264 



SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS 



VOL. 



123 



Ts'ao was all cured, and this family had be- 

 come very wealthy. 



Then the old mother again changed into 

 a very old person, and her eyes were blind. 

 She again said to her daughters-in-law, "Can 

 you lick my eyes again and cause them to 

 get well?" The daughters-in-law rephed, 

 "Why not?" and immediately they licked the 

 eyes of the old woman with their tongues. 

 Just as they bent down their faces to lick 

 her, the old mother could not be seen. This 

 is a true case of being without a mother but 

 still having a mother.^^ 



Ancient People Who Played the Liu Sheng 

 (23) 



There was a girl whose name was Mi 

 Nyang Mi Fan Tsa (mi*^ njaO^ mi-^ fan" 

 tsa-"). 



In ancient times, at the very beginning, the 

 flood mounted to the sky and the great 

 temples floated away, and a Buddhist priest 

 floated and was tossed up (on the waves). 

 An old person came down from above and 

 played a large liu sheng very beautiful to 

 hear. A small boy came from below playing 

 a small liu sheng with a sound like li la li la 

 (li"^ la*^). The small person said to the old 

 person, "Where do you want to go?" The 

 old person said, "I want to go to Ntzi's place 

 where there is a large fallen tree." The small 

 boy said, "Thank you, I have a younger sister 

 in Ntzi's place, who releases small swallows. 

 I request you to carry a letter to her. My 

 sister's name is Mi Nyang Mi Fan Tsa. You 

 go and say to her, Tour father and mother 

 are below, and in the sixth and seventh 

 moons the guests will come, and they will 

 kill a pig with which to entertain the guests, 

 and pour out wine for the guests to drink. 

 A fire has burnt to death seven daughters-in- 

 law in your family. In the eleventh moon 

 on the fifteenth day they will burn paper 

 (spirit) money. We want you to go and see 

 it, Mi Nyang Mi Fan Tsa.' I also have a 

 relative called Lao Zen Dao (lao* zAn* Tao*). 

 You tell him, 'Lao Zen Dao, your relatives 

 below are going to kill a pig for guests to 

 eat, and pour wine for them to drink. Fire 

 has burnt to death seven daughters-in-law. 

 Please come and see it.' " 



The old person carried the message and 

 went slowly. He went to the place where 

 Ntzi's smoke was arising.^'^ Lan Zen called 

 out, "Mi Nyang Mi Fan Tsa, your parents, 



3S The implication is that probably the old 

 woman was the soul of the real mother who had 

 come especially to help her children. 



2^ Smoke from the fire in his house. 



in the sixth and seventh moons, will have 

 guests and will kill a pig to eat and pour 

 out wine to drink, and seven daughters have 

 been burnt to death. On the fifteenth day of 

 the eleventh moon they will burn spirit 

 money. Please go and see it." In this way 

 he cried out seven times. Suddenly he saw 

 birds flying about and the door of the preci- 

 pice opened, and a young girl came out who 

 was truly like an immortal or like a jade 

 stone. She was good looking, and when tlie 

 Miao people saw her they praised her saying 

 she was as beautiful as the sea. The Chinese 

 praised her saying she was as beautiful as a 

 mountain. She won Ta T'ien Pa (Great 

 Field Flat) and her fame resounded to Chiu 

 Ssu Ch'eng.^^ She said, "When I was young, 

 releasing little swallows, nobody knew my 

 name. Since you call me, you may say a 

 few words to m.e." The old person said, 

 "Mi Nyang Mi Fan Tsa, your parents below 

 will have guests during the sixth and seventh 

 moons and will kill a pig to eat, and will pass 

 around wine for the guests to drink. Fire has 

 burnt to death seven daughters-in-law. They 

 request you to go and see it." At once the 

 young woman wept and cried. She invited 

 the old man to come to her home and eat 

 dinner. 



She led the old man in. He lived there 

 seven days, and for seven days drank good 

 wine and ate good meat. She also presented 

 the old man three quarts of gold and three 

 quarts of silver. 



The old man went ahead toward the place 

 where the dragon king Lao Lang Dao (lao 

 la9 Tao) lived. On the road he met several 

 children who were wanton mixed-breeds.^^ 

 They spoke wantonly, "Old man, where are 

 you going?" The old man said, "I am going 

 to the old dragon king." The wanton mixed- 

 breeds said, "Right. We will help you go 

 and call him. Give us your three quarts of 

 gold and of silver. If you do not, we will 

 eat you." The old man said, "All right, please 

 go and call him." The wanton bastards 

 actually went to the mountain of the old 

 dragon and called out, "Old dragon, old 

 dragon." When they had called a whole day 

 and nothing appeared, the wanton bastards 

 went away. The old man dien slowly went 

 there himself and called, "Old dragon, old 

 dragon, old dragon." When he had called 

 three times he said, "On the sixth and seventh 

 moons the guests will come, a pig will be 

 killed for the guests to eat, and wine will be 



38 These are two places in the Ch'uan Miao 

 region. 



33 Crosses between two or more races. 



