NO. I 



CHUAN MIAO SONGS AND STORIES — GRAHAM 



147 



Then the demon, with a sound like a great 

 wind, fell down into the gulch. There the 

 tuan kting passed on this method — if after 

 dark a person meets this demon, he can hit 

 him in the same way with a straw sandal off 

 his foot, and he can conquer the demon. 



A Demon That Died by Hanging (503) 



There was a large house in which a person 

 was hanged to death. This person then be- 

 came a demon who died by hanging. This 

 demon went to entice somebody to hang 

 himself, after which he could turn back into 

 a human being. 



There was an old man at the door who 

 said, "I have nothing to wear. I am willing 

 to hang myself in this house." The demon 

 from the eaves trough in the rear said, "What 

 are you saying.?" The old man said, "I did 

 not say anything." The demon replied, "You 

 said you had nothing to wear and diat you 

 thought of hanging yourself in this house. 

 Do you want to hang yourself? Then come." 



The old man said, "I have not yet had 

 anything to eat." The demon said, "I will 

 wait until you have eaten, and dien you can 

 come and die." Then the old man went away 

 and boiled rice to eat. 



The old man again went past the door of 

 that house. The demon called to him, "Now 

 you can give me your life." The old man 

 said, "I have not yet raised a son. Wait until 

 I have raised a son and I will give my life 

 to you." 



The demon waited until he had raised a 

 son and said, "Now you ought to give me 

 your life." The old man then said, "Wait 

 until I have a grandson and then I will give 

 you my life." 



Later the old man's son had a son born to 

 him. Then the demon said, "You ought to 

 give me your life." He replied, "I haven't yet 

 bought a place. Wait until I have bought a 

 piece of land and I will give it to you." 



Afterward, when the old man had bought 

 a piece of land, the demon again wanted him 

 to give his life to the demon. He again said, 

 "I haven't yet traveled to the sea. Wait until 

 I have gone to the ocean and returned, and 

 I will give my life to you." 



That time the demon walked with him to 

 see the ocean. Three days after they had 

 returned from the ocean, the old man went 

 into that house. He then gave his life to the 

 demon, and the demon hanged him until he 



was dead. The demon then changed into a 

 man and the old man changed into a demon.^ 



A Hungry Demon (714) 



Once there was a Miao family whose par- 

 ents had a little boy. One day when the 

 husband was at home the wife went out to 

 pull grass for the pigs. 



When she had just gone out of the door 

 there was a hungry demon on the side of a 

 stone slab in the middle of the road. When 

 the woman arrived there, just when she 

 stepped on that stone she stumbled, and she 

 scolded angrily saying, "Is there a demon? 

 Did (a demon) make me fall? That is not 

 good." 



When that hungry demon on the stone 

 slab heard her talking, the demon used his 

 own head band (or hoop?) to bind her head, 

 and immediately her head began to ache 

 badly. She was then unable to go on and 

 pluck pig grass, and she came back home 

 crying out with a loud voice. She went and 

 dipped up a bowl of water and placed chop- 

 sticks upright in the bowl, holding them up- 

 right and saying, "I am afraid that there 

 is a hungry demon who came to get me. 

 If so, please stand up." Then the chopsticks 

 stood up. 



She then went and picked up a handful of 

 cold rice and threw it into the cold water, 

 then carried it forth and poured it out. Then 

 that demon got water and rice to eat and 

 went away, and her head was well. 



The next day her husband went to plow 

 the ground, and the hungry demon came 

 again and hid outside their door. Just as he 

 went out, the husband stimibled and fell. He 

 realized that it was early and did not say 

 anything, so the demon had no power to do 

 anything to him. Later he went to the middle 

 of the field to plow, and the demon again 

 came and broke the hook on their plow. 

 Then he said, "Today there must be a de- 

 mon." 



Then that demon took his head hoop and 

 put it on him, and he felt a bad pain in his 

 head. But he was a person who did not 

 believe in demons and he said, "Demon, you 

 have got hold of me. I have no water or 

 rice to give you to eat." 



He was conscious that he had a very bad 

 headache, which was truly hard to endure, 



5 The conception is that the life of a man is 

 something concrete, though invisible, having which 

 the demon could become a human being. 



