NO. I 



CHUAN MIAO SONGS AND STORIES — GRAHAM 



215 



I can heal sickness, but the emperor is so far 

 away from us. How can we get there?" 



Then the second oldest brother said, "I can 

 fly. I will fly and carry you dicre." When 

 they had settled the matter, the second brother 

 flew and carried his younger brother to the 

 capital of the emperor. They saw the placard 

 saying that the emperor was looking for a 

 physician, and tore it down and went into 

 the house. Then the emperor requested them 

 to heal his daughter. 



The youngest brother's method of healing 

 was to stamp with his feet and shout "T'ai, 

 t'ai, t'ai," and when he had done this the 

 daughter of the emperor got well. The three 

 brothers told the emperor all about them- 

 selves, and the emperor exalted them to the 

 position of prime minister. 



Therefore when the Miao tuan ^ung 

 (Ch'uan Miao To" nAn") exorcises demons, 

 he must first strike the lin p'ai three times on 

 the table and shout "T'ai, t'ai, t'ai." 



Why the K'a Get Uses a Bow and an Arrow ^^ 

 (86) 



In that place was a school, and in that 

 school was a poor student. He loved to eat 

 good things. One day when the teacher was 

 not at home, his fellow students secretly 

 talked over how they would injure him. On 

 the other side was a temple, and there (in 

 the temple) was one of the first demons. He 

 was very efficient in eating people. The fellow 

 students were going to deceive the poor stu- 

 dent and give him to the demon to eat. 



That day each student prepared a jar of 

 wine, and they enticed that boy to go into 

 the temple to play (visit, or amuse each 

 other). The boy said, "In that temple there 

 is a demon who is very bad. I will not go." 

 The others deceived him and said, "Today 

 the teacher is not at home and we want to 

 hold a special meeting to capture the demon. 

 We who have money will be the hosts and 

 the poor student need not pay any money 

 for edibles." The boy thought, "If I do not 

 have to pay any money I will go." 



^3 The following explanation was included in 

 the original translation as given to D. C. Graham 

 by the Ch'uan Miao: "Because in ancient times 

 the Miao loved to hunt, when one was about to 

 die the relatives would make a bow and arrows 

 to accompany him, and it protected the living 

 mourners from demons. In very ancient times 

 they (the K'a Gels) did not do this (use bows 

 and arrows at funerals) very much, but it is 

 because a demon came down to this world (a first 

 demon), and he taught a student how to get 

 people's money to use." 



When he arrived, they invited him to oc- 

 cupy the chief seat. Because his courage was 

 great, he did not decline but sat in the highest 

 seat. That temple was P'an Ku's temple. 



They gave this boy a great deal of wine to 

 drink. He then became drunk. At dark the 

 other pupils all departed and left him alone 

 in the temple. He slept alone until midnight 

 when the demon came. The demon's head 

 was pointed and his hair was red and his face 

 was black. His body was twelve feet high. 

 When he came to the door he said, "Ge le ge 

 lo (gs^ le^ ge^ lo"°), I, this evil one, am very 

 happy. I will certainly get the stupid person." 

 When the demon had said this, he worshiped 

 (bowed in respect to) the temple. 



When the first demon arrived, he suddenly 

 saw the boy and said, "My son, do you wish 

 to be my breakfast?" The boy then suddenly 

 awakened, and he realized that the pioneer 

 demon had arrived. He then stood up straight 

 and grasped the wooden idol to fight the de- 

 mon with. They fought a very long time, and 

 all the idols in the temple were knocked to 

 pieces by them. They fought until midnight 

 and that boy stretched forth his hand and 

 grasped the throat of the demon. He then 

 used the idol's sword to kill the demon with. 

 The demon called to him "Flower, flower, my 

 old ancestor of a thousand hills, please release 

 me and I will secure some money for you, 

 and afterward you will be a rich man, and 

 you will certainly besides have silver so that 

 you can be an official." The boy said, "Please 

 tell me (what you will do) and I will re- 

 lease you. Otherwise I will leave you until 

 tomorrow morning before I kill you." 



The demon then said to him, "In the fourth 

 lunar month there is a rich man who in- 

 tends to have his son get married. On that 

 day I will certainly take his soul away by 

 choking him. I will let the bridegroom die 

 first, and after that I will choke the whole 

 family almost to death. Afterward you come 

 and heal them. You can take a bamboo and 

 make a bent bow and use a peach tree to 

 make the arrows with. From the outside 

 shoot three arrows into their home and also 

 shoot three arrows out from the inside of 

 their home, and those people will get well. 

 But if I teach you, you must not use this 

 promiscuously, but wait until people die until 

 j'ou use this method." 



In the middle of the fourth moon the rich 

 man invited guests for the marriage. When 

 the bride was entering the house, and the 

 bride and bridegroom were coming together, 

 the bride and the groom died. Then whoever 

 in that family came to look also died. After- 



