NO. I 



CH UAN MIAO SONGS AND STORIES — GRAHAM 



l8l 



told the frog to carry the mortars. He first 

 told him to carry one. The toad said, "You 

 help place it on my head to carry there." The 

 toad then put its head down to carry the 

 mortar. Then the father put the seven 

 mortars on its head. He thought he would 

 crush it to death in this way. To their sur- 

 prise, that night the toad came carrying the 

 seven mortars on its head. 



Afterward the toad asked the mother to go 

 to the mother's brother's family and engage 

 a daughter as a bride for him. The mother 

 said, "You are so odd in appearance. Do you 

 think your uncle will be willing to give you 

 his daughter?" The toad said, "Please mama, 

 take me there. He will certainly give me one." 



Then the mother took the toad to his 

 uncle's house, and the mother asked for the 

 girl. The uncle said, "What does this toad 

 want my daughter for?" The toad said, "Is 

 that so (that you will not give her to me) ? 

 If you do not give her to me I will cry." 

 Then the uncle said, "What does it concern 

 me if you cry?" Then the toad cried and the 

 water in the rice paddies rose until the banks 

 of the rice paddies moved and gave way 

 (broke down). Then the uncle said, "Do not 

 cry. I will give you a wife. But you must 

 restore the banks of my rice paddies before 

 I will give her to you." Then the toad 

 stopped crying. 



When he had stopped crying the banks of 

 the rice paddies became as before (the banks 

 were restored). But they would not give the 

 girl to the toad. The toad said, "I am going 

 to laugh." They said, "What does it matter 

 to us if you laugh?" Then he laughed and 

 all the rice paddies dried up. They did not 

 dare to trouble him any more, but gave him 

 the girl. 



When the girl went away from her home, 

 the uncle gave her many round stones and 

 gave her a horse to ride, and told the frog 

 to lead the horse. When the horse was going 

 along behind the toad, the girl took the 

 stones and threw them at the toad. When 

 she threw the toad leaped and she did not 

 hit him. She went on to his home and they 

 were married. 



When the woman was cooking food in the 

 house, the toad went out to plow the field. 

 The toad said, "When I am out working and 

 you bring my food, you must certainly send 

 the dog ahead of you lest the wild animals 

 frighten you." It was this way every day. 



One day the wife said, "I will not take a 

 dog with me, and I will see what comes out." 

 She stole along and looked and saw that there 

 were very many people helping her husband 



plow, and the toad had changed into a hand- 

 some man and was reading a book at one 

 side. He had taken off the toad skin and 

 put it aside. The woman ran ahead and stole 

 the toad skin and burned it up in the stove. 

 Alas, without a skin the toad would soon die. 



The toad came home and said to his wife, 

 "I depend entirely upon my toad skin. Now 

 you have burned it for me. I certainly cannot 

 live any longer. But although I will die, my 

 soul will not leave me. You use a big wooden 

 rice steamer and stew me. You must stew me 

 seven days and seven nights, and I can be 

 restored as a frog. If not I will perish for- 

 ever. But if I die you must not bury me else- 

 where, but you must secure a big terrace of 

 my uncle's to bury me on so I can constantly 

 see my wife and they can see me.'" 



Alas, the mother and the wife only steamed 

 him four days, then opened the steamer to 

 look. The steam escaped and the toad sweat 

 all over and died. They secured a big ter- 

 race from the uncle and buried him there. 

 Then the toad turned into a solo tree (in the 

 moon) and it can still be seen. 



Now the Miao people preserve this song 

 with the story of the toad. If the children 

 cry the older people take hold of their knee- 

 caps and say, "Do not cry lest a toad come 

 out," and the children stop crying. When a 

 child cries the older person says this and 

 tickles the child's kneecap, then the child 

 begins to laugh. 



A Warty Toad Shows Marvelous Powers (147) 



At that time there was a Miao whose name 

 was Dong Jin (ToO^ im). He was able 

 to find lucky spots for people to bury their 

 dead. His son said, "You, aged one, can help 

 others find places for burial. Why don't you 

 find one for yourself?" The father said, "That 

 pool of ours where the water buffalo wallows 

 (takes baths) is good." Later the mother died 

 and they carried her and buried her in the 

 pool. At that time the father had gone away. 

 His older son's wife gave birth to a son. This 

 son had nine faces, nine arms, and nine feet. 

 The oldest son's wife was wicked and killed 

 her baby. The father came home and said, 

 "Why did you not help me by keeping this 

 son?" 



Next year that woman again gave birth to a 

 son. This son was not like a son, but like 

 a warty toad. The father told his daughter-in- 

 law to carefully nourish it. 



Gradually the warty toad grew up. At a 

 later time robbers took possession of Szech- 

 wan. Kuan the Immortal came and saw this 

 and said, "This Miao has a precious diing 



