244 



SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS 



VOL. 123 



father-in-law said, "You are truly my son-in- 

 law." 



That night the girl came to him and said, 

 "Tomorrow my father will tell you to go and 

 choose a horse and a sedan chair. After all 

 you must not accept the good ones." 



Next day the horses and the sedan chairs 

 were very numerous. He did not take the 

 good ones, and only wanted the poor ones. 

 Ntzi Ni Leo said, "This person's heart is not 

 covetous. He is truly my son-in-law." 



On the third day the father sent them (the 

 bride and the groom) back home. When the 

 landlord, a Chinese, saw his wife, he made 

 up his mind and called the husband to him. 

 The master said, "I see that you have some 

 ability. You have even secured a fine wife. 

 Please tomorrow help me by getting three 

 hundred and sixty tni l^tuei yang and bao gu 

 (corn) birds. If you can do it, it will be well. 

 If not, give me your wife. If you don't I will 

 kill you." 1^ 



When he heard these words, he was helpless 

 and could only sit by his wife and weep. His 

 wife said, "You give me that yellow dirt." 

 With the dirt she made many yang birds and 

 bao gu birds which could even fly and sing. 

 Next day she took them, and the landlord was 

 much frightened. The landlord then thought 

 of a trick to have the Miao go and invite the 

 emperor to come and visit his father because 

 it was his father's birthday. The Miao thought 

 that the emperor was in his capital far away 

 so that he could not come, and he could only 

 weep. But his wife took a pen and wrote a 

 character on his hand and told hini to mount 

 a horse and shut his eyes. In a moment he 

 brought the emperor. 



When the emperor arrived he asked, "Who 

 is this precious person who can in a moment 

 bring me flying here?" The landlord said, 

 "This is my renter. He truly has talent. But 

 in his home there is a beautiful woman." 

 Then the emperor came and saw the Miao 

 girl. 



That night when the emperor returned, he 

 called the Miao husband and told him to give 

 his wife to the emperor. The Miao returned 

 and said to his wife, "The emperor wants 

 you." His wife said, "If he wants me, then 

 you will be an emperor." She said to him, 

 "You give me to the emperor, and you will 

 get three hundred taels of silver." Later the 

 emperor took his wife away. 



The husband went out daily and shot birds. 

 He took the bird skins and sewed them into 

 a garment. One day he wore it to the em- 



^^ Both the mi Jiwei yang and the bao gu birds 

 are species of the hawk-cuckoo. 



peror's palace. His wife saw him, and broke 

 out laughing loudly. The emperor then said, 

 "Since you married me you have not laughed, 

 but when you saw the bird hunter you 

 laughed." The woman said, "You give your 

 clothes to that bird hunter to wear, and put 

 on his bird-skin clothes, and you pick up his 

 bow and you go outside and walk around 

 once, and I will laugh at you even more." 



The emperor changed clothing with the 

 hunter and put on the bird-skin garment and 

 walked around outside. Then the woman 

 cried out to the emperor's bodyguard, "Why 

 don't you behead the tiger demon and not 

 let him come in and disturb this palace." 



There was a beating of bells and drums, 

 and the emperor was killed. The the Miao 

 went and became emperor. He left this song 

 to commemorate it. 



An Orphan Became Wealthy (297) 



His mother ate a hen's egg. The fadier ate 

 a dog's egg. The mother died, and there was 

 only this son who had nothing to eat or to 

 wear. He lived every day in an ash pit. 



He gradually grew up and he made a clear- 

 ing in die forest, then asked Ye Seo whether 

 he should first sow the seeds before burning 

 off the brush, or plant the seeds after burning 

 (the brush and grass off). Ye Seo said to him, 

 "First burn, then sow the seed." But he mis- 

 understood and first planted the seeds then 

 burned, and none of the seeds grew excepting 

 that one stalk grew up. It grew up until it 

 touched the sky, then turned down until it 

 touched the earth. 



There was a hawk which flew from the 

 city of Er and carried away the seed in its 

 claws. 



Later he also went and made another clear- 

 ing in the forest. He again went and asked 

 Ye Seo and said to Ye Seo, "What you told 

 me I misunderstood. I planted the seeds be- 

 fore burning. Later the seeds did not grow, 

 excepting that one stalk grew up. It grew 

 until it touched the sky, then turned back as 

 far as the earth. A hawk flew back from the 

 city of Er and carried the seeds off." 



Ye Seo said to him, "You must go and plant 

 the seed before burning. When it has grown 

 up and the hawk comes flying, you chase 

 him away, and wherever he goes you follow." 



The man did this way. Suddenly the hawk 

 came flying and again carried away the man's 

 grain. The man ran after it and chased it to 

 the top of a temple. The hawk sat there 

 eating his grain. 



He saw that behind the temple there was 



