NO. I 



CHUAN MIAO SONGS AND STORIES — GRAHAM 



107 



and guests are many, you invite us two go- 

 betweens to go in front, and when we go to 

 the girl's home to drink tea and wine, you 

 should be polite and tell us to walk in front 

 and lead the way.^^ Later when we eat meat 

 (at the engagement feast) you should give 

 us a pair of chopsticks. When you are drink- 

 ing tea and wine, you must still punch the 

 spout of die teapot open with a chopstick. 

 While you are eating the meat (feasting) , the 

 groom must make an obeisance with folded 

 hands. When you are drinking water and 

 wine, he must make a bow (from the waist). 



Words Sung by the Go-betweens of the 

 Groom (284) 



"Yang ko kuei, yang ko kuei.^^ It has 

 nine females, ten males. If I have sons, they 

 should be like the offspring of the uncles on 

 the mother's side. If there are daughters, they 

 should be married to sons of the father's sis- 

 ters." When they have spoken these words, 

 the groom should kowtow to the girl's par- 

 ents. When he has done this, the go-betweens 

 call the aged relatives of the bride (her grand- 

 father, father, etc.) and the groom kowtows 

 to them. But those to whom the groom kow- 

 tows should give him some present.^" 



Getting the Evidence of Middlemen -^ (370) 



Formerly there were two people. The 

 name of one was Zi" Nje Ndo (to wind up- 



right pillar sky) and the name of the other 

 was Zi Nje De (to wind upright pillar earth) . 

 They had a son whom they could not raise. 

 Then they arose and went all over the world. 

 When they had traveled all over the world, 

 they were both old. They had no sons, but 

 went and got two birds and fed them. One 

 of these birds was a sparrow hawk and one 

 was a hawk. 



The two birds slept until midnight, then 

 went to measure the sky and the earth. They 

 went to Ntzi Niong Lo's (or Leo's) marriage 

 place. 



At that time the evidence of marriage was 

 just developing leaves (in the spring). Then 

 the two birds secretly flew and carried the evi- 

 dence of marriage down to earth. 



Who do you say arises early on this earth? 

 It is an old Miao family that arises early. 

 They went and found this evidence of mar- 

 riage and picked it up and kept it. In a 

 prosperous year (for the crops) they brought 

 out this marriage evidence with which to 

 make an engagement. When this engagement 

 was made they went and requested the two 

 birds to come. They took a bowl to scoop up 

 rice and a spoon to dip up soup, and used the 

 rice and soup to make an offering to these 

 two birds. When the offering had been made 

 they had to make offerings to the cliff and to 

 the mountain peak. After this, having this 

 evidence of marriage, they had the marriage 

 ceremony. 



After the Engagement Has Been Made 



A Song Praising the Bride "- (360) 



In most ancient times there were husband 

 and wife to whom a daughter was born 

 named Bang Bang (flower embroidery) . When 

 she was being born the horse in her house 

 neighed. This girl, while very young, hired 

 one Na Bo Bang Ma to come and feed salt 

 to the horse. She also hired Ntseo Tsi To 

 (or Do) to come and feed the horse grass. 



18 Ways of showing respect and honor. The 

 acts described in the following lines must be 

 performed at the feast given by the girl's family 

 when the presents are received. The feast is given 

 to the guests who come from the groom's family. 



^^ The hawk-cuckoo. 



^° These customs are still practiced but with 

 exceptions. Girls should marry the sons of their 

 father's sisters, who are their guest-husbands. 

 Men should marry their mother's brothers' daugh- 

 ters, to whom they are guest-husbands. 



In between three and five years this daugh- 

 ter had grown up. She saw that her horse's 

 hair had grown fine (fine looking). She 

 took a saddle and put it on the horse's back. 

 She brought a bridle and put it on the horse's 

 head. Then she climbed upon the horse's 

 back to ride it. 



She saw that on Ntsong Gai Mang Leo's 

 house a bamboo pole indicated that an en- 

 gagement of marriage was erected (consum- 

 mated). The pole leaned toward the land of 

 the sun and the moon.^^ 



21 Sung when go-betweens are trying to make 

 an engagement. 



22 Sung during engagement ceremonies, at 

 night after the engagement has been made. 



23 The direction the pole leaned probably in- 

 dicated the consummation of an engagement. 

 Among the Ch'uan Miao the neighing of a 

 horse at the time a person is born is considered 

 a good omen. 



