NO. I 



CH UAN MIAO SONGS AND STORIES — GRAHAM 



149 



At that time there was a lover, Len San Go. 

 He was an official. The young man was also 

 the heaven-given root of Nang Na's family. 

 Ch'in Lang used much money to marry a 

 bride for his son. They married a lazy girl 

 Ts'ai Ngan Do Ngan of the family Dao 

 Ze(n) Hmong Ze(n). The young cousin used 

 much money to marry her. The girl he mar- 

 ried slept all day rolling her head on her 

 pillow. She did not strip off any hemp (to 

 make strings or thread with) or a bit of fire 

 hemp. She let her husband go as dirty as if 

 he were wearing palm-fiber clothes. Later 

 he made clothes out of palm fiber and wore 

 them. 



One day the young man met Ngeo Mao Mi 

 on the road. Ngeo Mao Mi asked him, "Ah, 

 heaven, my lover. At one time you were a 

 fine boy. Ah, why are you now wearing 

 palm-fiber clothing? My lover friend, my 

 lover friend, why are you wearing palm cloth- 

 ing and palm-fiber ropes?" Then her lover 

 said, "Heaven, my sweetheart, don't talk 

 about it. I married a bad wife who is useless. 

 She is a lazy daughter of Dao Zen Hmong 

 Zen. All day she rolls on her pillow, wearing 

 her clothing. She sleeps, occasionally rolling 

 over, by day and by night. She does not wind 

 hemp thread on her hands or knit the hemp 

 thread on her hands (before winding it into 

 a ball). She made me wear palm-fiber cloth- 

 ing and palm-fiber ropes." 



When he had said this much, he went 

 away with the Chinese to Wu Lang Yoh, to 

 a distant place to do business. From that place 

 below he found money, and with it bought 

 clothes to wear. He also made money until 

 it filled his pocketbook. Then he prepared 

 flowery silk clothing " and put it on, and also 

 satin clothing as fine as that on insects. Then 

 he came on the road back and sent a letter 

 (it could refer to a message by mouth) to 

 Ngeo Mao Mi, his sweetheart. Ngeo Mao Mi 

 sent word to his home saying, "Let the young 

 sister arrange tables and stools, for the young 

 man is soon to arrive." 



After they had received this letter, the 

 young friend arrived. Then he said, "Now I 

 cannot wear your hemp clothing, nor can 

 I use your fire-hemp cloth (because he had 

 silks and satins)." 



The song is ended. 



A Song of a Woman Mourning for a Dead 

 Lover (561) 



Nts'ai Mi Ma Niang Tsai was a famous 

 sweetheart. Lo Tsi Mi Nang Ta came along 



'' The term "flowery clothing" is applied by 

 the Ch'uan Miao to embroidered clothing. 



the road. The reputation of Nts'ai Mi Ma 

 Niang Tsai was very high. Shiang Shi Mi 

 Nong Yang Go also came along the road. 

 Lo Tsu Mi Nang Ta came and visited with 

 this girl, and he could not get enough of 

 visiting with her. Shiang Shi Mi Nong Yang 

 Go came and sat with this girl, and could not 

 get enough of sitting with her. 



One day two go-betweens carried their beds 

 with them and came to make an engagement 

 with her parents to marry her. Her mother 

 said, "This girl cannot control this home." 

 Her father said, "This girl is not a boy. She 

 cannot control my house." Then the mother 

 agreed to the engagement, and the girl then 

 broke out crying and shed tears. The father 

 also agreed, and the girl cried harder. 



Lo Tsi Mi Nang Ta (a disappointed lover) 

 said, "Oh heaven. Mi Ma Niang Tsai, you 

 must settle a date." Then the girl said, "Now 

 my mother and my father have eaten people's 

 meat and drunk their wine. I cannot settle a 

 date with you, Lo Tsi" Mi Nang Ta. I can- 

 not determine a date." Lo Tsi' Mi Nang Ta 

 said, "Do you remember the things Mi Ma 

 Niang Tsai has done from the time she was 

 a litde child?" The girl said, "Now you 

 return home. One day when you see that 

 the rice of my parents has turned yellow 

 (ripened), then I will come home to eat the 

 new rice." 



Lo Tsi Mi Nang Ta then went home and 

 lived there seven years. He would not eat a 

 grain of rice or smoke a pipeful of tobacco. 

 In the sixth moon, when the sun came out, 

 Lo Tsi Mi Nang Ta came out and saw 

 that the rice on the flat was already yellow. 

 He could not see the girl come back. He was 

 as if his heart and liver were broken. Then 

 he took a leather bag and hung it on his waist. 

 He took a small pair of scales and put it in the 

 skin bag. Then he became a merchant and 

 went to the home of the girl. The old 

 mother-in-law of the girl came out and looked. 

 She said, "What man is this?" The girl re- 

 plied, "This is my cousin (the second son 

 of my father's older brother)." Then the old 

 woman said, 'Tour cousins I can recognize. 

 I can recognize all your cousins who are the 

 sons of your father's second oldest brother. 

 I do not recognize this person." The woman 

 said, "I have many male cousins." The 

 mother-in-law replied, "Since this is your 

 cousin, why don't you bring a stool for him 

 to sit on? Why do you not boil rice for him 

 to eat and then fixX a bed for him to sleep on?" 

 Nts'ai Mi Ma Niang Tsai then fixed a bed 

 for him to sleep on. When he had gone to 

 bed this girl secretly ran to sleep with him. 



