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SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS 



VOL. 12:1 



and saw that they were rich and asked them 

 how they got rich. Then the younger brother 

 told the older brother about the chicken meat 

 falling into the urine and then being given 

 to the mother to eat. Afterward the older 

 brother and his wife took a hen and killed it 

 and left it in urine several days. Then they 

 carried their mother to their home. They 

 then boiled that chicken and gave it to their 

 mother to eat. The chicken stunk badly, and 

 the mother would not eat it. Then the older 

 brother washed his hands clean and tore the 

 meat off, and urged his mother to eat it. 

 Then they said to her, "Mother, you must 

 help us get some silver." The mother said, 

 "You need only to be industrious, and you 

 will certainly get rich. How can I help you?" 

 The mother also said, "I do not want your 

 chicken meat. If you want to get rich, you 

 need not kill a chicken for me to eat. I see 

 that you are very poor. Why should you kill 

 a chicken for me.? From this clay you must 

 be good." They then realized that these words 

 of their mother were good, and they escorted 

 the mother back to the younger brother's 

 home. 



That night the older brother and his wife 

 went to sleep. Then their dead father came 

 and said to them in a dream, "My older son, 

 if you and your wife want silver, tomorrow 

 you may go and dig at the foot of the cliff." 



Next morning they thought that they would 

 get some silver. Each of them prepared a hoe 

 and went to the foot of the cliff to dig. Dig 

 as they pleased, they could not see any silver. 

 They dug until dark, and the stones on the 

 cliff loosened and rolled down and killed 

 them both. 



Afterward their mother heard about this 

 and said, "My son, one cannot get silver by 

 wantonly thinking. One only needs to be 

 industrious, and he will actually get it. Why 

 need you lose your life.'' It is too bad." 



A Carpenter Who Was Efficient in Sorcery 

 (423) 



In former times there was a Miao who went 

 everywhere to learn to be a carpenter. He 

 was efficient at sorcery. One year he went 

 and helped a family on the edge of the forest 

 build a house. 



The woman in that house treated him 

 badly. Then the carpenter drew at the junc- 

 ture of the eaves a picture of a man. He drew 

 a man urinating in a vessel. 



After the house was built, the people lived 

 in it. Whoever slept in that house at night 



would urinate in his bed. Afterward even 

 the guests in that house would do so. 



Still later they invited that carpenter to 

 come back and gave him a fine meal to eat. 

 Then the master of the house said to the 

 carpenter, "I do not know why, but since this 

 house was built our whole family urinates in 

 bed at night. Please find a way to help us." 

 The carpenter said, "Tomorrow I will come 

 and help you." 



Next day the carpenter went past their 

 door. When they saw him, they called. The 

 carpenter said, "I will not come," and he 

 went away. After that the family did not 

 urinate in bed at night. 



A Superstition about Building Pigpens (424) 



When we hire a carpenter to build a pigpen, 

 we must entertain him well. If not, it is to 

 be feared that he will determine on something 

 evil, and in the future when we raise pigs 

 they will not do well. 



When he has finished building it, he must 

 sweep that pen and use a rooster and dish 

 up a basin of rice and mix fine vegetables in 

 the rice, and secure several men to act like 

 a gang of pigs in the pigpen. They may lie 

 clown or sit down like a pig. After one has 

 laid down for a while, he gets up and eats 

 the food. While they are eating they must 

 not talk, and must not put their hands on 

 top of the pen. After they have finished eat- 

 ing, they must go together into a corner and 

 there urinate and relieve the bowels. When 

 the carpenter has finished sweeping, then they 

 may go out of the pen. 



A± Girl Was Kind to Her Father Who Had 

 Treated Her Badly (473) 



Ho Tsu (a big jar) was a great, rich, and 

 respected man. He helped Chinese manage 

 affairs. At that time he had a daughter. She 

 was 22 years old. Her father wanted to help 

 her choose a good husband. There were 

 people coming all die time who wanted to 

 marry his daughter, but he would not give 

 her in marriage. 



Later the girl said to her father, "Father, 

 haven't you heard others say, Teople on earth 

 all come through the orders of heaven, not 

 from people.?' " When the father heard these 

 words, he scolded that girl. Then the daugh- 

 ter quarreled with her father, and the father 

 then got angry and got a poor man and took 

 the daughter and gave her to the poor man 

 in marriage. The daughter then went along 

 with him. 



