NO. I 



CHUAN MIAO SONGS AND STORIES — GRAHAM 



139 



judge said to the magistrate, "How was your 

 house burned?" The magistrate replied, "My 

 house was burned by a strange thing (a cause 

 without evidence)." The judge said, "Since 

 your house was burned by a strange thing, 



why have you brought this Miao here?" The 

 magistrate could say nothing, and released the 

 Miao so that he could return home. 



Because of this the magistrate feared the 

 Miao people. 



Chinese Mistreat the Miao 



A Miao Changed into a Tiger and Carried 

 away a Chinese Official (327) 



In the past there was a despicable magis- 

 trate. He treated a Miao very harshly so that 

 the Miao did not dare to speak to him, but 

 hated die official until he (the Miao) died, 

 when he went and changed into a tiger. Then 

 he came to bite the official. 



One day the official went onto the street 

 and met a man efficient in divination. That 

 man said to the official that a tiger would 

 bite (eat) him. The official was then afraid. 

 That day he sent many soldiers to protect the 

 city gates, and he himself hid in his bedroom 

 and would not go out at all. 



The tiger then changed into a small cat. 

 In the afternoon there was a small cat that 

 carried a rat out of the city. The people of 

 the city all said that they did not know whose 

 cat it was, and that it was truly a fine one. 



When diey had just finished speaking, the 

 people outside the city began to shout, saying, 

 "Ai-yah, it is bad. The official has been car- 

 ried away by that tiger." 



The soldiers were then aroused, and found 

 that actually that official had been carried 

 away in its mouth by that tiger. After that 

 the Miao composed this song to commemo- 

 rate it. 



A Chinese Deceived a Miao Who Could Not 

 Read (122) 



Once there was a Miao who was very poor. 

 He hired out by the year to a Chinese. They 

 first agreed that every year he would be paid 

 a cow. The Miao did not trust the Chinese, 

 so the Chinese wrote an agreement and gave 

 it to him. Then the Miao worked for the 

 Chinese 10 years. 



One day the Miao reckoned accounts with 

 the Chinese. He had worked for the Chinese 

 ten years. The Chinese railed at him and said, 

 "I did not agree to give you a cow every 

 year." The Miao said, "Did I help you herd 

 your catde?" Then they quarreled fiercely for 

 several days. The Miao then said, "Your 

 written agreement is still here. You quickly 

 give me ten cattle. Then the Chinese beat 

 him awhile and took him to the local head- 



The Miao was not efficient in talking and 

 only said, "There is a written agreement. It 

 can serve as evidence." But on the paper it 

 was written that each year he should be given 

 a pound of oil. Then the headman decided 

 thus, and the Miao could only cry and accept 

 his 10 pounds of oil. 



But die Miao from this time told the rest 

 of the Miao not to go and work for the Chi- 

 nese, but just make clearings for themselves. 

 In this way the Miao gradually became indus- 

 trious and gradually had food enough to eat, 

 and their descendants are all farmers and do 

 not dare to work for the Chinese for wages. 



After the Miao left the Chinese had nobody 

 to work for him, and his family daily became 

 poorer. Later the Chinese had to sell his 

 children to get food to eat. The Miao was 

 glad and said, "That Chinese sold his sons as 

 slaves to others and sold his daughters as 

 harlots. So the sufferings of us Miao people 

 have been advantageous. Is it not well then 

 for me to leave this song?" (for later genera- 

 tions to sing and hear) . 



A Chinese Who Mistreated a Miao (162) 



In winter the rain fell, and it snowed and 

 was very cold. All day the clouds stupified 

 and aggravated people. Because die wife was 

 rich, she talked in a disorderly way. Her hus- 

 band had died early. At Kung Hsien (lang" 

 k'Au"*) and Dang Tsi Yao and Nang Wu 

 Ts'en ^^ there was a woman named Mao 

 (mao^). She owned many farms. She was 

 very efficient in speech, so she thought of 

 depending on a Chinese man. The Chinese 

 was adopted as her son. The Chinese man 

 quizzed her, asking how many clothes she 

 had. She replied that she had more than ten 

 suits of silk clothing. But she could not speak 

 Chinese plainly. She said that she had no 

 skirts. 



The Chinese remembered her words well, 

 and one year she became ill and died. Then 

 her own sons killed several cows and offered 

 them up to her. They carried on the cere- 

 monies three days and then buried her, 



s^TaO" ts3= W and naD= wu-" ts'en', near 

 Lo Piao. 



