146 



SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS 



VOL. 



123 



When the Miao saw this, he did not dare 

 to Uve with that woman but secretly ran 

 away home. Then he made this song to show 

 that in Hsia Pa Fu (or Hu) of Kweichow 

 a person does not dare to live. 



One Who Went to Select a Wife and Met a 

 Demon (239) 



In ancient times there was a handsome 

 young man. He had plenty to wear and to 

 eat (he was rich). He collected a great deal 

 of silver and made silver ornaments with it. 

 We went about to Miao homes everywhere 

 to select a wife. He looked over half the 

 pretty women in heaven, and all the women 

 on earth, but did not succeed in finding a 

 woman diat suited him. 



The demons in the graves all knew about 

 his selecting a bride. One demon changed 

 into human form and also changed a big 

 grave into a large tile-roofed house with four 

 sections surrounding a court. 



One day the young man went to this house, 

 and suddenly he saw a pretty woman there. 

 In his heart he wanted that woman, and she 

 enticed him into her room and he went. Then 

 he no longer thought of looking for a wife, 

 but lived there more than a year. 



One day his cousin, his father's younger 

 sister's son, who was a tuan kj^ng, went there 

 to visit him. He noticed that the groom's 

 mind was disarranged, and he was not like 

 a human being. Then the woman tried to 

 entice the cousin too, but he would not listen 

 to her. 



One morning the cousin led the young 

 man out for a walk on the mountain. Then 

 the cousin said to him, "Cousin, I see that 

 before long you will be eaten by your wife. 

 You are my uncle's only son. We two are 

 very affectionate relatives. Last night I saw 

 that your wife is a demon. Before long your 

 marrow and blood will be all eaten up by 

 that woman (the process is already going on) , 

 After that she will certainly tear you to pieces 

 and eat you." The young man asked, "How 

 do you know that she is a demon?" The 

 tuan kjung said, "Tonight, at midnight, you 

 may secretly look at her. Then your mind 

 will be satisfied." 



That night, when he came back home, he 

 acted accordingly. At midnight the woman 

 got out of bed, lighted a lamp, and kissed her 

 husband's lips. Then she blew her breath 

 twice into her husband's mouth, and he was 

 unable to speak. He only opened his eyes 

 wide and looked at die woman. The woman 

 nodded at the lamp and it suddenly went out, 



and as suddenly became bright. The woman 

 took the embroidered cloth off her head and 

 took off her own head, and then changed into 

 a reddish-green dark color. From her mouth 

 tusks grew out. Then she leaped out of die 

 window and stayed a long time before she 

 returned. Her mouth was all colored with 

 blood. 



Next morning he talked matters over with 

 his cousin. The cousin prepared for him a 

 great deal of tung oil and hid it. He used a 

 charm and sealed up the woman's room with 

 it. They waited until midnight. The cousin 

 called all his gods to him, and struck with his 

 lin p'ai. Then the woman was frightened 

 and cried out with a loud voice, "You bad 

 man, I did not tear you to pieces and eat you 

 before, and today you two are binding me 

 to death." Then she began to gnaw the door 

 beams with her tusks. She gnawed to pieces 

 the coflSn in which they had enclosed her. 

 Then they poured the tung oil they had pre- 

 pared into the coffin, and the woman quickly 

 died. 



Next morning they got up and looked, and 

 found that they were sleeping in a big tomb. 

 They also saw that the woman had already 

 been changed into decayed bones. 



After that the young man was afraid to go 

 about and look for a wife. He left this song 

 to teach future generations not to go around 

 choosing wives (but to let their parents do it 

 through go-betweens). 



A Song about a Very Large Demon (241) 



"The sky is high and the earth broad. I 

 am also very large and very tall. I can step 

 with one step from this mountain to that 

 mountain over there. I can step clear over a 

 mountain. I do not come out in the morn- 

 ing, but I am certain to come out in the after- 

 noon. If I meet a person without a spirit, I 

 kill him with one blow of my palm and 

 devour him. But I do not fear heaven or 

 earth. I only fear that people may break 

 my waist in two." 



When the demon was singing this song, a 

 tuan \ung heard it. Then the tuan \ung said, 

 "This evil demon fears only diat people will 

 break his waist in two. In the future when 

 I meet him I will capture him so that he 

 cannot do harm." 



One time after this the tuan \ung was trav- 

 eling and it became dark. Suddenly he met 

 the demon standing up like a mountain. 

 Then he stared at the demon and loosened the 

 straw sandal on his right foot with his right 

 hand, and kicked the sandal at the demon. 



