274 



SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS 



VOL. 



123 



The female wildcat then said, "It is dark. 

 V/hy don't you go home? You have made 

 me hunt for a whole day." Then the female 

 wildcat hit him several times and did not 

 see him move, but only saw the ashes fly. 

 When the female wildcat saw this, she did 

 not dare to stay but quickly ran away. After 

 this the rooster and the chicks may be re- 

 garded as having secured revenge.''^ 



A Cow that Spo\e, or. Why a Cow Chews 

 Her Cud (139) 



Once a woman was carrying food for her 

 husband to eat when he was making a clear- 

 ing.^^ The woman carried food to him every 

 day. One day the woman saw something at 

 the foot of the mountain. When she saw it, 

 she was afraid. After a time she became used 

 to it and was no longer afraid. She then 

 called to the monster, "You big thing, you 

 play (idle away your time) every day. Why 

 don't you find some work to do?" The crea- 

 ture said, "Give your food to me and I will 

 work with you." The woman said, "The food 

 we eat is not enough for you." She also said, 

 "Now I can say to you, I will fix a rule that 

 when you finish one row I will give you one 

 mouthful of food." They agreed on this. 

 Every day they did accordingly. But if she 

 did not give him food the creature would not 

 work. 



One day there was a man named Lo Yin 

 who came out. He came out secretly and said 

 to the woman, "Today you may go and call 

 him here. I will work out a plan for you to 

 make him work for you alwaj's." That day 

 Lo Yin concealed a big punch. When the 

 creature had just come out to work, it said 

 it wanted to eat. Lo Yin then came out of 

 the grove and shouted to him, "This way of 

 doing things, working a little and eating a 

 little, lessens the work you do." So the animal 

 then used its two cow horns and stooped to 

 hook Lo Yin. Lo Yin took hold of the ani- 

 mal's nose and made a hole through her nose 



58 When a Miao woman is raped by a Miao 

 man who kills her the husband has his children 

 entice die guilty person to his home, and the 

 husband uses some scheme to kill him. This 

 story symbolizes such a revenge. 



^^ In earlier times and in some localities today 

 clearings are made by setting fire to the forests 

 and then cutting the trees that are left, or by 

 first cutting down all the trees and shrubbery and 

 then setting fire to them when they are dry. This 

 is very destructive to the forests, and should be 

 prohibited, for although it makes available a soil 

 that is very rich for a few years, through erosion 

 it is likely soon to become useless. 



with the punch and put a rope through it 

 and told her not to speak. She did not believe 

 it but went on speaking. Lo Yin pulled her 

 neck and broke her thyroid cartilage in two ^° 

 so that she was unable to speak. But although 

 she was unable to speak, alas, if she could not 

 eat she would not work. Lo Yin tlien said, 

 "You may give her a meal at a time to eat," 

 and he said to the creature, "When you eat, 

 eat a meal at a time and fill your stomach 

 with the food. Then at night you may chew 

 it slowly, one mouthful at a time, so that you 

 will not feel hungry." For this reason cows 

 now regurgitate and chew their food. 



Na Bo Tsao, a Woman Witch or Demon 

 (144) 



In ancient tunes Na Bo Tsao ''•^ constantly 

 came out and ate people. Her dwelling was 

 a cave. One family was almost eaten up by 

 her. The family constantly called physicians 

 to come and heal them, but the doctors could 

 not find out what was injuring them. 



One day that family called a Miao tuan 

 kting.^- That night he exorcised demons all 

 night for them. When he had exorcised one 

 night, Na Bo Tsao was defeated and the tuan 

 \ung chased her away and pursued her as 

 far as the mouth of the cave. Na Bo Tsao 

 then crawled into her cave. Na Bo Tsao's 

 children thought their mama had caught 

 somebody and brought him back. They all 

 called out for food. Na Bo Tsao then sighed 

 and said, "This time things are wrong. I 

 almost lost my life. Luckily he did not use 

 the wooden sword marked with ink.^^ If he 

 had used this, I would have lost my life." 



While Na Bo Tsao was speaking, the Miao 

 tuan \ung heard her. The next time the tuan 

 J{ung prepared a wooden sword and marked 

 it with ink, and when he came to heal he beat 

 the gong. Then Na Bo Tsao fought with him, 

 and he took the wooden sword in his hand 

 and struck at her. Na Bo Tsao couldn't find 

 a place to go, and he cut her head off. From 

 this time Na Bo Tsao was unable to harm 

 people. Therefore tlie Ch'uan Miao hang 

 seven wooden swords above the door and near 



•50 This might also mean the hyoid bone. The 

 Ch'uan Miao believe that it is this cartilage or 

 bone Uiat does the speaking. 



^1 na-* bo*^ tjao® is a woman witch. 



^- Tuan kung is the Chinese name for a geo- 

 mancer, called To** nAn* in the Ch'uan Miao 

 language. 



6^ The wooden sword is used in ceremonies of 

 exorcism, and is called in Chinese lang fa ch'i. 

 It is marked widi ink, here called black chicken 



