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SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS 



VOL. 



123 



you to stay here and make your things." She 

 did not say much, but remained and Uved 

 there. 



One day she took out an ingot of white 

 silver and requested the old woman to use it 

 to buy food. The old woman said, "Is this 

 silver.? Behind our hut here in the cave in 

 the cliff there is a great deal more. If you 

 do not believe it, I will take you there to 

 see it." 



The two of them then went up on the cliff, 

 and actually there was a layer of silver cover- 

 ing the foot of the cliff. She told the old 

 woman that she should not talk much about 

 it, and during the following days they carried 

 that silver and put it inside their hut. They 

 made another small house to live in outside 

 of it. 



After that the son of that old woman grew 

 up year by year, and the girl and the boy 

 with freedom became harmonious husband 

 and wife. 



Not long afterward she took the silver and 

 bought many fields, and she hired many Miao 

 to come and work for the family. She herself 

 became very wealthy. 



But as to her former husband, because he 

 had divorced her his outside affairs increased 

 daily, and before long his silver money was 

 all used up until he was unable to support 

 himself and wandered about everywhere, try- 

 ing to beg a little food. 



One year Mi Lo's family was marrying a 

 wife for her oldest son, and killed seven pigs. 

 Many guests came from great and small 

 strongholds round about. He did not realize 

 that it was his former wife who already had 

 a son, so the former husband went there to 

 enjoy the feast. 



Others who went there had wedding gifts 

 to give, but when he went there he had no 

 ceremonial gifts which he could present. That 

 day the manager of the feast for the guests 

 was very strict. People who had not made 

 wedding gifts were not allowed to enjoy the 

 feast. After a while the other guests had all 

 finished eating, and he alone was standing 

 outside the gate warming himself where they 

 were cooking food. Mi Lo went out and saw 

 him, and she returned and told her servants 



to prepare a tableful of food for him to eat, 

 and after he had eaten to allow him to remain 

 in the house. 



After he had lived there several days Mi Lo 

 said to him, "I think that you, guest, hate 

 beggars a little. Why are you begging?" He 

 replied, "Madam, we working people, how 

 can we say such a thing as that.?" She replied, 

 "Alas, you did not obey the orders of your 

 parents, and foolishly divorced your wife, 

 who was able to earn money. I have heard 

 that that wife of yours now has a son who 

 also got married the same day that my son 

 did. I myself was formerly a working girl. 

 My husband was like you, and he disobeyed 

 the orders of his parents and divorced me. 

 But I have the handicraft used by beggars, 

 and I am all right now. I pity you, and hope 

 that you, this beggar, will again become rich." 

 She then used a bushel and a quart of rice 

 and cooked a big rice cake, and in it she put 

 ten big pieces of silver. The next morning 

 she gave it to him and told hmi to go, giving 

 it to him as a lunch. 



Of course he did not know that there was 

 silver in it. He carried it half the way, and 

 noticed that a Chinese family was grinding 

 rice, and he took the small rice cake and 

 traded it to that family for five quarts of 

 white rice. He thought that the cake could 

 not last long, and that the rice was easier to 

 take care of. 



When the Chinese received this big rice 

 cake, he thought that it was somebody's large 

 ceremonial gift, and that it should be re- 

 garded as something to present to others. The 

 Chinese parents led their son to be adopted 

 into Mi Lo's family, and were able to use 

 this big rice cake as the ceremonial gift. 

 When the Chinese came carrying this big cake 

 on his back, Mi Lo realized that it was the 

 same cake, and she secretly broke it and 

 looked, and found that the silver she had 

 placed inside was still there in good condition. 



That night she sighed and said, "Things in 

 this world truly are not caused by people. 

 Truly they are determined long before by the 

 aged Ntz'i (god) in heaven." This woman, 

 who lost her former husband, composed tliis 

 song to leave a record about him. 



THE DAUGHTER OF THE DRAGON KING MARRIES A MAN 



Mr. Mbla. A Beautiful Fish Became His Wife. 

 He Lost Her Because He Mistreated Her. 

 Later He Was Changed into a Kingfisher 

 (244) 



Mr. Mbla ^ was an orphan. Every day he 

 went and netted fish. Each day he caught 

 only enough to eat. 



^ Said to mean a man who did not wear clothes. 



One day he suddenly caught a small vari- 

 colored fish. When he saw that this fish was 

 beautifully colored, he placed it in a water 

 jar and fed it. After that he went every day 

 and worked. But when he returned to his 

 work he would say, "He, you think about it. 

 (The fish) is very queer. There is a pot of 

 white rice that is all cooked. After this I 

 shall have plenty like this every day." He 



