NO. I 



CH UAN MIAO SONGS AND STORIES — GRAHAM 



277 



The younger sister did not understand but 

 thought that it was her grandmother. So she 

 took her gown and her skirt and shook them 

 well. There was not a sound of one louse 

 falling into the fire. The false mother-in-law 

 then told the younger sister to sleep with her. 



When they had slept until midnight, Na Bo 

 Ntsong ate her. The older sister, upstairs, 

 heard the sound of gnawing. She then asked 

 Na Bo Ntsong what she was eating. Na Bo 

 Ntsong said, "I am eating roasted beans 

 (roasted dry on a hot fire). The older sister 

 said, "Give me a little to eat." Then Na Bo 

 Ntsong gave her a finger. When she felt it 

 she was frightened. 



Then she took her belt and tied around the 

 sow, and at daybreak she seized the belt, and 

 the sow screamed. Na Bo Ntsong said, "You 

 must not scream like a pig. I have not bitten 

 you." The girl again seized the belt, and the 

 sow again screamed. 



Na Bo Ntsong leaped up and looked. It 

 was actually a sow. She then crept upstairs 

 and looked, but the older sister was not to 

 be seen. She then searched for her upstairs. 

 But she could not find her. 



In the afternoon, when the sun became 

 bright, Na Bo Ntsong became thirsty. She 

 then went to the edge of the well to drink 

 water. Then Na Bo Ntsong saw the older 

 girl's shadow in the water. When she lifted 

 up her head and looked, and saw the older 

 sister sitting in a pear tree. She smilingly 

 called her saying, "My granddaughter, I have 

 not offended you. Why do you want to climb 

 up that pear tree? Quickly come down and 

 eat dinner. I am about to leave." 



The older sister said, "I cannot come 

 down." Na Bo Ntsong said, "Won't you come 

 down? I will go up and eat you." The older 

 sister said, "As you please." Na Bo Ntsong 

 tried to climb that tree, but could not climb 

 up. The older sister said, "Grandmother, you 

 may go home and come back wearing the 

 leather shoes my father used to wear, and 

 then you will be able to climb up." 



Na Bo Ntsong went away and came back 

 wearing the leather shoes. But she could not 

 climb up. 



Na Bo Ntsong saw the pears on the pear 

 tree. Then she called to the older sister to 

 knock down a pear for her to eat. The 

 older sister said, "The pears are a long way 

 off from me. You quickly go and bring our 

 spear with a long bamboo handle and give 

 it to me. Then I'll knock down pears for 

 you to eat." 



Then Na Bo Ntsong went and brought the 

 spear back and gave it to her. The older 



sister then knocked down a pear with the 

 spear. Then she called to Na Bo Ntsong, 

 "Grandmother, open your mouth and I will 

 hand you a pear to eat." Na Bo Ntsong dien 

 opened her mouth, and the older sister used 

 the long bamboo-handled spear and gave it 

 to her, pushing with all her might. Then the 

 spear pierced into Na Bo Ntsong's stomach, 

 and Na Bo Ntsong immediately died. 



Later Na Bo Ntsong grew up into a big 

 bramblebush. The bramblebush, as it grew 

 up, circled around the pear tree so the older 

 sister could not come down. Daily she sat on 

 the tree and ate the pears. Not long after 

 there was a group of cloth merchants passing 

 by. She called to them to help her down, 

 saying she would gladly become the wife of 

 one of them. Then they opened up the hemp 

 cloth they were carrying and spread it over 

 the bramblebush, and this helped her down. 

 Then she went off down the river with those 

 cloth merchants. 



A Miao Married a Princess (394) 



In ancient times there were two men who 

 went to buy pigs. When they reached a cliff, 

 there was one whose heart was evil. He said 

 to the other, "You go and see. On the middle 

 of the cliff is a medicine tree." Then the 

 other bent his head over and looked down, 

 and his companion pushed him over the cliff. 

 He fell into a net of vines. 



In the night three immortals came down 

 to play chess. They played for a long time 

 and one of them said, "Now we can say 

 conundrums." They then continued, now one 

 declining and now one saying a conundrum. 

 One of them said, "On the middle of the 

 cliff, on the other side, there is a clump of 

 medical grass called mao (hair) grass. This 

 grass can heal the illness of the princess." 

 Another said, "Whoever heals the emperor's 

 daughter can become a prime minister." An- 

 other said, "Whoever pays three hundred 

 ounces of silver, if he burns this cliff it will 

 emit a small stream of water and in the future 

 a rice paddy can be made here." 



When all three had spoken, they departed. 

 Next morning the merchant gradually came 

 down the cliff. Then he went to the cliff 

 opposite and took down that medical grass. 

 Then he said out loud, "If anyone will pay 

 three hundred ounces of silver, I can buy 

 coal and burn this level terrace in order to 

 make a rice paddy." 



Some people gave him a trial and gave him 

 the silver. He then went and bought coal 

 and burnt the cliff. The cliff cracked, and a 

 stream of water began flowing out which 



