230 



SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS 



VOL. 



123 



one hundred and twenty pounds heavy and 

 beat it into a sword. I am going into the 

 great forest to trap wild animals." The 

 father made the sword and brought it. The 

 son gave it a twist, and the sword broke in 

 two. The father made another sword, and 

 it was all right. Then the son took the sword 

 and went to hunt wild animals on the moun- 

 tains. 



He first met a man who was digging a 

 ditch in a rice field who said, "If you are 

 going to hunt on the mountains I will go 

 with you." Then they went along together 

 into a great forest. 



These two men met a grass cutter who 

 went along with them. When the three men 

 arrived in the forest, they got wood and built 

 a small house. Then they left the man who 

 was digging the ditch in the rice paddy at 

 home. Nie Ta and the grass cutter went to 

 trap on the mountain. Nie Ta said, "When 

 you have cooked breakfast, call my name and 

 I will come back and eat." 



When breakfast was done he called, "Nie 

 Ta, come back and eat." There was a demon 

 who came flying with a roar from a pigpen 

 over there. He pushed the man into the house 

 and ate the rice. 



When the two men came back, there was 

 no rice. When Nie Ta saw it he said, "To- 

 morrow let me cook the food at home and 

 you can go and trap on the mountain." Then 

 on the one hand he cooked the rice, and on 

 the other hand he wove a basket. When the 



rice was cooked he called, and the demon 

 again came. He took the basket and placed 

 it inside the door. When the demon came, 

 he seized him. When his friends came back 

 he said, "You are not so fierce as I. I have 

 captured the demon. Let us eat breakfast and 

 then take him out and kill him." The demon 

 said, "You must not kill me. I have a young 

 daughter that I will bring and give to you." 

 Then the demon made a date saying, "On 

 that day you may come and take her." 



On that day they went to get the daughter. 

 It was very hot. The old demon said to the 

 small demon, "You go and get a fan and fan 

 them until they are cool." The small demon 

 brought the fan and fanned them twice, and 

 fanned the three men up onto the top of a 

 cliff. Later the big demon carried them down 

 on his back. 



Next day they said to the daughter of the 

 old demon, "Why has your father's fan such 

 power.? Let us see it." The daughter gave it 

 to them to look at. They carried the demon's 

 fan away and left their own fan there. 



On the third day they again went to see the 

 demon. The old demon said to the small 

 demon, " You go and bring my fan and fan 

 them." When the small demon had brought 

 the fan, he fanned three times. But he could 

 not move them. Then they took their fan and 

 fanned the old demon once, and fanned him 

 up onto the opposite cliff. Today if people 

 call once the demon on the cliff will reply 

 once. It is that old demon. 



THE CLEVER WIFE 



A Cousin As\ed Hard Questions {an Obstacle 

 Story) (88) 



Formerly there were two cousins. One was 

 stupid and one was wise. The wise one saw 

 that the stupid one had a beautiful wife, and 

 he coveted her. So he determined to ask hard 

 questions. If the stupid cousin could not guess 

 the answer, then he would take the stupid 

 cousin's wife. 



The wise cousin then said, "I came to a 

 level terrace and saw a bean as big as a big 

 bowl. What is this?" The stupid cousin could 

 not answer him. When the stupid cousin 

 came back his wife asked him, "Why are you 

 so sorrowful today.'"' He replied, "My cousin 

 asked a hard question of me. He said that if I 

 could answer it, all right, but if not he would 

 take you as his wife." His wife said, "What 

 is hard about that.? You quickly eat. When 

 he comes tomorrow I have a way out." 



Next morning that cousin came. He called 

 out, "Cousin, are you at home.?" His wife 



replied, "He is not at home." He said, "Where 

 did he go?" The wife replied, "Last night 

 a Chinese chiseled out a stone grinder and 

 needed 120 men to carry it." The cousin 

 said, "What kind of grinder is this that it 

 needed so many people to carry it?" The 

 woman then said, "This grinder is to grind 

 a bean as big as a bowl." The cousin was then 

 frightened and did not dare to want (implies 

 to take) her. 



After a few days the wise cousin met the 

 stupid one and again said, "Now I have a 

 hard conundrum that I want you to guess. 

 If you are able, all right. If not, quickly give 

 your wife to me." The stupid cousin said, 

 "Please speak." Then he said, "I saw a dyer's 

 jar in which six ducks can bathe but in seven 

 days and seven nights they are unable to reach 

 its borders. What is this?" The cousin could 

 not guess and went home crying. 



His wife again interrogated him, and he 

 told his wife the question that his cousin 



