NO. I 



CHUAN MIAO SONGS AND STORIES — GRAHAM 



"5 



The water in following the course it loves, 

 is decorous (ceremonious). You say, "Who 

 has two sons and two daughters?" The family 

 that teaches how to make thread (out of 

 which to make cloth) has two daughters. An 

 older brother dresses up in his home. The 

 younger sister dresses up on the level field. 

 The oldest brother calls out that he will with 

 ceremony go over (to the girl's home). The 

 girl sighs, "A family (home) is to be formed." 

 This stirred up the people of the land of Je 

 Lang Lao Niao Men on the hill. }e Lang Lao 

 climbed and asked the news. He (the middle- 

 man — practically everything above has been 

 said by middlemen) then said, "Who dares 

 to want the sky to come down? Only a pair, 

 the husband Yang Lang and his wife, dare to 

 want this."^-"- 



What family dares to go the way of mar- 

 riage? It is Ntzi Mo and Ntzi Tsen who 

 dare to go the wedding road. They dared 

 to go to the edge of the round land of the 

 Chinese. The Chinese Wang Li could not 

 manage it. The Chinese Wang Li climbed up 

 to the sleeping-loft above the animal pen say- 

 ing he certainly could not manage it (the mar- 

 riage affair). He also climbed up onto the 

 great flat of Ntzi' (God). The people of 

 Ntzi's land also could not manage it, so the 

 Miao brought silver out and paid, and after 

 that it was called "Marry a wife." They mar- 

 ried Nts'ai Ngeo Tsai De Nga of Dao Ren, 

 the Miao Ren's family living on a hill. They 

 wanted gold and silver, so they opened their 

 treasury. They wanted silks and satins, so 

 tliey also gave it. Ya, so. Grasping a bride 

 and grabbing a marriage, ah.^- 



A song. 



Song Sung when Receiving a Bride into a 

 Home (661) 



Today is a lucky day. The heaven and the 

 earth will give their help and approval to 

 those who are doing things. One table has 

 four legs. On it are set food and wine for 

 the guests and to send the gods away (with 

 good will). A pair of phoenixes visited with 

 the male and female geese. The Ho family 

 invited two go-betweens, and the girl's parents 

 invited two also. From today at dinnertime 

 they took a brass brush to worship the gods 

 with. Ntzi" No Zyin (ntza no* Sin, a Miao 

 god) is here and all is well. 



^^ Yang Lang is said to be a Miao of ancient 

 times of great personal power. 



^2 This expresses disapproval of the Chinese 

 method of trying to get Miao brides without giving 

 the price or the objects required by the parents, 

 as is the old-time and stiil-pracdced Miao custom. 



Hai (Xai), Heo lo Hai. (Drink again 

 spirit.) The flowers are blooming in the for- 

 est. The fruit develops up from the roots (of 

 a tree). Bo Na prepared for the ceremony of 

 receiving the bride. Zye Gi (the old father) 

 warmed up the ears and eyes of the girl's 

 relatives (making them willing to marry the 

 girl off). The Chinese have books, and they 

 read their books. We Miao have no books, 

 but count the number of days (to determine 

 the lucky and unlucky days, depending on 

 memory) .^^ 



This day has come, and we have made ar- 

 rangements to receive the bride. The Chinese 

 have books, and they study their calendars. 

 The Miao have no books. We recokoned up 

 the weather until today. The children are all 

 dressed up for a new bride. Today we have 

 dressed up our son and our daughter-in-law in 

 new clothing. We have them ride mules and 

 dress up the relatives and have them ride 

 mules. We dress up the son and the daughter- 

 in-law like new guests. When our sons and 

 daughters pass along the road (on mules) 

 they are higher than the terrace (above the 

 road). When the Miao people see it, they 

 say that probably these are Chinese. When 

 the Chinese see it, they say that we are send- 

 ing a bride, a daughter of a headman. 



When we were escorting the bride here, 

 we rode mules. When we came, our daughter 

 came also to the home of you old people here. 

 Let the bride and the groom eat food from 

 one bowl (to denote harmony) and drink 

 water and wine from one cup. When our 

 daughter comes to you here, we will com- 

 memorate the lives of her parents. Heo lo 

 Hai. 



We will make offerings to the life of the 

 house, the life of the field, the life of our lives, 

 the life of the earth, the lives of the bride's 

 ancestors, the life of the ridge, the life of 

 the bend, the life of the seed, the life of the 

 rear of the house, and these lives will come 

 together to eat meat, and will drink wine. 



We will make offerings to the life of the 

 garden of the front door, of the small (side) 

 doors, and of the looms, and they will all 

 come together. Heo lo Hai. We came half- 

 way, and we made offerings to the halfway 

 road. We came through nine bends, and 

 made offerings to the lives of the nine bends. 

 We came past ten bends, and there were ten 

 dragons' lives. We made offerings to the ten 

 dragons' lives so that they could eat meat. 

 We made offerings to the life of the bog- 



^3 From the beginning of the second paragraph 

 until the end of this song, only the Miao language 

 can be used. 



