NO. I 



CHUAN MIAO SONGS AND STORIES — GRAHAM 



151 



The girl's body was slender like a rope. Her 

 boy friends came and talked to her and gave 

 some ornaments (jewelry, etc.) to her. She 

 took these things and kept them in the dark 

 (bed) room. She said, "I will keep these 

 beneath the chest of drawers. I will then be 

 with them every day." 



One day when she was 15 or 16 years old 

 her father prepared some body ornaments 

 and put them on her. Then she went away 

 and got married. 



One day she put on some embroidered 

 clothing and came home. When she had 

 been home one day, she was sitting down 

 and had nothing to do. At night she took 

 a lamp and a lantern and went to search 

 in the barrel she formerly put her clodies in. 

 There she saw the ornaments that had been 

 given her by her guest husbands and friends. 

 They had mildewed. Then she asked her 

 mother whether she had seen the daughter's 

 former lovers. The mother then scolded her, 

 calling her the daughter of a rabbit, and 

 implying that she had had too much sexual 

 intercourse before marriage. She also said, 

 "You have a woman's body. What do you 

 want your old lovers to come for? What are 

 you planning to do?" The daughter then 

 answered, "JHeaven, mother, you are already 

 old. Because you are old, you do not under- 

 stand. You cannot understand human nature. 

 I am a busy person. Among busy people some 

 have affection toward lovers. I have been 

 stirred to think of the time when they car- 

 ried some biscuits and went walking with 

 me in the woods, on the mountains, or to 

 visit on the level ground. At that time we 

 were young, but there is still affection after 

 we have grown up. I have been moved to 

 think of the time when one of them and I 

 both sat under one umbrella and held another 

 paper umbrella above it to protect us from 

 the sun. Now I have grown up. When I 

 see lovers' gifts, how can I help thinking of 

 those lovers?" 



The song is ended. 



Tii^o Disappointed Lovers Meet Again, or the 

 Flowerli}{e Youngest Sister (10) 



The mother of the beautiful girl Tso Yao ^ 

 {tso jao) took her to Suifu. The beautiful 



are the sons of her father's sisters and of her 

 mother's brothers. A man's guest wives are the 

 daughters of his mother's brothers and of his 

 father's sisters. Intercourse among these is not 

 regarded as wrong. 



^ The name Tso Yao means beautiful girl. 



girl Tso Yao's father took her to Ch'ang-ning- 

 hsien. Tso Yao and my pupil Yang Yao Geo 

 were officials. My pupil Yang Yao Geo with 

 Tso Yao ruled over a country. Tso Yao Mu 

 took Tso Yao and married her into Gin Mu's 

 family. Tso Yao's father married her to one 

 named Gin Yang (the same family). She 

 deserted Yang Yao Geo and left him along 

 the road. Yang Yao Geo was very unhappy 

 in his heart, and he left his crop and went 

 to a mountain and there picked a leaf from 

 a yellow tree which he put into his mouth 

 and blew. The sound was like that of the 

 singing of the yellow thrush or that of 

 insects in autumn. My pupil Yang Yao Geo's 

 mother opened her mouth and said, "Pick 

 up a blade of grass and divine once, and see 

 whether or not you can bring it about that 

 the girl Tso Yao will come and live with 

 you." 



Yao Geo then took a harp of the P'i Ba 

 fruit tree and placed it on his hip. Fie put 

 a small scale for weighing silver on his back 

 and went to market to trade. Some mer- 

 chants had to travel very far, and they trav- 

 eled until they arrived at Tso Nil's (tso ny) 

 house. They saw the woman come out and 

 heard her call Tso Yao Nil and ask, "Who 

 are these people?" Tso Yao replied, "These 

 are merchants, business men, who have come 

 to your yard and are passing by the garden 

 of Yang San (jaD saen). I cannot recognize 

 them, old mother." My pupil Yang Yao Geo 

 passed by in the rear. Tso Yao Nii came 

 out and pretended to drive away the dogs. 



My pupil Yang Yao Geo then saw her and 

 said, "I saw your feet moving early. Why 

 didn't you come out?" Tso Yao replied, "I 

 daily think of returning to you, and every 

 year I plan to return. I see that you are 

 more clever than the growing crops. My 

 husband Yang San {jaO saen) is less clever 

 than the crops." The two walked all evening, 

 and sat talking all night. They both were 

 soaked with rain. They sat until nearly day- 

 light, and were injured by the falling water. 

 The girl said, "My mother ate somebody's 

 meat, and my father drank somebody's wine 

 (when I was married). My mother received 

 somebody's plates. My father received some- 

 body's ceremonial clothing. Now we wUl not 

 remember these things. You must not think 

 of me. You must get three ounces of silver 

 and three grams of gold and return. Another 

 has taken your beloved one. Another guest 

 came and took me. This road on which you 

 have come is truly good. Our visit is finished 

 and we must part." 



