NO. I 



CH UAN MIAO SONGS AND STORIES — GRAHAM 



97 



where does the singer die? Where does 

 the planter of flowers die? Where does the 

 farmer die? Where does the fisherman die? 



The singer dies on the mountain. The 

 planter of flowers dies in the garden. The 

 farmer dies in the field. The fisherman dies 

 in the creek. 



What kind of wood is used in burying a 

 singer? What kind of wood is used to bury 

 the woman who plants flowers? What kind 

 of wood is used to bury a farmer? What kind 

 of wood is used to bury a fisherman? 



Yellow lumber is used to bury the singer. 

 Colored lumber is used to bury the planter 

 of flowers. Water fir is used to bury the 

 farmer. The fisherman has no wooden coffin. 



Where is the singer buried? Where is the 

 planter of flowers buried? Where is the 

 farmer buried? Where is the fisherman 

 buried? 



The singer is buried on the mountain. The 

 planter of flowers is buried in the flower 

 garden. The farmer is buried in the edge of 

 a ricefield. The fisherman is buried on the 

 bank of the creek. 



RIDICULING EACH OTHER 



Men Ridiculing Women 



A Young Man MaJ{es Light of a Young 

 Woman (202) 



Nio Na (a female cow) is very strong. 

 She is not so great as a young bull. A sharp 

 two-edged sword is not a knife for scraping 

 cloth. A mosquito drives away a dog fly. 



Nio Na's horns are crooked. A sharp two- 

 edged sword is not an old man's chisel for 



making grinding stones. The mosquito flies 

 onto the palm branch. The people of the 

 earth husk rice. People in heaven are able to 

 make brass stars at night. Your sharp swords 

 are very sharp. I see that they are not as good 

 as my fine piece of tile (in sharpness). You, 

 little girl, are very good and clever. You 

 are not as good and clever as stinky yellow 

 brass.*^ 



Women Ridiculing Men 



The Song of a Woman Who Makes Light of 

 a Man (199) 



The knife (teeth) of the rat's mother is 

 sharp. The knife is not the one you should 

 use to cut cloth. The wheat seed is not your 

 rice seed. 



The rat's mother has a razor. It is not the 

 chisel you use to make a grinding mill. 

 Wheat is good to make vermicelli. 



The rat has come onto the ridge. The rat 

 has come to eat blackberries and bean husks 

 (made into cakes). 



The rat has again come onto the ridge. 

 The rat has come to eat blackberries and roots 

 of herbs. When you come you say that rat 

 flesh must be burnt up. 



To get your rice cooked, you need a 

 steamer to steam it in.^'^ 



86 The two-edged sword is a man. The scraper 

 is used by women. The mosquito is a male, the 

 dog fly a female. The palm branch is a woman. 

 Women are people of the earth, and husk rice. 

 Men are creatures of heaven and can do glorious 

 things (make things that shine). 



8^ The meanings of this song are concealed. It 

 implies that a woman is useful and must not be 

 used in a wrong way. Do not use the knife 

 wrongly or wheat as rice, or a razor as a chisel 

 to make grinding mills. Wheat is good to make 



A Song of a Woman Maying Light of a 

 Man (200) 



The tadpole's tail is colored. The buttock 

 of the frog is also colored. When we come, 

 if we carry a club, we will not fear dogs. 

 In lighting a light, the dry bamboo when 

 lighted will entice the demons to come. 



When the weather is good, the tadpole's 

 feet are colored. The back of the frog is 

 colored. If we carry a club, we do not fear 

 a dog. We light a stick of dry bamboo to 

 entice the parents' souls to us. When the day 

 is clear, the darkness goes up above. The 

 darkness of the place comes up from below. 

 The father, die mother, and die children 

 carry picks in order to clear out the ditch. 

 There is a husband and he stretches out his 

 hand, and it is like the back of a bear, and 

 his finger is as big as a great reed. When he 

 claps his hand three times, objects are broken 

 in two. When he bends his arm it can make 

 one person cry out with pain. 



When clear weather comes the sky is clear 



vermicelli with. Men invariably want wives as 

 mountain mice want to eat blackberries. You 

 think girls must have husbands as rat flesh must 

 be burnt up. As a steaming vessel is necessary to 

 cook rice, a man needs a wife to make a home. 



