NO. I 



CM UAN MIAO SONGS AND STORIES — GRAHAM 



221 



bind heaven) came to their home and saw 

 that they were tlius very sorrowful. Then he 

 wanted to save them from this injury, so he 

 told the two old people not to cry, for he 

 could master the situation. He said, "Today 

 you can take your child and go elsewhere. 

 Leave me here." 



Lo Tsi as a matter of course pretended to 

 be a child in that home, and slept in the 

 bed waiting until the dragon came to eat him. 

 Before he expected it, the dragon arrived and 

 picked him up and swallowed him. Lo Tsi 

 then entered the dragon's stomach, and inside 

 he grew large. Then he seized the mouth of 

 the stomach. 



The dragon felt his stomach swell and was 

 in great pain. Then Lo Tsi spoke a few 

 words saying, 'Tou eat people. Today people 

 will eat you." Then the dragon king was 

 greatly frightened. He then entreated Lo Tsi 

 who answered, "If you will not eat people. 



then I will let you go. If you do, then I will 

 destroy your stomach and let people eat your 

 flesh." Then the dragon became obedient to 

 him, and Lo Tsi came out through a rib of 

 the dragon. But the dragon still wanted to 

 eat people. Lo Tsi knew that the dragon was 

 unwilling to be subject to him, and turned 

 into a peach. 



When the dragon saw the peach, he took it 

 and ate it. Just as it got into his stomach, he 

 felt pain in his stomach. Then he knew that 

 Lo Tsi understood his mind. This time he 

 said to Lo Tsi, "I will truly not eat people." 

 Lo Tsi said, "If you do not eat people, what 

 will you eat?" The dragon said, "I will labor 

 industriously and reap the crops." Then Lo 

 Tsi knew that he would never eat people, 

 and released him. After this the dragon 

 farmed, and so there is no dragon who comes 

 and takes (and eats) people as rent. 



The song is ended. 



ORIGIN OF CUSTOMS, CEREMONIES, AND OBJECTS 



The Origin of Marriage (36) 



Going all over the world. Speaking of 

 heaven, heaven has black air. Speaking of 

 earth, earth is the source of all creatures. I, 

 one person, go all around to Na Bo Ngin's 

 (na** bo*^ ndsin^) big road. Speaking of the 

 earth, it is broad. I go to the road on which 

 my uncle goes to market. 



Na Bo Ngin inside had no son. She arose 

 and went to get her uncle's (father's brother) 

 son and brought this son (adopted him) so 

 that when he grew up he could be her eldest 

 son. Na Bo Ngin then planned to choose a 

 wife (for her adopted son) and conduct the 

 marriage. Then she went and sought one as 

 far as Ntzi's land to the sky god."® The sky 

 god gave her some land and some soil. She 

 sought on as far as the third crossroads of 

 Ntzi's land and she was allowed to govern a 

 grassy hill. When she had gone all over the 

 world, she had fields and soil and everything. 

 When she had finished traveling, she again re- 

 turned to her home. 



One night, when the night had become old, 

 she got a man named Ni Long. One night, 

 when the night had become old, she got a 

 man named T'u Ni (T'u*^ ni'^). When he 

 had completed three years, Ni Long had 

 grown up. After six years, T'u Ni had grown 

 large. His uncle (on the father's side) with 

 Na Bo Ngin wanted to make engagements 

 for Ni Long and T'u Ni and conduct the 

 marriages. Na Bo Ngin requested two go- 



®9 This sky god is subject to Ntzi. 



betweens to talk the matter over with his 

 uncle. Tzu Ye Lah (Tzu-' Se' la-'), the head 

 of the family of T'u Ni and Ni Long, then 

 sent go-betweens to go to Ntzi's place and 

 speak for Ntsi Nyang Ya's (ntsa^ JiaO^ ja-^) 

 daughter whose name was Nts'ai Ngeo Nya 

 (nts'ai' Oau^ jia', a girl as beautiful as silver) 

 to be Ni Long's wife. He also invited a go- 

 between to go to Ntsi Nyang Tsu (ntsa^ jiaO^ 

 t3u'*) to speak for his daughter Nts'ai Ngeo 

 Tsu (t3u-'). 



After he had spoken an entire year, Na Bo 

 Ngin with her uncle wanted to prepare to 

 welcome a bride. The two grooms went for- 

 ward to welcome the brides. Ni Long ar- 

 rived and looked and saw that the entire road 

 was like flowers.^ T'u Ni also went out and 

 looked and saw that half the road was like 

 flowers. Ni Long tlien knelt down so that he 

 could carry a flower (stuck on his head by 

 others). He got Ntsi Ndo Shwang's (ntsa 

 nto' Swa'O) 360 jars of wine. T'u Ni also 

 knelt down and got Ntsi Di La Di's (Ntsa^ 

 Ti-' La-' Ti-') 360 bowls of meat. When 

 they had received the wine and the meat, 

 they divided them up with those who were 

 with them to carry. Ni Long separated him- 

 self and went back home. T'u Ni followed 

 after Ni Long. They came for one year. 



One day Ni Long went out and saw that 

 Ntsi Ndo's bride and those who were escort- 

 ing her had arrived. T'u Ni^ also went out 



1 Like flowers because of people in colored gar- 

 ments. 



^Ni is sometimes pronounced Jii* or ndsi'. 



