NO. I 



CH UAN MIAO SONGS AND STORIES — GRAHAM 



273 



A Mother and Her Son. When He Was 

 Young the Mother Treated Him Well. 

 When She Was Old He Treated Her 

 Kindly (129) 



Once upon a time there was a family. The 

 father died and left only the mother and the 

 son. They were very poor. They constantly 

 went to the landlord's house and worked for 

 him. At the evening meal the mother would 

 not eat, but wrapped up the food and brought 

 it for her son to eat. For the mother, although 

 she was very poor, was also very kind. 



One day there was a geomancer who went 

 past her house. It was dark. The geomancer 

 first went to the landlord to find a place to 

 sleep. But the landlord would not permit him 

 to stay there for the night. The geomancer 

 was helpless, and came to the small house 

 where the mother and her son were living. 

 The mother then thought, "We are Miao and 

 are poor. This teacher has come here to us. 

 We will give him the food we received from 

 the landlord." So she and her son did not 

 eat it, and gave it to the guest to eat. 



When he was through eating, the geo- 

 mancer (scholar of the earth) said, "You, 

 mother and son, are as poor as this. As I 

 see it you need not use very much money 

 and you will get rich." Then they said, "We 

 do not want to get rich." The geomancer 

 said, "The spot where you are living is a place 

 where there is running water (underground). 

 The place that your landlord is living on is 

 like a calf. The place where you, mother and 

 son, are living is a cow (female). You alter 

 your door and you can get rich." 



Then the mother and her son hired a car- 

 penter to alter their door. After it had been 

 changed, before it had become broad daylight, 

 the mother opened the door. The door then 

 resounded, "Ge gu." When others heard this 

 they said, "This family has arisen." After 

 this the mother and her son gradually had 

 enough clothing to wear and food to eat. 



Afterward, when the son had grown up, 

 he married a wife and became rich, and the 

 landlord declined and became poor. The 

 neighbors said, "It is because the place where 

 they are living is a mother cow and the land- 

 lord's is a calf. The cow called the calf to 

 her and therefore that family is not rich." 



A Wildcat Ate a Hen, and a Rooster Killed 

 the Wildcat (137) 



The rooster went to the plowed field and the 

 hen at home was preparing breakfast. When 

 it was done, the hen carried the breakfast for 

 the rooster to eat. When she had carried it 



to a pass over a ridge, she met a wildcat. The 

 hen asked the wildcat to pick lice ofE her. 

 The wildcat looked for a while then said, 

 "Your head is very fragrant. I am going to 

 eat you." The hen said, 'Tou must not 

 do it lest the rooster quarrel with you." The 

 wildcat said, "I am not afraid." After he had 

 said this he ordered the hen to pull out a 

 feather for him to eat. When he had eaten 

 the feather it was not enough for him, so he 

 ate up the hen. 



At dark the rooster came back home and 

 asked the little chickens about it. He asked, 

 "Where is your mama?" The little chickens 

 said, "This morning mama carried breakfast 

 for you to eat." The rooster said, "At this 

 time of day she still is not to be seen. I am 

 afraid she was eaten by a wildcat." Then 

 he went and asked Je Seo (32 sau). Je Seo 

 said to him, "Things are that way, and it is 

 useless to cry about her (the wildcat has really 

 eaten her). You had better catch the wildcat 

 and make him pay with his life." The rooster 

 said, "How shall it be done?" Je Seo said, 

 "When you go home you may put some cow 

 dung before your front door, and stick a nail 

 into the wooden stool, and roast a chestnut 

 in the stove, and put a snare in the window. 

 After this is finished, you tell the little chicks 

 to go and call the wildcat. When he comes, 

 you have these things all ready." 



The little chickens went and requested the 

 wildcat to come and companion with them. 

 The rooster hid upstairs. 



At night the wildcat came. The little chicks 

 climbed upstairs. The chicks and the wildcat 

 came up to the door. The wildcat said, 

 "Little chicks, the cow dung made me slip." 

 The chicks replied, "Sit on the wooden stool." 

 The wildcat said, "The needle has stuck me." 

 The chicks said, "Light a light so you can 

 see." The wildcat said, "A gun has exploded" 

 (the chestnut cracked with a loud sound). 

 The chicks said, "Go to the granary and 

 hide." The wildcat said, "The rice husker 

 has hit me." The chicks said, "Something is 

 wrong. You had better leap out through the 

 window." 



The wildcat leaped into tlie window and 

 then he cried, "A snare has caught me." 

 He cried out, "Meow, meow, meow." The 

 rooster then said, "What are you meowing 

 about? Did you eat my wife?" And when he 

 said this, he killed the wildcat. Then he 

 skinned the wildcat and put ashes in its skin 

 and hung the wildcat skin up on a big tree. 



The next day at dusk the female wildcat 

 sought her mate everywhere. When she had 

 found him, she saw him hanging on the tree. 



