NO. I 



CHUAN MIAO SONGS AND STORIES — GRAHAM 



223 



ring the husks. Then the rice beater struck 

 her and broke her head into nine pieces. The 

 thing changed into a bird with nine heads 

 and flew away. People at die present time 

 call it (in Chinese) Chiu T'ou Niao ll^UUJ^' 

 meaning a bird with nine heads. As she 

 flies she calls out, and if people hear it they 

 must beat something like the beating of the 

 rice husker, and when she hears it she will 

 not dare to come, and people can escape un- 

 desirable things.^ 



The Cause of the Blac\ on Tigers (207) 



In ancient times, one day the tiger and the 

 thunder and the echo and a dragon all four 

 held a contest of ability on a high mountain. 

 One day the echo spoke to them as follows: 

 "We are all here. Let us see if we can think 

 of some strange thing to make it difficult for 

 all of us." They all thought, "Who in heaven 

 or on earth is as able as we?" Unexpectedly 

 the echo went down to the foot of the moun- 

 tain and used a torch to set the mountain 

 on fire. They had no way to escape the 

 fire. In a moment the fire arrived. The 

 thunder dispersed. The dragon flew into the 

 air. Only the tiger was unable to evaporate 

 or fly, and he could only leap about. In a 

 moment the fire burned him black. There- 

 fore today the tiger has black stripes because 

 the echo did him harm. 



Why There Is Some Blac\on the Weasel{264) 



The hawk flew 10,000 feet high. 



The weasel is a small, strong thing. One 

 day he said to the hawk, "You fly very high. 

 Have you seen all the world? I cannot see 

 anything. It would be good if I were like 

 you." 



The hawk said to him, "You come here 



and I will carry you on my back so that you 

 can see." Then the hawk took him on his 

 back and flew very high. That day the hawk 

 flew to a place outside the sky where it was 

 very dark, and then put the weasel down on 

 the black dirt. But the hawk took pity on 

 him and brought him back and said to him, 

 "Now you have seen the view of the world." 

 He rephed, "I have now seen the world. You 

 can fly, and you did not bring that black dirt 

 back with you. I cannot fly and some of the 

 black dirt stuck to me and I cannot wash it 

 all off." 



For this reason there is still some black on 

 the weasel. 



The Origin of Death: Because She Was Un- 

 cleanly, Death Has Cotne to All (399) 



The men of most ancient times did not die. 

 When they became old, they would change 

 their skins and return as new people. 



One year the old mother of a family had 

 come to the time for changing her skin. That 

 night she told her son and her daughter-in-law 

 to heat some water so she could take a bath, 

 after which she would change her skin. Ac- 

 tually that daughter-in-law was too lazy, and 

 she took water warmed by the sunlight and 

 gave it to her mother-in-law. The mother 

 did not know about this, but lay down in the 

 water to take her bath. Just as she lay down 

 in the water she cried out loudly, and her 

 skin, bones, and joints all fell apart (down). 

 From this time she was dead forever. 



When the old woman had died, in a dream 

 at night she came back and talked with her 

 son and daughter-in-law saying, "I have died 

 forever because you have injured me. Now, 

 since I have died, this death has already be- 

 come the suffering of all people on earth. 

 From this affair death has come, and it can- 

 not be avoided." 



HUMOR AND JOKES 



The Tiger and the Toad (203) 



Once a tiger and a toad agreed to be 

 brothers. One day the toad said to the tiger, 

 "Although we are brothers, we can have a 

 contest in battle. The one who conquers can 

 eat the one who is defeated." 



2 People in West China believe that there is a 

 nine-headed bird which at night flies northward 

 in spring and southward in fall. As the flocks 

 of migrating birds pass over, die birds call to each 

 other so as to be able to keep together. Of course 

 the voices of the different birds sound differently, 

 which is believed to be evidence that the bird has 



The tiger drought his strength was very 

 great. He thought the toad could not oppose 

 him. The tiger then used his fighting power. 

 To his surprise the toad held onto his tafl 

 with his mouth. Then the tiger leaped for- 

 ward, and the tail of the tiger threw the toad 

 ahead. But the tiger did not know this. 



nine heads. It is thought that if a feather or a 

 drop of blood or the offal of the bird falls on 

 the house or in the yard of a family, sickness, 

 death, or some other calamity will ensue. There- 

 fore, when these birds are heard flying over, peo- 

 ple beat the doors or walls of their houses or 

 something else to frighten the bird away. 



