NO. I 



CH UAN MIAO SONGS AND STORIES — GRAHAM 



201 



They started on their way. In less than a 

 day, they arrived at the home of the bride's 

 father, Yang Bo Tii. The wife of Yang Bo 

 Tii loudly scolded them and did not want 

 them to live there. Then the son slowly 

 walked out and called his father. Then the 

 father quickly went to the home of Yang Bo 

 Tii. Then he roared like a tiger saying "Miao, 

 Miao, Miao, I am going to eat people." Then 

 Yang Bo Tii and his wife came out and 

 urged him not to be angry. The tiger then 

 answered, "If we can arrange this marriage 

 properly, I will eat two people (you and your 

 wife). If it cannot be arranged, I will eat 

 three people" (adding the bride). 



Then Yang Bo Tii asked the bride and the 

 groom to speak to him. Then the tiger ceased 

 to be angry and said that he wanted to drink 

 a cup of wine. The Yang family then gave 

 him their dog to eat. When he had eaten, he 

 said to his son and to his daughter-in-law, 

 "Now I can cease to worry. You now have a 

 place to live. After I have gone, if you have 

 any trouble and you want to call me, you can 

 use a hatchet and beat the iron cooking vessel, 

 and I will come and help you." 



For this reason the Miao, when there is no 

 special occasion, will not permit anybody to 

 use an ax or hatchet and beat an iron cooking 

 vessel. 



THE ECHO AND THE TIGER 



The Echo Deceived the Tiger (47) 



In ancient times the creature that was most 

 able to deceive people was the echo. One year 

 the echo and the tiger were good friends. The 

 echo said to the tiger, "I am your young 

 cousin. Today I will escort you to trap on 

 the hills." The tiger said, "Trapping, I am 

 naturally expert in that. Why do you need 

 to take me out.?" The echo said, "If that is 

 so, it is well." That day the two together 

 went to trap on the hills. The echo said, "Can 

 we two set up board traps?" The tiger said, 

 "How can we set them?" The echo said, "I 

 will set them on the tops of trees, and you 

 set them beneath the trees." The two of 

 them then carried the traps out and set them. 

 On the next day before daylight the echo 

 went out to take a look. His own trap had 

 caught a small bird. The tiger's trap had 

 caught a big wild boar. He then took the 

 small bird down and placed it in the tiger's 

 trap and took the wild boar and placed it in 

 the top of the tree. 



At daybreak the tiger came and called, "Let 

 us go and see if the traps we set have caught 

 anything or not." The echo replied, "Let us 

 go." They started at once. The tiger arrived 

 first and took the small bird. The echo then 

 climbed to the treetop and took out the big 

 wild boar. When the tiger had eaten up the 

 bird he said to die echo, "Give me some of 

 your wild boar to eat." The echo replied, "If 

 you will come here beside the creek, I will 

 give you some to eat." The echo then smeared 

 some of the wild boar's blood on a big rock, 

 and told the tiger to go and eat the stone. 

 But the tiger was unable to eat the stone. The 

 echo then said to the tiger, "If you can't eat 

 it here, take it home and put a large cooking 

 pot on the stove and tell your wife and 

 children to sit around the stove and look at 



the cooking. Bring the big pig (the big rock 

 painted with boar's blood) and let it drop 

 down from above and break to pieces, and 

 then you will be able to eat it." 



The tiger obeyed him and ordered his wife 

 and his children to sit by the stove and await 

 the meat they were to get. To their surprise, 

 when he dropped the big, blood-covered rock 

 down from above, the whole family of tigers 

 was burnt to death (by the scalding water) 

 and became meat. The tiger then thought, 

 "This is not the fault of the echo, but it is 

 because I coveted meat to eat." 



The tiger said, "I will again ask the echo 

 to do some good deeds and find a good place 

 to bury my wife and children. But the tiger 

 did not know that the echo was devoid of 

 conscience. So when he asked the echo, the 

 echo did not refuse, and at once came to help 

 him bury them. At daytime he helped him 

 bury them, and at night he brought the dead 

 tigers and left them at the mouth of the 

 tiger's cave. Next morning the tiger arose to 

 open the door, and saw all the dead tigers 

 where they had rolled in. It frightened him 

 and he quickly ran again to the echo and the 

 echo said, "No, they still want to eat some 

 of your fat pig." ''^ The tiger said, "Then 

 I request you to trouble your heart and 

 quickly kill my fat pig to offer them lest they 

 be unsatisfied and frighten me." The echo 

 did not decline at all, but took the pig and 

 killed it to eat. The tiger, then, after offering 

 it to the dead tigers, gave the fat pig to the 

 echo for his pay. Then the echo again took 

 the dead tigers and buried them. At night 

 the echo again brought the dead tigers back. 



The third morning the tiger again went 



■'^ Each Ch'uan Miao family has a special fat 

 pig to be killed on rare and special occasions. 



