258 



SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS 



VOL. 123; 



the earth. He did not know where he was, 

 but there he married and made a home and 

 begat children. 



Because the drought had lasted three years, 

 the emperor requested the geomancers {tuan 

 \ung $^-5V ) everywhere to pray for rain. 

 The emperor arranged three tables covered 

 with gold, three covered with silver, and 

 three covered with money, and said that who- 

 ever secured rain would get all diis gold, 

 silver, and money. But nobody succeeded in 

 securing rain. 



Finally the emperor called an old man to 

 him and asked his advice, saying that the sky 

 had been dry for three years and the people 

 were all about to die, and that aldiough he 

 had offered three tables of gold, three tables 



of silver, and three of money, nobody hadl 

 succeeded in securing rain. The old mam 

 said, "There is one person who can cause it 

 to rain. It is your son-in-law." The emperor 

 said, "My son-in-law.? Three years ago my 

 son-in-law fell down the dragon-mouth hole. 

 How can he still be living?" The old man 

 said, "He is still living, but he is far away." 

 The emperor asked, "Who can go and find 

 him?" The old geomancer said, "Only neo 

 lo la can find him." "^ Then the emperor 

 called neo lo la to him and sent him to find 

 his son-in-law. 



The bird flew away. On the first day he 

 found the son-in-law. He alighted on the 

 garden fence before the front door and sang 

 this song — 



la- 



la- 



fa-' Tai'' 

 emperor 



xo-^ 

 requests 



U-^ \v\ n-' U-^ la-^ la-\ 

 (just musical syllables) 



Tei' t/'e' 

 country 



gao 

 you 



d'^ao" 

 back 



nTo-' 

 sky 



mo- 

 go 



qwa- 

 dry 



n3* 



see 



bi-'' 

 three 



JjoO» 

 years 



na-Mo-^ 

 (ending without 

 meaning) . 



When Ts'en Sam P'an heard this he got 

 up and said, "The sky is not yet yellow, and 

 the earth is not yet light. What dead, rotten 

 bird has come to my door to sing?" Then he 

 took a long bamboo stick -^ and struck at the 

 bird, and it flew away. 



The bird flew back and said to the emperor, 

 "I have already found him. I stood on the 

 ground in front of his door and called and 

 called to him. He would not listen to me, 

 but seized a bamboo stick and struck at me." 

 The emperor said, "Tomorrow you go again, 

 and do not light upon the ground, but on the 

 sill of his front door." 



Next day the bird went again, and he flew 

 onto the front doorsill. Then Ts'en Sam P'an 

 again scolded and struck at him with the 

 stick, so that the bird flew back again. He 

 said to the emperor, "Today I flew onto his 

 front doorsill. He would not listen to me, but 

 tried to hit me." The emperor said, "Tomor- 



-^ Said to be a kind of bird that can naturally 

 talk. 



29 A long bamboo stick cut into splinters on 

 one end so that when it strikes it makes a loud 

 noise. Such sticks are used to drive ducks or 

 chickens. 



row you go again and fly onto his ancestrall 

 shrine." 



On the third day he again went, and flew 

 onto the altar in his home. When he called 

 out this time Ts'en Sam said, "Are you a 

 human being, or a demon? If you are a 

 person, please say it again." Then the bird 

 told him in detail why he had come. Ts'en 

 Sam detained him three days to visit, and 

 secured insects to entertain him with (asi 

 food). 



Ts'en Sam prepared money for the Journey 

 so as to go with the bird. He now had a: 

 home and children, whom he left behind,! 

 and proceeded with the bird. They traveled 

 nine days before they arrived at the emperorV 

 palace. 



When he arrived at the palace the orphani 

 saw that there were very many poor people 

 all around, and that there were three tables 

 of gold, three of silver, and three of money,., 

 and all around there were geomancers trying 

 to secure rain. After he had met the emperor 

 he had the nine tables placed one on top of 

 the other. Then he climbed on top of themi 

 to seek rain. When he sought rain he sang) 

 the song — 



