284 



SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS 



VOL. 12^ 



J 



Chinese stonemason. He wanted to buy it 

 even if it cost a great deal of money. He 

 bought the lever. 



At this time the hua fan (flowery altar) 

 ceremony was to be performed in the sky. 

 That day his mother-in-law and his wife 

 dressed tliemselves very well and came in 

 front of his door and said to him, "Let us go 

 along to Ntzi Deo Ndo where there is a 

 hua t'an ceremony, cousin." Ndan Giang 

 replied, "In playing the I'm sheng, my fingers 

 are not harmonious. When beating the drum 

 it is not harmonious with my road (path). 

 I will not go." 



His father-in-law's sons went ahead. Then 

 he took the iron lever and shoved the stone 

 aside and went in. He washed his face with 

 warm water, and took a silver comb and 

 combed his hair well. He put on silver 

 clodiing and wrapped the turban well around 

 his head. He brought the water-buffalo horn 

 and put sweet wine in it. He took the silver 

 liu sheng in his hand. He hung the silver 

 pipe on his side. Afterward he went up to 

 the sky (where the ceremony was to be 

 performed) . 



At this time mustard-flower girl said to her 

 sister-in-law, "Today I see a pretty man. To- 

 night you must help me get (grasp) him." 



Ndan Giang then took the water-bufTalo 

 horn and poured out some sweet wine and 

 gave it to his parents-in-law. He also poured 

 out some for his brothers and sisters-in-law 

 to drink. Each person drank one cupful. 

 Each person said, "It is very good." His wife 

 also got a cupful and smilingly drank it. 



Ndan Giang played the liu sheng three 

 times. Mustard-flower girl said, "Very good." 

 Ndan Giang again played three times on the 

 liu sheng and went below. The mustard- 

 flower girl said to her sister-in-law "Tomor- 

 row you must help me seize him." 



Next morning the two women guarded 

 the door. Mustard-flower girl seized the cor- 

 ner of his garment and it slipped. The sister- 

 in-law seized his pipe. Then the two women 

 pursued him to the big stone. He sat as 

 usual on the big rock. 



His parents-in-law went past that place. 

 He told them to come in, but they would not. 

 His wife and sister-in-law came behind and 

 said to Ndan Giang, "Do you still have such 

 fine things?" He answered, "I have not." 

 Then the sister-in-law brought out the to- 

 bacco pipe as evidence. He had nothing to 

 say, but could only take the iron bar and 

 pry the big stone aside and invite them all 

 to go in and enjoy themselves. He brought 

 hot water and washed his face well, and put 



on his clothing. His parents-in-law lived 

 there seven days and seven nights. Then his 

 father-in-law went away. 



Mustard-flower girl's sister-in-law then asked 

 her, "Do you now want to go back?" She 

 said, "I will not go now." Then she lived 

 with her husband. They both lived there a 

 long time. Then his wife said, "Let us go 

 back home and get a little meat from my 

 parents to eat." Her husband said, "If you 

 want to eat meat you can go upstairs and 

 bring some and boil it." Then his wife went 

 and brought some and boiled it to eat. 



His wife said, "Let us go home and get a 

 little wine from my parents to drink." Her 

 husband said, "If you want to drink wine 

 you can go to the big jar and dip it out." 

 His wife said, "Let us go back home and 

 bring some clothing to wear." Her husband 

 said, "My clothing in the chest of drawers 

 upstairs is very plentiful." His wife said, 

 "We have everything. Let us return home 

 and live with my parents a few days and 

 then come back." Her husband said, "All 

 right." Then they prepared a big rice biscuit 

 and took a silver buffalo horn and poured 

 wine in it. They took it with them and then 

 went to the homes of their parents-in-law. 

 All drank and ate seven days and nights, 

 and the husband and his wife came back to- 

 gether. Until they were very old they were 

 very rich. 



M Ma and San Jin, or The Road from the 

 Earth to the Sl(y Was Severed (509) 



Ni Ma lived above the sky and constantly 

 came down and ate people. When he ate a 

 person he also took a girl, Nts'ai Mi Je,^'^ in 

 his mouth, and took her up on the sky. Ni 

 Ma saw that this girl was very good, so he 

 did not eat her. This girl helped Ni Ma cook 

 his food. San Jin followed them seeking 

 Nts'ai Mi Je. Nts'ai Mi Je said to him, "What 

 have you come to do? Ni Ma is fierce in 

 eating people (eats many people). I will 

 roast brass ornaments until they resound three 

 times, and iron ornaments until they resound 

 two times. If you can eat them all up, you 

 can overcome him." 



He ate with all his strength and ate them 

 up. Then he went and got Ni Ma's sword 

 and pulled it out (of its sheath). He then 

 saw Ni Ma flying down toward the world 

 like a big eagle. He took the sword and 

 struck him, and Ni Ma fell down to the 

 earth. 



But he did not die yet. Three times in 



s'^ Said to mean girl small like a man. 



