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SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS 



VOL. 123 



home said, "When you go, please ask a ques- 

 tion for us, for in our home there is a small 

 boy nine years old who still cannot talk, and 

 a dog who cannot bite people. Please ask 

 why this is." He said, "All right." 



On the next day he arrived in a home 

 where there was a peach tree nine years old 

 which still could not bear fruit. The people 

 said, "Please ask the reason for us." The third 

 day he reached the side of a large creek and 

 met an old dragon king. The old dragon 

 king asked him, "I cultivated Tao ^^ for nine 

 years and did ten years of work, and still 

 cannot ascend the skies. Why is it?" 



The orphan of course agreed to ask, but he 

 did not know where he could inquire about 

 his own creature. He did not become dis- 

 couraged, but walked along daily. One day 

 he reached the end of the sky where was the 

 water of the great ocean. Suddenly he saw 

 a cloud, and a voice from the cloud called to 

 him, "Orphan, where are you going?" He 

 said, "I am going to the western heaven." 

 The one in the cloud said to him, "The old 

 dragon king cannot go up to heaven because 

 the two horns on his head are heavy. Have 

 him take off one and then he can ascend to 

 heaven. The peach tree does not bloom and 

 the plum tree does not bear fruit because 

 beneath them there are three pecks and three 

 quarts of gold nuggets. Tell them to take 

 these away and then the trees will bear fruit. 

 The boy in that family and the dog that can- 

 not speak or bite anybody, you must take a 

 red hair from that boy's head and then he can 

 speak and the dog can bite people." Before 

 he could mention his own wife the cloud 

 disappeared. 



He did not proceed any more, and thought 

 in his mind, "If only I can straighten up other 

 peoples' affairs my own affairs do not matter." 

 That day he walked slowly back to the dragon 

 king. He said to the dragon king, "The two 

 horns on your head are too heavy, and so you 

 cannot ascend to heaven. The immortal who 

 spoke to me from the cloud said that you 

 must take one off before you can ascend to 

 heaven." The old dragon king said, "Please 

 help me take it off." He then took the horn 

 off the dragon king's head. The old dragon 

 king did not want it and gave it to him. 



He then walked to the house of the peach 

 and the plum trees. This family asked him, 

 "What did the immortal Yei Seo say to you?" 

 He replied, "Yei Seo spoke thus: 'There are 

 some things beneath the peach trees and the 

 plum tree. You must take them out before 



^2 Tao ia means learning, religion. 



the trees can bear fruit.' " The people in that 

 house said, "Please trouble your heart and 

 help us by taking them out." He replied, 

 "Please assist by preparing a hoe and I will 

 begin." They prepared the hoe, and then he 

 went and dug out three pecks and three 

 quarts of gold. He then went back to the 

 family where the boy could not talk and die , 

 dog could not bite people. That family asked 

 him, "Why can't the boy talk or the dog 

 bite people?" He replied, "Yei Seo said, 'Be- 

 cause your small boy had one bad red hair on 

 his head.'" They asked, "What should we 

 do about this hair?" He said, 'Tou must re- 

 move it and the boy and the dog will be all 

 right." The people of that family then said, 

 "Please trouble your heart and pull out the 

 hair." He did not refuse, but pulled out the 

 boy's red hair and the boy was able to speak 

 and the dog was able to bite people. The 

 people in that house said, "We will present 

 this red hair to you." He said, "All right," 

 and picked diese things up and made a load 

 that he carried to his own home. He said to 

 his mother, "Your son thanks heaven. The 

 ceremonial objects uncle wants I have pre- 

 pared. I request you, mother, to carry them 

 over for me." His mother said, "Heaven has 

 rewarded you in this way. Your mother can 

 hardly fail to obey the command of heaven." 

 On the next morning his mother prepared 

 go-betweens and first went ahead to the 

 family, and then hired men to carry the cere- 

 monial objects. When the gifts arrived the 

 uncle's family marveled a great deal and said, 

 "How did such a poor person get such things? 

 They have truly been given him by heaven." 

 The uncle stood up and ordered people to 

 take the girl and give her to him. From this 

 time the orphan had a wife. Heaven does 

 not block the way of the helpless (does not 

 block the road for people who have no 

 roads)." 



A Poor Person Received a Reward and a 

 Proud Rich Person Received Punishment 

 (27) 



In ancient times there was a family whose 

 parents had died early leaving only a small 

 son. He had nothing to eat or to drink. Daily 

 he slept on the ground or sat on an ash pile. 

 He gradually grew a litde. Every day he 

 went to cut firewood on the mountain, thus 

 clearing the forest for agriculture. When he 

 had finished clearing the forest, he went and 

 sought advice from the immortal. The im- 

 mortal said, "You are very quick. First you 

 must finish planting the small grains before 

 setting fire to the mountain." He replied, "I 



