NO. I 



CH'uAN MIAO songs and stories — GRAHAM 



235 



will be all right." The two went together 

 and looked into the cave. When they had 

 arrived diey saw a heap of white silver in the 

 cave on the cliff. They talked it over and 

 decided to prepare a basket and that on the 

 next night they, husband and wife, should 

 carry the silver home. There was a great deal. 

 From this time the orphan and the faithful 

 woman were wealthy. 



A Pretty Girl Who Did Not Want a Poor 

 Husband (22) 

 In early times there was a family. While 

 the husband and the wife were living they 

 made a nuptial engagement for their baby 

 boy. Not long afterward the parents died. 

 The one they engaged him to was die daugh- 

 ter of the maternal uncle. 



Then the uncle thought of breaking the 

 engagement, but he was unable to make a 

 proper explanation among the relatives. He 

 could only have the orphan go and live with 

 him. The uncle then told him to go and herd 

 the horses and tend die sheep. He gave him 

 a horse stall to live in. 



The orphan had a great deal of money. 

 Every night he took his silver and made orna- 

 m^ents and silver garments. He made gold 

 and silver flutes. He also made gold and 

 silver liu shengs to play, and there were gold 

 and silver horns. The horns were to contain 

 wine. 



The uncle heard the sound of beating, ding 

 ding, dong dong. The uncle said, "What is 

 this person doing? Why does he hammer 

 away until the middle of the night?" He then 

 ran to investigate. When he arrived the 

 nephew merely held a stick in his hand and 

 was aimlessly dancing and beating. When 

 the uncle saw this, he did nothing about it. 

 The orphan waited until the uncle had gone 

 away, and then he again quickly made the 

 things for his use until they were finished. 

 When the new year arrived, on the morn- 

 ing of the new spring the girl he was engaged 

 to went with her sisters to play on the hills. 

 The orphan took a sandy earthenware pot to 

 get water. His sister-in-law invited him to go 

 and play on the hills and enjoy the spring 

 scenery saying, "Brother-in-law, let's go and 

 play." He replied, "You have beautiful clothes 

 to wear. You may go, I am a poor orphan, 

 bitterly poor, and have no new clothes, nor 

 even ragged clothes to cover my shame. I 

 certainly cannot go." Afterward the wife he 

 had still not married came where he was and 

 saw his earthenware vessel beside the road, 

 full of water. She used her foot and pushed 

 over the sandy pot and went away. He said 

 nothing, but merely picked up the pot and 

 went to get water. 



He brought the water back and washed his 

 face and combed his hair and put on the silver 

 clothing and ornaments he had made. He 

 took his gold and silver flutes and carried 

 them on his back and took wine and poured 

 it into the gold and silver horns and took in 

 his hnnd the gold and silver liu slungs, and 

 blow hig them, tsa la, tsa lo, and dancing, he 

 followed after them. He played and danced 

 around the bend and walked over the level 

 hilltops shouting exceedingly happily as 

 though the sky were coming down and the 

 earth were going to arise. In a litde while 

 he arrived on the hill where they were play- 

 ing. He then took out the fine wine which 

 was in the gold and the silver horns and 

 poured it out for them to drink. His be- 

 trothed secretly watched him and saw that 

 he was like a painted picture of a handsome 

 bridegroom. She asked her relatives, "Who 

 is this?" His sister-in-law replied, "This is 

 your husband. Don't you recognize him?" 

 Then the betrothed said, 'Tou my husband? 

 Today I will go with you." He replied, "I 

 am a poor person. How can I marry a pretty 

 girl like you? I don't want you." 



Later in the afternoon, when the birds were 

 going to roost, and the sun was setting in the 

 west, indeed that girl went with him, carrying 

 the gold and the silver vessels, and grasping 

 his clothing and belt, and went back with 

 him to live in the horse stall. She saw his 

 much gold and silver. She asked, "Is this 

 yours?" He replied, "Yours, mine, yours, 

 mine." Pointing as he said "Yours, mine, 

 yours, mine," so he answered her. She did 

 not dare to reply. 



Later die orphan said, "If you wish to be 

 my wife, you must boil some rice for us to 

 eat before I want you." The betrothed said, 

 "Yes, I will cook it." While she was cooking 

 the rice he took his large liu sheng and played 

 and danced. When she saw it she forgot the 

 rice in the vessel, and the rice was spoiled. 

 He said, "I don't want you. You cannot even 

 cook rice for me to eat. What can I want 

 you for?" She said, "Husband, not too fast. 

 Give me a little more rice to cook." 



While she was boiling the rice again he 

 took the small gold and silver liu shengs and 

 played them, and also flew dancing about 

 better than the first time. She broke out 

 laughing, and watched so that she again 

 spoiled the rice. He said, "I still don't want 

 you." She said, "Why don't you want me?" 

 The husband said, "If you want to be with 

 me, you must take down that piece of meat 

 hanging on my door and boil it for us to 

 eat before I will have you." She said, "A 

 piece of meat hanging up so high, how do 

 you expect me to get it down and boil it? 



