[96 



SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS 



VOL. 12^ 



Stronghold. He then sprang into the street 

 and carried back to the cave one of the butch- 

 er's fat pigs. He also went and took a sack 

 of rice from the rice market and brought it 

 back. 



That night the father told his daughter-in- 

 law to quickly make biscuits so that they 

 might return on the morrow to her parents. 

 The daughter-in-law again said, "Father, have 

 you forgotten the presents you should give?" 

 The father said, "Yes, you still want wine." 

 The son said, "Yes." The tiger again went 

 along the big road and waited. He saw a 

 person coming who was carrying strong wine. 

 He waited until the person came up to him 

 and then roared loudly and frightened the 

 person away. He then carried the wine back 

 home. 



That night the parent said, "Children, to- 

 night go to bed early. Tomorrow go to the 

 home of the wife's parents." The son pre- 

 pared all night, and in the morning he arose. 

 The tiger said to his son, "You may go." 

 The son said, "Father, we do not dare to go 

 lest on the way the Chinese come and frighten 

 and rob us." The tiger said, "Don't be afraid. 

 You two go in the middle of the road and I 

 will walk in the forest beside the road. If 

 anybody comes to frighten you, I have a way 

 to manage." 



Then they started. When they had gone 

 halfway, a group of Chinese came along and 

 frightened them by shouting and said, "Miao 

 girl, lend us some of the biscuits." They re- 

 plied, "Sir, these are to carry to give as enter- 

 tainment presents, and they cannot be given 

 to you." The Chinese said, "Is that so? We 

 will beat you to death." Then the son called 

 out, "Father, father." Then the tiger in the 

 edge of the forest quickly answered, "Miao, 

 Miao." The Chinese then said, "Little brother, 

 we were deceiving you and do not want your 

 things. You go on quickly." Then the two 

 proceeded forward. 



They again walked on a while and met 

 another group of Chinese. The Chinese said, 

 "Young woman, give us your wine to drink." 

 The daughter-in-law replied, "We are unwill- 

 ing because we want to carry our wine back 

 to my father's house to entertain guests with, 

 so we can't give you any. The Chinese said, 

 "If they talk this way, we can take this Miao 

 woman and carry her away." The son again 

 called loudly, "Father, father, father." The 

 tiger immediately answered with a loud voice, 

 "Miao, Miao, Miao," and actually frightened 

 those hated people until they rolled down the 

 precipice. The two paid no more attention 

 and proceeded. 



They went on until it was nearly dark 

 when they reached the home of their parents. 

 The tiger then said, "Now I will not go in- 

 side with you because my body is very dirty. 

 But tell your father-in-law that you want to 

 give me the wine that is in the white vessel." 

 The son said, "I understand." But the daugh- 

 ter-in-law did not understand what this white 

 pot was, and secretly asked her husband, 

 "What is a white pot of wine?" Her husband 

 said, "You must give the white dog of your 

 parents to him to eat and that will be all 

 right." 



When they heard his father say this, they 

 separated from him and went into the house 

 of her parents. When they arrived the family 

 was just observing the memorial ceremony 

 for the girl,^^ playing the liu sheng, beating 

 the drum, and making offerings. When they 

 went in nobody greeted them. They said, "It 

 is dark, and we must lodge in your house." 

 The bride's folks did not refuse and said, "If 

 you two spend the night here, it will be all 

 right. But since we have many guests, please 

 sleep in the cow shed below. Will that be all 

 right?" They said, "If the host is pleased, 

 that is all right with us," and they spent the 

 night in the cow shed. 



At midnight the bride's father sent his little 

 daughter to the cow pen to visit. The bride 

 then toasted some biscuits and gave her some 

 to eat. The woman then said, "My dear sister, 

 do you recognize me? I am your older sister. 

 Inside my room, by my bed, under my pillow, 

 was my mouth-harp. Did you pick it up?" 

 The little sister said, "I did not pick it up. 

 You wait here until I go back and ask mama." 

 She went back and told her mother saying, 

 "Mother, that couple in the lower cow pen 

 is our older sister." Her mother asked, "What 

 older sister have you left? A long time agO' 

 she was carried away and eaten by a tiger." 

 The little sister then said, "Mother, if you 

 do not believe it, you go down into the cow 

 pen with me and see." 



Her mother then went with the little girl 

 into the cow pen. When she had reached the 

 cow pen the bride gave a biscuit to her mother 

 to eat and said to her mother, "Eat a biscuit, 

 my mother." Her mother asked, "Who are 

 you, that you call me mother?" She said, 

 "Mother, I am truly your daughter who was 

 carried away by the tiger in his mouth." 

 When her mother heard these words, she : 

 wept loudly. Then the mother and her 

 daughter embraced each other, and they both 



58 The memorial ceremony called Tso Chai in 

 Chinese. 



