86 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. I42 



tree, and put all your possessions in it. Put into it a male and a 

 female of every kind of bird, animal, insect, or worm. On the seventh 

 day let each of you brothers get into his own boat." Then the old 

 man disappeared. 



Each of the three brothers did as he was ordered, and prepared 

 his boat and his things. Seven days later there was a great flood, and 

 in a short time the earth was a great ocean. The iron boat of the 

 oldest brother and the brass boat of the next to the oldest, with all 

 their possessions, sank to the bottom of the ocean. Only the wooden 

 boat of the youngest brother floated on the misty and turbulent waters. 

 The youngest brother did not know how many days and nights passed. 

 Finally his boat stopped on the top of a mountain that had not yet 

 been covered. This mountain is called Su-lo-bu in the Lolo language, 

 which means that this is the home of the otter. (The place is be- 

 tween Chao-gioh and Lei-po, and is called in Chinese Dragonhead 

 Mountain.) 



Then the youngest brother got out of the boat and rested on top 

 of the mountain. He broke an arrow and made a fire of it for smok- 

 ing and to warm himself by. With his hands he rescued from the 

 water the crows, snakes, bees, frogs, and other creatures that were 

 floating on the surface of the water. 



Eighty-one days after the flood the T'ien Kung or King of the 

 Sky sent a messenger to investigate the earth. The messenger re- 

 turned and reported that the whole world was inundated, and that 

 only the top of the mountain called Su-lo-bu was visible, but that it 

 had a dark, smoky appearance. The King of the Sky thought, "It 

 is Shih-ch'i, of the Ch'iao-mu family." The Mother of the Sky 

 wanted to destroy completely the human beings, but the King of 

 the Sky thought that if only one person lived it would not make 

 much difference. 



During that time the creatures that had been rescued were danc- 

 ing and singing, rejoicing over their rescue, on top of the mountain 

 Su-lo-bu. Only the crows retreated to the edge and stood silently and 

 sadly. The frog knew that the crow had eaten the ashes of the sky 

 book, and that therefore he had foresight and cleverness. The frog 

 therefore jumped in front of the crow and inquired about the matter. 

 Then the crow announced to all of them that the King of Heaven 

 intended to make the water rise to the sky, for he planned to destroy 

 all creatures. The Mother of the Sky would not prevent him, and the 

 King of the Sky intended to destroy every living thing. Therefore 

 all should cease rejoicing and think out a plan to save life. They 



