2l8 



SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS 



VOL. 123 



Speaking of the earth, roaming over all the 

 world, he traveled to Na Bo Hmong's (na** 

 bo*^ XmoO") place for receiving his bride and 

 said, "Hai, (Xai^), hai, the Miao tribe are 

 going to come and farm." 



The Miao gentleman slept until midnight 

 and awoke, then arose and went to do farm 

 work and clear a forest. The Miao gentleman 

 also used a curved ax to cut down the forest. 

 The Miao gentleman also used a curved knife 

 to hoe the ground with. The Miao tribe ^^ cut 

 out a road, and the vines and grasses from 

 both sides piled up in the middle. 



At night the Miao father returned home 

 and went to bed. The Miao son also returned 

 home to sleep. They had slept until midnight 

 and awakened and said, "What shall we do 

 without seed?" The Miao son then said, "The 

 seed is above in Ntzi's land." The Miao 

 father then replied, "Yes, the seed is in Ntzi's 

 heaven." ^° The Miao son then released a 

 green bird to go and bring the first seeeds. 

 The Miao father also released a green bird to 

 go and get seed. 



The green bird released by the son flew 

 straight to Ntzi's plain. The Miao father's 

 bird also flew up to Ntzi's level land. In a 

 short time the two green birds picked up some 

 of Ntzi's seed and flew back. The two birds 

 then flew with the seeds in their mouths back 

 to the fortified place. The Miao son then got 

 some seed to put in his chest of drawers. The 

 Miao father then got the seed in his bucket. 



The Miao son waited until the next spring 

 when the soil was warm and the earth was 

 moist. When the weather was dry and clear, 

 the Miao son went and set fire to tlie moun- 

 tain. The fire came from both directions, yet 

 on the edge of the clearing the fire lingered. 

 The Miao boy then returned home to rest. 

 The Miao son slept until the middle of the 

 night and took the seed from his pocket. 

 The Miao father also slept until midnight, 

 then arose and took the seed from his belt. 

 The Miao son then went to the field, and 

 from the top of the hill planted the seed as 

 far as the center of the field. The sprouts 

 came up very bountiful and green. The Miao 

 father also scattered three handfuls in the 

 gulch, and sprouts grew out like new bamboo 

 shoots. The Miao son also returned and saw 

 that on the hill the sprouts had grown out 

 like a bamboo grove. The Miao father again 

 sowed three handfuls in the gulch and sprouts 



^^ The old man's son is the Miao tribe, and the 

 Miao gentleman is the father. 



^° For heaven the Ch'uan Miao say "The 

 ancient level land of Ntzi." 



grew up like new bamboo. It had heads like 

 millet. The stalks were like green trees. A 

 wind came and blew over the grain so that 

 it resembled a bed. The stalks fell down and 

 lay flat on the terraces. 



The crop was good, and one person could 

 carry only three bundles. A small boy with- 

 out courage could carry only three stalks. The 

 grain they reaped filled up three houses. The 

 Miao from this time had food to eat, and the 

 old Miao gentleman was also not unwilling 

 to eat. Then the Miao son distilled a jar of 

 wine and the Miao father distilled a jar of 

 black wine.^-^ The clear wine made of rice 

 was sweet like honey. The black wine was 

 fragrant like flowers. The Miao son said, "We 

 have a group of people on the cedar moun- 

 tain." The Miao father said, "We have a 

 group of people on the big creek." They went 

 and called the other brother and he came 

 saying, "This wine can be used in making a 

 good engagement." The younger brother said, 

 "This wine can be used when performing 

 marriage ceremonies." From this time people 

 carried wine when making engagements, but 

 when you plan to make engagements you 

 must have good wine. "But there are also the 

 ancestors who gave us food to eat (who 

 should also have good wine)." When he had 

 said this, he took the pitcher and poured out 

 wine for the ancestors saying, "Hai, Hai," ^^ 

 and then made offerings to the soil, of every 

 kind in every place. 



Why the Miao Use Umbrellas When Wel- 

 coming a Bride to Her 'New Home (45) 



The reason is that while heaven and earth 

 had not been divided, and men and demons 

 had not been separated, and demons con- 

 stantly went into people's houses and people 

 also went into demons' houses, a good-looking 

 demon came and said to the bridegroom, 

 "Cousin, when there was a marriage in our 

 family you came. You actually committed 

 fornication with our sisters. Now you are 

 going to get married, but you must let me see 

 your wife and bride. If she is pretty I want 

 to marry her." The man said, "Correct." 



When the groom returned to his home, he 

 thought about what he should do. "If he 

 wants my wife, she will certainly be choked 

 to death by the demon, who is truly injuring 

 people." He then thought of a plan and 

 secretly sent a message to the girl's family 

 saying, "When you are escorting the bride, 



^1 Very strong wine. 



^- Xai/ Xai,^ meaning "Come and drink, come 

 and drink." 



