152 



SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS 



VOL. 123 



MISTREATMENT OF DAUGHTERS, WIVES, AND DAUGHTERS-IN-LAW 



A Girl Who Was Scolded by Her Mother and 

 Her Father Hanged Herself (542) 



On a clear day the daughter took a sickle 

 and killed a young chicken. Then she took 

 a scythe and killed the pig. Then her mother 

 scolded her and said, "You are bad." Then 

 her father also scolded her and told her she 

 was no good. 



She then took fire hemp and made a rope 

 and hung herself on a dogwood tree. She 

 said, "I will die lest I be somebody's servant 

 (wife). I will die lest I be somebody's wife." 

 After this she jerked about vigorously and 

 died. 



An Unhappy D aughter-in-Law , or an Abused 

 Wife Commits Suicide (11) 



A mother coveted another's money and 

 married her daughter away into the Dang 

 (TanO) family. The fadier coveted the fields 

 and terraces of another and tore away his 

 daughter (from his home to be married) into 

 another family. They walked three steps and 

 arrived at the home of her parents-in-law. 

 When she reached the other home she was 

 like a slave. When she had gone three steps 

 farther she arrived at the house of Yang Sang 

 (jaO saO), the residence of the abusing son. 

 Living there as a daughter-in-law was truly 

 bitter. At the third watch, in the middle of 

 the night, he would call out with hatred. 

 Near daylight he would stand up and order 

 her to go and carry water on her back. It 

 was truly hard. When she took a dipperful of 

 water with which to wash the tub, it was still 

 dirty (after washing). She changed to an- 

 other tub and carried more water, taking it 

 to the front of the stove. Then the wicked 

 mother's lips raised a row with a noise like 

 repeating incantations. The daughter-in-law 

 returned to the inner chamber. Then her hus- 

 band Yang Sang quarreled with her. When 

 she brought the water and poured it into the 

 large water jar, the wicked mother-in-law 

 again cried out. The wicked mother-in-law 

 said "You spilt it in front of the door." Her 

 husband Yang Sang said, "She has spilt it in 

 front of my bed." He quickly hated her like 

 the string of a bow. The mother-in-law 

 scolded like the screaming of a demon. Her 

 husband scolded her like a pig. 



The mother-in-law measured out a bowl 

 of rice and a dipperful of water and gave it 

 to her for a meal. Her husband, Yang Sang, 

 v/as plowing the field in the gulch, and she, 

 his wife, hurriedly carried his breakfast to 



him. He plowed the ground until he reached 

 a steep cliff and made his wife follow along. 

 She called to her husband to come and eat his 

 breakfast. Her husband did not reply. He 

 stood up and beat her with his fist two or 

 three times. When she called to her husband 

 to eat his dinner, he threw aside his plow and 

 grabbed her and slapped her two or three 

 times, and opened his mouth and cursed her 

 saying, "You are a daughter of a starving 

 Miao, of a starving race, and are not worthy 

 of being a concubine or a youngest daughter. 

 Did you kill a chicken or a sheep this morn- 

 ing? (Is that why you are late.?) Or did you 

 kill a cow or a pig.? Did you eat before you 

 went to work?" With his hand he seized her 

 and beat her again. 



She had no son, and could only return 

 home. When she had gone halfway she met 

 a female sorcerer who told her to go home 

 and prepare a rope and cheat him so his 

 fam.ily would be ruined. She told her to go 

 home and prepare a vine rope, and while she 

 would die (by suicide) her name would en- 

 dure, and when her mother-in-law was speech- 

 less, and when her husband Yang Sang had 

 lost his home, her great name would endure 

 forever. 



A Bad Woman Who Mistreated Her Daugh- 

 ter-in-Law (216) 



"Get up, get up." Na Ya Nan Nts'ai (a big 

 woman) got up on a rock on the mountain. 

 She got a bride for her son, Ngeo Yao Mi 

 (a good little girl). 



The father had a daughter Dao Tsong Sen. 

 She was talented and beautiful. The mother 

 carried the daughter to a family on top of the 

 cliff. The mother said that her daughter was 

 married into a good family. The father mar- 

 ried this daughter to a family on the ridge 

 (the same family). The father said that his 

 daughter had gotten married into a good 

 family. That family had food and clothing. 

 The mother said that in that family there was 

 plenty to eat and drink. 



The daughter said, "You don't know that 

 your daughter is scolded, cursed, and beaten. 

 You do not know that your daughter is beaten 

 and stepped upon. The mother-in-law says 

 that the water that I carry is not enough for 

 her to drink, and she beats me. She said the 

 wood I gather is not enough for her to burn, 

 and I have been scolded by my husband, 

 Yang San. The older daughter talked to me. 

 I said that I wanted to come back home. The 

 mother-in-law said that their farming is excel- 



