288 



SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS 



VOL. 12^ 



Learning to Understand and to Record Time 

 (696) 



Heaven is deaf, the earth cannot talk. We 

 cannot find out the times. 



Ntz'i ordered a man to look at the earth. 

 There was nothing at all there. He saw only 

 the old king Pan Ku setting traps on the 

 mountains to catch wild animals. Pan Ku 

 ran and saw the messengers of Ntzi". 



Pan Ku asked, "Do you understand the 

 times (periods or dates) ?" The messenger 

 replied, "I do not know. I only know that 

 we pour out the water for the emperor. If 

 you want to find out the times, you can look 

 at the moon in the heavens. In the moon is a 

 solo tree. The solo tree has one branch that 

 reaches to the left, one to the right, one 

 toward heaven, one toward the earth. When 

 the moon is round, it is the fifteenth. When 

 it is smallest, it is the first of the month. 

 Cool weather comes in the spring, hot weather 

 in summer, the falling of leaves in autumn, 

 and the coldest weather in winter. From these 

 things you can distinguish (understand and 

 record) time. 



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

 of Mr. T'ao Min Hsuen.] 



The Toad and the S?(y Bird Measure the 

 Sky (699) 



Constantly traveling all over the world 

 moves one's mind. He traveled to the road 

 of Go Gai. Speaking of the earth, he traveled 

 all over the sky. He traveled to the dwelling 

 place of Gai Long. Go Gai lived at Horse- 

 foot-track. Gai Long also lived at Cow-foot- 

 track. They both slept until midnight and 

 remembered that they should get up and 

 measure the sky. After they had measured 

 the sky. Go Gai asked Gai Long, "When you 

 measured the sky, how large was it.''" Gai 

 Long answered, "Before the dawn I started 

 from the place which was still dark, and at 

 one stretch of my wing I arrived at the edge 

 of the sky, where the sun sister was. I did not 

 reach her breast, and my wings had no more 

 strength, so I rested in the place where the 

 water of the big river stops. I rested a little 

 while, and I again flew once, and flew to the 

 midst of the big plain. I measured the sky, 

 and the sky has no breast, no feet, and no 

 hands. All around the four sides is water, 

 which caused me to have no place to rest. 

 I looked around and it was nearly dark, so 

 I had to fly with (the length of) my two 

 wings before I arrived home without stopping. 

 After two days I will go and measure the 



sky again, and maybe I can finish measuring 

 it." 



Go Gai said, "I started at the Horse-foot- 

 print, and with one jump I leaped to the 

 middle of the great flat, and then from the 

 big flat at one leap I jumped to the center 

 of the big creek, and again with one leap 

 jumped onto the great cliff. I stood on the 

 cliff and looked. That sky was very wide. 

 I thought of jumping again, but was afraid 

 that if I leaped down from the cliff I would 

 not be able to jump back again, therefore I 

 returned home." 



The two of them returned to the same place 

 and talked the matter over again. They in- 

 tended to go again and measure (the sky). 



One day Gai Long determined that he 

 would start from the place where the sun 

 sister slept. He flew for seven days and seven 

 nights and arrived at the end of the sky, but 

 he could not find the face of the sky, and 

 he then came back again. Go Gai leaped for 

 three days and three nights, and became tired. 

 They both returned, and each spoke. Gai 

 Long said, "The sky was entirely measured 

 by me, but it has no ears, eyes, or face. There 

 is just a big plain. I say, the plain (flat) is 

 just like a person's breast." Go Gai said, 

 "I leaped for three days and three nights, 

 and I did not leap as far as the edge of the 

 sky. I think it would be hard for me in my 

 whole life to measure the whole sky." 



When Lighting a Lamp on a Dar\ Night, 

 It Should Not Be Placed up High (715) 



Formerly there was an old Miao. He 

 claimed that he was a prophet. He also said, 

 "Don't you people know about ancient things? 

 I will tell you." He said, "When you light 

 a fire at night, you must not lift it up high. 

 This is because in ancient times Dao Lai Dai 

 came to get the fire seed. That day when 

 he lighted the fire, the wild people and the 

 wild animals on the mountains all fled away. 

 When he lighted a fire (or torch?) at night, 

 and the demons saw the light of the fire, the 

 demons were frightened still more. The 

 demons thought that the sun was again com- 

 ing out during the night." 



The groups of demons came to entice him, 

 but he built the fire on the ground, and his 

 shadow stretching from the middle of the 

 light of the fire was several tens of feet high. 

 When the demons came where he was, they 

 saw that there was a giant there, standing up 

 as high as the sky. The demons were all 

 afraid, and did not dare to come near him. 



That old man said, "In ancient times Dao 



