them on the back of the cow and drive the 

 cow rapidly. 



The filial family has no cow, but takes a 

 hoe and hoes the field. After they have hoed 

 several days and nights, they still cannot equal 

 what the family formerly did plowing with 



•'^ When the Tso Chai ceremony is finished, 

 the soul returns to paradise and seldom comes 

 back again. 



*2 Sung at the Tso Chai ceremony when the 

 cowr is being killed. 



