NO. I 



CH UAN MIAO SONGS AND STORIES — GRAHAM 



205 



happy and said, "NtzT really loves me. He 

 will not destroy me. Since I have this one 

 stalk it is all right." Daily he carried fertilizer 

 and nourished it and caused the stalk of the 

 small seed to go very prosperously so that it 

 was as tall as he. 



When the harvest time came, suddenly a 

 hawk flew down and picked off the stalk and 

 carried it away. He then wept loudly and 

 said to the hawk, "Hawk, do you wish to 

 destroy me? Please begin to seize me and 

 eat me. My wages from one year's work is 

 this result which has grown from one little 

 seed. Why don't you open your eyes? Open 

 your eyes and have compassion on me." The 

 hawk did not listen to him, but flew into a 

 cave on the side of a cliff. 



Afterward that hawk spoke to him in a 

 loud voice saying, "You poor son, you need 

 not cry. You can get up on my wings and I 

 will carry you to a place below a big star in 

 the west. You go and gather the secretion of 

 that star and use it. Then you will have 

 clothing and food. Why should you depend 

 on this one little seed?" He replied, "You are 

 so high. How do you expect me to come?" 

 The hawk said, "I will come down and you 

 get up on my back and squat down and I will 

 carry you there so you can pick it up." 



The young man was not afraid, and when 

 the hawk came down he climbed onto its 

 back. Before daylight the hawk carried him 

 away, and in a short time they reached the 

 place below the big star. The hawk then said 

 to him, quickly pick it up and don't wait 

 until mother sun comes out and sees us." He 

 then took his bag and filled it half full, and 

 again climbed on the back of the hawk. The 

 hawk flew back home with him. He took 

 out the secretion of the star and looked at it, 

 and saw that it was a beltful of yellow gold. 

 He used that gold and bought lumber and 

 hired laborers to build a house for him to 

 live in. After this he had plenty to eat and a 

 house to live in, and was rich. 



Next year his older brother heard that he 

 had become rich and came and asked him 

 about it. He told his brother about what had 

 happened. The older brother then said, "I 

 am willing to go and do likewise. Could it be 

 bad to add much gold and silver?" That 

 night the husband and his wife talked it over 

 and they went and cut out another clearing 

 (fire land). As a matter of course they did 

 just as the younger brother had done. They 

 also got only one stalk of grain to grow. This 

 was also carried off by the hawk. He, as his 

 brother had done, sorrowfully entreated the 

 hawk. The hawk also carried him on his back 



to the big star in the western heaven. The 

 hawk said to him, "Hurry up, lest the sun 

 come out and see you." But his heart was 

 very covetous and he gathered as he pleased 

 until daylight. At that time the sun had al- 

 ready appeared and shone upon them. But 

 the light of the sun was very hot so that even 

 the hawk was almost scorched dry. The feath- 

 ers of the hawk were scorched black. The 

 hawk's feathers were now the color of yellow 

 tobacco leaves and it flew away and did not 

 carry the brother back home. 



The older brother got a bagful of the offal 

 of the star, but his body was scorched by the 

 sun into a pile of dry rusted smoke. 



An Orphan Was Saved by an Eagle. A Rich 

 Man Was Eaten by the Eagle (136) 



Once there was an orphan who had nothing 

 to eat or drink. He lived in the ash pit and 

 slept on the dirt. He daily gathered wood and 

 sold it, or rather exchanged it for food. He 

 gathered wood like this every day. 



One day the eagle on the cliff said to him, 

 "You need not gather wood. Come, and I 

 will let you ride on my wings to the east and 

 pick up the refuse of the stars to use." '^^ He 

 went home and sewed a bag shaped like a 

 cow's horn. Before daybreak he went where 

 the eagle was. The eagle carried him on his 

 back and flew straight to the eastern horizon. 

 Then the eagle said to him, "You quickly 

 pick up some of the star refuse and let me 

 see if the sun sister has arisen." In a little 

 while the eagle came back and asked him, 

 "Have you picked it up or not? Now the 

 sun sister has arisen and is washing her 

 hands. Come, let us go." Then the orphan 

 and the eagle came back. The orphan from 

 this time took the star refuse and exchanged 

 it for food. He became richer every day. 



Afterward there was a Ndzang Do Seo 

 (nd^aO" To'^ sau^) who rode a horse past the 

 rear of his house. The orphan called him in 

 to visit, but he would not come. He said, 

 "My legs are large. You haven't a pipeful of 

 tobacco for me to smoke. My leg is thick. 

 You haven't even a pipe of tobacco for me to 

 prepare" (with my fingers) . I will not come." 

 And he rode away on his horse. 



Next day he again rode past on his horse 

 and the orphan again invited him. He then 

 tied up his horse and entered the small home 

 of the orphan. The orphan then used a 

 golden cup and poured out tea for him to 



^^ The idea is that the stars are living beings 

 and that the refuse picked up was the night 

 soil passed out of their bowels. 



