88 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. I42 



willing to be married to Ch'iao-mu-shih-ch'i." The King of the Sky 

 also said, "That is all right. I promise to give her to him." Then 

 the frog ceased worrying and leaped in front of the queen to cure 

 her disease. The crow left the palace and flew back to Su-lo-bu to 

 report the cheerful news. 



The time passed very quickly. Ch'iao-mu-shih-ch'i was married 

 to the daughter of the King of the Sky. For years there were 

 abundant harvests, and all the people were happy. But the three sons 

 of the daughter of the sky could not talk. They could only eat 

 and do mischief, like three dumb people. This made their parents 

 sorrowful. 



A small yellow sparrow was anxious to reward them for saving 

 its life. He flew here and there seeking a method to requite the young 

 people. One day he arrived at the palace of the King of the Sky. He 

 heard a moth say that the three boys could speak if someone would 

 get and use three joints of bamboo (causing them to explode by put- 

 ting them in a fire). The yellow sparrow was very happy. He sud- 

 denly said out loud "I know, I know." The Sky Mother immediately 

 sent a person to catch the yellow sparrow. The yellow sparrow flew 

 away, but an angel (messenger) caught the tail of the yellow sparrow 

 and it was broken off. Therefore sparrows now have short tails. 



The little sparrow returned to report the good news. They sought 

 out three joints of bamboo and burned them. The bamboo joints 

 exploded loudly, and the three dumb boys were so surprised that they 

 cried out. The oldest boy said in the Lolo language, "This is very 

 hot." The second oldest shouted in the Hsi Fan language, "This is 

 very hot." The youngest also shouted in the Chinese language, "This 

 is very hot." They became respectively the ancestors of the Lolos, 

 the Tibetans, and the Chinese, and so of all human beings. 



The minds of the Lolos are so simple and primitive, comparatively, 

 that almost anything may be taken as a god. One writer states that 

 after death nearly every human being becomes a god or a demon. H 

 he is good he becomes a god, and if he is bad he becomes a demon. 

 The demons are very numerous and are greatly feared. There are 

 many ceremonies of exorcism. Demons and gods have supernatural 

 power, as do also the priests or shamans. Gods are helpful provided 

 they are respected, worshiped, and sacrificed to, and the demons do 

 harm. There are numerous ceremonies and incantations to obtain 

 magical results, and ceremonies to break the power of evil magic. 



Politically and socially the Lolos have long been a difficult prob- 



