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SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS 



VOL. 123; 



it was entirely correct, and they all respected 

 him. 



At that time the uncle was there watching 

 and regarded it as true (that the tube or cup 

 could speak). He was determined to get it 

 from him by any means. But the boy would 

 not give it to his uncle. Then his uncle gave 

 the fields, gardens, cattle, and horses he had 

 inherited to the boy for it. Then the boy 

 traded it to his uncle. 



But after the uncle had taken it away and 

 had taken it outside, he came back at night 

 and patted the tube with his hand. But al- 

 though it could make a noise, it was unable 

 to speak. The uncle patted it a whole night 

 but heard nothing. Then he got angry and 

 quickly broke the tube, but he did not find 

 anything inside of it. 



Next day he went and demanded back his 

 fields from his nephew. His nephew then 

 said, "All right. Return my tube to me and 

 I'll return your land." But because the bam- 

 boo tube had been broken it could not be 

 returned, and the uncle's lands all belonged 

 to the stupid nephew. 



The Success of a Stupid Man (392) 



In former times there was a father who had 

 one son. The son was not wise. When he 

 had grown up, his father gave him 300 ounces 

 of silver and told him to go and seek wisdom. 



He took the silver and went away. He did 

 not know about directions, but went about 

 irregularly. As he traveled he met a merchant. 

 He gave the silver to the merchant and re- 

 quested him to be his teacher. Then he went 

 with the merchant to a very rocky place. He 

 saw a crab and asked the merchant, "What is 

 this thing?" The merchant said, "It's name 

 is 'look secretly.' " Then the stupid son kept 

 repeating the phrase "look secretly," and so 

 he remembered these words. 



They went to the shore of a river. There 

 they saw a man washing things in the river. 

 The stupid boy asked, "What is this man 

 doing?" The merchant replied, "This man 

 has some shrimp in a basket, and not one can 

 escape." This he also carefully remembered. 



Again they went on until they were in the 



middle of the river. He saw a large pumpkin 

 that the water was washing down. He asked.' 

 "What is this?" The merchant replied, "This 

 is a pumpkin washed along by the water."' 

 Then he daily repeated this phrase. 



One day he arrived at a crossroads. The 

 merchant said, "You have traveled with me 

 more than one year. I am afraid that your 

 father is worrying about you. I will now 

 cease teaching you." Then the stupid boy left 

 him and went by another road. 



Just as they were parting the merchant said, 

 "Friend, goodbye, goodbye. We will meet 

 again." The stupid boy also remembered 

 these words. 



In one year his 300 ounces of silver was 

 used up by the merchant and himself, and 

 the stupid boy had only learnt these few 

 phrases, but he very happily went back home. 



His father thought that since he was a 

 stupid boy he had probably died, and married 

 his wife to another. 



One day the groom was just coming to take 

 away his wife, and the stupid son arrived at 

 the outside of his front door. His wife came 

 out and saw him. He also lifted up his head 

 and saw his wife. Then he said, "You are a 

 crab in a heap of stones. Are you still able 

 to secretly look?" 



When those who were to take away the 

 bride heard this, they all came out and looked. 

 He again said, "You are a basketful of shrimp. 

 I will arrange it so that not a single one shall 

 escape." 



When they heard this they were afraid and 

 did not dare to take his wife away, so they 

 departed. When he saw them going off to- 

 gether he said, "I will make you like a pump- 

 kin driven along in a river." Then they v^^ere 

 afraid of him and ran as fast as they could, 

 He then said, "Goodbye, Goodbye, we shall 

 meet again." 



By this time they had all gone, and he 

 returned to his home. All the rest of his life 

 he lived with his wife. The neighbors noticed 

 that every day he could only say these phrases, 

 and that he did not have much ability. This 

 story (song) was composed as a means of, 

 making fun of him. 



LO YIN, THE BACHELOR OF ARTS 

 He Deceived the "Short People" 



The Former Inhabitants of the Ch'tian Miao 

 Region Called the Ngai Nts't (130) 



In ancient times the inhabitants of the pres- 

 ent borderland of Yunnan and Szechwan 



were called Ngai Ntsi (ntsa).^''" Later the 



30 The Ch'uan Miao word Ngai Nfz'i is a corn 

 ruption of the Chinese word at tsu ^-^» pro- 



