NO. I 



Ch'uAN MIAO songs and stories — GRAHAM 



123 



The cricket has no brothers. My name is 

 Gong Rua Tsi Ma Nan Tsang.^^ The grass- 

 hopper is hatched by the ground. The earth 

 gives birth to the cricket. The grasshopper 

 has no mother. The cricket certainly has no 

 brothers.^* 



A Hunting Song (676) 



A man went hunting. 

 He killed an opposum and a rabbit. 

 He brought them home and cooked them 

 and ate them. 



Exhortations to Women (113) 



1. Nong Lai (noO^ lai\ a man's brother-in- 

 law) made good razors. 



2. Is not a comb like the teeth of a grind- 

 stone? 



3. Hairy beans and cooked beans with rice 

 mildew are planted together. 



4. Nong Lai's razor is smooth, and it is not 

 your knife for scraping cloth (which is dull 

 and rough). 



5. Hairy beans and cooked beans with rice- 

 mildew stalks. 



6. Do we not see the rice powder on people, 

 the unhusked rice of the people on earth? 



7. The mortar in heaven is a brass star. 



8. A cold sword is not as good as a broken 

 bowl. 



9. A pretty young girl not prepared is not 

 so good as a broken yellow brass coin. 



The song is ended. 



EXPLANATIONS 



2. This implies that if a good woman mar- 

 ries a bad man she becomes bad, and vice 

 versa. 



3. The hairy beans are ugly outside but 

 good inside, and grow. The cooked beans 

 look well outside but are bad inside and can- 

 not grow. The rice mildew is bad and can- 

 not grow. A good woman that marries a bad 

 husband is later bad. A good woman that 

 marries a good husband turns out well. 



4. If you have a good husband you must 

 treat him well or he may turn out badly. 



5. A bad girl and a good girl both must 

 choose husbands. 



6. Should not a good woman in this world 

 have a husband? 



7. A woman who has a husband can make 

 a home. One who has not cannot form a 

 home. 



8. A good girl who cannot get a husband is 



^^ The cricket who has no brothers. 

 ^* This is apparently a song. 



not so good as a bad girl (who gets a hus- 

 band, therefore becomes good). 



Words of Instruction (350) 



If Ngeo Tsai (a female) does anything, it 

 is a little incorrect. If Ntseo Tsai (a male) 

 does anything, it is more incorrect. Ngeo 

 Tsai does not learn from her mother's lips. 

 Ntseo Tsai does not study what is in his 

 father's abdomen (the seat of thought and 

 knowledge). A bright girl will not learn 

 from her mother's lips. Only others can teach 

 her. It is also said, "A bright son will never 

 learn from the words that come from his 

 father's abdomen. Only others can teach 

 him." 



This short hymn, composed of proverbs, 

 has been composed to teach others. 



A Few Words of Instruction (414) 



People must have hard experiences before 

 they have wisdom. People must study care- 

 fully before they can become handsome and 

 clever, as rice and chaff must be winnowed 

 (separated by being thrown into the air) be- 

 fore you can eat good rice. Moreover, the 

 rice must be sifted before white rice can be 

 secured. People must be industrious. In eat- 

 ing food, all must eat at the same time. Lazy 

 people generally go hungry. When walking, 

 stoop (bend your waist), and then you can 

 get wood to burn. If a person constantly sits 

 around, he has no wood to burn. We Miao 

 people must carefully remember this. If we 

 always labor hard, then we will not have 

 hard times. 



A Song about a Sweetheart's Clothing (460) 



A mother gave birth to her oldest daughter 

 and kept her. The father's daughter was in the 

 high reeds (the house was in the high grass) . 

 When the daughter of the parents grew up 

 she was very affectionate. She emitted affec- 

 tion (toward others and others toward her) 

 as she walked outside the house. (She looked 

 lovable as she walked.) Other people coveted 

 her until their mouths watered. The girl's 

 waist was slender like a small mosquito. 

 When the parents' daughter put on clothing 

 and did things, there was affection (between 

 her and others) like that of a honey bee. She 

 seemed to be like a fragrant odor inside a 

 house, and she could cause young men to love 

 her and to dream about her. 



Afterward the daughter was able to pick 

 the roots of bitter bamboo. She was more 

 fragrant than the point of the bitter bamboo 

 root. 



