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SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS 



VOL. 123 



The tiger called, "I am now going to eat 

 you for my dinner." The toad said, "I can 

 leap ten feet farther than you." The tiger 

 then feared the toad and ran away at once. 

 He ran until he met a fox. 



The fox asked him, "Why are you running 

 so fast?" He replied, "There is a toad that 

 is very brave." The fox said, "I do not believe 

 this. You take me there and let me see what 

 talents he has." The tiger was still afraid. 

 The fox said, "Then you can take a vine and 

 tie it around my shoulders. If he really has 

 great ability, you can hold onto me and we 

 can run away together." Then the two went 

 together to the toad. 



The toad was still not afraid. He opened 

 his mouth widely and shouted, "Have you 

 come again.? Do you think that you alone are 

 not enough for me to eat and invited a fox 

 brother to come back again? Stand still, I 

 am coming." 



When the tiger heard this he did not take 

 care for the fox, but ran away pulling the 

 fox after him. They ran until it was after- 

 noon, when they came into a forest. Then 

 the tiger rested. But the fox was dead, and 

 his tongue was hanging out, and his mouth 

 was open. Then the tiger laughed at him 

 and said, "Fox brother, are you unafraid? 

 Are you laughing at me?" 



The Foolish Husband, or What a Stupid Man 

 Did in Ancient Times (602) 



In ancient times there was a stupid man. 

 He was very fond of eating rice biscuits. He 

 went with his wife to her home to visit. At 

 night his parents made rice biscuits for them 

 to eat. Just as they were making the biscuits, 

 they knocked the light out. Then his wife 

 went to light the light. 



He thought that his wife was still there 

 making biscuits, and said in a low voice, "In 

 a little while, when you pick up a biscuit, 

 pick up a big one for me." His mother-in-law 

 then said, "Yes, let me pick up a big one for 

 you." When he heard his mother-in-law's 

 voice, he was ashamed and got up and ran 

 away. 



When they had finished making the bis- 

 cuits, they called him to come and eat biscuits. 

 He would not speak a word, but ran and lay 

 down. His mother-in-law then said, "Son-in- 

 law, if you want to eat you may." She again 

 said, "The honey is in this small jug." 



When she had finished saying this, the 

 parents-in-law went to bed. The stupid man 

 then secretly took a biscuit, and put the bis- 

 cuit and his hand into the jug to dip them 

 into the honey. He could not take his hand 



out and was helpless, so he went about every- 

 where looking for a stone to break the jug on. 

 There was no stone in the house, so he went 

 to the toilet to find a stone to hit it with. At 

 that time it thundered. His fadier-in-law was 

 in the toilet urinating. He saw the lightning, 

 and saw his father-in-law's legs. He thought 

 that the leg was a stone, and hit the jug 

 against it. His father-in-law then thought that 

 it was the lightning that had struck him. He 

 then cried out, "Old wife, I have been struck 

 by lightning." The son-in-law was more 

 ashamed, and slipped away and went home. 



The Clever Woman: The Aged P'an Ku 

 (13) 



When P'an Ku was 800 years old, he mar- 

 ried a wife who was only 16 years old. He 

 said, "I myself am 800 years old. If there is 

 anybody older than I, I will give him my 

 wife." To his surprise there was a man 

 named Ho T'ai (Xo T'ai) who was a thou- 

 sand years old. He said that this wife was 

 his. To their amazement there was another 

 man whose name was "Million Years Old" 

 who reckoned that his age was greater. He 

 was a million years old, and planned to come 

 and marry that woman. P'an Ku was helpless. 

 Because he was a king, he certainly did not 

 want to lose her, but he had already made his 

 promise, and how could he break it? Then 

 his sister-in-law came out and made a plan 

 for him saying, "You can take some manure 

 dust and sprinkle it over me. Later, when 

 Million Years comes, I have a plan." 



Soon after the sister-in-law had made her- 

 self look like a very old woman and sat in 

 the parlor, Mr. Million Years arrived. When 

 he saw the old woman as white as lime he 

 said, "Who is this?" P'an Ku replied, "This 

 is my mother." He asked her how old she 

 was, and she replied, "Do you want to know 

 my age? The solo tree in the sky on the 

 moon was planted by me. I opened up the 

 channel of the Yellow River. I caused the 

 old mother of Yao to be pregnant. I existed 

 before the sky did. I cannot reckon my age. 

 Can you figure out my age?" Million Years 

 could not determine this old woman's age, 

 and he did not dare to take the 16-year-old 

 wife of P'an Ku. 



A Pumpkin Is the Egg of an Elephafit (205) 



In the forest on the mountain there was a 

 Miao family. The master was a man of great 

 power. But because there were not many 

 products in the place where he lived, one day 



