NO. I 



CHUAN MIAO SONGS AND STORIES — GRAHAM 



289 



Lai Dai was thus able to frighten away the 

 demons. Now at night when walking alone 

 you need only to have a torch, and then 

 you have company. But when you light a 

 fire (torch) you should not lift it up high. 

 If you lift it up high, a person's shadow will 

 certainly be small, and the demons and wild 

 animals can easily come and hurt people. If 

 you do not lift it up high, your shadow will 

 certainly be very high, and the demons and 

 wild animals will all be afraid." From these 

 sentences of his, which have been handed 

 down, to this day when walking at night 

 and lighting a light it is always like this, 

 and you need not be afraid of demons and 

 wild animals. 



A Strange Young Thief (716) 



There was a Miao family whose parents 

 had both died and left a small son. This small 

 son lived widi his maternal uncle, but his 

 uncle treated him badly. He gave him no 

 clothes to wear. Every day the nephew went 

 to the home of a leather worker. He noticed 

 that the awl of the leather worker was good 

 looking, and he thought of stealing it away, 

 but he realized that if he stole it he had no 

 place to hide it. He was afraid that people 

 would see it, which would be bad. 



He thought for awhile, then he hid the 

 awl in the hollow of his knee, and pretending 

 that he was lame he limped along and leaped 

 out of the door. Afterward he played with 



the awl and it became known to his uncle, 

 and his uncle drove him out of the door, 

 after which his reputation became known to 

 others. 



One day there were several robbers who 

 were going to go and rob people, and they 

 induced him to join them. 



One night they went to the home of a rich 

 man. They used ropes and let the boy down 

 to look for things. They said to him, "When 

 you have found the things, first send the 

 things up on the rope, and afterward we will 

 pull you up." But he understood their psy- 

 chology, and he said nothing. 



When he went down, he felt of a leather 

 box. There was gold and silver in the box. 

 He got into the box and stretched out his 

 hand and shook the box, and they pulled the 

 box up and carried it off on their backs. 



They traveled until daybreak and then 

 they said, "Tonight that boy thief certainly 

 suffered." In the box he laughed loudly and 

 said, "I am very peaceful." They all laughed 

 together and opened the box and looked, and 

 saw him there in a heap of gold and silver. 

 When they saw that he was so clever, they 

 shared some of the gold and silver with him. 

 Thus he got a great deal of gold and silver. 



When he grew up he realized that it was 

 not good to be a thief, and composed this 

 song to show that he was capable of being 

 one. From this story one should take warning 

 not to steal. 



