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SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS 



VOL. 123 



brother said to the younger, "You look after 

 our mother and I will give you a piece of 

 poor land." So the mother lived with the 

 younger brother. 



The younger brother was very eflScient in 

 netting fish. So he went daily and netted fish. 

 One day he went and netted a five-colored 

 (many-colored) flowery fish. He was unwill- 

 ing to kill it, so he put it in a big water bowl. 

 He went as usual to catch fish. 



After he went away, the fish changed into 

 a beautiful girl and cooked the food. She 

 also swept the house clean, and carefully 

 served his mother. When he came back, he 

 saw that there were many things for him to 

 eat. 



He saw that it was this way every day. He 

 therefore asked his mother, "Where did these 

 things come from?" She answered, "Every 

 day a young woman comes and does it. I 

 suppose it is someone in this fortified place." 



He then hurried about the fortified place 

 and at every house thanked the women. But 

 they took offense at it. So he was helpless, 

 and he ran and asked Ye Seo. Ye Seo said 

 to him, "This is your good fortune. Tomor- 

 row you pretend to go out, and hide behind 

 the house. When you see her come out, just 



pick up her fish skin and put it carefully 

 away. Then seize her, and she cannot escape." 



Of course, when he did this, he got this 

 fish for a wife. Later this fish-woman made 

 a big house for him to live in. But when the 

 older brother saw that he was rich, he wanted 

 to trade his fields and houses to him for the 

 girl so she would be his wife. But the younger 

 brother was unwilling. 



That night his wife said to him, 'Tou do 

 not know that I am not truly your wife. I 

 came to save you. You may trade me to him. 

 But you only want his principal wife and the 

 deed to his fields, and bring his wife to live 

 with your mother." 



He actually did this way, and gave the 

 woman to his older brother. That night the 

 older brother was going to sleep with this 

 woman and the woman said, "You may get 

 a basin of water for me to bathe in (then I 

 will sleep with you)." 



But when she got the water she took the 

 fish skin and soaked it in the water. When 

 it was well soaked, she put the fish skin on. 

 Then she changed into a small, many-colored ' 

 fish. Then a flood arose, and the house was 

 entirely washed away by the flood, and the 

 older brother was also drowned by the water, 

 and there was no further trouble. 



MAGIC 



The Deeds of the Ancient Hero Wen (502) 



In ancient times there was a scholar who 

 was called the heroic student. When he was 

 three years old he v/ent to school. He caught 

 a centipede and took care of it. He put it 

 inside a round box (or tube). When it had 

 grown big he bought a large box and kept 

 it inside. Later, when he discontinued study- 

 ing, he hired a servant to carry the insect and 

 go with him everywhere he went. 



One day he arrived at an inn. He heard 

 people say that on the road ahead of him was 

 a great forest and that he would have to walk 

 seven days and seven nights before he could 

 walk through it. Inside the forest there was 

 a great demon that ate people. He could eat 

 a thousand or ten thousand people. 



When he had heard these things, he became 

 sad in his heart. But one night the centipede 

 spoke to him in a dream (gave him a dream), 

 saying, "You must not be afraid." 



T'ue next day he was going through the 

 forest and saw an old man whose teeth were 

 eight palms broad. Where he came out of the 

 forest there was an inn. The innkeeper asked 

 him, "Did you meet that old man in the 

 forest.?" He replied, "I saw him." Then the 



innkeeper would not let them stay there. 

 Then they went on to another home. The 

 master of the home asked, "When you came, 

 did you see an old man.?" He replied, "We. 

 did not see him." Then that family per- 

 mitted them to stay there. 



While he was asleep the centipede again: 

 revealed himself to him in a dream saying, 

 "Do not fear. When you hear the sound of 

 wind blowing and the falling of snow, the 

 demon will arrive. Do not fear. I will capture 

 him." 



But when he heard these words in the: 

 dream, he did not sleep any longer. He heard : 

 a noise in the box, and the centipede grewi 

 large and surrounded the room they weret 

 staying in. Then the demon fought with the: 

 centipede, and the centipede bit the demon 

 to death. The hero then arose and said to the 

 master of the house, "My centipede has bitten 

 your big demon to death. You must con- 

 tribute money and perform a ceremony of 

 three days and three nights for the demon and: 

 bury the demon." They then contributed' 

 money and performed the memorial ceremony 

 for three days and three nights, and buried 

 the demon. 



