NO. I 



CHUAN MIAO SONGS AND STORIES — GRAHAM 



241 



destined, else I would not match diis girl." 

 Yang Leo again said, "Tomorrow I will enter- 

 tain you with wine. You must drink it all 

 before you can be my son-in-law. If you can- 

 not drink it all there will be no marriage." 



On the next morning Yang Leo opened 

 the door of a small room and gave him wine 

 to drink. Inside there were seven large jars 

 full of good wine. As soon as he had drunk 

 one cup he was drunk so that he was uncon- 

 scious. In a moment the girl secretly said to 

 him, "How is it possible for you to drink so 

 much wine? Take the dipper and dip it out 

 and throw it onto the ground." When he 

 heard this he arose and took the seven jars 

 of wine and poured it onto the ground. 

 About dark Yang Leo opened the door and 

 looked. When he saw that there was no wine 

 he said, "This is truly my son." 



The next night Yang Leo said, "I suppose 

 that my son-in-law will return home and that 

 he will choose a Uu sheng." In the middle 

 of the night the noise of the beating of large 

 drums and gongs arose until before daybreak 

 when his wife secretly said to him, 'Tou do 

 not want the gold and silver liu shengs or 

 the drums of gold and silver. You want only 

 that liu sheng which is made of bamboo and 

 that drum bound with pigskin, and it will be 

 all right." At daybreak they opened the front 

 door and Yang Leo told him to go and 

 choose. When he gave the gold and silver 

 liu shengs the son-in-law refused them, and 

 when he offered the golden and silver drums 

 he also refused them. He took only the bam- 

 boo Uu sheng and the drum bound with pig- 

 skin. Yang Leo said, "That is bad." He an- 

 swered, "We poor people accept such things." 

 Yang Leo again said, "You truly are my 

 son-in-law.' 



That night Yang Leo again said, "My son- 

 in-law has been here a long time. Tomorrow 

 let my daughter pack up and go with him. 

 You prepare breakfast a little earlier for them 

 to eat." It need hardly be said that at the 

 middle of the night, at the third watch, the 

 whole family, old and young, got up to pre- 

 pare breakfast. At daylight the two arose and 

 ate breakfast and went off together. All her 

 sisters came out to escort her on her way. 

 They accompanied her to behind the hill 

 when the older sister said to the bride, 'Tou 

 two go back. Do not idly play the liu sheng 

 or beat the drum. If you want to play and 

 beat them, you must first get your crops well 

 planted, enjoy a good year, and get 560 fat 

 pigs and have 560 jars of good wine before 

 you beat the drum or play the liu sheng." 



The two returned to their home and that 



year raised only 60 fat pigs and made only 

 60 jars of wine. They then played the large 

 and the small liu shengs and beat the big and 

 the little drums. Yang Leo, in Ntzi's land 

 above the sky, said, "Sons and daughters, 

 quick, for on earth there is something doing. 

 Go down very quickly." 



Then they took 32,000 soldiers, strong 

 soldiers, and went down. When they arrived 

 they saw that the two did not have any special 

 affairs and asked, "Why did you have to dis- 

 turb us?" They replied, "Because we were 

 thinking of you, we gladly danced and played 

 the liu sheng." All then laughed and danced, 

 and they killed the pigs and poured out the 

 wine and drank it. But the pigs and the wine 

 were not sufficient for them to eat and drink. 

 His wife then thought of a plan and used a 

 big bamboo trough and went and brought 

 down by it Yang Leo's wine and his pork so 

 that the next day they could feast the guests 

 so they could depart. 



But this beautiful woman's fame reached to 

 the old emperor. The emperor ordered sol- 

 diers to come and take her away by force. 

 The orphan as usual played the liu sheng and 

 beat the drum. Yang Leo said, "His crops 

 are reaped and he again wants us to go and 

 visit. But we will not go." He beat the drum 

 three days in succession, but Yang Leo's troops 

 did not come. He then took his Uu sheng and 

 his drum and broke them. Yang Leo of 

 Ntzi's land then cried out with a loud voice, 

 "Something is wrong, something is wrong. 

 There is some trouble on the earth." He arose 

 and despatched soldiers down to the earth. 

 They fought one battle and killed the old 

 king and brought his daughter back. Because 

 of this, to this day when the Ch'uan Miao 

 worship the sky demon Ndo Glang (nTo* 

 glaO),^* they do not use the liu sheng or the 

 drum, but only use the bamboo flute which 

 they blow, and a wooden dipper which is 

 placed over a water bucket and beaten, and 

 do not permit the use of the Chinese language, 

 because in ancient times the Chinese came to 

 steal the wife of this Miao and Yang Leo 

 said that they should forever observe this 

 ceremony to commemorate it. 



An Orphan Found Gold, or A Living Roc\ 

 That Spoke (37) 



In most ancient times there was an orphan. 

 Both his father and his mother were dead. 

 He had nothing to eat. Daily he carried chaff 

 on his back to sell. 



^* Some identify the sky demon with the Chi- 

 nese Shih Kan Tang, but it is not the same. 



