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SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS 



VOL. 123 



midnight, then she arose and fled. She fled 

 several tens of days, and one night she ar- 

 rived in a Chinese village and could not find 

 a place to sleep. She could only go into a 

 cemetery and sleep in a stone tomb. 



During the night she was afraid of demons 

 and sang some songs to keep herself com- 

 pany. While she was singing, inside the skull 

 of the man in the grave someone began sing- 

 ing, "Ho, ho, ho." She leaped up and looked, 

 and it was an empty human skull. Then she 

 became afraid and jumped up and ran away. 



Then the human skull pursued her. She 

 realized that she could not get away and so 

 ran into a family's home to hide. Then the 

 human skull also went into that house. 



The family used an ax and hacked at the 

 skull. They struck at it all morning but did 

 not succeed in hitting it. Later they asked 

 the woman why she had led this demon into 

 the house with her. Then she told them about 

 running away from her husband. 



The family knew that she ought not to 

 have run away. They then persuaded her to 

 repent, and the human skull suddenly dis- 

 appeared. Then they escorted her back home 

 to return to her husband. After that she did 

 not dare to run away and left this song to 

 commemorate this affair. 



A Husband and His Wife (Taming a Shrew) 

 (234) 



In ancient times there was a man and his 

 wife. The husband was a man who did not 

 talk a great deal and who did not have much 

 ability. The wife was a woman who quar- 

 reled a great deal, but the husband was help- 

 less. The husband secretly told his older 

 brother and he said to the husband, "You 

 go back home tonight and quarrel with her. 

 When you have quarreled a long time, you 

 break the lamps to pieces and open the door. 

 I will come and help you." 



That night he returned home and quar- 

 reled with his wife. When he had quarreled 

 a long time, he broke the lamps to pieces 

 and the older brother quickly ran into the 

 house and beat his sister (-in-law). When he 

 had finished beating her, he leaped outside 

 and went home. 



The woman's husband acted so as to 

 frighten her. After that she did not dare to 

 quarrel with him and she told other people, 

 "Husbands do not get angry easily but it is 

 hard on the wives when they do." When 

 other wives heard her talk about it, they also 

 did not dare to quarrel with their husbands. 



A Man Had a Good Wife. Another Killed 

 Him and Took His Wife (486) 



When the weather was clear, the woman 

 Ngeo Ntseo enticed her husband Njii Ye (or 

 Je) to farm in the aged forest. They were 

 industrious and had food to eat. Ngeo Ntseo 

 then made some silver ornaments for her 

 shoes. She took gold and made some circles 

 to put around her puttees. 



The two of them worked at their farm- 

 ing until in the afternoon when it was about 

 to become dark. When it became dark they 

 went to below Nzia Lang's granary to sleep. 

 They slept until midnight, and then Njii Ye 

 heard the sound of spears outside. Njii Ye 

 then asked Ngeo Ntseo, "What is that sound 

 outside?" Ngeo Ntseo said, "It is the rats in 

 Leo Nzia Lang's house moving the grain 

 until it resounds." 



They waited until Njii Ye again went to 

 sleep. Leo Yang Ya then killed Njii Ye. His 

 blood discolored Ngeo Ntseo's skirt. Ngeo 

 Ntseo said, "Why did you, Leo Yang Ya, 

 determine to harm a person in this way.? 

 What can I do now.?" Leo Yang Ya said, 

 "You come along with me." Ngeo Ntseo 

 said, "You developed this injurious purpose 

 to kill him. His blood flowed out like bubbles 

 out of a fish's mouth and discolored my skirt. 

 When I am so filthy, how can I go along 

 with you?" Leo Yang Ya said, "Tomorrow 

 you go to my water ditch and wash them." 



Next morning Ngeo Ntseo went and washed 

 her clothes. They asked her, "Why are you 

 so early?" She replied, "Leo Yang Ya killed 

 my husband and his blood discolored my 

 skirt. I came here to wash it." Then the 

 people of her husband's family tied her up 

 and beat her 350 strokes with a club. Then 

 they dragged her through the streets beating 

 her. After beating her they threw her into 

 the water. Then they beat Leo Yang Ya and 

 threw him into the creek. The two of them 

 died there and went to feed the fishes and 

 fill the stomachs of the fish. 



A Beggar Got a Wife and Enjoyed Happiness 

 (302) 



Formerly there was a family named Ntzi'.^^ 

 They gave a feast (at the wedding) and mar- 

 ried a wife. When the feast was over, they 

 gave some rice to the beggars to eat. 



That day, when they were through eating, 

 there was a beggar who did not go. Next 



^s Boundary, called Tsang or Chang 5§ in 

 Chinese. 



