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SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS 



VOL. 123 



drink, and also used a silver plate and spread 

 out food for him to eat. He also filled a pipe 

 with tobacco from the big river for him to 

 smoke. He became drunk from smoking this. 

 Then the orphan cooked rice and vegetables, 

 and in a little while invited him to get up 

 and eat. But such vegetables as he prepared 

 Ndzang Do Seo had not eaten in all his life.'^ 



When he was through eating, Ndzang Do 

 Seo asked the orphan how he got rich. He 

 then told him how he gathered wood and 

 exchanged it for food, and later the eagle had 

 him go to the east and gather the refuse of 

 stars. 



When Ndzang Do Seo heard this he went 

 home and threw away his horse and saddle. 

 He then changed into a very poor orphan, 

 and went and gathered wood to exchange for 

 food. Then the eagle took him to the east as 

 he had formerly taken the orphan. When 

 they arrived the eagle said, "Quickly gather 

 it and let me go and see if the sun sister has 

 arisen or not." 



The eagle went away a short time and came 

 back and said, "We'd better go. The sun 

 sister has already arisen and is washing her 

 face." He replied, "I have not finished gather- 

 ing it," because his bag was very large. The 

 eagle said, "Gather it quickly. I fear the sun 

 sister will see us." But he said, "I have not 

 picked up enough." The eagle came the sec- 

 ond and the third time, but he said he had 

 not gathered enough. 



Suddenly the sun came out and in a wink 

 of an eye she scorched the eagle, but the eagle 

 flew away east and flew to her home. That 

 Ndzang Do Seo was roasted dry by the sun. 

 The next morning the eagle went and looked 

 at him, and saw that he was dried up like a 

 piece of dried beef. Then the eagle said, "You 

 thing, you nearly caused my death. Let me 

 eat some of your flesh." When he had said 

 this, the eagle ate a meal of his dry flesh. The 

 eagle said as he ate, "It is good to eat, it is 

 good to eat (it tastes good)." 



TALES THAT TEACH 

 One Should Not Travel Far 



W/iy the Miao Are Unwilling for a Son to 

 Travel to a Distant Place, or. Three 

 Stupid Sons (393) 



There was a man who had three sons. 

 They were all stupid and without knowledge. 

 The father gave each one a hundred ounces 

 of silver and told them to go to distant places 

 and learn trades. 



Each of them took his silver with him and 

 went away. When the oldest son had traveled 

 halfway, he met a hunter. He gave the silver 

 to the hunter and then went with him to 

 learn how to hunt. 



When the second son got his silver, he took 

 it and went to learn how to play the liu 

 sheng. 



When the third son got his silver, he took 

 it and fortunately met a man whose father 

 had died and who was loudly weeping. Then 



he gave the silver to this man and asked him 

 to teach him how to weep. 



The three sons thought they had learned 

 trades. Before long they all came back home. 



The father said, "Now you have each 

 learned a good trade. Today let each one of 

 you perform his trade for me to see, and I 

 will note which of you has done best." The 

 three sons said, "Father, please watch and we 

 will perform." Then the father brought a 

 stool and sat down at the door. 



The oldest son then carried out his gun and 

 shot at his father, and his father was killed 

 by him. Then the second oldest son brought 

 out his liu sheng and played it and danced. 

 The third son then came and wept. 



From this time others, when they saw that 

 this father was so thoughtful about them and 

 sought wisdom for them and then was killed 

 by one of their trades, did not dare to send 

 their sons to distant place to learn trades. 



One Should Not Get Angry 



The Harm of Getting Angry (138) 



In ancient times there was an old man who 

 went daily to herd his sheep. One day the 

 father drove his sheep upon the mountain and 



^® The word here translated vegetables may 

 include both vegetables and meat. 



the sheep trod upon a stone slab. The stone 

 slab resounded with a bang, and a wildcat 

 ran out. 



The wildcat said, "Sheep girl, sing a song." 

 The sheep said, "Cat brother, you please sing." 

 Then the wildcat sang, "5/<? la la, above the 

 flowers bloom and the fruit hangs down. 



