NO. I 



CH'uAN MIAO songs and stories — GRAHAM 



239 



understand." Then he returned home to 

 prepare the fire for lighting the forest. 



On the next day he took a peck and two 

 quarts of the small grains and went to sit 

 on the pile of wood. He waited until the 

 wind was blowing in the afternoon, when he 

 used a torch and lighted the mountain. Alas, 

 the seed was also burnt up, and there was left 

 only one small grain that was left under a 

 knot of a big tree. This grain then grew 

 until it was as large as a large banyan tree, 

 and it was yielding grain. 



One day he went to town to buy salt and 

 small grain. The grain in his field was sud- 

 denly carried above the city by a hawk which 

 flew down and carried it away. He was help- 

 less and went to ask Yei Seo the Immortal. 

 Yei Seo said, "Do not fear, do not fear. To- 

 night you go into the temple on the opposite 

 side and sit behind the altar of the idol. Ob- 

 serve the small gods who come there during 

 the night. Wait until the idols have gone, 

 and then you bring back the wooden tongue 

 which they held in their hands,^^ and it will 

 be well with you." 



The night after he heard these words he 

 went stealthily into the temple and hid behind 

 the idol. At midnight he heard the front door 

 open. The light of their lamps exposed 

 people's hearts. He did not fear at all. The 

 small gods arrived and took the lin p'ai in 

 their hands and shouting they struck the table 

 saying, "At one stroke of the lin p'ai carry 

 out water for washing our feet." They again 

 struck the lin p'ai and said, "At one stroke 

 of the lin p'ai bring out supper and spread it 

 in order." 



In a short time everything was in order. 

 After they had eaten up everything they 

 talked together and played until daylight, 

 when they departed and left only the lin p'ai 

 there. The orphan ran and picked up the 

 lin p'ai and brought it home with him. He 

 used a table and cried out once and struck 

 it with the lin p'ai. Wine, meat, and rice 

 were all spread out for him. Soon after this 

 there was a neighbor named Ntsang Do Seo 

 (ntsaO To sau) who passed his door riding 

 a large white horse. The orphan humbly 

 called to him saying, "Ntsang Do Seo, please 

 come here to my home and visit." Ntsang Do 

 Seo said, "My leg is long, and you have no 

 tobacco for me to taste, so I will not come." 



That night Ntsang Do Seo returned to his 

 own home and said to his mother, "Several 

 days when I went past the door of that or- 

 is The lin p'ai, a ceremonial object used by 

 Buddhist and Taoist priests. 



phan he did not call me. Today when I 

 rode a horse past his door he called me to 

 come in and play (visit). I offended him." 

 His mother said, "I suspect that he has become 

 rich. Tomorrow, if he calls you, you should 

 go in and see what kind of a person he is 

 now." 



Next day he again rode his horse over there 

 to the orphan's door. The orphan, with a 

 smiling face, called to him inviting him to 

 come into his home. He then entered the 

 orphan's home. The orphan took a leaf of 

 tobacco grown near a river and filled a pipe 

 for him to smoke. After he smoked his to- 

 bacco he became unconscious and was drunk. 



The orphan prepared tlie dinner and then 

 invited Ntsang Do Seo to come and eat. The 

 guest saw that the food on the table included 

 everything to eat. He secretly thought in his 

 heart, "All my life I have not had such things 

 to eat. How did this person today get these 

 things?" He then asked, "After all, how did 

 you get rich?" The orphan told him in detail. 

 Ntsang Do Seo said, "Since you have these 

 things, tomorrow I will try your way of doing 

 it." 



Ntsang Do Seo returned home and said to 

 his mother, "That orphan is truly rich. I am 

 going to imitate him." His mother said, "All 

 right." He immediately changed into an or- 

 phan and imitated the ways of an orphan. 

 That night he ran into the temple and hid 

 himself. Suddenly, at midnight, the gods 

 came laughingly and from a sleeve took a 

 lin p'ai and placed it on the table, crying with 

 a loud voice, "At one stroke of the lin p'ai 

 bring out water to wash our feet." Again 

 they cried out. "At one stroke of the lin p'ai 

 spread out our supper. At one stroke of the 

 lin p'ai, bring out the thief. At one stroke of 

 the lin p'ai, take him and bind him. At an- 

 other stroke of the lin p'ai, pull his tongue 

 out. At another stroke of the lin p'ai, bring 

 out a knife. At another stroke of the lin p'ai, 

 cut off his tongue." Then Ntsang Do Seo 

 died, losing his life. 



An Orphan Secured a Beautiful Wife, or 

 Why the Liu Sheng Is Not Played when 

 Worshiping the S]{y Demon (28) 



In ancient times there was a family that 

 had a severe illness. Both parents died and 

 only one son was left. The son buried the 

 two parents in graves like those of the Chi- 

 nese. On one grave there grew up a stalk of 

 tobacco. Daily he carried manure and ferti- 

 lized that stalk of tobacco until it grew as 

 high as the sky. The leaves of the tobacco 

 hung down onto the ground. 



