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SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS 



VOL. 



123 



to escoit her back. When they arrived the 

 mother-in-law said, "It is not that we mis- 

 treat her, but only that she is not able to 

 do good work." 



When she saw that it was thus, she said 

 nothing. That night she thought about it as 

 follows: "It is truly hard to live." Then 

 she sighed and said, "Oh, heaven, if I tell 

 my mother she will not believe it. If I speak 

 to my mother-in-law, she will beat me. It 

 will be better if I die." When she had said 

 this, she took down her belt and tied it to 

 the door of the cowpen, then hung herself 

 by her neck. 



Next morning her big tongue protruded, 

 and she was dead. Then the mother-in-law 

 sent word to the mother's family. Her mother 

 then rebuked herself saying, "When my 

 daughter came and talked to me, the Li 

 family only said that my daughter was de- 

 testable. Now my daughter has hanged her- 

 self. We will see what the Li family will do." 



Then the mother's family sent the broth- 

 ers and uncles, who ran there and for three 

 days slowly talked with the mother-in-law's 

 family, and only got a black steer. They 

 talked three more nights and got a gray cow. 

 When they had finished talking the mother- 

 in-law wept aloud on the terrace, and her 

 husband wept and said, "Alas, I am efficient 

 in getting pretty girls who can weave (as a 

 wife for my son)." The family of the mother 

 drove the two cows along the road with 

 them, and the brothers brought their sister's 

 clothing and skirts, and tied them into a big 

 roll and came along. The mother-in-law 

 caused her home to be empty. 



The mother's family saw that the domestic 

 animals in their home were very numerous 

 and they said, "Now we have no clever 

 daughter to come home and then go away." 



The mother-in-law also thought that now 

 she had no cows to plow with. Her mother's 

 family said, "Now you have shut off our road, 

 for our daughter is dead. She has entered the 

 light smoke and gone away leaving no foot- 

 prints. Now our daughter is dead. This road 

 is discarded and cut off." 



The song is ended. 



One Who Hanged Herself (426) 



The weather is coldest for two months in 

 winter. The weather is hot during the fifth 

 and sixth moons. The flowers bloom in spring 

 during the second and third moons. The 

 fruit ripens in fall during the seventh moon. 



Oh, heaven. Bo Na had a daughter whom she 

 could not marry off wisely. Je Ji had a 

 daughter. He coveted people's wine as a 

 ceremonial gift (for the girl). He only knew 

 that his distant relatives came in numbers. 

 He only thought about his nearby guests eat- 

 ing and drinking peacefully and did not 

 realize that his daughter was suffering hard- 

 ship. Bang Mai's heart was very open. He 

 gave his daughter in marriage to Yang Bo's 

 family up in a very cold country. 



"They scolded me saying that I was unable 

 to carry things on my back. I was scolded by 

 Yang Bo's mother, who said I was not as 

 good as her small cow. She said that the 

 small cow could plow a hill every day, and 

 that I had eaten food, but that I could not 

 hoe up ground sufficient to plant a half-quart 

 of corn. 



"At night when I return home, my hus- 

 band Yang Bo does not want me to enter his 

 house. My husband's mother also gives the 

 soup of bitter vegetables for me to drink. 

 She gives me the coarsest buckwheat to eat, 

 so that when I have eaten I cry and cry. 



"She also scolds me saying that I am not 

 as good as her small yellow dog. She says 

 'When the small yellow dog has eaten, it can 

 wag its tail, but when I have eaten I cannot 

 do anything.' I was also bitten twice by the 

 small short person Yang Bo (her husband). 

 I saw that he was not as tall as my armpits 

 and that he jumped about like a rooster and 

 bit me with his teeth like a green snake so 

 that one night I had no place to sleep. Oh, 

 heaven, why did I not elope with my little 

 lover long ago? My heart and my lungs, 

 why did not you cause me at that time to 

 elope with my lover and accessory (guest) 

 husband, but caused me tonight to be with- 

 out a place to sleep? Good, I have a good 

 road. I will give my life to my belt. I will 

 use my embroidered belt to give my life to 

 the leaves of the dogwood tree. Yes, we will 

 no longer discuss it. I will take advantage 

 of the light of the moon. I will put on the 

 embroidered garment that my mother gave 

 me. I am going. I go across the vegetable 

 garden to the well where I go to get water. 



"When I have reached the edge of the white 

 cliff, I take off my embroidered belt and tie 

 it onto the leaves of the tree, and tie a big 

 loop. I am not afraid, but immediately put 

 the loop around my neck and leap toward 

 the great cliff. When I am dead, the troubled 

 heart of my mother's daughter, Bang Mai, 

 also will be dead." 



