SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS 



VOL. 12:? 



she took her beans and every kind of fruit and 

 put them outside the door to dry in the sun. 

 Then the crows and the magpies flew down 

 and ate the beans and the fruit. She took a 

 bamboo stick and chased them. Then the 

 crows and the magpies said, "Sister, do not 

 chase us. Let us eat until we are full and 

 we will go and call your older and younger 

 brothers to come and get you." She said, 

 "Thank you both. Please both eat until you 

 are satisfied. Trouble your hearts to go and 

 tell my older and younger brothers to come 

 and get me." 



When she had finished speaking, they ate 

 until they were full, and then they flew away. 

 They flew to that home, and the magpie and 

 the crow called, "Wife's relatives, wife's rela- 

 tives, quickly go to get your younger sister. 



For yesterday the tiger came and pretended I 

 to be a man, and ate her brother and her 

 sister-in-law. Only your sister is left. Go 

 quickly and get her. If you don't, tonight the 

 tiger will come again and eat her." 



When her older and younger brothers 

 heard this, they then ran to their sister's home. 

 Their own sister sat alone outside the door 

 and was crying. Then they looked inside the 

 house. They saw only some blood on the 

 grass, and some hair. Then they asked their 

 sister, and she told them about it in detail. 

 They were then frightened. They quickly 

 arranged the things in the house and took 

 their sister out of the forest, and she came 

 back and lived all her life with her own 

 family, and thus avoided the terror of the 

 deep forest. 



A WIFE CAPTURED BY TIGERS 



Nts'eo Mplai Went with Nts'i Ma Niang 

 Ntsai. Tigers Stole a Man's Wife, He 

 Killed the Tigers and Rescued Her. She 

 Changed into a Tiger and again into a 

 Woman (312) 



In most ancient times Nts'eo Mplai blew 

 (played) a liu sheng made of stalks of hemp. 

 One morning he was playing as he wished, 

 and his wife Nts'i' Ma Niang Ntsai was watch- 

 ing. She watched a whole morning. She was 

 cooking a jug of rice, and it burned up. 



She said to him, "This morning I watched 

 you, and the rice I cooked can't be eaten." He 

 said to her, "Never fear, cook some more." 

 Then she again cooked, and he again played 

 and she watched. But she paid attention and 

 cooked the rice well, and they ate it. He 

 said to her, "You remain home. I want to go 

 to Ntzi Di Geo Bi (God's level flat) to play 

 and dance. While you are at home you must 

 not sigh, lest a demon of a dead person come 

 and entice you." When he had said this, he 

 departed. 



She, at home, thought of him a great deal. 

 She put a bamboo flute in her mouth and 

 played. She played, "Bo li, bo li, Ntzi' Ma 

 Niang Nts'ai (God's smallest daughter) lives 

 here. Where has Nts'eo Mplai gone? Bo li, 

 bo li." 



A tiger heard this and said to his friend, 

 "Listen. Nts'eo Mplai, the boy, has a good 

 wife. Let us go and deceive her." 



Next morning she went to carry water, and 

 the tiger took a heap of horse manure and 

 changed it into peaches and left it beside the 

 road. When she saw it she sighed and said, 

 "Ah, it is now the eleventh or twelfth moon 



(winter) . Why are there still good peaches 

 here? I wonder if they belong to men or 

 demons." The tiger at one side said to her, 

 "You eat it. It is not a demon's, but men's." 

 Then she picked it up and put it into her 

 mouth. Then the tiger struck her with his 

 paw, and she fell to the ground. She then 

 said, "I will be the wife of the man who takes 

 hold of my hand (and helps me up)." Then 

 the tiger helped her up and he said, "Now 

 I have helped you. You must go with me." 

 She did not dare say much and could only 

 do as he said. She said, "I will go with you, 

 but you must wait until my clothes and my 

 skirts are washed clean before I go." Then 

 she came home and took her clothes and 

 skirts and hung them up in the crevice of 

 the dark cliff to dry. But every day they were 

 not dry yet, and every day the tiger came and 

 urged her to go. 



She told the tiger to make straw sandals 

 for her, and in front to put nails in the soles 

 and behind to fix iron heels. Then she went 

 with the tiger. 



When she had gone halfway, Nts'eo Mplai 

 was lying asleep at the crossroads. When the 

 tigers saw this, they shouted in a loud voice, 

 "Hey, this thing is still here. We had better 

 eat him up." Then the woman said, "You 

 must not eat him. He is not my husband, 

 but my younger brother. If you eat him, I 

 won't go with you." Then the tigers did not 

 eat him. 



But when the woman pinched and seized 

 hold of him, he did not awaken. Then she 

 wound a needle on his garment, in the 

 center in front at the top. She then went 

 away. Later, after she had gone a long time, 



