NO. I 



CH UAN MIAO SONGS AND STORIES — GRAHAM 



287 



The emperor tried to burn him, but they 

 could not burn him to death, so they released 

 him. 



Later, the fourth time, the emperor again 

 sent people to arrest them, and seized Ch'ang 

 Chioh Kan (Long Legs) and took him away. 

 After they had taken him away they threw 

 him in the ocean. Because his legs were long, 

 the water did not drown him. The emperor 

 released him, and he came home. 



Later the eight brothers united and went 

 and killed the emperor. Lao Pa then went 

 and sat on the throne. Afterward the other 

 seven were his military officials. 



The Giafii Who Rode the Mountains (630) 



In ancient times there was a giant at Chien 

 Wu. His name was The Giant Who Rides 

 Mountains. He was fiercer than Ha Ta Wa. 

 Afterward when he died he became a demon 

 and frequently appeared. 



One day he stepped at one stride from 

 Turnip Mountain to Wang P'u Mountain. 

 He also with one stride stepped from Wang 

 P'u Mountain to Kuanteo Mountain. He re- 

 peatedly stepped around thus from mountain 

 to mountain. When he was stepping thus, 

 no matter who opposed him, he struck that 

 person dead with one blow of his palm. 



Ending a Drought (689) 



Nobody could secure rain, and the drought 

 was severe. Only Ye Gei Nang could secure 

 rain (je" gei^ naO^). She knelt in front of 

 Ntzi and begged for rain. Ntzi said to her, 

 "My rain seeds are all gone." The woman 

 said, "If you have no rain, how can we 

 mortals live? The fields and the ground are 

 all dry. For three years there has been no rain 

 and no wind." He replied, "I grant your 

 request because of your prayer. I will do 

 my best. You may go home and prepare 

 vessels to hold the rain water." 



He then ran and shook the wind, and rain 

 fell. It turned into water and flowed into 

 the low places, but the high places had no 

 water. His wife got up the next morning 

 (apparently the wife of Ntzi") and saw this, 

 and thought out a plan. She ordered the 

 people to secure a carpenter and make a water 

 wheel, and told them how to make it, like 

 the loom on which women make hemp 

 string. The wheel was placed in the creeks, 

 and when the creek water pushed against 

 the wheel, the wheel moved and carried water 

 to the higher fields. 



When the owners of the fields saw it the 

 next morning they said, "The fields already 



have water." The wives of the field owners 

 came and saw it and said gladly, "Now we 

 can sow seeds, and the seeds will become rice 

 plants, which can be planted, and they will 

 yield much rice, and all can live well and be 

 good people." 



[Sung by Mrs. Wang Ch'eng Fu, daughter 

 of T'ao Min Hsuen.] 



The Tiger and the Toad (690) 



Jin Dang and Jin Nang were two men 

 whose families had intermarried. Once one 

 went to visit the other in his home, and the 

 other went to kill a chicken so as to give 

 him a feast. The mother hen said, "I can 

 lay eggs. You should not kill me." Therefore 

 he went to kill a rooster and the rooster said, 

 "I am efficient in crowing. You should not 

 kill me." He therefore did not kill the rooster, 

 and went to kill a goose. The goose said, 

 "You should not kill me. When thieves come 

 I cry out and awake you." He then went 

 to kill a rabbit, and the rabbit said, "I only 

 eat grass and do not eat your meat. You 

 should not kill me." 



The goose ran to the toad, and the toad 

 asked, "Why do you run?" The goose replied, 

 "My master wants to kill me." The toad 

 asked, "Why does your master want to kill 

 you?" The goose said, "The two intermarried 

 families want to have a good time." The toad 

 said, "Does he want to kill me?" The master 

 said, "You will do." 



The toad therefore fled and met a tiger. 

 The tiger said, "Mr. Toad, why do you run?" 

 The toad said, "Because the master wants to 

 kill me." The tiger asked, "Does he want 

 to kill me?" The man said, "You are truly 

 fierce, so I want to kill you." The toad and 

 the tiger then consulted. They said, "We will 

 see which can run the fastest." (The slowest 

 would be killed.) 



The toad thought of a plan and bit die tail 

 of the tiger. The tiger fled fast, and the toad 

 held onto the tail of the tiger. The tiger 

 switched his tail, and die toad was thrown 

 in front. The tiger then cried, "Mr. Toad, 

 here I am. How can you run so rapidly?" 

 The toad said, "I leap quicker each time 

 than you can jump." The tiger said, "Should 

 I learn to run from you?" The toad said, 

 "If you want to learn from me how to run, 

 you should change your fierce character, and 

 you will have learned from me." The man, 

 seeing the good trend, did not kill either of 

 them. 



[Sung by Mr. Yang Han Ch'in, of Wang 

 Wu Chai, over 30 years of age.] 



