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SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS 



VOL. 



123 



Her mother-in-law had a rooster in her 

 house. When they had talked half the night, 

 the rooster crowed. Then Lo Ts'i Mi Nang Ta 

 said, "Why is it that when you had set a date 

 with me you did not come?" The woman 

 said, "Because I have very many things to do 

 in my home, so I could not come at the time 

 I agreed to. Now you go back home. You 

 have three feet of red cloth. You have diree 

 squares of dyed white cloth. You have three 

 or four other friends to think about." When 

 these words were finished, Lo Tsi Mi Nang 

 Ta went back home and died of disappoint- 

 ment. 



One day Nts'ai Mi Ma Niang Tsai arranged 

 her things and came back to the home of her 

 parents. When she had gone half the way, she 

 met a man named Sua Ngai Bang who had a 

 liu sheng in his hands. The girl asked Sua 

 Ngai Bang, "Where are 3'ou coming from?" 

 He replied, "I went to dance at the memorial 

 altar of Lo Ts'f Mi Nang Ta." The girl said, 

 "Oh heaven. Is he truly dead, or is it false?" 

 He replied, "Truly. You do not believe it? 

 You can go behind his home and you will see 

 his grave." The girl then asked, "Have you 

 a light (fire to light a pipe) ?" He said, "I 

 have an iron, but I have no flint." The 

 woman said, "You have an iron. I have a 

 piece of flint." Then they struck a light and 

 smoked. 



The woman said, "Let me go to his home, 

 and I will have them carry him and bury him 

 on top of the hill. I want to die and be 

 buried with him." She arrived there and 

 went to the rear of his home and saw the 

 people who were dancing (and playing the 

 liu sheng) at the funeral ceremony. She went 

 into die house and sat down. 



She sat there half the night, and then she 

 said 'You can take Lo Tsi Mi Nang Ta and 

 carry him upon the hill. I want to go and be 

 a mate (a pair or companion) with him. If 

 not, you can carry him and bury him on the 

 cliff. I certainly want to go along with him 

 and die." 



A Sweetheart Who Died (490) 



On a clear day Vi Lan Fang, a younger 

 sister, went down to hoe a swampy ground, 

 and she became ill (because of the dampness 

 and impurity of die swamp). Her lover Mi 

 Ntzeo Lan Dang (small young loved one) 

 went to ask about her sickness. He inquired, 

 "What do you want to eat?" She replied, "I 

 don't want to eat anything." He said, "If 



you eat pork, it will heal a cold. If you eat 

 dog meat, it will heal rheumatism. Mutton 

 will heal the stomachache." The woman said, 

 "I won't eat anything." He said, "Do you 

 want to eat fish?" She replied, "My father 

 and mother have not raised fish in their 

 home." He said, "Wait until I go and fish 

 (with a pole)." 



After he had said this he went fishing. 

 He caught some fish and brought them for 

 the girl to eat. After the girl had eaten them 

 she said, "The day is ended. Mi Ntzeo Lan 

 Dang, I now fear that I cannot again see you 

 (may die). It seems as if I have eaten ntz'i 

 mi ma huei shiang (a grass) and will cer- 

 tainly die." 



After she had finished, she died, but after 

 she died her lover still went about every- 

 where to find medicine for her. While he 

 was seeking medicine people buried the girl. 



When he had come back halfway he met 

 Nts'ai Mi Ma Niang Yao. He asked her, 

 "Where have you been?" She replied, "I 

 went to see the dancing at Vi Lan Fang's 

 (burial) altar." He said, "I am afraid that 

 it is not true that Vi Lan Fang is dead. Tell 

 me, when Vi Lan Fang died, what clothing 

 did she wear? What skirt did she wear?" 

 Niang Yao replied, "She wore an embroidered 

 skirt and a blue cloth. She was carried out 

 and buried in a big burial flat (grave flat or 

 flat graveyard). Her grave pointed toward a 

 mountain on the other side which pointed 

 this way." 



Then he said, "It is true diat I cannot see 

 her," and he wept loudly for Vi Lan Fang. 



A Song of Young Lovers (195) 



On a clear day there was a bird sitting on 

 the top of the tall reeds and singing. It 

 wagged its tail and looked toward the top of 

 a tree. 



The modier's young daughter Ngeo Mao 

 Nyong was sitting in the home of her par- 

 ents. She said, "While I am a girl, I wear 

 a brass ring on my finger. Flowers are carved 

 on the brass ring. It is ornamented with red 

 brass (the base is yellow brass) ." 



Her guest husband came to entice her.^ 



8 According to a Ch'uan Miao custom, certain 

 male relatives of a girl may enjoy sexual rela- 

 tions with her without marriage, and a man may 

 enjoy sexual relations with certain female rela- 

 tives without marriage. This is considered legiti- 

 mate and proper, but it must not be with rela- 

 tives of die same name. A girl's "guest husbands" 



