NO. I 



Ch'uAN MIAO songs and stories — GRAHAM 



255 



knife. He scalded die liver of die eel in 

 water and gave it to that family to eat, and 

 then the whole family became well. 



The bed-net pole said to him, "Orphan, 

 you have done this thing. Whatever the 

 master offers to give you tomorrow, you must 

 not accept it. You ask for me. In the future 

 I can cause you to become an emperor." 



Next morning diat family offered him a 

 great deal of silver, but he did not accept it. 

 He said that he wanted only the bed-net pole, 

 and the family gave it to him. 



When he got diis pole, he carried it on his 

 shoulder and aimlessly went about. One day 

 when he was walking about he saw a dead 

 hawk. He waved the bed-net stick, and the 

 hawk came to life again and flew away. 

 Afterward he came upon an angleworm that 

 had died, and he waved his bed-net pole and 

 the angleworm came to life. 



Later he entered the capital. At that time 

 the emperor was sick, and the emperor put 

 out placards everywhere seeking for physicians 

 to heal him. The emperor said, "Whoever 

 can heal my sickness, I will resign my throne 

 to him." 



After the orphan heard these words, he 

 went into the capital and waved his bed-net 

 pole and healed the emperor. Then the em- 

 peror resigned his throne to him. 



Before long diere were Chinese from be- 

 side the Eastern Sea who came and contested 



for the land. One day he led out soldiers 

 and fought them. He was not victorious, 

 and was almost captured by the Chinese 

 government troops. To his surprise the hawk 

 which he had saved before flew down and 

 struck the Chinese government troops with 

 its wings. He then escaped through those 

 who had surrounded him. But the Chinese 

 troops again pursued. This time the angle- 

 worm which he had saved came out and 

 thrust dirt out on the ground and covered 

 up his tracks and that of his soldiers. So the 

 Chinese government troops were unable to 

 pursue them, and they went back and pro- 

 tected the imperial throne. Then he knew 

 that his father had secured a lucky place for 

 a grave (so that all this good fortune came 

 to him), and he left this story (song) to 

 commemorate it. 



Yii Sam Fan and Ts'en Sam P'an -^ (668) 



In most ancient times (p'a*^ t'o'^ i*^) there 

 was an orphan who had neither food nor 

 clothing. He ate on an ash heap and slept 

 in a hole in the ground. Later he went to 

 look after the cows and cut grass for Ma^ 

 Tsong^Yin'. One day he shouldered his 

 carrying pole, stuck his flute in his belt, and 

 walked beneath the flowery pavilion of the 

 emperor's daughter. Then he took his flute 

 and played. 



Then the princess in the tower above came 

 and looked out of the window, and she 



2^ This story was told by Yang Ming Ch'in, a 

 Ch'uan Miao whose age was 27 years. Sam Fan 

 is pronounced like the boat called a sampan in 

 eastern China. 



noticed that the orphan was better looking 

 than her father. She called to him, "Can you 

 come up here to visit (play)?" He said, "I 

 am so poor. How can I come to visit with 

 you?" The young woman said, "If you are 

 my good friend, please come up." Then he 



