A Berlin Wall Moment Beckons for the Americas

On November 9, the world celebrated the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, known in the West as the Wall of Shame. This totalitarian monstrosity was erected by the East German military in the early morning of August 13, 1961, on orders from the Soviet Union. Although originally nothing more than a treacherous barbed wire fence, over the next 10 years it began to take the form we know of today.

                                      Latin America awaits the fall of its own totalitarian walls.

Much has been written about life behind the wall, of the historical role the wall played in the fall of socialism, and the reasons it finally collapsed. However, it is important to discuss the relevance of this event for Latin America, a region littered with Marxist groups and populist governments.

The Soviet Union — which died in 1986, and whose rotting corpse was finally buried in 1991 — was a nearly inexhaustible source of economic support for parasites the world over. Her foreign policy was the most imperialist in the history of humanity, including great advances in the Western Hemisphere. The success of the export, or imposition, of socialism in Cuba in 1961 was part of an expansion plan called “Jihad against capitalism,” and the Soviets’ impressive media campaign managed to manipulate millions of people around the world, especially in impoverished Latin America.

The Soviet Union … was a nearly inexhaustible source of economic support for parasites the world over.

Salvador Allende in Chile, Maurice Bishop in Granada, Daniel Ortega in Nicaragua, and guerrilla in Central America, Colombia, Peru, and Ecuador were all ideologically and economically supported by the KGB. In fact, these historical and social aberrations would not have been possible without Soviet financing via Cuba, and the expansion of Castro-style ideological training in the Americas.

However, after the fall of the Berlin Wall, the Soviets themselves understood they had been duped by the 1917 Russian Revolution. Reality did not match the picture painted by aggressive socialist propaganda. Beginning in 1986, the USSR became mired in a crisis that was impossible to escape, and assistance to the “third world” was drastically reduced. In 1991, the democratic and anti-communist Russian President Boris Yeltsin cut off all funding to totalitarian regimes and guerrilla groups.

This is when the populist governments of Latin America began to fall: Ortega lost funding and lost the election; in Central America the guerrilla suffered military defeats, and opted to infiltrate the political sphere; in Colombia the FARC were greatly diminished, and began to seek other sources of funding (drug trafficking, kidnapping, and robbery).

The dramatic case of Cuba, which fell into an economic crisis after her GDP dropped by more than 11 percent between 1991 and 1993, demonstrates the imprudence of being economically dependent on others.

Socialism, in all its forms, should be wiped off the political map of the continent.

WAS LEHI A CARAVANEER?

1 This article was issued as a FARMS preliminary report in 1984. It is published here for the first time.

And  it  came to pass that the Lord commanded my father,  even in  a dream, that he should take his family and depart into the wilderness. And it came to pass that he was obedient unto the word of the Lord, wherefore he did as the Lord commanded him. And it came to pass that he departed into the wilderness. And he left his house, and the land of his inheritance, and his gold, and  his silver,  and  his precious things, and took nothing with him, save it were his family, and provisions, and tents, and departed into the wilderness. (I Nephi 2:2-4)

Hugh Nibley has contributed perhaps more than any other single scholar to our understanding of the historical and cultural background of the Book of Mormon, especially in its Old World origins. 2 With regard to Lehi, whose departure from Jerusalem led to the colonization of the New World by Israelites, Nibley has shown a large number of cultural ties to the Near East of circa 600 BC.

2 Of particular note are three of his books, Lehi in  die Desert (originally published by Bookcraft in 1952), An Approach to the Book of Mormon (originally published by the LDS Church in 1957, with the second edition published by Deseret in 1964), and Since Cumorah (originally published by Deseret in l967).  All of these have since been reissued in new editions: An  Approach to the Book of Mormon (Salt Lake City: FARMS and Deseret, 1988); Lehi in  the Desert,  The  World of the Jaredites, There Were Jaredites (Salt Lake City: FARMS and Deseret, 1988); Since Cumorah (Salt Lake City: FARMS and Deseret, 1988).

The question of Lehi’s profession before he left Jerusalem, however, is one subject Nibley explores that may, in fact, profit from some reexamination in light of more recent research. His thoughts on Lehi’s profession are found in two of his books and read as follows:There is ample evidence in the Book of Mormon that Lehi was an expert on caravan travel, as one might expect.  Consider a few general points. Upon receiving a warning dream, he is ready apparendy at a moment’s notice to take his whole ‘family, and provisions, and tents’ out into the wilderness. While he took absolutely nothing but the most necessary provisions with him (1 Nephi 2:4), he knew exacdy what those provisions should be, and when he had to send back to the city to supply unanticipated wants, it was for records that he sent and not for any necessaries for the journey. This argues a high degree of preparation and knowledge in the man, as does the masterly way in which he established a base camp.3

3 Nibley, An Approach to the Book of Mormon, 77; Lehi in the Desert, The World of the Jaredites,  There Were Jaredites, 36.

Other facts cited as evidence that Lehi was a caravaneer will be noted below. We will examine all this evidence and explore some other possible explanations, then propose alternative professions in which Lehi might have worked that now appear more consistent with the record we have.  At the outset, let us begin with the Book of Mormon passage cited by Nibley above, 1 Nephi 2:4: And it came to pass that he [Lehi] departed into the wilderness.  And he left his house, and the land of his inheritance, and his gold, and his silver, and his precious things, and took nothing with him, save it were his family, and provisions, and tents, and departed into the wilderness.There are indications in this passage that Lehi was not prepared for a sudden journey into the wilderness. While most things are labeled (in true Hebraic style) “his . . . and his . . . ,”(“his gold, and his silver, and his precious things”) the pronoun’s absence is striking when it comes to “provisions and tents,” which are the very things one would expect a caravaneer to have on hand. Because the rest of the verse is so consistent in using the possessive pronoun, its absence here may mean that Lehi had to procure provisions and tents for the trip. If so, this would imply that he was not involved in the caravan trade. If Lehi recorded all of the details of his trip into the desert, they do not appear to be included in the record on the small plates of Nephi from which Joseph Smith translated the account in 1 Nephi. For example, Nibley points out that Lehi probably had camels as pack animals, though these are not mentioned in the text.4 If this detail is omitted, it is possible that others, such as the purchase of tents and supplies, are also missing from the record we now have.5


4  Nibley, Lehi in the Desert 54-58.

5  In a private communication on March 22,1984, Lisa Hawkins commented as follows on an early draft of this chapter: “Wouldn’t Lehi’s purchase of those kinds of tents etc. have called attention to his plans to escape! Could that be aproblem—would someone have tried to prevent them?” This would perhaps be true had Lehi tried to make such a purchase in Jerusalem. But it seems unlikely that Judah’s capital city had a local tent shop. It is more plausible to suggest that tents would have to be purchased from those who manufactured and used them, such as a nomadic family living out in the steppe. Such people, assuming them to be like the Bedouin of today, would have taken very little interest in the political machinations of their sedentary neighbors (and perhaps a high interest in whatever Lehi might pay them). Consequently, the possibility of his plans being disclosed by those who sold him the tents is remote.

The apparent swiftness with which Lehi left Jerusalem is cited as one of the strongest reasons for the idea that he was a caravaneer.6  But the Book of Mormon does not specify how long it took him to prepare for his journey.  Since the record is an abridgment, one cannot assume that Lehi left Jerusalem on a moment’s notice simply because the passage omits details about his preparations.

6 Besides Nibley, see S. Kent Brown, From Jerusalem to Zarahemla: litera ry andHistorical Studies o f the Book o f Mormon (Provo: BYU Religious Studies Center, 1998), 69, note 16.

THE EGYPTIAN LANGUAGE

The fact that Lehi is said to have known the Egyptian “language” (Mosiah 1:4) has been used to bolster the possibility that Lehi was a traveling merchant.7 Nibley even suggests that the Book of Mormon plates were written in the Egyptian language,8 but recent evidence suggests that the language of the Nephites was Hebrew, which they symbolized in writing by making use of Egyptian signs.9 This was also the view of Sidney B. Sperry.10 *


7  Nibley, Lehi in  the Desert, 11-12; Approach to the Book o f Mormon, 47.*

8 Nibley, L ehi in  the Desert, 13-19.

9 There are several different views found among Book of Mormon scholars concerning the nature of the Nephite language, both spoken and written. As indicated in Chapter 2,1 have opted for the proposition that the Nephites spoke Hebrew and wrote Hebrew using a writing system partially derived from the Egyptian written language. For further study of this view, see John A. Tvedtnes “Linguistic Implications of the Tel Arad Ostraca,” Newsletter &  Proceedings o f theSociety fo r  Early H istoric Archaeology No. 127 (October 1971); John A. Tvedtnes, “The Hebrew Background of the Book of Mormon,” in John L. Sorenson and Melvin J. Thome (eds.), Rediscovering the Book o f Mormon (Salt Lake City: Deseret & FARMS, 1991).

10  Sidney B. Sperry, O u r Book  o f Mormon (Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1950),Chapter 3.

The use of Egyptian symbols to transliterate Hebrew words and vice versa, is known from sixth century B.C. texts discovered at Arad and Kadesh-Barnea.11 The fact that these texts were used by local people shows that one did not have to be a traveling merchant in order to have some background in the Egyptian writing system and to use it as Lehi did. Indeed, the fact that Egyptian symbols are used as the sole representation of numerals in ninth- through sixth-century B.C. Hebrew texts fromvarious locations is an indication of the fact that even non-travelers picked up information from the caravaneers and used it locally.12

11  For a discussion and bibliography, see John A. Tvedtnes and Stephen D. Ricks, “Jewish and Other Semitic Texts Written in Egyptian Characters, of Book of Mormon Studies 5/2, Fall 1996.

12  These weight numerals used in ancient Israel have been demonstrated to be of Egyptian origin. See the bibliography in my “Linguistic Implications of the Arad Ostraca.”

Nibley suggested, “Lehi’s main business was with Egypt, carried on both by land and sea..”13 If this were so, however,Nephi, following Near Eastern custom, should have been engaged in the same profession as his father, and hence should have been acquainted with ships. So unacquainted was he, however, that his brothers mocked not only his project to construct a seagoing vessel, but his ability to sail it (1 Nephi 17:17).

13 Nibley, Approach to die Book o f Mormon, 87.

A millennium before Lehi, the text of Ipuwer states that all foreigners knew the language of Egypt.14 But this was not because all foreigners traveled to Egypt as merchants, but, more likely, because Egyptian merchants traveled far and wide. Thus, in Lehi’s day, nearly a thousand years later, it was most likely that he picked up a knowledge of Egyptian without ever leaving home.

14 Ibid., 86; Lehi in  the Desert, 13.

Another point mentioned by Nibley to show that Lehi was involved in foreign trade is that the name of the Phoenician port-city of Sidon appears in the Book of Mormon in both its Egyptian and Hebrew forms.15 While the fact itself may be significant, we must not omit the possibility that it was the Mulekites and not the Nephites who brought the name to the New World.16 Indeed, some LDS scholars have theorized that the Mulek colony came across the ocean in Phoenician ships.17

15  The name of the river Sidon does not appear in the Book of Mormon until after the Nephites and Mulekites merged under the first Mosiah. The river was situated in former Mulekite territory, not in the lands first settled by the Nephites or Lamanites.

16  The name of the river Sidon does not appear in the Book of Mormon until after the Nephites and Mulekites merged under the first Mosiah. The river was situated in former Mulekite territory, not in the lands first settled by the Nephites or Lamanites.

17 See, for example, Ross T. Christensen, “The Phoenicians and the Ancient Civilizations of America,” Newsletter &  Proceedings o f the Society fa r  Early H istoricArchaeology, No. Ill (January 13,1969); Ross T. Christensen, “Did the Phoenicians Cross the Atlantic?” Newsletter &  Proceedings o f the Society fa r EarlyHistoric Archaeology, No. 118 (January 12,1970); Ross T. & Ruth R. Christensen, “Perspective on the Route of Mulek’s Colony,” Newsletter &  Proceedings o f the Societyfo r Early H istoric Archaeology,  N o . 131 (September 1972); Bernhart Johnson, “Israelite-Phoenician Commercial Relations & the Voyage of Mulek to the New World,” Newsletter &  Proceedings o f the Society fa r  Early H istoric Archaeology, No. 140 (March 1977)

BEDOUIN LIFESTYLE

Many aspects of Lehi’s sojourn in the wilderness are noted as possible evidence of his caravaneer experience. But the facts that have been cited are not necessarily evidence that Lehi was used to a nomadic lifestyle. Rather, they may simply be examples of his trust in the Lord.18

18 Nibley is correct in saying that the word “wilderness” in 1 Nephi 8:4, 7 is desert and not jungle (Lehi in  the Desert, 50). But it is not certain that the word “wilderness” in the Book of Mormon means “desert most of the time” (Approach tothe Book o f Mormon, 135-7). In 1 Nephi 18:26 (and apparently in Alma 58:13-14 19-20), the word obviously refers to “forest.” This may have been a transference ofmeaning based on the fact that both the forest encountered in the New World andthe desert in the Old were relatively uninhabited. (Along similar lines, we find thatthe word meaning “horse” in some of the Yuman Indian languages is the nativeword for “deer,” which was applied to the animal later introduced into the area.)Thus, most serious Book of Mormon scholars believe that the word “wilderness,” asapplied by the Book of Mormon to regions in the New World, refers to forest land.

For example, Nibley suggests that the Israelites typically maintained ties to the desert—and specifically to a nomadic way of life.  But further study has indicated that this cannot be fullysubstantiated. Idioms such as “to your tents, O Israel” (2 Samuel 20:1; 1 Kings 12:16; 2 Chronicles 10:16) may be nothing more than that—just idiomatic, based on a reality that no longer existed in the Iron Age.

One item of evidence used to tie Israelites to the nomadic life is the example of Jonadab ben Rekhab, mistakenly said by Nibley to have been a contemporary of Lehi.  His family left Jerusalem to take up a nomadic lifestyle.19 But this man is named in 2 Kings 10:15 and lived in the ninth century BC, more than two centuries before Lehi’s time.20 There is no indication that Jonadab previously lived in Jerusalem. Indeed, Jeremiah 35 indicates that it was in Lehi’s day that the Rechabites, Jonadab’s descendants, first came to Jerusalem, probably because of the press of the Babylonian army then invading the land.21

19 Nibley, Approach to the Book i f  Mormon, 68.

20 This is based on a rather detailed book-length study on the Kenites, of whom the Rechabites are a part. As yet unpublished, it is entitled: John A. Tvedtnes, “The House of Jethro: A History of the Kenites.”

21The Rechabites, descendants of Jethro via Rechab, Jonadab’s ancestor, became priests in the temple in Jerusalem.

In reference to 1 Nephi 2:15, Nibley wrote, “To an Arab, ‘my father dwelt in a tent 5 says everything.”22 But to have said, “we had camels for pack animals” would have said the same thing, yet Nephi never mentions this fact, as Nibley points out. Why, then, did Nephi mention the tents?

22  Nibley, Lehi in  the Desert, 51.

There are a number of references to the tents of Lehi and his party (1 Nephi 2:15; 3:1; 4:38; 5:7; 7:5, 21-22; 15:1; 16:32.). After recounting his explanation of the tree of life vision to his brethren, Nephi wrote, “Now, all these things were said and done as my father dwelt in a tent in the valley which he called Lemuel”(1 Nephi 16:6). This statement may imply the extraordinary circumstances under which Lehi and his family were living. In fact, “My father dwelt in a tent” may have been an indication that this was not normal! It could have been a striking and an unusual fact, a new life style for a man whose background was sedentary, perhaps even urban.

As further proof that Lehi was at home in the desert, Nibley pointed to the absence of any references to camels in the I Nephi account. This may be because, as he explains, “in the East the common words for travel are camel-words.”23 While this is true for medieval and modem Arabic, we cannot know if it is true forthe Arabic of Lehi’s time, of which there are no existing record s .24 Most scholars today see these “camel-words” as a secondary development in Arabic, which is notable for making verbs of nouns in a deliberate attempt to make the language more complex and hence a more useful tool for the composition of a special type of poetry.

Though Lehi’s establishment of a “base camp” (1 Nephi 2:5) was described by Nibley as “masterly,” the Book of Mormon text doesn’t really have enough information in it to justify the adjective. In fact, very little is said about Lehi’s camp aside from locating it in a valley beside water and noting that Lehi lived in a tent. Moreover, the “base camp” was but a temporary location and the bulk of Lehi’s time before departing for the New World (eight years) appears to have been spent in the wilderness after leaving the Valley of Lemuel.

23" Ibid., 56.

24 There are numerous inscriptions in Epigraphic South Arabic from the Iron II period (tenth to sixth centuries B.C.), but this language, while related to Arabic, is a different branch of the Semitic language family, more closely related to Ethiopic.

After their arrival in the New World, Nephi’s departure from Laman and Lemuel using tents is also cited as evidence of the nomadic pattern of his family (2 Nephi 5:5-7).  It is noted further that the Lamanites continued to live in tents (Enos 20).25 But this pattern may have been due to their eight years of living in tents on the Arabian peninsula. Indeed, shortly after Nephi’s group separated from that of his elder brethren, the Nephites began planting crops, raising herds and constructing buildings, including a temple (2 Nephi 5:11-17)—hardly typical of a nomadic lifestyle.

25 Nibley, Approach  to  the Book  o f Mormon, 141-42.

Later, the Nephite pattern of setdement was to establish city-states, wherein cities would control the land surrounding them. This gave rise to the Book of Mormon practice of calling the city and the land surrounding it by the same name.26 This was typical of Judah in the time of Lehi,27 but not of nomadic peoples or of caravaneers. The people’s wish to make Nephi their king (2 Nephi 5:18) is also typical of sedentary populations, not of nomads.28

26  See John A. Tvedtnes, “Cities and Lands in the Book of M  o r m  o n ,ofBook o f Mormon Studies 4/2, Fall 1995.

27 Nibley himself demonstrated this m  Approach  to  the Book  o f Mormon, 100-102 and Lehi in   the Desert, 6-7.

28 Nomadic peoples, because they generally travel in small groups (due to the scarcity of water and pasturage), tend not to have kings. Indeed, the chroniclers of ancient Assyria took note of the rather peculiar fact that the first seventeen Assyrian kings had lived in tents.  See James B. Pritchard, The Ancient Near East in  Tescts,Relating to the Old Testament (Princeton Univ., 1969), 564.

As for the fact that the Lamanites continued to live in tents, we must remember what Nephi wrote of them. They “did become an idle people, full of mischief and subdety, and did seek in the wilderness for beasts of prey” (2 Nephi 5:24).29 This laziness is reflected in the story of the building of the ship, in which Laman and Lemuel complained against Nephi “and were desirous that they might not labor” (1 Nephi 17:18). Had they been industrious like Nephi and his group, they, too, would probably have built more permanent homes and setded down.

29 That Laman and Lemuel did not suddenly “become” lazy in the New World is evidenced in earlier statements by Nephi concerning their laziness. John W. Welch, in a private communication, has suggested that the words “did become an idle people” may have reference to the establishment of a cultural pattern rather than to any personal characteristics of the Lamanites.

A number of the things done by Lehi and his party while traveling through the wilderness are, as Nibley has shown, typical of Middle Eastern nomadic peoples. But some of these “Bedouin traits” turn out to be poor evidence of Lehr's traveling skills. For example, though it may be typically Bedouin to travel in the “more fertile parts of the wilderness” (1 Nephi 16:14), as Lehi did, 30 we read that it was the Lord who led them into these areas by means of the mysterious “ball” or Liahona (1 Nephi 16:16). If Lehi were an experienced desert caravaneer, why would he need divine assistance to locate these fertile areas?

30 Nibley, Lehi in  the Desert, 58-59.

Lehi’s restricted use of fire in the wilderness is cited as another trait of desert Arabs, whose campfires might alert nearby enemies to their presence.31 As a consequence of this, we read that they had to eat “raw meat in the wilderness” (1 Nephi 17:2).Again, however, it was the Lord who commanded them not to build fires (1 Nephi 17:12). Would this have been necessary if Lehi were already experienced in desert travel?

31 Ibid., 63-64.

Some of the wording of Nephi’s hymn of praise in 2 Nephi 4 is marked as evidence that his family had desert connections. In verse 32, Nephi prays “that I may walk in the path of the low valley, that I may be stria in the plain road”— thoughts expressed (as are those in verse 33) in Arabic greetings and blessings.32 But these expressions could have resulted from the fact that Nephi spent eight years in the Arabian desert.  They need not imply that he or his family had been there before. Moreover, the Bible is replete with examples of “desert speech” which became idiomaticafter the Israelites settled in the land of Canaan.33 Some of these idioms undoubtedly remained in the Hebrew of Lehi’s day. Idiomsare expressions whose original meaning is often forgotten. Thus, we could also conclude that Americans have close ties to the Arabian desert, for we not only employ a large number of Arabic words in our language (including sugar, cotton, hazard, albatross, and the like), but we also say “So long” as an idiomatic equivalent of “goodbye” (itself idiomatic, from “God abide with you”). “Solong” is a corruption of the Arabic greeting salam, picked up by our Crusader ancestors.

32  Nibley, Approach to the Book i f  Mormon 74-75; Since Cumorah, 157.

33  For a study of this topic, with many examples from the Bible, see Morris S. Seale, The D esert Bible:  Nomadic Tribal Culture and Old Testam ent Interpretation (London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1974).

Attributing an Arabic origin to 2 Nephi 4:32, fails to note that the prayer cited above is immediately preceded by the words, “O Lord, wilt thou not shut the gates of thy righteousness before me.” Gates, of course, are common to cities but not to deserts. So this verse provides just as much evidence for Nephi’s urban origins as it does for a desert habitat.

In 2 Nephi 4:33, Nephi continues his hymn by saying, “O Lord, wilt thou encircle me around in the robe of thy righteousness!” Nibley suggests that this may be tied to the throwing of the desert sheikh’s robe around those seeking protection.34 Again, however, the expression may simply have been idiomatic to Lehi or its desert origins may have been obscured. In 1 Kings 19:19, we read that Elijah cast his mantle around Elisha who was, according to that text, a farmer. But the Bible stories of Elijah show that the prophet felt at home in the towns and villages of Israel.

34 Niblcy, Approach to the Book o f Mormon, 75; Since Cumorah, 157.

In further support of the thesis that Lehi had ties with the desert, the names Ishmael, Lehi, Lemuel, Alma and Sam are said to be Arabic in origin.35 However, in attempting to tie Lehi to Egypt, Nibley also says the name Sam is Egyptian.36 Rather than tie the name Lehi to the Biblical site known as Ramat-Lehi (Judges 15:17), he has been connected with the well (Hebrew be’a-) of Lehai-Ro’i.37  That well plays an important role in the story of Sarah’s Egyptian handmaiden, Hagar, mother of Ishmael, whose descendants settled the Hijazi region of western Arabia (Genesis 16:14). But Ishmael is also the name of a member of the royal family of Judah from the time of Lehi (Jeremiah 40).  The name Alma is probably more correctly to be associated with the Aramaic name Alma found in Nahal Hever, as Nibley notes.38 Hence, thesenames give but litde support to the idea that Lehi and his family had ties to Arabia prior to his flight from Jerusalem. Furthermore, Lehi gave the names Jacob and Joseph to the two sons born to him in Arabia, and these are typical Hebrew names.39

35  Nibley, Approach to the Book o f Mormon,  75-76; Lehi in the Desert, 41-42.

36  Nibley, Approach to the Book o f Mormon, 286.

37 Ibid., 75,290,499 (note 25).

38  Hugh Nibley, Review of Yigael Yadin, BarKochba in B T U  Studies 14 (Autumn 1973), 120-121.

39 While it is true that both names can be found among Arabs, they are borrowing from the Bible, not using native Arabic names.

With regard to the fact that Lehi named some of the sites he visited during his desert travels (see, for example, 1 Nephi 2:8; 9:1; 16:13), Nibley is certainly correct in noting that the naming of places in the desert is an Arabic feature.40  However, we find it in the Bible in reference to more sedentary peoples as well.41 It is therefore not evidence of Lehi’s prior ties with Arabia.42

40  Nibley, Approach to the Book o f Mormon, 81-82; Lehi in tile Desert, 74-79.

41  See, for example, Judges 1:26; 2:5; 6:24; 15:17,19; 18:12,29; 1 Samuel 23:28; 2 Samuel 5:9,20; 6:2; 18:18; 1 Kings 9:13; 2 Kings 14:7; 1 Chronicles 11:7; 14:11.

42 Philby’s story (recounted in Lehi in  the Desert, 75-76) of the Arab who gave the same name to three different hills (because that was the way it was done) is not a good example of the Arabic custom of naming desert sites. When an Arab does not have an answer to a question, he tends to give a stock one or to invent something This is because he cannot, in his culture, disappoint someone who wants an answer, so he must supply one, even if it is not true. This is a typical Arab trait. See John A  Tvedtnes, “Arab Logic” in Languages &  Linguistics Symposium,  1977 (Provo: Deseret Language & Linguistics Society and the BYU College of Humanities, in conjunction with the Language and Intercultural Research Center, 1977). Others who have discussed this trait are John Laffin, The Arab M ind (London: Cassell, 1975), 23,81, 91-92,146, 149; and Raphael Patai, The Arab M ind (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1973), 49-59.

MURMURING IN  THE DESERT

The complaints and disputes that characterized life during Lehi’s travels through the wilderness of Arabia (1 Nephi 2:11-13; 3:5, 28, 31; 5:2-3; 7:6-8, 16-19; 16:20-22, 35-38; 17:17-22) are cited as typical of Bedouin life, where the children frequendy quarrel with their parents, including the sheikh.43 However, itwould be atypical of the Bedouin to go so far as to seek the life of the father and brother, as did Laman and Lemuel (1 Nephi 16:37).

43  Nibley, Lehi in  the Desert, 68-70.

Concerning the nature of these quarrels, Nibley wrote that Lehi’s family complain “like all Arabs, against the terrible and dangerous deserts through which they pass, but they do not include ignorance of the desert among their hazards, though that would be their first and last objection to his wild project were Lehi nothing but a city Jew unacquainted with the wild and dangerous world of the waste places.”44

Lehi’s family charged him with irresponsi-bility and lack of candor in leading them out into the wastes, and in view of what they had to suffer and what they left behind they were, from the common sense point of view, quite right. The decision to depart into the wilderness came suddenly to Lehi, by a dream. (1 Nephi 2:2.) In the same way “. . . the Lord commanded that I,Nephi, should return unto the land of Jerusalem, and bring down Ishmael and his family into the wilderness.” (1 Nephi 7:2) 45

44 Ibid., 36; Approach to the Book of Mormon, 78.

45 •'  Nibley, Approach to the Book of Mormon, 72

It is true that Laman and Lemuel, along with the sons of Ishmael murmured “because of their sufferings and afflictions in the wilderness,” but so, too, did Lehi (1 Nephi 16:20). And we discover in another passage that Laman and Lemuel objected to the long return trip to Jerusalem to obtain the brass plates because it was “a hard thing...required of them” (1 Nephi 3:5).46 * But this does not appear to be their principal complaint against their father.

46 They may have referred to their encounter with Laban rather than to the actual journey.

Laman and Lemuel murmured because their father “was a visionary man” who made them leave “their precious things . . .because of the foolish imaginations of his heart. . . because they knew not the dealings of that God . . . neither did they believe that Jerusalem, that great city, could be destroyed” (1 Nephi 2:11-13). This complaint was even echoed at one point by their mother Sariah (1 Nephi 5:2).  The elder sons believed that Lehi had ledthem away from Jerusalem “by the foolish imaginations of his heart” (1 Nephi 17:20).

Nephi, on the other hand, “did not rebel” like his brothers because the Lord confirmed to him by means of visions and revelations the truth of his father’s words. Furthermore, Sam believed Nephi (1 Nephi 2:16-17). For this reason, Laman and Lemuel sought to slay both Lehi and Nephi, saying, “Now, he says that the Lord has talked with him” (1 Nephi 16:37-38). To Nephi, his brethren were not rebelling against their father, but “against the Lord their God,” who had commanded Lehi to leave his homeland (1 Nephi 16:22). Clearly, the real problem with Laman and Lemuel was their lack of faith in the principle of revelation, coupled with the fact that they regretted living in the wilderness, where they could no longer enjoy their possessions in the land of their inheritance (1 Nephi 17:21).47

47 They also complained that Nephi, their younger brother, wanted to rule over them (see 1 Nephi 2:22; 16:38).

The fact that Lehi’s elder sons complained about his prophetic calling rather than about his ignorance of the desert does not mean that Lehi was acquainted with desert travel. If he wasunacquainted with the desert and went only because the Lord sent him there, the only way they could get him to return home was to prove that the Lord did not send him. Therefore, Laman and Lemuel’s best course of attack was to convince Lehi that the Lord did not speak to him.48 If Lehi did not know desert life but was convinced that the Lord had sent him, he would not change his mind because of lack of expertise, so such arguments would not have had much effect.

48 They were not even impressed by the fact that an angel had appeared to them, as noted in 1 Nephi 7:10; 17:45.

More importantly, we must note that if Lehi was a caravaneer, then it was to be expected that his elder sons werealready involved in their father’s business. They would have been used to traveling. But they seemed to care nothing at all for such ventures. In fact, it is clear they preferred to have remained at home.

Another objection to the theory that Lehi was involved in caravan trade lies in the evidence for the time of his departure from Jerusalem. Since there was water in the Wadi Laman at which he stopped, he must have left his home during the winter. One would expect that, since caravans in the Middle East do not travel during the rainy winter season, when muddy ground and flash floods present dangers and discomfort, Laman and Lemuel, had they beenfrom a caravaneering family, would have objected to travel in the off-season. But they did not do so, indicating that such travel was not part of their lifestyle.

LEHI: FARMER OR MERCHANT?

Lehi’s wealth (1 Nephi 3:16; 2:4) is cited as evidence that he must have been involved in caravan trade.49 “One did not acquire ‘exceeding great riches’ by running a shop in Jerusalem or a farm in the suburbs,” Nibley explains.50

49 Nibley, Approach  to  the Book  of Mormon, 47.

50 Ibid., 59.

It is certainly true that a farmer or a shopkeeper could not be expected to have been a wealthy man. Ironically, however, there is a lot of evidence that Lehi was, indeed, a farmer. Nibley notes that “from his sons Nephi and Jacob one gathers that Lehi must have been something of an expert in vine, olive and fig and honey culture.”51 But the parables told by these men (for example, Jacob 5) do not constitute the totality of our evidence for Lehi’s agricultural expertise.

51 Ibid., 47.

In describing the party’s departure from their original campsite beside the River Laman, Nephi wrote, “And we did take seed of every kind that we might carry into the wilderness” (1 Nephi 16:11). That the seed was not intended for food is noted by Nibley.52 Indeed, it was loaded onto the ship and carried to the New World. In recounting this fact, Nephi tells us that they loaded “meat from the wilderness, and honey in abundance, and provisions according to that which the Lord had commanded us . . . and ourseeds, and whatsoever thing we had brought with us” (1 Nephi 18:6). From whence were the seeds brought? In a later passage, describing the arrival in the New World, he tells us that they had been “brought from the land of Jerusalem” (1 Nephi 18:24).

52 Nibley, Lehi in  the Desert, 61.

The origin of the seeds is unclear. We do not read about them being taken from Jerusalem, only that they were carried through the wilderness and loaded onto the ship, then planted in the New World. At what point did Lehi bring the seeds from Jerusalem? Nephi and his three elder brethren departed from Jerusalem three times (once with Lehi, once with Zoram and the plates of Laban, and once with Ishmael and his family). There is evidence to indicate that they brought the seeds with them on the third trip.

Immediately after recounting the return of Lehi’s sons from Jerusalem with the family of Ishmael, Nephi recorded, “And it came to pass that we had gathered together all manner of seeds of every kind, both of grain of every kind, and also of the seeds of fruit of every kind” (1 Nephi 8:1). The implication is that these were gathered at the time they returned to fetch Ishmael. Certainly, if the seeds were “from the land of Jerusalem,” Nephi could not have meant that they gathered them in the wilderness of northern Arabia.

This is not consistent with the idea that Lehi knew exactly what provisions should be taken when he left, or the claim that he did not have to send back to Jerusalem “for any necessaries for the journey.” It is also inconsistent with Nibley’s statement that “this argues a high degree of preparation and knowledge in the man” regarding travel. Thus it further brings into doubt the conclusion that Lehi was a caravaneer.

The use of the seeds at the group’s final destination provides further evidence that Lehi was from a sedentary culture. The description of their arrival in the New World is not that of a nomadic group, with the exception of the mention of “tents.” Rather, it describes a group of people well-acquainted with agri-cultural pursuits:

We did arrive at the promised land; and we went forth upon the land, and did pitch our tents; and we did call it the promised land. And it came to pass that we did begin to till the earth, and we began to plant seeds; yea, we did put all our seeds into the earth, which we had brought from the land of Jerusalem. And it came to pass that they did grow exceedingly; wherefore, we were blessed in abundance. And it came to pass that we did find upon the land of promise, as we journeyed in the wilderness, that there were beasts in the forests of every kind, both the cow and the ox, and the ass and the horse, and the goat and the wild goat, and all manner of wild animals, which were for the use of men. And we did find all manner of ore, both of gold, and of silver, and of copper. (1 Nephi 18:23-25; see also 2 Nephi 5:11)

It is true that Lehi was a wealthy man living in the “land of Jerusalem,” but not in the city by that name.53 * Wherever Lehi lived it appears that he had sufficient land to grow crops and plant trees of various sorts.

53 Ibid., 6-7; Approach to the Book o f Mormon, 100-102. It was Nibley who first pointed out that one of the Amarna letters, dating from the fourteenth century B.C., mentioned the “land of Jerusalem,” thus justifying the Book of Mormon’s statement that Jesus would be born “at Jerusalem which is the land of our forefathers” (Alma7:10), for Bethlehem would have been included in the land governed by the city of Jerusalem.

LEHI: METALWORKER?

But we must still deal with the question of how Lehi acquired his wealth. As noted above from Nibley’s study, it is not reasonable to believe that Lehi could have accumulated wealth from agricultural pursuits. Caravaneering is Nibley’s recourse as the only reasonable means by which the prophet could have become rich.But another possibility suggests itself.  There is evidence to show that Lehi and his family were craftsmen and artisans—probably metalworkers.54

54 In the Near East, sons typically enter into the same occupation as their fathers.  Hence, the occupation pursued by Nephi can be reasonably expected to be that of his father as well.

For example, we have Nephi’s keen interest in the sword of Laban when he encounters him drunk on the streets (1 Nephi 4:9). Nephi’s steel bow (1 Nephi 16:18) might also be an indication of his occupation. (His inability to repair the bow in the desert could be explained by either the lack of iron ore in the region or by the fact that the Lord had forbidden them to make fires, as noted in 1 Nephi 17:12.) And if Laban was somehow related to Lehi, as Nibley first suggested,55 then this might be further evidence that the family was involved in metal-working, for Laban was the custodian of the brass plates containing the scriptures.

55  Nibley, Lehi in  the Desert, 97. If Lehi and Laban are not related, then one is left to wonder why Lehi’s genealogy was on the plates in Laban’s posession.  See 1 Nephi 5:14-16, where we also note that both were descendants of Joseph.

When the Lord told Nephi, in the land of Bountiful, to build a ship, he had to give detailed instructions on how to do it (1 Nephi 17:8; 18; 1-4). But there is no record that Nephi had to ask how to prepare the metal tools with which he built the ship.Rather, he simply asked the Lord where he could find the “ore to molten, that I may make tools to construct the ship.” He then constructed a bellows, lit a fire and fabricated the tools (1 Nephi 17:8-11,16). Nephi stressed that he built the ship according to the way shown him by the Lord, but makes no similar statement regarding the smelting of ore and the making of the bellows andtools for building the ship (1 Nephi 18:1-2). Furthermore, while his brothers mocked his efforts to build a ship, they said not a (recorded) word about his abilities as a smith (1 Nephi 17:17).

Further evidence for Nephi’s metal-working skills came after the group’s arrival in the New World. He reported that they found “all manner of ore, both of gold, and of silver, and of copper” (1 Nephi 18:25). Nephi prepared the plates of ore from which the Book of Mormon ultimately developed, smelting the oreand forming the plates themselves.56 He also manufactured “manyswords” based on the pattern of the weapon he had taken from Laban in Jerusalem (2 Nephi 5:14), though we cannot be sure that these were metal swords. The full range of his talents is explained in the verses that follow this entry:

56 1 Nephi 19:1-5; 2 Nephi 5:30-31.  In 1 Nephi 1:17, he wrote of the “plates which I have made with mine own hands.”

And I did teach my people to build buildings, and to work in all manner of wood, and of iron, and of copper, and of brass, and of steel, and of gold, and of silver, and of precious ores, which were in great abundance. And I, Nephi, did build a temple ... I, Nephi, did cause my people to be industrious, and to labor with their hands. (2 Nephi 5:15-17)

The descendants of Lehi’s colony found “all manner of gold . . . and of silver, and of precious ore of every kind; and there were also curious workmen, who did work all kinds of ore and did refine it; and thus they did become rich” (Helaman 6:11; see Jacob 1:16; 2:12). One of Nephi’s descendants, Moroni, complained that he was running out of “room upon the plates,” and lamented, “and ore I have none” (Mormon 8:5). This implies that he knew what to do with the ore.

John W. Welch has suggested in private conversations with the author that the skepticism of Laman and Lemuel upon the discovery of the Liahona or compass outside Lehi’s tent one morning (1 Nephi 16:10) may be yet another indication of Nephi’s metalworking skills. Lehi’s elder sons seem not to be impressed by this marvelous instrument. Welch has proposed that this may be because they thought the brass ball-like device had been manufactured by their brother in an attempt to convince them that they were doing the right thing by following their father into the wilderness.  He notes that 1 Nephi 16:38 refers to Nephi’s using“cunning crafts.” If this suggestion is correct, it would explain why Alma was so insistent in his declaration that no human hand could have fabricated the Liahona (Alma 37:38-39).

If Lehi and his family were metalworkers (living on a plot of land sufficiently large to grow crops as well),57 * then the source of their wealth is readily explained. From Biblical passages (2 Kings 24:11-15; Jeremiah 24:1; 29:2), as well as the Assyrian and Babylonian documents of that era,58 we have learned that craftsmen and smiths were considered in Lehi’s day to belong to the upperclass.

57  While it is true that there are and have been nomadic smiths in the Near East, yet the evidence of some Biblical passages is that there were urbanized artisans of various types in the time of Lehi.

58 For examples of texts showing the importance of smiths in ancient times, see James B. Pritchard, The Ancient Near East in Texts,  Relating  to  the  Old  Testament, pp. 269,292,556. He cites two further texts in which smiths are listed with royalty (ibid., 293). Other artisans were likewise important. For example, the Babylonian texts that list the food allocations given to the captive king of Judah also list the food given to foreign carpenters who had been taken to Babylon (ibid., 308).

S. Kent Brown has suggested that Lehi’s family were bondservants to one or more Arabian dans during their sojourn in the desert.59 But it seems unlikely that a group of caravaneers could have been of much use in Arabia unless they actually traveled elsewhere with the caravans—travel that is never suggested by the Book of Mormon. Moreover, any Arabians already involved in the caravan trade would likely have been much more skilled at it than Lehi.  On the other hand, desert nomads could clearly have made use of the skills of metalworkers.  Indeed, itinerant metalworkers have long been known in the Middle East.60

59 S. Kent Brown, “A Case for Lehi’s Bondage in Arabia,’"Journal of Book of Mormon Studies 6/2 (fall 1997): 206-17.  See also chapter 4, “Sojourn, Dwell, and Stay: Terms of Servitude,” in his From Jerusalem to Zarahemla: Literary and HistoricalStudies of the Book of Mormon.

60  See, for example, the discussion in William Foxwell Albright, Archaeology &the Religion o f Israel, 96,121,197 (note 4), 198 (notes 5 and 7).  This issue will be dealt with in greater detail in the author’s forthcoming book, “The House of Jethro: A History of the Kenites.”

CONCLUSION

Having presented all the evidence then available to him, Nibley wrote, “Put all these things together, and you have a perfectly consistent and convincing picture of Lehi the merchant.”61 As noted above, however, the picture is not entirely consistent or convincing today. Of course, there is no question as to the importance of trade in Lehi’s day, nor the relevance of comparing Bedouin lifestyle with accounts found in the Bible and the Book of Mormon. Indeed, these are important topics, and Hugh Nibley hasnot only led the discussion of Lehi’s Old World ties, but has far outdistanced other scholars in the field. But even the inestimable value of his contributions to Book of Mormon studies cannot close the door on further research, as he himself has often said.

61  Nibley, Approach to the Book of Mormon, 47.

That research suggests that Lehi was, in fact, a sedentary resident of the land of Jerusalem, living on a plot of land large enough to enable him to grow food for his family, but also trained in metallurgy. It would have been from the latter that he made his living. His elder sons, Laman and Lemuel, were content to have the fine lifestyle afforded by their family’s chosen profession, but they were not interested in working, nor did they believe in their father’s prophetic calling. Nephi, on the other hand, followed in his father’s footsteps both in terms of his occupational skills and his deep and abiding faith.

Hebraisms in the Book of Mormon

JOHN A TVEDTNES

John A. Tvedtnes is a teaching assistant in Hebrew  at the University of Utah and an instructor in anthropology at the BYU Salt Lake Center. A specialist in linguistics and the Semitic languages. Mr Tvedtnes is author of The Church of me the Old Testament and has also written a number of articles.

Though the Book of Mormon expressly states that it is written in the language of the Egyptians 1 I Nephi 12 nevertheless it quite clearly reflects a number of hebrew idioms and contains numerous hebrew words this isis no doubt due to the fact that the nephites Nephites retained the hebrew language albeit in an altered form (See Mormon 9:33). Moreover it is not impossible that the plates themselves contained hebrew words idioms and syntax written inin egyptian cursive script moroni s reformed egyptian see mormon.

In this present treatise we will not be concerned so much with the methodolo methodology odolo y involved inin the writing of the book of mormon as with the evidence for the use of hebrew expressions or of expressions akin thereto only the more important examples will be cited.

It should first of all be pointed out that the author will contend on the basis of the evidence to be given that the book of mormon inin its english form as provided by joseph smith isis inin many respects a nearly literal translation thus many of the expressions found therein do not properly belong to the english language but rather to the language from which the book was translated indeed in most cases thus far investigated book of mormon expressions which are ungrammatical in english are perfect hebrew grammar in view of the fact that joseph smith did not know hebrew in those early years this is good evidence for the authenticity of the translation for example in the 1830 edition of the book of mormon we read that when moroni had said these words he went forth among the people wavingb the rent of his garment in the air P 351.51 5 when the word rent is used as a noun in english it may refer to a hole caused by rending but not to my knowledge to a portion of rent cloth the unlikely usage of rent in english as a noun no doubt contributed to the fact that in subsequent editions of the book of mormon it was changed to read rent part alma 4619 but the hebrew would inin this instance use but one word qerac qera0 perac rent part coming from ara qarra he rent tore for nouns in hebrew are derived from roots as are hebrew verbs by the addition of certain vowel patterns that distinguish them from other parts of speech.

another example is that of the frequent usage of that or which inin the first edition where in english who whom properly belongs the change to the latter is of course warranted in the english lanouaguage but unfortunately a hebraism is lost by such a transsformation forin atlon for in hebrew the relative pronoun derfaer rhy rhi is used for both human and nonhuman non human as well as for place relativization

SINGULAR PLURAL

distinctions certain hebrew words are treated differently in regards to number than their english correspondences the plural form of god DFy for example is elob hohl eloh hobl elohim elohjm nohl Jmin which except where referring to pagan gods takes a singular verb see gen 1111 reminding us that joseph smith speaks of a council of the gods A council would be a single body and would therefore take a singular verb this would explain why the father son and holy ghost are said to be one god eioelo elou elohini elohbinil im in the book of mormon see 11II nephi 3121 mosiah 154 alma 1144 III 111 nephi 11112727 28 36 28281010 mormon 77.777

some hebrew words have no singular form at all but always appear in the dual or the plural one such is habyl hayytmayyl771 tllives iveslves which is generally translated as life though joseph smith said that it should always be rendered lives in the expression eternal life referring ferrin a to the eternal increase in posterity for those who attain exaltation two words that exist 52 only in the dual form are jamayim inayzln heavens and its related word hlayaj mlinim waters the author can find no examples of heaven singular in the book of mormon and water is most often rendered in the plural

the english word people except when used collectively takes a plural verb its hebrew equivalent cam however takes a singular verb inin most instances thus we read in alma 3024- 25 this people isis this is however weak evidence of a hebraism inasmuch as the verb to be is not used to reflect present tense inin hebrew nevertheless joseph smith s use of is instead of are and indeed of this instead of these could reflect the notion of singularity of the dil noun

MOST COMMON IDIOMS

the most common hebraic idioms found in the book of mormon involve the frequent repetition of yea and of and the use of behold and the phrase it came to pass 11

the revised standard version uses the words yea and yes not in response to a question 81 times of these 353 are translations of the word ki sometimes translated that for because 12 from the word ramgam gain also I1 from a combination of both tand f ramgam gain 18 from the word u and and 11 fronimon grom groni groni the word ap often a sign of affirmation six occurrences currences represent the addition of the english word not translated from the hebrew while there are two occurrences each of a translation from aklak gak and hhmeh7nnf whether or not these words should have been translated yea or by another term truly surely indeed for and behold etc is unimportant they are it would seem used for emphasis in public discourses suckh usage appears frequently inin the book of mormon and often inin seriesl the following example isis taken from alma 591111

and again I1 ask were the bands of death broken and the chains of hell which encircled them about were they loosed I1 say unto you yea they were loosed and their souls did expand and they did sing redeeming love and I1 say unto you that they are saved and now I1 ask of you on what conditions are they saved yea what grounds had they to hope for salvation what isis the cause of their being loosed from the bands of death yea and also the chains of hell behold I1 can tell you

the word and italicized above could just as well have been translated yea in addition to this device alma uses the expression 1 I say unto you for emphasis the latter is a common hebraism denoting authority on the part of the speaker the reader will recall its frequent use by the savior verily verily I1 say unto you

hebrew uses the conjunction and uw much more frequently than english it is frequently used at the beginning of a sentence even when there is no reason for linking that sentence up with the precedingI1 sentence in english we use and to link up syntactically related words clauses and sentences only in hebrew it may sometimes be used for special emphasis the hebrew w may oftentimes be translated now or for instead of and in many instances in the book of mormon such as enos 13 it is translated and now an excellent example of its frequent use is found in alma 4316- 20

now the leader of the nephites Nephites or the man who had been appointed to be the chief captain over the nephites Nephites now the chief captain tcok cco the command of all the armies of the nephites Nephites and his name was moroni and moroni took all the command and he was only twenty and five years old and it came to pass that he met the lamanites Lamanites inin the borders of jershon bershon Jershon and his people were armed with swords and with cimeters cimeters and all manner of weapons of war and when the armies of the lamanites Lamanites saw that moroni had prepared his people with breastplates breast plates and with arm shields yea and also shields to defend their heads and also they were dressed with thick clothing now the army of zera hemnahd was not prepared with any such thing they had only their swords and their cimeters cimeters their bows and their arrows their stones and their slings and they were naked

the multiplicity of particles such as and with and and their inin the foregoing may seem to the lay reader a waste of precious space on the plates they are however necessary items inin hebrew moreover in both egyptian and hebrew they are treated as affixes to the noun and take up very little space in writing compared to their english counterparts the use of the pronominal suffix is discussed below in more detail hebraists will note that some of the glosses of and given above are no doubt examples of hatt waw wait bat conversive the occurrence of and also isis frequent in hebrew its use isis clearly reflected in this passage from jacob 45 54 behold they believed inin christ and worshipped worshipped the father in his name and also we worship the father inin his name

while this is perfect hebrew and also begam wegam being written as one word with the possible translation of yea also english would more properly render it and we also worship the father

the expression it camern caine to pass occurs so frequently in the book of mormon that in the present french edition it has been deleted in the translation from the english with the notation that wherever the asterisk appears the expression exists in the original the phrase is particularly elaborate inin alma 252511 where we read and behold now it came caniel to pass in jacob 56 it reads and it came to pass that after many days in the hebrew this would have said and it came caniel to pass in those many days

once again brevity is no excuse for deleting this expression in hebrew though we tire of it quickly in its lengthy english version the hebrew word hayah it was it became also lle iheli was became is our ever present it came to pass with the preceding conjunction by a process known as waw conversive the nature of which is much too complex for our present discussion cussion it becomes wityehiy waysfjiy and it was

pronominal SUFFIXES

in hebrew pronouns used for possession and direct object are ordinarily attached as suffixes to the noun in case of possession and verb in case of direct object in instances of possession therefore one cannot say his house and family and friends etc but rather one is obliged to say his house and his family aidndl his friends attaching the pronominal suffix his to each noun this too is clearly reflected in the book of mormon for example we find in I1 nephi 24

and it came to pass that he departedinto departed into the wilderness and he left his house and the land of his inheritance and his gold and his silver and his precious things the rest of the verse shows english usage however

such constructions in hebrew could properly though not grammatically as far as english is concerned be translated as noun of him this we find in jacob 52 where jacob says hear the words of me ine 1 instead of my words this then is an excellent example of the hebrew usage of the pronominal suffix

CONSTRUCT STATE

the possessive examples above bring us to what is called the construct state wherein two nouns are placed one after the other because they are in close grammatical relationship one to another an example in english would be the book of jack as opposed to jack s book in hebrew we find such expressions as these extracted from numerous verses in the book of mormon

                                      altar of stones                          mist of darkness
                                      state of probation                     skin of blackness
                                      words of plainness                   night of darkness
                                      land of promise                        rod of iron of iron
                                      plates of brass (gold)               bands of death
                                      chains of hell                           voice of the people

some of these are used in english but most are uncommon though not impossible the author can find no examples in the book of mormon of constructions such as stone altar black skin dark mist plain words iron rod brass gold plates etc though promised land does occasionally appear albeit fewer times than land of promise

ADVERBS

there are very few adverbs in hebrew at least one adjective harbv7 hrabaseh many exceeding is used adverbially but more often a prepositional phrase is used the book of mormon is replete with adverbial usage of the adjective exceeding as in exceeding great joy instead of exceedingly in I1 nephi 812.12 the use of a preposition to produce an adverb isis common inin hebrew and is likewise common in the book of mormon from which the following have been extracted as examples:

with harshness instead of harshly
with joy instead of joyfully
with gladness instead of gladly
with patience instead of patiently with diligence instead of diligently in diligence instead of diligently in abundance instead of abundantly in righteousness instead of righteously in the spirit instead of spiritually in truth NT verily instead of truly verily be with strength instead of strongly 11 of worth instead of worthy itof a surety instead of surely

all of these examples would reflect the hebrew proposition b in with by through sometimes of plus the noun the book of mormon has many more of these but it contains but few examples of true english adverbs

THE HEBREW BO

in connection with the above we should consider further evidence for the usage of the preposition b in the book of mornmon mornionion l with the appended pronominal suffix 0 him it I1 we have meanings such as in it by it with it through it etc these have their english correspondences in which 11 therein therewith and thereby in the book of mormon where these latter terms are quite prevalent for example 11II nephi 14 for behold said he I1 have seen a vision inin which I1 know that jerusalem is destroyed would read and behold said he I1 have seen a vision inin it I1 know that jerusalem is destroyed

the above examples therein therewith and thereby should not be combined with the common thereof of the book of mormon however the latter is part of the pronominal suffixes mentioned earlier and means of it or if human of him thus when a man was dead that was the end thereof aimalu alinam 3018 could properly read when a man was dead that was the end of himniin hili or his this end likewise I1 nephi 28 and the valley was in die thl borders near the mouth thereof could read and the valley was in the borders near its mouth joseph smith in his near literal rendition of the text has for the most part avoided english possessive pronouns and replaced them by the there plus preposition in of by with in I1 nephi 2214 moreover he has preserved the Heraism rather well yea that great and abominable church shall tumble to the dust and great shall be the fall of it in both hebrew and egyptian the underlined words would appear as but one word lahough though llhough two mor phernes phem chernes are involved in this latter exaample ni we see another common hebraism Nornia normallylyii we would expect the english text to read and its fall shall be great but here we find the predicate adjective a Co coteat great tea r appearing before the verb and theilil subject afterwards this too is proper hebrew usage for sentences in which the predicate isis an adjective

there exists in the Sein selnmitic seinitic it languages a construction called the cognate connate coonate coconate accusative it consists of a verb immediately followed by a noun derived from the samern root and is often used for emphasis the book of mormon has examples of this

they are cursed foyed wilb a sore cursing ie cursed sorely
                                                                               jacob 33
work all manner of fine work uork ivork ie work well
                                                                            mosiah 1110
and he did judge righteous judgments ieie judge righteously
                                                                              mosiah 2943

in these examples it should be noted that as isis usual in hebrew except where predicate the adjectives sore fine and 11 righteous would follow their nouns

perhaps the most well known cognate accusative in the book of mormon isis found inin lehi s conversation with his son nephi behold I1 have fred drea frfd dreamed dreavied a dream inin the which ie inin it 1 I nephi 32

in enos 13 we find a hebrew construction similar to though not identical to the cognate accusative in whichhid1 the noun isis derived fromni its accompanying verbal root and now behold this was the desire which I1 desired of him

miscellaneous IDIOMS

in I1 nephi 28 the following appears and it came to pass that helil i called the name of the river lamannt in english we would ordinarily expect to read he called the river laman or by the name of La laman nian or lie named the river lamannt if we assume that the original text used the 58 semitic imin to name we would have a construction similar to the cognate accusative reading lle ilieh nanmed le the name but mm though extant inin arabic does not appear in the biblical texts thoughc it most certainly existed inin hebrew at one time as is evidenced by the existence of its noun leauin 30w name the bible uses the term qatarariil bem he called by the name naine eitherl way the expression stands out as a hebraism

the hebrew backckground backaround b around of the book of mormon would most certainly be suspect if the text did not include that one 11must lust 6 go up to jerusalem and 46go downu therefromin eg 1I nephi 7233 jerusalem was considered to be the holy place where god came down to manifest himself in the temple and was thus closer to the heavens than other points on the earth hence one ascends in going to the holy city

in the book of mormon direct quotations are often introduced by statements such as this one from I1 nephilil nepr 219

and it caine came to pass that the lord spake untoi we m saying the narrative portions of the book of mornion mormon containing dialogue are replete with this introduction this common hebraism amar mar lelenarnw mart means literally he spake to speak

another commonrn hebraismi found in the book of mormon isis lle iheli said in his heart meaning lle ilieh thought

SPECIAL WORDS

A number of words in the book of mormon text seem to reflect a hebrew rather than an english usage inin the original 0 and thus provide additional evidence for the authenticity of the book witness the use of anger as a verb inin 11II nephi 429 while one hebrew word ocan a kcacan fcan qcan mean to anger in english enalish we must use be angry become angry etc

the hebrew particle I1 an inseparable preposition prefixed to nouns pronouns and verbs means not only to its usual meaning but also for and belonging to thus inin mo roni s preface to the book of mormon the statement and also to the convincing of the jew and gentile should read for the convincing for clarity nevertheless both renditions are valid translations of the hebrew

verse 22 of 11II nephi 4 reads he hath confounded mine mine enemies muto unto the causing of them to quake before me the enenglish glish text isis lengthy for such a simple statement but inin hebrew all of the italicized portion can be handled by one verg verb z and its affixes this is no doubt why the rendering in english isis awkward

in hebrew other than in prepositional phrases the indirect object is merely a second direct object thus one may say we desired aimhnz arm that liehl i would give unto us the records 1 I nephi 324 instead of we desired of him as in english in this example we have properly speaking two direct objects 1 1 hlinhim and 2 that helil i would give

As lehil prayed unto the lord there came a pillar of fire and dwelt upon a rock before himrn 1 I nephi 16 the use of the verb dwelt rather than the usual sat may seem peculiar to those unacquainted with the fact that one word jfe in hebrew has both the lne i meaning of dwell and of sit

likewise the hebrew word issah zssah plural nanasam nastman5n means both woman and wife thus when nephi speaks of our women 1 I nephi 1720 liehl i isis not being disrespectful but is merely displaying proper hebrew usage of the term by the saillameie token we learn that amuleks my women was a polygamist alma 1011

nephi s statements about the wicked who seek to hide thenir counsel from gromrorn born the lord 11II11 nephi 2727 289 while not totally illogical is somewhat vague in meaning this situation can be clarified by pointing out that the hebrew word for conversing consulting or counselingb laal sod f laai I1 also means secret one can more readily imagine the wicked attempting to hide their secrets from the lord with this meaning another rendition of amos 37 would be surely the lord god will do nothing but liehl i revealeth revealeth his COUNSEL instead of secret unto his servants the prophets in many ways this isis preferable on the other hand the secret would have to be the secret of his being

in the book of Mo mormon rinon the word towards is often used where we would expect the word to the former in english usage generally indicates in the direction of but without indicating whether or not the traveler has or will arrive at the place indicated he may have as his destination an intermediate point to on the other hand would indicate arrival at the destination in hebrew the old accusative ending ah added to a definite noun clives ives the meaning of towards or to without distinction as to whether or not the desination designation desination is the noun used eg micrayini w1craylin egypt becomes inicrayiniah micrayhnah toward 60 to egypt this ending isis quite commonly used to mean simply to even though it may be indefinite thus in joseph smith s near literal translation we read that nephi 0went o forth towards tawards loicartls instead of to the house of laban 1 I nephi 45

in the foregoing we have detailed but a few of the he braislnis braisms nis evident in the eno Ena english lisla text of the book of mormon only the more important of those thus far noted have been given here the author has not yet completed his systematic survey of the book of mormon in a search for evidences of a hebrew origin and time precludes the possibility of completing this task at present the project will not lie dormant however for the work is not only interesting but fruitful more importantly portantly it serves to strengthen an already strong testimony of the divine authenticity of the book of mormon.

40 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 123 Opening up the Lights, Placing Images (720) "A pair of candles shines brightly. People in the future will have no use for the candles. I (the student) will in the future open up the gods' (source of) light. When I have opened the light of the head, the head is well. When I have opened up the light of the eyes, then the two eyes are bright. When I have opened up the ear light, the two ears will hear in all directions. When the nose light has been opened up, then the bridge of the nose will give good light. When the light of the mouth has been opened up, the mouth light will hold 16 pairs. When the hand light has been opened up, then the hands can be doctors and go in all directions. When the stomach light is opened, there will be inside the abdomen several tens of intestines. When the foot light has been opened up, the feet can be doctors and go in all four directions." When they have opened up the lights, the tuan kung must use incense and candles and burn them for the demons mentioned above When the light is being opened up in the diferent places mentioned above blood from a rooster's comb is used and smeared on that part of the paper figures that have been cut out and placed in the bamboo container. Making a Straw Man (721) The straw must be taken off a roof of a straw-roofed house. "If I am not to make thii straw man, I will not make it. When people make straw men, it is very hard. The Emperor Jen Tsung made a vow (to gods) to present 24 human heads. I will make a straw man as a substitute for the sick person's body." [At this point the ceremony of opening the lights is repeated as recorded in 720 (above). Exactly the same words are used.] He again says, "If I am not to make a straw man, I will not make it. If I myself make a straw man it will not be hard. I will pull off (from the roof) a bunch of straw with which to make him. I will make a man of it to substitute for your body" (as a gift to the demon of sickness who will then desist from trying to capture the patient through his death) .'5 [At this point the ceremony for opening the lights is again repeated.] Escorting out the Straw Man (722) "On the tree is hung out paper (spirit) money that is white like silver. In the future 75The straw man is made by placing part of the straw with the heads in one direction and part in another. the people will have no use for it (the spirit money). I will use the spirit money to display my glory and skill by driving out de- mons. I will not sweep away the family's wealth or silks (and satins). I will sweep away the demons and quarrels. I will not sweep away this farnilySs wealth and happiness. I will sweep away this family's demons and quarrels. I will sweep away the sky pestilences, the earth pestilences. When I have swept them away your whole bodies will be free from sorrow and sickness. With one sound, I will sweep away the (demons of) prize fighters and doctors who have no pupils (to worship them after death, and therefore become demons), and castrators of animals who are without pupils. I will sweep them upon the Aua p'an [the container described in 719 above] malarial fevers, and masons who make the foundations for the pillarstones and idols and :re without pupils (to make offerings to their teachers after they have died), roaming demons of carvers, roaming demons of painters, roaming demons of actors, and I will sweep them upon the container (hua p'an) and cause them to straddle the mountains and cross the passes. (I will sweep away) the demon of a second son who calls dogs, the demons that whistle for winds, and those who whistle on their fingers (to call dogs) with their lips, and the two who assist the tuan kung (by leaping, called the ma chiao SM), demons of those who were skillful in bending bows and shooting arrows, and the king of demons who controls burials by cremation; I will sweep them onto the container." Sending away the Gods (Demons) (723) "After you have called the gods to you, you must send them away. The gongs and drums are beating IoudIy. If the common people beat them, they will be useless. If I beat them, he can escort away those of glory and skill, to send the gods away. To send the gods to the crossings of the great roads, to send the gods back, to send the gods to the cross- ings of the big roads. The gong resounds, the drum resounds. A wife and a concubine had three (sons) brothers. Lo alone (among them) was taken away to be a soldier. He met (the demons) and fought a battle. The upper part of his body could fight, but the lower part of his body was weak. He fought until the demon's whole body was dripping blood. It was like the hairy caterpillar meeting the stinging worm, the offended person (i. e., who has been harmed and is strong because angry) meeting his enemy. If (the NO. I CH'UAN MIAO SONGS AND STORIES-GRAHAM 41 demon) meets us, we will fight a battle. That side will lose and I will win." When he has reached this point, all has been spoken. Then the knife in the tuan kung's hand is circled once around the con- tainer, and hi foot is circled around it once. Then he carries it outside the house and the hua p'an, the straw man, the paper money, the paper net, the paper rope, and so on and the demons enticed there, are burned on the crossroads. Preparing Water (724) Put a bowl of water on the table. The tuan kung rolls a sheet of paper into a round tube, lights it, and puts it in the water. He must repeat the following incantations: 'We are preparing a bowl of water which is not ordinary water. It is water from the great ocean of the dragon king. It is snow water, water of commands (command water). Common people after this will have no use for it. I will use it in the future to conceal my body, and Hea To SE, water,la water to protect the body, water of the six stars of the Southern Cross, of the seven stars of the Northern Dipper, and of Li Lao Chiin (Lao Tzu), water of Kuanyin of the south sea, water of the roaring god of thunder and the drizzling rain, water to protect one's home, water to cut off the heads of the de- mons and the spooks and such strange crea- tures, water of the commanding bugle, of the commanding Erh Lang,l water of the com- mands of seven sons of the Lotus flower, and water of the commands of five sons who became great 06ciak." Strikinn with the Lin P'ai (725) - - . , "On the table is a Zin ~'ai.~~ Will the general with sharp hairs please arise and sit in the large hall for gods? Let the lesser gods arrange themselves in rows on the two sides. Let (the general with sharp hairs) be seated in the center of the hall and (the lesser gods) arrange themselves in rows on each side. Will the general of sharp hairs please arise? Will the roaring god of thunder and the deity of 76Hua To was a Chinese surgeon who lived during the Three Kingdoms. 77 Erh Lang, I$@, is a Szechwan god who is said to be the originator of the irrigation system of the Chengtu plain. 78 The lin p'ai is a piece of wood shaped some- thiig lie a tongue, on which a charm is cmed, which is used by Buddhist and Taoist priests in ceremonies to exorcise demons and by the tuan kungs when exorcisii demons. drizzling rain behead unclean demons and behead spooks? Stamp once with your feet and roar once, and then the unclean demons and spooks will at once start off." When he has spoken to this point, he must take the lin p'ai and circle it about on his body. When this is done, the tuan bng must stamp his seal on the body of the sick person. Displaying the Seal (726) The tuan kung takes a seal in his hands 79 and displays it toward the person who is ill in order to chase away the demons, and re- peats the following: "One seal is displayed toward heaven. One seal is displayed toward the earth. One seal falls on the person's head. Ten demons see it and nine demons are sad. 'Two seals fall on the person's body. The ten demons see it and nine demons fall. Three seals fall on the person's hand (he brings it down three times on the person's hand, and the seal probably prints a charm). When the ten demons see it, nine of them depart. Four seals fall on a person's breast. Ten demons see it and nine go quickly. Five seals on the (sick) person's foot, and the unclean demons and spooks fall off (the sick person). They fall off his body and off hi feet, and he is peaceful." Drawing with a Sword (727) The tuan kung holds his hand and circles it about to the left and to the right and repeats the following: "I take the sword in my hand and cut off the heads of unclean demons and spooks. I will not behead wealth and silks and satins, but cut off the demons of auarrels. I will not behea'd wealth and happiness, but I will behead unclean demons and demons (of quarrels) with the mouth and the teeth. I will cut off the heads of demons of sky pestilences and demons of smallpox and measles, and of the demons of stiff (paralyzed) legs dii eases. I have cut off the heads of five demons and of the demons of this year's pestilences. The five demons have five heads. If ten people see it, there will be heads of nine people. The five demons have five bags. If the saints in the sky see it, they will bow themselves (from the waist). The five de- mons in the parlor are sitting. If there is no calamity, there must be woes. The blood of the five demons shies. If you do not become 79 In west Chiia the seals of officials and priests are thought to have superhuman potency, and they are often used as charms. 42 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLA~OUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 123 ill, you will have boils. The bird is the spirit of the white tiger. He that creeps in the forest (a snake) is a white tiger. A mourner is a white tiger. One with four feet is a white tiger. Each road has five pestilences. I will escort them onto the container (hw p'an) ." When he has repeated to this point, the tuan aung takes the kniie, moves it, and circles it about once. Going into Hades (728) Hades is not below but it is a dark place. The tuan kung wears the paper horns on his head and covers up his face with grass paper (coarse bamboo paper). In his hand he takes his ceremonial knife. On his finger he hangs his small ring bell. He sits on a stool as he would on a horse. He sets some grass paper on fire and puts the flame all over the stool to open the light so that the stool can see. Then he sits down and calls his gods, and he is like a dead person (if you speak to him or punch hi, he will not notice it). He merely repeats his incantations. His body bends to the right and to the left. He does this for four hours. He calls his gods using these words: "When the beeswax burns, the smoke arises. It arises up to Ntzi's land. It goes down as far as the earth prefecture (of the demon king). Ah, go quickly, go quickly, duv (TAv), duv, duv." He says- 'When the beeswax burns, the smoke rises up to the sky. Let 99 lanterns come and go to the front. Call 9,000 (soldier) horsemen to come and go to the front. Quickly bring the saddles and saddle the horses. Bring the bridles and put them in the horses' mouths. Leap on the mules' backs. Leap onto the backs of the donkeys. Leap onto the backs of the big horses. Duv, duv, duv (horses running). 'The horses run quickly and well. Go up to Ntz'i's land. Go down to the prefecture of hades. Hurry and bring the lanterns and lamps and lighten (up the way). The flags and the bugles go round and round. The long-handled knives (40 3 ) and spears with their handles shie blackly. I am going to go down to the prefecture of hades. I am 80 We use the word Hades not as the equivalent of hell on the one hand or heaven or paradise on the other. It is the land of the departed spirits. 8lHe makes this noise in imitation of the sound of a horse's hoofs when the horse is run- ning. His lips quiver or resound at the end of each syllable. going to ascend to Ntz'i's land. The red flags go round and round and go up into the heavenly palace. There are men and horses as numerous as rising water (of rivers and streams). I go down to the prefecture of the earth and also arrive at Ntzi's land. I arrive at the great palace of the five emperors. Quickly open up widely your main door. I am going to enter the city. I have business or I would not enter the door of your precious palace. Quickly open very wide your main gate. I am going to enter and investigate people. Duv, duv, duv. The horses are run- ning fast. I have entered the first gate of the palace. I have entered the second gate of the palace. I have entered the third gate of the palace. I have entered the fourth gate of the palace. I have entered the fifth gate of the palace. "I have entered into the great palace of the five emperors. Old gentleman of the palace of the five emperors, I am going to come and investigate people. My men and horses are very numerous. The lanterns and torches shine in a11 directions. Shine brightly, shie brightly. Investigate carefully. Investigate carefully and come again and investigate care- fully. When you have investigated, with your hand above deliver the souls I want to me, and I will (below) give money to you. I have money. It is not easy money to get. It is truly money to exchange for lives (souls). I have 3,000 times 10,000 copper coins. With a hand above we give the money. With a hand below you give the people (to me). One hand gives the money and another hand gives (receives) the people. Let the same hand give quickly (do not change hands but act quickly). Search well, investigate well. Give all the souls to me, one, then the second. Give me all the three hun, a, and the seven p'o, bA. Give them up nicely. "Give them up well and put them on horses. Write with a red pen (ink) and mark it with a black pen (ink)F2 Mark the three hun and the seven p'o to return to the world. With the upper hand, hand over the people. With the lower hand (I) give the money. God's old gentleman of the palace of the five emperors (?) give me people's three souls and seven p'o. You who are in the world, quickly throw the divining-sticks (one up and one down) and send money (burnt spirit money). Ntz'i's old gentleman of the palace of the five emperors, I thank you. 82 Then the person will not die. Officials write with black ink and mark with red ink if a per- son is to be executed. NO. I CH'UAN MIA0 SONGS AND STORIES---GRAHAM 43 We will ride the horses and go back again. On all sides, lighten up with the lanterns and torches. We have gone out of one of the palace doors and closed the first palace door. We have gone out of the second palace door and closed the second palace door. We have gone out of the thud palace door and closed the third palace door. We have gone out of the fourth palace door and closed the fourth palace door. We have gone out of the fifth palace door and closed the fifth palace door. "On the left is a person (general) who keeps the gate. On the right is a demon gatekeeper. Thank you, thank you. I will ride the horses back to earth." From this point the tuan kung must certainly speak the Miao language. Previous to this he might sometimes use Chinese. Going into Paradise (729) "Hun (Xnn,) hun, hun, whip the mules. Let the big horses go very quickly. Raiie the lanterns and the torches higher. Duv, duv, duv. We are going up to Ntzi's sky above. We will go and dance at the flowery altar. The hua fan (flowery altar) is in Ntzi's heaven above. We will see whether his flowery altar has come out. We will see if the time for using the flowery altar and the flowery drum has come. We are going to climb Ntzi's heavenly ladder. One section, two sections, three sections, (four sections), five sections, six sections, seven sections, eight sections, nine sections, ten sections, eleven see tions, twelve sections. When you have climbed the 12 sections, then you have reached the house in heaven. We will see if Ntii's li tsi' flowers are blooming. We will see if the pears are bearing fruit. I see, see, the pear blossoms have dried up. The insects are eating the pear trees. They do not bloom or bear fruit. Hun, hun, quickly take the brass fan and fan it. (The tree is the souls of my parents. Pear blossoms are daughters; pears are sons. If the tree dries up, the parents will suffer and there will be no descendants.) Bring the iron and fan it (then the tree will ~rosper) . Quickly release the falcons (spar- row hawks) to eat the insects. Ya, the tree is clean and leaves are growing, and it is blossoming. The blossoms are blooming all over the tree. The fruit is growing all over the tree. "We will see if the ricefield is full of water and if the lake is dry. Ah, we will call NtzY's Mbao Do (To.) T'ao to come and repair it. We will also call NtiiS Mbao Do Tong to come and help dig the ditch deeper and repair the lake and dragon pool. I will also see if the other family's flower tree has fallen. We will also see if that family's young fruit tree is crooked. We will call Ntzi's Mbao Do Tsai to come to help lift it straight, to lift that family's young flower tree until it stands firm. We will go quickly and we will see whether the flowery altar has many people and the flowery drum has many people about it. We will call Ntzi Mbao Do Yai (ntza mbao nTo. jai) to come and help uncover it. We will call Ntzi Mbao Do Yai to come and help unbind it, to allow (the souls in) the flowery altar to go away (in several directions) to un- cover the flowery altar so that the souls can fly off. Let us light the lanterns and lamps to see whether that family's souls are complete and to see where the hun 3 and p'o of that family have gone. Ah, ah, the souls of the family of those people went early. The hun and the p'o have all gone. Hun (Xnn), hun, lift the lanterns and the torches higher. Drive the horses and pursue quickly. We will call NtzY Mbao To Ts'ai (god's sons who are excellent pursuers) to follow you. You must look after the souls of the old people as they return home. You must look after the hun and the p'o of the old people as they return to the world. "Call this family's souls to come quickly. Hun and p'o, come quickly. This is not your sleeping place. This is not your dwelling. This place is rotten like chicken manure and rotten like duck manure. Come quickly, let us go. Ah, ah, they have been caught (the souls), they have been caught. We have caught the souls of these old people (of this family). Ai, I have caught them. I have caught the hun and the p'o and they are in my hands. Bring them and put them in my hands. Bring the souls and put them on the backs of the mules and bring the lanterns and lamps to make light. They must show if the souls are cleared or not (all present or not) and the hun and the p'o are all here or not. Give the souls to the leaders of the troops to bring. Let the several generals catch the souls. Catch them carefully; bring them home and let them control their families. If one is missing, I will call you to account. Let us bring the lanterns and lamps and light them. We are going home. Duv, duv, duv, the horses come rapidly. We are going down the ladder of heaven. We are going down the first section, second section, third section, fourth section, fifth section, sixth section, sev- enth section, eighth section, ninth section, tenth section, eleventh section, twelfth section. "I come to thank you, Ntzi, to give thanks 44 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 123 to you, NtzT. Above I will inform NtzK heavenly palace. Below, I will inform the old people, De Bo (TeS bo"') and Te Zye (Tea 3eg). I have come to thank you, to express thankfulness to you. I am going to drive the horses and return home. Leap off the horses, leap off the backs of the colts, steady the horses, for we are going to go back. Duv, duv, duv, duv, we have come back and are getting off the horses." At this time the tuan kung must again cast the bamboo divining sticks and say, "See if the three hun and the seven p'o are complete or not, if they have come or not." (Here again he casts the divining instruments. If not correct, the souls are not all present.) He must once get a yang kua & throw. He must also get three yin &a E]I:J. throws in order to protect the body of the sick person. When this is done he has finished this part of the ceremonies. Sending Back the Gods and Mentioning the Demons (730) A lump of meat must be used with wine, and arranged properly, and the tuan kung re- peats the following: "In the midst of sending back the gods, you must send away the demons. If I am not to mention demons, I will (nevertheless) mention them. When mentioning demons, the demons' hair is untied and worn on the back of the head with the tongue hanging out, and I call it a tiao ching k~ei.~~ If I am not to mention demons, I will not. This demon is beneath the bed. A person sleeps on the bed. If I am to mention demons, I will mention them. Speaking of demons, they sit on the rafters. Tonight, I know you. Ntzi' Yin (an ancient tuan kung) and Bo Sun (a woman who talks in a tone pleasant to hear) will come and catch you. If we do not speak of demons, we will yet speak of them. Speak'mg of demons, they are upstairs. Tonight, in the night, I know about you. Yang Shih Giiin Tzu will make things clear of you (demons). If we do not mention demons, we will then mention them. To mention the demons, they live in the cowpen. Tonight I know you. The Tiz Ti of the south gate will clear things of you. If we do not mention demons, we will then mention them. To mention demons, they are in the pigpen. Tonight, I know you. The gods of the pen door will exorcise you. "Not to mention demons, we then mention them. The demons live on the stove. Tom The demon of a person who died by hanging. night I know you. The kitchen goddess will exorcise you. Not to mention demons, we will mention them. The demons are sleeping in the bedroom. Tonight I know you. The king of the bed curtain will exorcise you. Not to mention demons, we will mention them. The demons are in the firepit. Tonight I know you. The fire god's heir to the throne will exorcise you. Not to mention demons, we will mention them. The demons are sitting in the guest room. Tonight I know you. The family gods and family demons (the souls of the ancestors) will exorcise you. To mention the demons, they are sitting below the door (the crosspiece at the bottom of the door). Tonight I know you. The god of wealth and the door spirits will exorcise you. A grain of rice is sharp on both ends. Tonight I will injure you. I will not harm the family's wealth or silks or satins. I will injure the demonic mouths and tongues (of demons). I will injure the sky pestilences and the earth pestilences, annual pestilences, monthly pestilences, daily pestilences, and hourly pestilences. Tonight I will take you away. I will take you away so that men will not associate with demons, and demons will not associate with men." Calling Back Souls of the Dead (731) "Pl'ei lo (pl'e? 10-7, pl'ei lo (souIs come, souls come). Ah, souls, come quickly. Ah, souls, all come. The soul was reborn (as a babe) and came back.84 It was reborn in another person and still came back. He went into a family's flower garden and came back. He went into the deep creek, stopped, and came back. Come quickly, come quickly." When the tuan &ng has repeated to this point, he uses an ax and strikes the crossbeam at the bottom of the main door. Setting up the Family Gods (732) A pair of candles must be lighted, or a sheet of grass paper rolled up into a thin roll. The tuan kung carries these in his hand and walks around and around toward the center of the house. Then he says- "If the people of a family are not free from demons (if they are ill), the family gods are not at peace. When the hua t'an (flowery altar) ceremony is completed, I will open the light and I will sprinkle some chicken's blood. 'When a pair of beeswax candles burns, then the smoke arises, and it shines brightly s4The sou1 can leave the body temporarily, or permanently and cause death. Pl'ei may be pro- nounced 61ei. SMlfHSOBTAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 123. PJO. I, PL. 1 I-; TPI 8 I 7 r ._- .- .-2 s< .:a - *P, - - - - - - ..- - ? -:is 3 , - - - k.5.Z . 2 - - -225 - - -- -. . .- L - q ;pl(;. Id-? - - = - - - ,. .---'? -I . I -- > - - 4 ---. - .--<= =t= A -- - - ,:;+.-- 1 :s, -- L ?f > ?I 7- = A F - 2.7 5 -/ - :2-- 3 -- l, - -- +- 1 :- -- z> . -- - , - - = - ,- :,2 -- .- --- - ,- ? 7c =: -,, >,- ---- SMITHSONIAN M[SCELLANEOUS COLLECTION5 VOL. 123, NO. 1. PL. 2 SMITH~~S', IPN '!ISCELLAN EOVS COLLECTIONS VOL. 123, NO. 1, PL. 3 SMlTHSONlAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTICNS VDL 123, t43, 1, ?L. 4 _ t I*, - - - ;- .; .- -A< 3-. -- 5 = - .- -= bF -- I-: NO. I CH'UAN MIA0 SONGS AND STORIES---GRAHAM 45 in the home of you old people. If an ordinary person brings them (the candles) it is useless. I will use them to open the light of the family gods (ancestors). When I have opened up the light of the head, the head will lean in all directions. When I have opened up the light of the eyes, the two eyes will be very bright. When I have opened up the light of the ears, the two ears will hear in all four directions. When I have opened up the light of the nose, the two nostrils will emit good light. When I have opened up the light of the mouth, the mouth will contain 16 pairs of teeth. When I have opened up the light to the hands, the hands will protect all four directions. When I open up the light to the feet, the feet will stand firmly like a rock pillar. When I have opened up the light and sprinkled chicken blood on the image of paper, the chunk of meat and clean wine will be placed on the table and I will come and set up the gods in their places. 'When I have opened up the light and sprinkled blood on the paper image, we will call wealth here, and if there are calamities we will exorcise them. I will protect the master of this home so that he will go out with empty hands and come back carrying wealth. One seed will fall into the ground and 10,000 will return to the granary. You will raise cows as big as mountains and pigs as big as cows. After we have opened up the light for the house gods, you will be protected and enjoy peace forever." Opening up the Light for the Front Door (733) "The front door has been opened 3 feet 3 inches high. Open it during the day, do& it at night. After it is opened tonight, if you have wealth I will bring you wealth. If you have calamities, I will remove them, and I will protect and give peace to the large and the small of the house, and drive away all diseases. The cows you raise will be as big as the top (head) of a mountain, and the pigs you raise will be as big as steers. I will protect the old members of this family so that they can go out with empty hands and come back carrying wealth and silks and satins in their arms. One grain will fall to the ground and 10,000 will be reaped and brought home. When people come the door gods will open up. If demons come, the door gods will beat them. If wealth comes, the door gods will entice it to enter. If demons come, the door gods will drive them away. If calamities come, the door gods will exorcise them. If wealth and happiness come, the door gods will welcome them either by day or by night; they will receive them every day and not cease at night. They will not cease a quarter of an hour. They look away as far as 1,000 li. Nearby, they will look in all four directions. With their eyes they will see clearly and with their mouths they will beat demons and spooks in two. They will open the door to people of this world and close the door to demons. They will only permit people of this world to come and not permit the people of hades (demons) to go." After the above has been chanted, the door is opened for a time, then closed for a time, and the ceremony is ended. Giving the Door Gods the Names of the Demons and Requesting Them to Keep Them Away (734) "The very thin demons without flesh are named dry, lean demons (gla3 nth). The very tall, very large demons that are able to climb mountains are called clirnb-mountains-cross-passes (glan3" Ta-' nTo -') . The demon that nets for wild animals is called grows-flesh (snna 3gam8). The demons of women who died in childbirth are called demons-that-shed-red-blood (gla3" so.'). The demons that cause people to vomit and their hearts to be disturbed are called vomitingdemons (gla3' Ta-'). Demons that cause people to have malarial fever are called cold demons (gla3" naoS6). Demons that cause people to die from hunger and thirst are called hunger demons (gla3' tlai" or gla3' Nk'ais, thirst demons). Demons that cause people to drown are called water demons (gla3e glei6). Demons that cause people to die by hanging are called hanging demons (gla3' snuS). The demons that live in caves are called demons that rush out of caves (gla3" tsao). Demons that cause children to cry at night are called naked demons (gla3" dza-6 la.'). Demons that cause abortion are called demons that throw away on the hill (gla36 ts'~u'). Demons that cause young men and women to be sad and to make long sighs are called enticing demons (gIa36 NtSo3). "If such demons as these come, let the door gods use brass clubs and beat them and they will not come." Opening Locks (735) The master of the house must first find several sheets of yellow paper. The tuan kung uses a pair of scissors and cuts the paper into a net (sky net or earth net) and an imitation iron chain and a brass lock, which he ties on 46 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIO~S VOL. 123 the body of the sick person. This is done when they believe that the illness is caused by a demon's having locked a lock and chain around the neck of the sick person. Then he says- 'Water comes from the sky to grind knives with. On earth are people to cut off intercourse (contacts between men and demons), unloose the brass nets, unloose the iron nets, unloose the sky nets, unloose the earth nets, open up cages and release bids, unloose nets and release fish, unloose brass armor, unloose iron armor, unloose brass nets and iron nets, unloose brass chains and iron chains, unloose brass locks and iron locks, unloose brass threads and iron threads (that have bound Reviving One Who Has Fainted (736) The Miao believe as the Chinese believe that there is a poisonous air called sha ch'i &% that kills people. When a person swoons, he has been injured by this poisonous air, and a tuan kung can revive hi by chasing away the demons. The tuan kung opens and holds above him an umbrella of oiled paper. He throws a handful of mustardseed. If he has no mustardseed, he throws a handful of corn. When he throws he shouts 'T'ai, t'ai" and stamps his feet. He says- "Beat the sky demon, beat the earth demon, beat the human demon. Beat the sky demon and send back (what the sky demon has brought) the sky sa ch'i. Beat the earth de- mon and send back the earth sa d'i. Beat the dead people's demons and send away the sa chi' of the dead people. Beat the demon of the living people and send back the living people's sa ch'i. Beat the year demon and send away the year sa ch'i. Beat the month demon and send away the month sa. Beat the day demon and send away the day sha. Beat the time demon shih heo and send away the time sha; beat the fierce god who wickedly kills people and turn back the great sha ch'i of everything. T'ai, t'ai (and he stamps with his foot). Quickly strike, quickly recede. Recede, recede, recede. "The bird frightened you and you came. The rat frightened you and you came. A domestic animal frightened you and you came. You stopped on the level spot on the mountain and came back. You dropped on the big flat and came back also. You dropped on the cliff and also came. You dropped on the crossroads and also came back. If you do not people). If the head aches, release the body; if the body aches, release the feet, and when the body and the feet have been released, and when the head aches remove the heat (of the body) and when the body aches, it becomes cool. Drink tea, peace-giving tea. Do not wait until daylight. When I say it, immediately depart. If we say it at midnight, depart at midnight. If any do not depart, I will call Rong Sj'in's fire from heaven to burn you away.'' When the tuan kung has spoken this kr, he takes the paper chain and the paper net and the paper lock and puts them all into the winnowing basket, carries them outside the door, and burns them at the crossroads. come, my big knife that calls souls and fights demons will be your companion. Today is a good day and tonight is a good night. Come more quickly. Come quickly. Come, come, come back to your bed and come back to your father and your mother. Come and follow your brothers. Live (here) a thousand years, live here a hundred years. Poles cannot pierce into you and nets cannot catch you. You may live here until your hair becomes white. You may live here until you are an old man with hair that is gray. You can sit with your hands on your knees (as old people do) and your knees bent. Come more quickly, come, come. If I call you and you do not come, my ax will be your companion. Come quickly. You have come, you have come." When calling the soul, the tuan kung grasps an ax. He uses a person who has an egg in his hand or the tuan kung may hold a rooster in his arms. When the soul arrives, then the egg will turn over. Then he will take the egg and burn it in the fire pit. When the egg is cooked, then the tuan kung cuts it open and looks and says whether it has a soul or not. The egg must be cooked on an even day of the month, not on an odd day. One, three, or five eggs may be burned. Holding Down the Fire Star (Mars) (737) "I have held (pressed) down the fire of heaven. I have held down the fire of earth. I have pressed down the fire of the year. I have pressed down the fire of the month. I have pressed down the fire of the day. I have pressed down the fire of the moment (time). I have pressed down the fire of the central room. I have pressed down the center of the fire. I have pressed down the fire of the NO. I CH'UAN MIAO SONGS AND STORIES-RAHAM 47 yin (the female principle). I have pressed down the fire of the yang (male principle). I have pressed down the fire of the sun. I have pressed down that likes to kill people (without affection). I have pressed down the demon fire. I have pressed down the fire of living people. I have pressed down the driveaway-yin fire. I have pressed down the detainyang fire (demon's fire). Leave the yang fire to control the home. Drive the yin fire to hades (where demons live). Secure yang fire to control the family and make it peaceful (without demons). Drive the yin fire to the yin spirit (or soul). Leave the yang fire to control the family so it will be peaceful. If the fire is a foot high, let water be 10 feet high. If fire is 10 feet high, water will flood up to heaven and hold down the fire." When he has reached this point, the tuan kung uses a bowl of water, and as he walks along in the house, repeating (chanting) his words, he sprinkles water with his hands. When he has finished speaking, he pours out the water from the bowl and places the bowl on the table upside down. Incantation to Divine by Means of Uncooked Rice (738) 'There is a sky pestilence and an earth pestilence, so I come to report to the god. (The uncooked rice is treated and addressed as a god.) If there is any unsatisfactory matter, I shall come and report to the god. If the head aches and the whole body is hot, we shall come and report to the god. If there is any unworshiped demon of the t'an shen or ruined temples, I shall come and report to the god. If there is any fierce god that kills people, I shall come and report to the god. If there is any grass demon, wood demon, or demon of the forest, I shall come and report to the god. If there is any fierce (murderer), I shall report the fierce matter. If there is anything hard, we shall report it. Without something important, we shall not wantonly report. Without something fierce, we shall not wantonly report." When the divining is done by rice, one should use one bowl of rice and take a cloth and cover it well. The master of the house or a sick person blows his breath three times on the rice, and the tuan 4ung rubs the surface of the rice with his hand. Then, when he has finished speaking, he takes the cloth off and examines the rice to see if the grains are perpendicular or horizontal, thus determining the good or ill luck of the family. Pressing Down the Demon That Punishes Sin by Pain in the Eyes (739) "If you bump (sin) against wood, the wood demon will enter you and harm your eyes. If you bump (sin) against wood, wood will harm you. If you bump (sin) against stone, stone will harm you. If you bump (sin) against a grave, the grave will harm you. If you bump (sin) against the stone of the cowpen, it will harm you. If you bump (sin) against a stone of a stove, it will harm you. If you bump (sin) against the edge (i') of the stove, it will harm you. If you bump (sin) against grass, wood, or stone, it will harm you. If you bump (sin) against all the things in a home, they will harm you. If you bump (sin) against the eastern direction, it will harm you. If you bump (sin) against the western direction, it will harm you. If you bump (sin) against the northern direction, it will harm you. If you bump (sin) against the western direction, it will harm you. If you bump (sin) against water, it will harm you and it will immediately fade away. If you bump (sin) against wood, it will fade away. From the time we have re- peated this today, you will be well." While the above is being repeated (chanted), the tuan kung uses grass paper to sweep. When he has finished sweeping, he takes a bowl of water and cooked rice and pours it out on the ground. Pressing Down the Demons That Cause Women to Lose Their Children in Childbirth or to Have Miscarriages (740) After the tuan kung has called the gods, he must repeat the following and it will enable a woman to normally give birth to babies and to bring them up. He must actually hold and press down the demons. After he has done this he worships the gods and the men and women of the family must worship. He says- "The sky sinned against the sky monkey and neither the moon nor the sun shone any more. The earth sinned against the earth monkey and the grass and the trees would not grow. If a person sins against the monkey that climbs the cliffs, he will dry up. Today I will free you from this, and you will get well." Preparing Six Horses and Bridge Beams for the Sic4 (741) As to the method of arranging the bridges, you must use 12 feet of cloth and arrange 48 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 123 it well, and four stools, one above the other. The tuan kung uses a brass gong and alternately beats it and speaks. He says- "The difficult bridge and the six horses are spoilt. I will protect the sick person. When the three hun and the seven p'o come upon the bridge, -. I will wear an iron hat on my head." He will put the brass gong on his head and pretend that he is wearing a hat. On his feet he is supposed to wear iron-topped boots. He brings the brass gong and pretends to put on shoes. He should wear brass armor also, and he uses the brass gong to imitate thiis. "Come and lead a thousand soldiers and horses and 19,000 fortresses. "Soldiers and horses upon the bridge. The remainder may be repeated like the first one in this book." 85 Calling Water to Become Divine for the Gods to Drink (742) Use a bowl or a pot and put water inside. Cover it with three sheets of paper and a piece of cloth. The tuan kung repeats- "Ntz's water in heaven is called the water from the river in heaven brought by the prince of heaven. The old man of the earth brought water on the earth below and from the creek he brings water of the rivers and seas. From the home he takes incense fire and beeswax fragrant water. From the ricefield he brings water of the rice plants. Ntsong Yin brought water to destroy demons." Calling Water to Exorcise Demons (743) (Spoken in Chinese) 'Water is the source of the heaven and the earth, the foundation of all living things, widely cultivating people's happiness, used by people in heaven and earth, inside and outside. For fao (learning) 86 YOU are reverenced and your body has marvelous light to protect our bodies so that seeing we do not see, hearing we do not hear, and you can protect us in heaven and on earth and nour- ish all our lives, and propagate it (or them) a thousand times. You are bright. Heaven 85 This probably refers to the chants in No. 717 (p. 317). 88This is the Chinese word tao s, and the meaning is far more inclusive than the English word "learning." To the Ch'uan Miao interpreter it seemed that the word "learning" came very near to what tao means to the Ch'uan Miao. Of course it includes learning in occult affairs. and earth will come and wait upon and protect you. In ancient times Wu Ti would welcome you. All gods of virtue will come and worship you. It uses the thunder and lightning. Demons and spooks will lose their courage. Your learning (tao) will last for- ever. I have also called you. Without affairs you stabilize space and control people." When thii is finished the tuan kung takes water and sprinkles it in all directions and says the following in Chinese: "When I sprinkle this once, above it pacifies fire calamities (lest fire break out). When I sprinkle this a second time, below it will pacify cave demons. When I sprinkle the third time, in the center it will avoid calamities. When I sprinkle it the fourth time, there will be peace among men." To Prevent Blood from Flowing, Ceremonially Cut with a Knife and Repeat This Incantation (744) 'When I go to the east, it is black. In my hand I hold a golden knife, and I ride an iron cow. I will cut in two the mouths of two creeks that flow together. I will stop the bubbles under the skin so the blood will not flow. Above is the head of the rapids. Stop up (like a stopper) the sky river. Below is the head of a rapid. We shall stop up the yellow river. A well with two mouths, we will stop the blood of the skin so the blood will not flow. We will stab in two the water of the western river so it will not flow. The blood prince (a male deity) is named Ch'iu & (autumn). The blood woman is named Liu (flow). One road (of the blood) changes to ten roads (in veins and arteries). Ten roads change to a hundred roads. A hundred roads change to a thousand roads. All the roads have definiteness. All the roads have spirits (intelligence). First, do not deceive me. Secondly, do not deceive other people who have come. If you still bled, I will add a golden lion cat and stop it." When he has reached this point, the tuan kung must use his two hands and twist them like a lion. Then he says- "At the order of Zyei Zyai Na Zyei (3ei 3ai na- 3ei), like an order according to law," and again he repeats, "I go to the east and it is black. My hand grasps a golden knife and I ride an iron cow. I stop up the mouth of the blood stream and will stop the blood bubbles so they will not flow. In a large way, I will stop the great Yangtse. In a small way I will stop a small river. I will cut off the Yellow River's nine west rivers. The NO. I CH'UAN MIAO SONGS AND STORIES-GRAHAM 49 wind enters the emptiness. Emptiness enters the wind. One wind, two winds, and the iron wire sews it together (that is, the bleeding ski). The left foot moves and the mountain comes and cuts off the sea." The tun &ung's eyes are closed a while and he moves his left foot around as secretly as possible. He continues: 'When the right foot moves, it cuts off the gateway of the sea." He moves his right foot as though crossing a mountain. "The left hand crosses over the mountain to cut (block) off the sea. The right hand crosses the mountains to block off the gateway of the sea." When he is saying the last sentence he closes his eyes and moves hi hands as though they were crossing a moun- tain. "One, two, three, four, five, metal, wood, water, fire, earth. Metal does not leave wood and wood also does not leave metal. The blood man is named Chou and the blood mother is named Hsiu. "Stop, stop, do not flow, do not flow, do not flow. When I use these words I will stab away the power of the wind and the water will not flow. Above is the head of the rapids. Stop the sky river. Below is the head of a rapid. Stop the Yellow River. Above, stop the Yellow River's double river well. Below, stop the two gates (mouths) of the Yellow River. He blows his breath three times and pinches the (open sore) together." The tuan kung opens his eyes and lifts up his head to see the clear sky. '"The one who has taught me (this) by word of mouth, come before my eyes. Mr. Huang, who has taught me, if I call you a thousand times, let it be efficacious (bring an answer) a thousand times, and if I call you ten thousand times, answer ten thousand times." To Remove Bones or Metal Objects That Have Been Swallowed (745) "I lift up my eyes, and I lift up my eyes to see the clear sky. The instructor who taught me with his own mouth is before my eyes. I ask my teacher for a bowl of water. The teacher has nine dragons in the bowl. The water of the throat of the nine dragons (is in the bowl). When gold, silver, copper, iron, or pewter touches this water, it is turned into dirt. I, obeying the command of Tsai Zyin (in) Zyai (ai) Leo, order you to swallow a bone and transform the bone, and to swallow brass and to transform the brass, and to swallow bone dust and transform it to bone pills like (as easy as) the nine dragons entering the deep rapid. My breath of virtue endures long. If there is copper, transform copper. If there is no copper, do not transform the flesh. If there is bone, iron, pewter, or nails, you must transform them. If there is none of these, do not transform the (person's) flesh. I obey thin command. Immediately transform." When the incantation has been completed, the patient must drink the water the tuan tung has secured. Exorcising the Demon That Causes Pain in the Nipples (746) The tuan ljung repeats the incantation saying, "The baby drinks the milk laughing. Why have you come to me? I reply, 'The nipple is helpless. It is pitiful.' I request you not to let people rub your nipples to cure you. If the pain is in the left, heal the left nipple. If the pain is in the right, cure the right. Rub the left, and the pain of the left will depart. If we rub the right (the pain in) the right will depart. If it still does not depart, I will take (the pain) away." The tuan ljung uses the second and the third fingers, and he traces a charm on the nipple, then she is well.87 When he has taken away the demon, he again asks the milk to come out "The milk must not accumulate (at one spot). The milk must not delay. When he calls you, you must come out at once." Exorcising the Demon That Causes Boils (747) "I invite the thunder god, I invite the thunder goddess. I invite the Chinese medicine god, and also invite the patriarch of the lamas, and the teacher who removes water (out of one's body) and grows broken bones together, the upright teacher, the teacher who removes fever, the teacher who removes swellings, the tea&er who stops the flow of blood and stops pains, the patriarch among the snow mountains, the young lady among the snow mountains, the crown prince among the snow mountains.88 "At the first watch much snow falls. At the second watch a heavy frost falls. At the third watch it becomes very cold. At the fourth watch, frost is again added on top of The charm resembles this %k. - - L 88 The meaning here is evidently that one snow mountain is the patriarch, another is a young lady goddess, and a thud is a crown prince among the other snow mountains, all of which are living beings and deities. 5" SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 123 the snow. At the fifth watch the bantam Incantation to Purify the House after a Death (golden) rooster will report (that) daylight Which Has Occurred during the Month (has come). This place has been transformed (749) &to a snow-mountain plot. The dragons come. The dragons display their claws. The tigers come. The tigers display their bodies. When the tiger comes, the skin of the tiger will recede. When the dragon comes, the bones of the dragon will recede. "The water of snow stops blood and stops pains and causes fevers to disappear and re- moves swellings and grows broken bones together. It sets dislocated bones (joints) so they can grow flesh, and grows together holes in the flesh. I, Zyin (3in) Ntsong (ntlo3) Zye (3~) Dsi (dli-), come and bear witness. If you call me a hundred times, then it is efficient a hundred times. When you have taken (the demon) away, then (the boil) will be well." An Incantation to Heal Boils (748) "Black, black and bright, bright (on the one hand black, on the other bright). The sun is coming out in the east. Ntsi' Nggeo Go with Ntsi Nts'ai Zwei 89 came to cure boils (by taking away the demons). First, healing them so they will not swell. Secondly, healing them so they will not be painful. Thirdly, healing them so they will not discharge pus. Fourthly, healing them so they will not bleed. If-there is something fierce, remove the fierce (thing). If there is swelling, remove the swelling. Do not let this time pass." When he has spoken thus he uses the sec ond and fourth fingers and traces a circle (spiral) on the boil.g0 When he has drawn this he repeats the incantation. "First, we have returned around the sky and the earth. Secondly, we have turned around the sun and the moon. The third turn, and the pus will not come out. The fourth turn, and the blood will not come out. If there is something fierce, then we will remove the fierce. If there is swelling we will remove it. I will add the bugle of the gods and the bronze bells, an iron ax, a brass finger ring, and an iron finger ring to remove (the boil) ." When the tuan kung has finished chanting the above, he again traces the spiral. 89 ntsa' 3gnu2 go-' with ntsa' nts'ai8 3weie. The first means golden boy or girl, the second a stone girl. 90 The spiral is like this 9 . "The heaven and the earth are as a matter of course, and the poisonous air. The cave is empty. Huang Lang T'ai Hsiian (a Chiiese name), the majestic god of the eight directions, causes me to be as a matter of course unmolested. The spiritually precious charm commands me to report to the nine heavens. Let Kan Lo Tang Lo and Tong Kang T'ai Hsiian behead spooks and tie up the demonical and kill ten thousand demons. The incantations of the gods in the mountains of the Primary Literary God. I repeat one section and I will capture demons and protect one's years, and arrange the five hells and know the eight seas. The demon king's hands are tied and 10,000 soldiers come and help me. The fierce and unclean will disaooear and the breath of tao gfiii will last lbng." While he is repeating the above, the tuan kung holds a broom in hi hand, and he holds a piece of cloth in his hands, which must be white and 12 feet long, and he sweeps it around. He lights a torch and goes around the house to lighten and smoke it up to make it impossible (by the light) to see the demon and chase out the demon forms. Using Water over Which an Incantation Has Been Pronounced to Heal Sickness. This Water Can Heal Colds in the Head (750) Use a bowl of water and draw charms above it. Put it on a table. Use a live rooster. You must have a piece of white cloth, or black, or dark blue; do not use red cloth. A knife is needed, and clean wine. Get them ready, then repeat thii incantation. With the finger a dragon should be traced above the water while the person is repeating the incantation. With the two hands three knots must be twisted. The incantation follows: "I lift up my eyes and lift up my head to see the clear sky. The teacher who taught me with his mouth is before my eyes. I want a bowl of water from Ndi's sky. In the water are nine dragons. Thii water is from the throat of the nine dragons which can transform gold, silver, brass, and iron. When they touch the water they will be changed to dirt. Obey the command of Ntii in heaven, swallow and transform brass, swallow iron and transform it. If there is a cold, I will transform the cold. I also swallow bone dust and transform it to bone pills, as the nine NO. I CH'UAN MIA0 SONGS AND STORIES---GRAHAM 51 dragons going down steep rapids. I have tao and my life will endure long." When he has repeated thus far, with his left hand he lifts up the bowl of water, and with his right hand he draws a large dragon on the water. Then he gives the water to the sick person to drink. An Incantation to Drive away Colds and Other Illnesses and to Help in Childbirth (751) ''I lift up my eyes and look at the clear, blue sky. Before my eyes is my instructor. I call the instructor Tsang (or Chang) the tuan kung and I also invite NtzY's Dang Zye Glo (Ta3' 3c6 glo-") in heaven. He has a bone which is a pill to cure colds. Today I will escort you to the Nine Dragon Rapid. There is another bone that is a pill to transform colds. I myself will escort you to the Nine Dragon Rapid. Brass, iron, colds, and fevers will be transformed into water. Pewter things and bamboo things will be changed into dust. All illnesses will be transformed into water. Indigestion and malaria will be transformed into dust. In front it is empty. Behind it is empty. It will be transformed until it is without appearance. You ferry me, teacher, so that I can creep into Ntzi's heaven." The tuan kung twists his hands into a "nine-dragon-turn-over-their-bodies" knot. He also says- "This water is not common water. This water is water to make peaceful births and transform demons. This water is not ordinary water. This water is water to exorcise spooks and transform strange demons. When I have finished I will draw picture (with the hands) over the water, and everything will be prosperous and well." CEREMONIES OF THE PRIEST USED SOON AFTER DEATH A Song Sung at the Time of Death (381) it to your female and male ancestors for In most ancient times there were two fie. three generations to eat. When you have The name of one was Ha Mao Nch'i. The eaten it, You should go and be near the name of the other was ~i ~i M~~ N~~*~. clothing and belt of your grandmother, and his year je J-J~~~~ B~~ body died in the of the clothing and belt of your husband's house. Then the filial son sent a message re- grandfather- If the Lolos are many, your questing the players of the liu sheng to come grandmother will help You look after them. and play it and the man who beats the drum NOW the meat is done. You cannot become to come and beat the drum, and those who alive again as a human being. You are living sing songs to come and sing. as a demon.91 Now I have prepared nine when H~ M~~ ~~wi heard this, he came CUPS of wine and nine bowls of meat for you flying along the edge of the sky. Next morn- to eat and drink- I am offering meat and ing he again flew away at daybreak. When rice for you to eat. When you have eaten you he had flown away, he called Mi Ma0 Nts'eo, go and get near your husband's grandmother's and they flew back to eat the corpse. clothing and get into your husband's grandThe filial son had just gone to cut the father's clothing. If the Lolos are numerous carrying poles with which to carry the corpse (in paradise) your husband's grandmother out and bury it. He said, "Now these flies will look after them for you. Now I have alwill not come. They have gone to rest on the ready offered you nine cups of wine nine leaves of the trees. They cannot again alight times to drink. I will now release you to on the body of the dead person." go on the old road. You must go to Ntzi's dwelling in heaven and live there.92 Words Sung soon after a Person Has Died ('j4') 9lThe word "demon" here is used in the sense You (mentions hi name), you cannot come of a departed spirit without a body, not as a devil to life again as a person. You are a living who harms people. In previous sentences it means demon. I have prepared wine for you to Or 92 When the above has been sung or repeated, drink nine Your meat is cooked. I the bamboo divining sticks are used and the name am offering meat for you to eat. If you can- of the deceased person is called. The divining not eat it all, you must not give it to a demon sticks indicate whether the deceased is pleased that causes sickness to eat, or to a death or not. If not, more offerings are made until the demon (that causes death). You must give deceased is satisfied. 52 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 123 How Men First Secured the Liu ShengQs When he had heard these, then he could (357) return to Ntzi Niong Leo's land and see his own ancestors. In most ancient times there were two ~ecple. The name of one was Ntsong Bo (old woman who entices people). The name of the other was Ntsong Ti (entice world). The two slept until deep in the night, then arose to go and get the seed of the liu ~heng.~~ They went and saw that Ntzi Niong Leo's (god, foundation, old) bamboos had grown very high. They could not get the bamboo and so returned. The second time they again slept until deep in the night, and again went. Then they cut down the bamboo and cut it into tubes. Then they took some tubes and cut them into thin slices like tongues. These bamboo tongues they placed in the bamboo tubes, blew them in their mouths, and placed their fingers on the small holes of the tubes, and then the sounds were emitted. Another time they went and cut down a tree and cut it into hoops for drums, and used cowhide to cover the two sides of the drums. Then they also cut off two clubs with which to beat the drum, and played the liu sheng in memorial services. Henceforth the Miao had the liu sheng and the drum to use in the memorial ceremonies. Playing the Liu Sheng and Calling the Dead Person to Come back to Life 95 (380) This year Je Hmong Bo's soul departed in death, and left behind sons and daughters. The sons and daughters recalled the kindness of their parents and then sent messages initing the person to play the liu sheng and $e person to beat the drum and those to sing songs to come. They played the liu deng and made offerings to the soul of the departed ancestor. Then the soul arose and put on his shoes. They sang songs and called on hi to arise and put on his puttees. The second time they played the liu sheng and requested the soul of the dead person to arise and hear the music of the 48-tuned liu sheng and also to hear the 48-tuned d~m.8~ Q3 Sung at funerals or at the Tso Chai ceremony. 94 The conception is that the sun, moon, liu sheng, and other things were secured because there were seeds from which they developed. e5 Sung at funeral ceremonies. 06This implies that the liu sheng and also the drum can play 48 tunes. What the Liu Sheng Says (429) Ancestor, this ceremony at the altar is about finished. We will now again play the second tune at the altar to guide you on your way. This second altar means that when a person dies, a demon leads the soul on its way. It guides to the edge of a pool. You see that there it is also rainiig and the demon then says to you, "It is not raining. It is the tears that your descendants are weeping." Then the demon will lead you to a great rock. You will hear the thunder and the rain resounding. Then the demon will say, 'You need not fear. This is your descendants playing the liu sheng, and there is also the noise of the beating of a drum. Those noises are partners to you." Then the demon will lead you along to your ancestors. The ancestors will guide you to Ntzi's place. This place is a happy land. You must not be sad. You must not be sad for a hundred year~.~s What the Liu Sheng Says during the Third Tune, When Guiding the Soul to Heaven (430) The soul has come. The soul has come. The soul has come to hear the liu sheng. The liu sheng will be your companion and will escort you up to Ntzi's house. You must go with your ancestors. You go to the sky. In your hand you must take a solo tree.g9 When I am playing the liu sheng, I will escort you to NtzY's land. The relatives and friends will come. Your sisters are about to arrive. Everybody will come and escort you away. Your death after a hundred years means that today your hundred years are comp1eted.l We will all come and dance, and will welcome you up to Ntzi's heaven. You must live there a hundred years.2 Q7Sung when the soul of the dead is being guided to heaven. This is the second liu Jeng tune at the funeral. 98 The guide of the soul is not a demon in the ordinary sense of the word and as used among the Ch'uan Miao, where demons practically always harm people. QQ A solo tree is a sort of a magical fengshui tree in the moon and elsewhere. lThis is said to comfort and flatter the soul of the dead. 2Tunes one, two, and three of the liu sheng at the funerals are played three times each. NO. I CH'UAN MIAO SONGS AND STORIES---GRAHAM 53 What the Liu Sheng Says When Played the Fourth Time to Guide the Departed Soul to Heaven (431) The soul nourishes one's body. When one dies, he must return to the mountain. The filial son must sweep the house clean. The friends and guests will come. The uncles and your sisters will arrive. They will see you dead in the coffin. You will be unable to talk to them. They will all feel sorry about it. When you hear the sound of the drum and the liu sheng, there will be 70 or 80 liu shengs escorting you to the grave (on the mountain where the Ch'uan Miao used to be buried). The sounds of 92 drums being beaten will escort you to NtzY's place. When you have gone, only your orphan sons and daughters will remain, ~eeping.~ What the Liu Sheng Says the Last Time It Is Played at the Funeral Ceremony (432) It is daybreak this morning. The dead person will go out. The dead person will go out of the door. The earth will welcome you to Ntzi's house. The earth will take you to Ntzi's heaven. The earth will take you to the demon's place. Let Homng Bo Sua go. Let Hrnong Je Sua go. Hmong Bo Sua has gone. Hmong Je Sua has gone. All the women and men have gone. Quickly escort the departed soul. Let the relatives and friends quickly go. What beats the drum? A club beats the drum. What is the drum beaten with? The drum is beaten with two pieces of wood. What is that? That is a cliff. Your small sons and daughters escort you out of the door. Your small sons and daughters escort you upon the mountain. Go quickly. You must not look. When 12 days have passed, your sons and daughters will come and wel- come you back.4 Then you may lie on the bed and drink wine and eat rice. The song is ended.5 The Ka Gei Opens the Way for the Departed Soul to Its Future Abode e (657) In the Fa gei's hands he carries a rooster. This tune is also played three times. 4 At the Sao Ch'ieh ceremony. 5 This tune is also played three times. When it is finished the Fa gk takes hold of the coffin and leads it as it is carried outside. Then the filial sons kneel outside the house. Their wives light a torch just before it is taken outside, and after it is carried outside, the coffin is tied up so that it can be carried away and buried. This and No. 658 (below) were obtained from On his back he carries a bow. At his side he wears a sword or beheading kniie. He stands beside the dead person's co5 on the west. In his hands he holds a pair of divining stick^.^ He then repeats the following paragraphs. Three times he calls out the nqme of the dead person saying, "Arise, arise, arise." As he calls he takes hold of the dead person's hand and pulls as though to lift the dead person up. Then he saysA. ''I have called you three times and you are unable to reply. I pulled three times but you are unable to rise. You cannot live as a man, so you must live as a spirit. Your head is bent down toward the great land of the soul in the sky (3a3 nTo-' na-' TimS?). You wear the sky like a hat above your head and your head leads toward the land of the souls-of the dead. I will give you nine cups of wine nine times to drink. If you cannot drink it all, do not give it to demons that cause sickness for them to drink. If you cannot drink it, give it to the souls of the dead to drink. You give it to your ancestors for three generations. XnuS lo-' XAU' (drink some). B. "When the spirits have drunk, I will lead on the road to heaven. I will offer some meat for you to eat. If you cannot eat it all, you must not give it to the demons that cause sickness or to the demons that cause death. You must give it to your ancestors for three generations. Xnu6 lo-' Xnu6. 'When you have finished eating you must go and stick to the corner of your grandmother's clothes. When you have finished eating, you go and stick to the bottom of your grandfather's felt rug." Then he repeats the following words: "So, so. If I roam all over the world it stirs my mind. I will go unto the road of Ngeo Go (3gnua go.'). Speaking of the earth, I have gone all over the sky. I went to Ga Ye K'o's (ga- 38' k'o-') residence. When Ngeo Ga came at first, she got a fit ground. When Ga Ye K'o first came he got a fit in the sky. ''I will lead you to Ngeo Ga's dwelling. I will also lead you to Ga Ye K'o's (medicine Mr. Hsiung Cheng-ts'ai, now deceased, who lived at Wang Wu-Chai, ZsB, and was over 60 years old. He was a simple farmer who was saturated with the customs and ideals of his people and was said to know over a thousand folk songs. When the mo, or priest, is performing the ceremony of opening the soul of the deceased to go to paradise, he is called a k'a gei, or one who opens the road. 7 Made of two halves of a bamboo sprout. 54 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 123 old man heal) dwelling. At that time your singing. When you hear the cuckoo, that is grandmother and grandfather will also go to the sound of your descendants below playing Ngeo Ga's dwelling. Then they will also go the liu sheng and beating the drums. There before you to Ga Ye K'o's dwelling. When is also the cicada singing, and that is the JWU go, the rooster will go before you. The weeping of your descendants. bamboo divining roots will interpret your H. "Now I am going to lead you to finish words. When your rooster crows and the dancing at the flowery altar, and I will also rooster of your grandmother and your grand- lead you so that you can be born again (as father reply, those are your grandmother a man) on earth. We will go down the sky and grandfather. If your rooster crows and ladder. We will descend one pavilion, two no rooster answers, those are not your grand- pavilions, three pavilions, four pavilions, five parents (ancestors). pavilions, six pavilions, seven pavilions, eight C. "I will lead you to your grandparents' pavilions, nine pavilions, ten pavilions, eleven dwelling. Your grandparents have a well. pavilions, twelve pavilions. When we have When you arrive there, the water is fragrant. gone past the twelfth pavilion, then we will You must drink three handfuls, for at that have arrived on earth. Then you will escape time (when they died) your from the womb and turn around on the wheel and your grandfather also drank this water. of life.@ D. 'TVbw I will lead you to Ntzi"s land in 1. "Now I will lead you to the grave. You heaven to the dancing altar. You must go will have a place with your father and your past in front of Zwang ZweTs (gwa3 ~wei) father-in-law. That is the grave hill. You face. By the side of the road he opens his Can live with them.'' mouth wide. There is also Tso Zwei (tso- J. ''Your parents-in-law will ask, Who gwei) who is lying beside the road. These brought you here?' You must not say that two want to block the road. At that time you I brought You here. You may say that you can take a handful of fire hemp and tear it to came alone. pieces and cover the dragon's lips. You also K. ''I will take you to the grave to be take some large hemp and cover up the buried peacefully (in peace). You wear bamtiger's mouth, and after that you can go by boo or hemp shoes. I will wear shoes made of (unharmed). vines (wicker). I will escort you to your E. "Now I will escort you up to the sky grave, and you must stay there forever (a11 (paradise). When you have gone up the YOU' life). YOU must send me back to life.'' ladder to the sky, ascend to the first palace, YOU Wear shoes made of great hemp. 1 will the second palace, the third palace, the fourth wear shoes made of the bark of the keo tree.'' palace, the fifth palace, the sixth palace, the I will escort YOU into the tomb. YOU must seventh palace, the eighth palace, the ninth escort me back to mY home." palace, the tenth palace, the eleventh palace, At this time the rooster is choked to death, and the twelfth palace. When you have and then a sharpened bamboo stick is stuck reached the twelfth pavilion, you will have through the rooster, and the stick with the reached the house in the sky (heaven). rooster on it is stuck up in the ground or F. I will lead you to see the flower leaned against the coh. Divining is done by altar. mis flower altar has many people means of two halves of a joint of bamboo on (worshipers). There is a drum altar which which there have been leaves. is also wonderful. ~h, look. on this road After a while an animal is sacrified, and there are very many straw-sandal ins*. the ceremony proceeds as desmibed in the These straw-sandal insects are very numerous (Nos- 658-661). on this road. Therefore you quickly make bamboo into sandals and wear them. Sacrificing an Animal during the Funeral 'You also take shoes made of big hemp (658) and put them on, then you go along stepping The priest calls the dead person three times on the insects, and step on them as you go until you have trodden them to death. O This disposes of one of a person's three souls. G. will lead you up onto ~~s~ heaven. lo This disposes of a soul in the grave. l1The idea is that the soul of the priest escorts You can look at the flowery and you can the soul of the dead person, and should be sent turn around and listen to the cuckoo calling. back and not detained by the soul of the dead You also turn around and listen to the cicada person. If the soul of the vriest should not return to life, the priest would d&. 8 Zwang Zwei means demon stone, or stone l2 The keo tree is wrongly called a dogwood demon, and Tso Zwei means stone tiger. tree by Westerners. NO. I CH'UAN MIAO SONGS AND STORIES--GRAHAM 55 by name. This time he does not take hold of the dead person's hand. He says- 'Wow I call you but you do not reply. I cry to you, but you do not awake. Your descendants are giving you an animal to take with you to visit your ancestors for three generations (including ancestors by mar- riage). You take one with you and send back thousands of hundreds to your descendants." When the priest has said this, he takes a pair of divining sticks and gives the animal to the dead person. After that the priest pours out three cups of wine, then asks the man who is to kill the animal to come and kill it. Then the k'a gei (priest) says, "Please take this animal and quickly give it to the dead person to take to Ntzi's level land to see his ancestors for three generations." After this he gives the wine to the person who is to kill the animal. He drinks it and then kills the animal. Then the Fa gei pours out a cup of wine for the man who plays the liu sheng and one for the man who beats the drum. He gives the wine to them and says, "I request you to play three roads (as much as can be played while going over three roads) of the liu sheng for the dead person, so the dead person can go to Ntzi's land and see his departed ancestors for three generations." Opening the Road for the Soul to Travel to Paradise IS (663) na-4 gei6, nae4 3ei6, na-a jei6, aged rock, aged rock, aged rock. (or great) moS4 xo.' gao' bjei6 Jwa-' priest call you three sound (times) gaos Tei6 tJal Tau4 - mos4 &I.' you reply not able priest talk gaoa Ta-' (or T3) - TaS0 la.' gli-6 - you die (dead) true be false or gei6 - tL6 (or e Ta-@) you dead is true no3' mo-' - lo.' you hear priest talk (words) mos4 Ta-' nTa5" geiB ma-' - &' priest come half road have one (dead person) nTi-' 3wa3' tswei4 Ta-' ndea.' Ts - put on clothes good come home (to the house of the dead person) = 5ao\aod tJal 3a06 ==== is you not is Sao' gaoa sil %' - tJai6 is you truly l8 Sung on the evening of the day the person pulls, trying to assist him to arise. The song was dies, after the burial clothes have been put on. obtained from Mr. Glao Ao, a Ch'uan Mio leader, The song is called Fa gei, or open the road. The and written down in the international script, name of the deceased is zei, or rock. The priest after which it was translated. calls him three times and takes his hand and ShlITHSONIAN MISCEUANEOUS COLLECTIONS moe4 Ta-' ndza3' Ta-' priest come below level mo-A dS6 (or d4.3 3ga.' priest carry on back meat mo-' Ta-' dza3' Xa3' priest come half bend mo-' dzas Ga3' priest carry on back food (cooked corn meal) gaoa La-' =is 2.' - - you dead be true gaoa Taa6 dgeia mo.' 3gaaa mo-A Ga3' naoe you receive your priest meat priest corn meal eat gaoa 1 =on - you then ,go t'auS glae6 tlal - E)gaia a-l ~o3' formerly not come down do farming gla-s tJal - E)gai2 Ta-' ntsae6 what who come down husk rice person (by beating) bo.' mae4 f)Gaia - Ta-' ntsa-' woman ma come down husk rice Ta-' bjd Te? - ntsas6 am' gaoa Ga3' husk three hands rice make you corn handfuls (cook) llail - njaE)' food bowl naoa - &06 la-' - naoa bjei6 glae7 eat can still eat three spoonfuls (also) naoa tJal T - la-' naos bjeis gla-7 = eat not able also eat three spoonfuls get gaoa Tae6 (or Twa-') geis Tam' = ==z= you dead is true die ~'Au' gaoa nae4 f)Gais - a-' Go3' formerly your mother come down do farming gaoa tsi" 3Gaia - a-l 103' your father come down make clearings CH'UAN MIA0 SONGS AND STORIES---GRAHAM gao' nae6 jai" gaoa Ta-a.5 your mother pick up you come nd%e6 3Gai6 Ta-' wrapped skirt maoe gaoa na-' lass pain your mother heart gaos tsi-' jai" gaos Ta-' ndZa.' your father pick up you come wrapped 3Gai6 tJ'aol ski of gown aol tsi-l blaia ndgaol pained your father heart swell up gao' &e6 Ta-a - I you dead really true a-I gaoa na-' gaoa tsiS1 i-Vo*.' Jo-' do your mother your father one piece thanks gaoz lie1 - mom' you then gO t'au6 gaoa so.' sans - bi-* na-' dZo3' - i.1 formerly you just born high bib mountain there gao" naoa bae6 iss d3u.' ===2 - iea - lais Ga3' you eat up ten one time corn meal (finished) large number XAU' hb i-' - - dgu-' i-Vai6 - glei'. ' drink up one ten one time water large number dz~u' Tai6 dZ.iu8 TaY i.Vd8 burn wood burn finished one ten d3aos ntso-6 303' successive peaks old forests numerous bao6 ba-" - i-' eS d3a01 ntso" Teia dig ruin one ten many peaks earth a number successive gad 2.' &' Ta-' E=l you dead really true gao' a-I Tei6 tJcd i.' 10.' Jo-' YOU do earth below piece thanks sentence gao' li-' =o' you then go gao' lais tJa6 Jul tsa3' you arise on bed get UP f)gai6 na4 tsi-' gla3" ts - pair mother father demon bed nTauE gao' NTo-' nTa-' beat you prevent push tlal e6 - gad mo-' - not allow you go gao9 Xae6 f)gai4 nas4 tsims glanf)' - tsaf)' you say pair mother father demon bed Ta.' gla3 Ta.' nTnu1 GauE neia ttJal demon come back behind you not ndzo- nTad help beat strike - Ta-6 Ta.' nTaie 3gla-' neix tlal nTo-a nTa-6 die come breast before you not help pull done d3a" XAU' gwa.' k'o-I tjal 303' nine pieces medicine heal not good kinds - 3i." xiiul nnne Po-' tlal dhoa eight pieces man. heal not back mag~cian come back To-' ba3l To-' nTais njux cease breath stop mouth bla.' la-' (or laea) Ta-' nTai6 ndaao" fill lie finiihed in breast gad Xaa6 na.' tsi-a gla!Y tsa3' - - as1 na-' you say mother father demon bed this way (how about it?) na-' tsi-' gla3" - t~af)~ tsaol gaox geil Mother father demon bed release you road gaos li-' mz' - you then go gao" lain ban6 tso-' Tao' Ta3" you arise come arrive before parlor f)gai4 na.' tsi-* gla3' TaT pair mother father demon parlor i.8 I& - i-" To-' ~,Au' one person one piece flail piece ao" Ian6 - ao8 To-' k'au6 two person two piece flail piece nTauS gaoa nToea nTa-' t$al Ga-' gaoa s.' - beat you lift up strike not allow you go gaoa xa-6 na-' tsieS gla3' Ta3' Ta.' you say mother father demon hall finishing (parlor) word Gla3" Ta-' TAU' Gau6 nei2 t$al ndZo" nTnd demon come back behind you not help beat Tae6 Ta-% nTai6 gla-" neia tJal ndzo' nTa-' die come front before you not help pull dja-' Xaul gwa-' k'o-I t$al d"aoa none piece medicine heal not come back 5i-' - xaul nane k'0.l t$al Jei' Ght piece man heal not return magician TO.' ba3' To-' - - 303' Ta-' nTai6 njua stop breath stop air finished in mouth come bla.' saea Ta-" nTaiS ndZaoa fell life come in breast na-a tsi-" gla3' Ta3' - - tsaol gaoa geil mother father demon hall release you road gao-i*l E' you then go gaoa $ais tsan' E' - tso" ndza3' na-A dZo3' you get up come go arrive below big door !3gais na-' t~i-\la3~ dZ03' pair mother father demon door i.' Ian"." To." - mblai4 hrna3' dgja9' each one whip vine (name of the vine) nTauS gaoa nToeS nTa-' - - t$al Ga-' gaoa mo.' = beat you lift up strike not allow you go gaoa Xa-' f)gai8 na-' tsi-" gla3e dZo3' Ta-' you say pair mother father demon door SMITHSONIAN MISCEUAMOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 123 i.5 jjo3' tsi-' neia i-6 TO-' mba-' tsais t$al Ta-6 one year offer you one pig false not true as sacrifice aoe Sjo3' tsi-' neia i-' TO-' mba-' a-l nja3a two years offer you one pig do how as sacrifice (how about it?) gla3" Ta-' nTaul Gau5 neia t$al ntso-' demon come back behind you not help - Ta-' Ta-' nTai5 3gIa-' neia t$al nToea nTam6 die finished breast before you not help pull n~n' gwa-' kco-l tjal 303~ ~~-1 ba3' healer heal not good ceased breath magician To-' 903" Ta-' nTai5 nju' ceased air finished in mouth come bla-4 laa8 (or lae8) Tae8 nTaiS ndzao5 fell life come in breast finished na-' tsi.' gla3" d'03~ tsaol gaoa geil mother father demon door release you road gaoa - mo-' la36 - you go quickly gaoa Saia tlei' - mo.' = tso-' ndza3' nTu-l 303' you arise come go arrive below in grove na-' tsi-"la3" mblaa6 sa-l i-' Ians - i-' 10.' wa3' mother father demons course fine each one _ winnowing chaff chaff basket srei' 30" gaoa tla' @a5 gao' F' - circle shake up shake side not =ling you go and down to side gao' Xa-' 3gai4 na-4 tsi-a g13" mbla-'~a-~Ta-' you say pair mother father demon chaff t'du5 nTaoS nTeis nan" gla3" la5 $jail before formerly men demons meet together nnne 3Ga.' 3Game d3ae5 ga3' people flesh meat beeswax yellow n~n" ts'a3' & ts'a3' 11~~~ people bones like bone iron gla3' 3Ga." gS 3Ga-' la-' & demon flesh like flesh dirt Tow gla3' ts'a3' gei5 - ts'a3' pl'nu5 - ma3' demon bones like bones skin wild hairy plum nnne gla3" Jas mp'o3' ts'nu8 people demons meet throw ashes mp'o3' nji-6 glei8 ims Tei5 - - gleia gwae2 3Ga." throw young dog one piece dog make call noise glei8 tsweis d%os tsei8 dog run go back home mp'o3' nnne i-a TA n~n' laas -. bo-6 gla3' throw people one hand people each other see demon gla3' lam6 bo-' nnne demon each see people mp'o3' ao8 _Tei6 bjei' >is - throw two hands three hands nnne tJal - bo-' gla36 people not see demons nnns gla3' Ja6 Ilo-a ts'a3' people demons together change bones n~nB - (ni-') na.' nane G3a-' @ 3Ga.' a gg - - now people flesh is flesh dirt yellow (like) people bones are bones skin wild hairy plum (like) nsP - (ni-8) na Tei8 nnne tsaiB dsa-' tJal tsaia xaS - now this person able live not able die tsai2 Tae6 - tJal tsai2 dzaoa - able die not able come back njeis gleis To-' bloaa blo-6 Teis nnna tJal bnu5 small dog bite bow wow this man not know (bark) Ta-"lei8 To-' gla-' tJal b~u' dog bite what not know glei8 =a Tos gla3" -. dog come bite demon down gaoa Xae5 a-' me5 na.' tsi-' gla3' mbla.' sa-l you say continually mother father demon chaff SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 123 t$aol gaoa geis gaoa lei1 = mo-'na-" neis na-4 zei5 release you road you then go you aged rock (great) - tsoeS djiea na-l gaoa t$a3' nt$eia t'ei6 no3' arrived at this time you open ear well hear mo" - 10.~ priest words mo4 Xo-l 3gnua Tu-S gaoa nof)s - gaoa lie1 - - mob priest sing song for you hear you then go t'nul na-4 3gnua a-' lo-' njaos nTo-' tJ'i-a $a*' formerly mother girl bitter come sit sky developed heart live nTnu2 ae5 03' -- lo-" tj'ie8 - ja-' tJal 303' male bitter Ong come develop heart not good (man's name) na-' 3gnu%-6 JaieS p'ai5 TAU' ndgf (ntzaP) (woman's name) arose break got finished (name of deity) g)ii (or Ntzi) njo3" 12' gld la-' nts'a-' foundation old water field clear Niong Leo ndZnua 03' lais p'ai' TAU' nd3yP (or ntzay njo3' 1%' - name of a woman arose broke Ntzi Nyong Leo gleia la nTo-' water field muddy t'nu6 gleiP ~3' f)Gaia dzao" nTo-' formerly water yellow come down return sky 3a3' Ta3' la-' Teis bo-' nTo-a nTi-" covered finished field earth filled sky dark (flooded) land ndZao' Teia t'o-l djkS bo.' nTo -' nTnu6 inside earth everywhere filled sky strike (in the world) meet aoa kn' - ma.' no.' nTu -' TAU' ndzwa-" ' gla3' two piece sister brother entered drum wooden nTa3' jo-' 3a-' nTaol nd3ya njo3' = lnu2 float back and forth up (to) Ntzi Nyong Leo's Teis - gnu4 nToea land above sky country NO. I CH'UAN MIA0 SONGS AND STORIES--GRAHAM ndsya njo3' - IAiu2 - k'nn' (k'ai5) dZo3' TO-^ na-4 Ntzi: Nyong Leo open door sky look gla-2 Teis 3a3' bo.' nToaa nTi-6 level earth deluged full sky dark world ndgya (ntza3 njo9' lnu2. Pail t$aoa T03' dsaos Ntzi Nyong Leo punched rod brass brought - lo-' ndzo-" tj'nd come with pushed down tJ'nul TAU' na-' gleia gg ts'~u' ts'a-' punched open great water yellow run down leak flood - 3gai2 3a3' k'ao' went down dragon cave glae2 Tei" Xo-' nTo-' sweil tjal ma-' no3' nnne world clean sky clean not have seed man t'au6 gla-' t$3 - f)Gai2 maa6 no3' nand formerly what come down find seed man tlo.' ndZa3' jeis mblo3' - - 3Gai2 ma'' n03' n~n' investigate immortal's come down find seed man name ma-' no-' njaoe Gnu8 nTo-' tfal jwen' sister brother dwelt on sky not willing - 3Gaix gla-a Tei6 come down world ndsy2 nj03~ - lnua ~a-~*'Ta-~ d3a.' go.' JAU' Ntzi Nyong Leo said wait I write nd rnbies (or mbjeiK) Tasa Ju-' nTais your name (past) on paper b'ai6 nei" ntsa-' gla3" d3aoP 10.' - gail d3ja.l pick up your drum demon brick come hang up (back) neie jaSs =is - gla-' Teis you will come down world d3a.l ma-' lais - ndzay - Tiu until have day afterward (sign of a ¶uestion) go.' gaid neiQ mbiS6 nei" li-s - ha na-' I blot out your name you then come look ndZwa-' gla3" njaoe 303' tjal %j03' drum demon sit well not well SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. aoa &n6 - - ma-' 2' - gla-' Teis two people sister older come down world brother $ja3' TAU' gla -' Tei6 Teia nane bo-' nToaa begat world earth people fill sky - nnna na." gla-2 Tei' Tei2 n~n" t$al jwin4 now below earth earth people not willing nd3ya njo3" - la Ta-' giel s-' - lo-" NtZ Nyong Leo bring scales take hold of weigh gla-a Tei6 Teia nnne tla' jwin' 2.' world earth people not willing die njen9 va3' Ta-' bias d3a." Nien Wang bring pen take hold approach (ruler of hades) nTnu6 entire blo - ' absent (die) gaoa 1i.l blo-' - dga-' 3 ~SO.' gaoaa weighed you you then absent approach arrive you 1 gaoa lie1 Ta-' - you then die blo-' - - Ta-' - nts'aia To3' dsaea Ta-" absent finished die finished meditate think nine generations bo.' tsoa geil ancestors piece road - f)Gnu6 gi-a ba3" gi-' - =: ntwa-' assemble play flower play drum (the) (beat) deao' nd3ya njo3' lnua Tei' gnu8 nTo-' =1 Return Ntzi Nyong Leo land level heaven t'~u\la.~ tsal 3Gaia - - ma-' no3' $joE)' formerly what come down find seed bamboo no3' nTo9' seed wood (or tree) tso-" ntsa3' lei6 mblo3' - 3Gai2 ma.' Name of a person or immortal come down find no3' $jo3" no9 nTo3' seed bamboo seed wood (tree) xa-' xo-' - 3Gai2 gla.' Tei' sow scatter come down below earth world NO. I no3' Jjo3' tsais nja3a = tsao8 Ti.' - glai4 seed bamboo grew toward gulch no3' nTo3' tsai8 ng - tsao8 Ti-' - Tao' seed wood grew toward edge mountain Tai4 nTo.' so-' ts'ae5 nTo-' so-' nTo.' sao6 come out sky warm new sky warm sky hot no3' Jjo3' Ta.l+3' - bl~u' tsweiS TO.' - ntfwa-' seed bamboo came four five piece sprout d3ja-' Ta-' d3ja-' ntsa-' d3ja.l t'nul d3j-l 3wei6 wind come wind fan wind recede wind whirl (whirlwind) 110.~. a grow lo-"sAll' p'u-= a Ga3' Gau6 lai' i.' To.' large grow luxuriantly insect bite go one piece develop Ga3" nTo-' lais i-' To-' - - insect cut off one piece ts'ao6nia3' - na-' aoa To-' i.' TomS lai6 left only two piece one piece go ni-I ts'03' ni-l, go-B t$o.' is relative is relation used ts'ao5 niaf)' - na-' Ta-a Tx6 tsai4 ndZai8 left only one piece cut (sound of cutting) d3aoS k5 a-l d5ya ts'i-' Take one do you piece divining sticks t~'i-'=~ - tsamS ' Tai2 gao2 li-I mom5 - &sg divining sticks express words report you then go meet ancestors t~'i-~ nTai5 - tsae6 lo-' To.' gao' li-l z5 dsa-' bo.' divinincticks express words (sound you then go meet ancestors of words) t'aul gla-' tjal 3Gaia ======2 ma-' n03' Gam6 formerly who come down find seed chicken have tso-' nTa3' Jei6 mblo3' 3Gaia , - ma-' n03' Ga-s name of immortal or person Mblong come down find seed chicken Tso Ndang Sei ma-' TAU' no3' Gae5 d%oe lo.' - t~~ - found seed chicken return come arrive i-' hn6-\Tei6 - - i.8 10.' ao8 hn6' - - nTeiS aoa lo." one day lay (bear) one piece two days lay two SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 123 -- nTei8 njaf)' = nam2 Gnu4 ao8 lo-"laul 3a02 -- laid helping two ten piece collect together word d3aoe 106 bao6 (or bae6) - C = bring come sit on (embrace) bao8 i.' tso" nnn2 - - hn6m6 i-'10-~ sit on one complete twenty days one an1 Gail Gnu' i-a lo-a a*' Gail Tao8 do egg rotten one became egg not hatched become (sterile) (chicken died within) glnuSe6 - na Jjaf)' - 3i6 - - To.' hatched seven eight pieces la-' TAU' i-'To-' - sparrow hawk get one gla3' TAU' i-' To-' i-"0.' - - lai6 mo-a Ilu-' (or Ily)l tJoo6 hawk get one one went wild cat caught t$'aoK - nja3' na-' - bjei' bl~d - Toe6 i.To-' laic left three four piece one went sais k-' - - - tso-' gift settle quarrel i-'To8 - lai' ni-l ts'o3' ni-l - - tso" one went was married was wedded give ts'a-6 njaf)' - na-a Tae6 To-' - Kfail a-' gao-a-6 - left one give do you chicken k'wae6 geil gao2 Ta-' IAU' GaS6 Ti-' crow road you hold cock wings rooster lau8 Ga-' gwa-' gwae7N - a-l gao' NTei6 rooster crow crow do you before Si-l nTaib - nTao6 (or f)glao8) la3' Tao4 gao' Ga3' bamboo divining sticks roll along behind you in rear t~a-~ gaoa 10.' - gaoe =e6 - bi-a - - la9 converse you words you go up quickly gaoa F~ E-' - bjd gleig gei5 gleia K'aol 3ei6 you go arrive three water clouds water cave stone KO-" tso-' bi.' - E gleia nTa3' gleia k'aol d3ja3' go arrive mountain water half way on the road water cave wood nk'ei' gao' XAU' - - nja3' na-' bjei6 Tei' thirst you drink three handfuls NO. I dzaos Tao4 @ gao' Xnu6 mao" Xad toward front you drink sickness drink pain ntJwa3' tJoma tJwei6 p-' - groan all go tJal nk'ei6 gaoa jai6 bjeia Tei5 - Xa-' Xo-' not thirst you dip up three hands throw sprinkle handfuls dZaoa Tao4 Ga3' na-' toward the rear gao' z6 - tsoe6 g6 303~ d3ae6 303' Fa-' Jae6 - you go arrive mountain fir forest bitter heart forest woods - moe6 tsoe6 bi-6 303~ ntJ'aia 303~ k'a-' blaia go arrive mountain forest name of a large tree forest bitter liver na-' dZo3' nao2 nnnO loma nTo3' ma-' ndzaoa large peacock eat people break tree have sound 3gwae8 gaoa tso.' bi-a Ua-" noise you arrive mountain fire dgein mo4 mbaf)' nTaY gla35 nTaia glass that priest carry under carry on sword side the arm the back dza6 hnnna GO^^ Ta-a nTai6 nTa-' (or 3glaa-) carry on the back crossbow pa long come forward a-I gaoa - la-' gaoS ga-a tJa6 - mo-' - - be your companion you quickly go gao' nd3ei1 nTaol bi-6 Taoa la-' a.' lam6 you climb upward mountain high again high ts'ai' lys a-I lys gei6 3wa3' Twa-l lo-' tswa*' mountain top cold again cold stone dragon open mouth wide 3ei6 tlo-' Twa-I 10.' Tue6 (or Ty6) stone tiger open mouth opposite gad tJal Ti.' nts'ai' mom4 mba3' NTa3' j,rla3" you not need fear priest carry sword under his arm want as1 gaoa kS k'ail ntsw'a-I ma-' ntsail be your companion you take handful hemp push 3eie 3wa3' lo-" stone dragon mouth ma3' Jia6 ntsw'a-' nTa-6 ntsail zeiO tlo-I nju-' fire hemp handful hemp push stone tiger mouth SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 123 gao' ga.' tfa6 mz8 - nd3ei1 nTaol Ilaul bie6 you quickly go climb top peak mountain Tao2 sa-' am1 ~a-~ peak high again high ma.' - njaf)' na-' bjei8 - tso~~ geil t~o-~ ndZaJ ndza35 have there three piece road in midst T3' nt~'a.~ nam6 gei5 gaoa bo.6 gaoP @' - gei-' grow grass road your mother your father road gaoa ga-' tfa6 - - moS la35 - gaoa mos tso6 Tao4 - - nam4 you quickly go fast you go arrive that place big gleia na.' fwaa6 a*' nToe5 water billowy bitter muddy lo." f)gaos - njaoe Tao4 biJ ni-I ts'03' ni.' k'o-' one boat sit above is relation is relative live f)gaoP lo-a 3gao2 njaoe ts'ai' TAU' ni-l rna!I6 nial f~a-~ boat one boat sit belowr is Lolo is Chinese 3gaoa - - boat gao2 h6 gaoa 3ai6 3gao2 10.' ndza-5 ndZaT your mother your father boat piece middle gaoa tsai' ndZo3' nd%-5 eil TuS6 gaos Tai5 you leap (row) in row you go along - nTo-' gIeie p'a3" oe6 edge water that side gao2 jam8 E' ndsei* nd3ys Taos ga3' Ji-6 you want go up gods mountain insect of paradise Jais nd4i4 nd3yS Taoa - ga3' na-I stand up go gods mountain insect (of paradise) ts'a3' nTo-" gon6 a-l go-' nTo.' ts'a3' Ta-' a*' Ta-' clear sky warm again warm sky clear hot again hot gaoP nt'am8 g~u' tsom2 Ta-a ndzo-5 db3' ts'a3' you opened umbrella silk bring help cover sunlight tJo-' ~AU' - mba-s Tams ndzo-6 - hn6 - silk umbrella satin come take shed from cover sun gaoP ja-a - - mon6 nd3ei1 ndgy5 nTai8 nTo-" you will go climb god ladder sky nd3ei1 nTaol nd3y5 dZo3' TO-^ climb up god's ladder sky NO. I lnua Ga-' gwa-6 1& dzo3" nToa6 ts'ai' - dais rooster crow door sky close up gao" ja-l xa-' 5lgai6 na-' tsi-' gla3' dzo3\To -6 you should say pair mother father demon door sky Ta.6 i.8 Jj03~ d3i-' neiP i- na-' mba-l tJal Ta-S every one year offer you one mother pig not true aos $jo3' d3i-l neia i-' TO.' nae4 mbaml two years offer you one SOW a*' nja3' gla3' Tama nTnu6 neia tJal how about it demon come behind you not TO-^ nTnu6 help beat TaD6 - (orTwae6) Tae8 nTai13gla-6 neiP tJal nTom6 nTa-' ======, dead in front you not help remove gla. Tei6 bjei6 ka ts'aml &06 Tei9 bjei' world three passed all earth we lo-" tsi-" come entire gad Xa-' na-' tsi-' gla3" dzo3" - - nTo-' a*' na.' you say parents demon door sky how is it gate tJaol gaoa geil geia z6 la35 release you road you go quickly gaoP nd3eis nTaol ndgya njo3' Lus Teis you climb up Ntzi' (gii) Nyong Leo land GnuS nToSa level sky nd3y2 njo3' lnu9 nd Ta-6 gaoa lo.' To-' Ti.' - - - Ntzi. Nyong Leo asked you come who Jim6 gaoa lo-' - lead you come gaoa Xam6 TaD6 lo-' d3eia mo-' li-6 go-' lo-' = - you say I come the priest lead me come a-l nja3' gaoa 106 d3ei' mo-4 tJal - lo-' - C how you come the priest not see come gaoa Xa-' Ta.' go.' TAU' Tau1 lo-' - you said I wear shoes large go.' g-' - gei' nTom9 go.' TAU' K'nul G' I travel road sky I wear shoes hemp SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 123 go-"' - geia Ta-' d3ims mo-' TAU' K'nul I go road dead the priest wears sandals travel hma3' d3ja3' d3ims mo-& dZaos Ga3' vine name the priest return djang gaos E-' ntJai7 ndZo3& is ba3' - giS ndzwa-' - I go lead there altar flower altar drum %nu4 bjei6 ndgi-' p'a3' 0.' bjei" nd3i4 p'aY na-' go back and three circles side right three turn side that forth in a circle gaoa ga-a tJal lo-' - la3' - - you quickly come village, town gaos lo-' tx' - nTuel ntJwael nji6 103' you come arrive outside cliff that the town the town gleia k' Ta.' Taoa4 om6 Toe8 gao' tJweis dog long hair come that side bite you run dzaos Tao4 na.' turn this side gaos tJo.v6 = lo-' nTu-l ntJwa-l ni-' - 103' lo-= = you turn to left come outside town cliff that town come gao' jama 10.' - 3Gai6 nTaia nTo-' Tai' nTa-' Tei6 na.' I wish come down ladder sky come out world will must dgeia moe4 Ji-' gaos - KO-' dz~u6 Tei5 dz~u6 tJ'ail the priest lead you go show you ground arrive pit Tu-l g6 Taoa Ja-' gao2 E~ d3a-' n~n' Tueg - - to hill peak high you go living person numerous Jwaaa TAU' Teis t$'ail Gai6 Jwaaa TAU' nTo3' Chinese get land place low Chinese get tree ma3' nTo3' t'o.' big tree pine bjei' hmo3' TAU' Taos Jae6 TAU' nTo3' we miao get mountainhigh get tree fir nTo3l go-' tree (a kind of tree that grows high on the mountains) take go do you house thatched house board make roofed dsael Ga3' 3a08 md Gaa8 gwa-' put down below fortified their chicken crow house gao'Gae6 tJal Ti-' gwa-I your cock not need crow gaoa - - mo-' d3a-a - nan6 nTu-" you go living person numerous f)Gaea h-' - ntsaia - 3Gaia ntsnu6 ntJ'a3' meat rotten fragments come down mixed with blood ntJ'aS8 - lu-" ntsaia f)Gaia ======a ntsnuVlaa blood rotten fragments come down mixed dirt (earth) gla.' tsa' 3Gaia - - nao2 3Ga." what come down eat flesh ntlnu4 ga3' dZua8 - nao' f)Gae8 ant come down eat flesh gla-' ts3 - f)Gai9 ntsai8 ntJ'af)" what come down suck up blood ntlnu4 ga3' dzu.' f)GaT ntsai8 ntf'af)' ant insect come down suck up blood glam6 tsal nTo-6 (or nTu.') gaoa Ti6 nann what with you intimate person ntJnu4 Ga3" dZu - (nTu - 3 ndzoe gao' Ti - " n~n' Tie6 ant with you intimate person Tie6 tla3' intimate love d303'njaf)' im8 d3ie8 Tu.' d3i.' nam8 finished all entire complete (all body) Translation Aged Rock, aged Rock, aged Rock,l4 I, the priest have called you three times. You are unable to answer my words. Are you dead or not? You are truly dead. You hear the words of the priest. When the priest came halfway there was one at home wearing good clothes.l5 Is it you or not? It is truly you. I the priest came to the Bat below carrying meat on my back. I4Ro~k is the name of the person who has died. The Ch'uan Miao said that here the adjective nu meant aged, but it generally means great. 15 Thii refers to the dead person. I the priest came to the half bend carrying on my back cooked corn meal. You are truly dead. You (first) receive the meat and corn meal from the priest to eat and then you go. Formerly people did not engage in agriculture. The woman Ma came down to do farming. Who came down to husk rice? The woman Ma came down to husk rice. She husked three handfuls of rice and cooked corn meal and put it in the food bowl. If it is edible, eat three spoonfuls. You are truly dead. Formerly your mother came down and did farm work. Your father came down and made clearings. 72 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 123 (When you were horn) your mother picked you up and wrapped you in her ski. You caused pain to your mother's heart. Your father ~icked you up and wrapped you in the skit of his gown. You pained your father's heart until it was swollen. You are truly dead. Thank your mother and your father before you go. When you were first born you were on a high mountam. You have eaten much corn meal. You have drunk much water. You have burnt up as fire wood many mountain peaks and old forests. You have mined by digging numerous peaks of ground. You are truly dead. (For the ground you worked) you should express thanks to the earth below before you go. You arise on your bed. Then the pair of bed demons, husband and wife, beat and push you to hinder, and will not allow you to go. You say, "You pair of bed demons, When the demon comes up behind you do not help beat him. Although I am not dead, you do not help in front by pulling. Nine kinds of medicine did not heal me. Eight magicians could not heal me." Your breath has ceased. Your mouth is closed. The life in your breast has fallen. You speak this way to the mother and father bed demons and they will release you, then YOU go. You arise and arrive at the parlor. The pair of parent parlor demons, One flail for one person, two flails for two persons, strike you and lift up and strike again, and will not permit you to go. You say, "You pair of parlor demons, when demons come behiid you do not help beat them. When I am dead, you will not help by pulling in front Nine kinds of medicine could not cure me. Eight magicians could not heal me. My breath has ceased, in my mouth the air has stopped. In my breast my life has fallen." Then the pair of male and female parlor dcmons permit you to go, and you go. You arise and proceed to the big door below. The pair of parent door demons, each with a vine whip, beat you, and lift up again and strike you, and will not allow you to go. You say, "Pair of parlor demons, it is not true that I will sacrifice to you one pig each year. How will it do to sacrifice to you one pig in two years? When the demon comes up behind, you do not beat it. Although I am dead, you do not help by pulling me in front. Medicine could not heal me, and breath has ceased. The fine air has ceased in my mouth. Life has fallen in my throat." The pair of demons release you, and you go quickly. You arise and proceed to the grove below. The pair of chaff demons, with one winnowing basket each, Shaking the baskets in circles up and down and sidewise, are unwilling for you to go. You say, "You pair of chaff demons, Formerly people and demons mingled together. The flesh of people was lie yellow beeswax. The bones of people were like iron bones. The flesh of demons was like yellow dirt. The bones of demons were like the skin of the wild hairy plum." When people met demons, in case they threw ashes, if it struck a young dog the dog howled and ran back home. If one handful was thrown on people, people could see demons, and demons could see people. If two or three handfuls were thrown, People could not see the demons. Now the flesh of people is like yellow dirt. The bones of people are like the skin of the wild hairy plum. Now this person (mankind?) can live but not die, can die, but cannot come back again. The small dog bites (barks) bow wow (the Ch'uan Miao words are 610 blo). This person does not understand. I do not know what the dog is biting. The dog comes down to bite a demon. You talk continually and the pair of &ail demons permit you to go, and then you go. You, Aged Rock, open your ears now and hear well the words which I, the priest, sing to you, then go. Formerly Na Ngeo A (mother girl bitter) dwelt in the sky and developed a bad intention. Ndeo A Ong (male bitter Ong) came and developed a bad heart. Na Ngeo A arose and broke the clear water of Ndjii Nyong Leo. Ndeo A Ong arose and broke the muddy sky water of Ndjii Nyong Leo. Formerly the yellow water came down until it mounted to the sky. It covered the fields of the earth and filled the sky until it was dark. All over the world it filled up until it struck (touched) the sky. Two people, sister and brother, entered the demon drum, floating back and forth up to the land of Ndjii Nyong Leo's sky. Ndjii Nyong Leo opened the door of the sky and looked. Ndjii Nyong Leo struck with the bright brass rod and pushed downward. He punched open the yellow flood-water until it ran down through the dragon cave. The earth was clear and the sky clear, and there was no human seed. Who came down formerly to find human seed? Tsho Ndang Shei Bdong came down to find human seed. The sister and the brother lived on the sky and were not willing to come down to the world. NO. I CH'UAN MIAO SONGS AND STORIES--GRAHAM 73 Ndjii Nyong Leo said, "Wait till I write your names on paper, And bring your wooden drum and hang it up, until on a later day I will erase your names, when you will come and look to see if your wooden drum is well or not." The two, sister and brother, came down to earth. They begat many earthly people in the world so they filled the entire sky. Now the people of the world are unwilling to die (be absent). Now Ndjii Nyong Leo brings scales and weighs the earthly people below who are unwilling to die. Nien Wang brings hi pen and approaches (your name) and weighs you, then you are gone; arrives at your name, then you die. Gone, dead, thinking of your nine generations of ancestors assembled at the Hua Tan (flowery altar) ceremony and the altar of the ceremonial drum, and returning to the level land of Nui Nyong Leo in the sky. Who formerly came down to find the seed of bamboo and trees? The immortal Sei Mblong came down to find the bamboo seed and the seed of trees. He scattered it on the earth below. The bamboos grew toward the valleys (gulches). The tree seeds grew toward the edges of the mountains. The new warm spring comes forth with warm and hot weather. The bamboo grows four or five sprouts (on each "1: The wind comes and fans things. It recedes and scatters the dew. (The bamboo) grows large and luxuriantly, and the insects bite one off. The insects cut another off. There are left only two, of which one goes in a marriage ceremony. There is left one, which is cut down and brought to you to be used as divining sticks. The divining sticks express your words, then you go to meet your ancestors. Who formerly came down to find the seed of chickens? Tso Ndang Sei Mblong came down to find chickens. He found chickens and returned home. One day she lays one, in two days she lays two eggs. She laid twelve eggs and brought them together to sit on. She sat on them twenty days. One egg spoiled because sterile, and another died in the shell. She hatched out seven or eight. The sparrow hawk got one, a hawk got another, and a wildcat caught another. Three or four were left. One went as a gift to settle a quarrel. One went as a wedding gift. One is left, which I bring to you to show you the road (to paradise). Hold the cock's tail (or wings). The cock will go before you and crow. In the rear behind you the bamboo divining sticks will toll, to converse with you as you go up quickly. You go where there are three water clouds and a stone water cave. You arrive where there is water on the halfway road, and where water flows from a tree (a wooden cave). You are thirsty, and drink three handfuls of water. You go forward where you drink all pains and groans. If you are not thirsty, you dip up three handfuls of water and sprinkle them behind. You arrive at the mountain with fir forests and woods of suffering hearts. You arrive at the mountain with forests of trees, and forests of bitter livers (sorrows). The big peacock eats people and breaks trees with a noise, and you arrive at the burnt mountain. The priest carries a sword under hi arm at his side, and on his back he carries a crossbow, and is a companion to you. Go quickly (because of demons). You climb and higher up the mountain. The mountaintop is very cold. The stone dragon opens hi mouth wide. The stone tiger opens his mouth opposite. You must not fear. The priest carries his sword under his arm and is your companion. Take a handful of hemp and push it into the stone dragon's mouth. Push a handful of hemp and fire hemp between the tiger's lips. You go quickly and climb to the highest point of the mountain. The mountain is very high. There are three roads there in the midst. Grass is growing in the road of your mother and father. Go quickly and fast, and arrive at the place of the big billowy, bitter, muddy water. The boat above is that of your relatives. There is a boat below which is the boat of the Lolos and of the Chinese. The boat of your mother and your father is in the middle. You leap inside and row along the edge of the stream, and cross to that side. You should go up to Ntii's insect mountain. Arise and go up NLZ~"~ insect mountain. The sky is clear and very warm. The clear sky is very hot. Open the silk umbrella and bring it to protect from the sunlight. Bring the silk and satin umbrella to help protect from the sun. You must go and climb Ndjii's sky ladder, And climb to Ndjii's sky door. When your cock crows, the sky door will be closed (by the doorkeeper). You say, "You pair of sky-door demons, it is not true that every year a sow will be offered to you. 74 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 123 Once a year I will offer you a sow.16 How is it that when the demons come behiid you will not fight them, And after I am dead you do not help pull me away? All the world I have passed over, and I have come all over the earth." You say, "You parent demons of the gate of the sky, how about it?" They will let you go, and you go quickly. You climb up to Ndjii Nyong Leo's old level land in the sky. Ndjii Nyong Leo will ask you, "Who led you here?" You say, "When I came the priest led me here." "How did you come? The priest is not seen coming?" You sav, '1 wore big (cloth) shoes. When i. traveled in-the ski I wore hemp shoes. When I traveled on the death road the priest wore vine sandals and the priest went back." You leap to the flowery altar and the drum altar. You go back and forth three times to the right and three times to the left. You proceed very quickly. You arrive at the cli outside that town. When the long-haired dog comes on that side to bite you, you run around on this side. You go around to the left and come to the clii outside the town. Words Sung while Making Oflm'ngs at the Sao Ch'ieh Ceremony 20 (648) Xai, Xai, Xai. Yesterday you (the deceased) deceived the demons. You came back today instead.21 Have you come back to find your bed and bedding? I prepared nine cups of wine nine times for you to drink. I found a bed and covers for you to sleep on. We will prepare meat and wine and rice for you to eat and drink. If you cannot eat it all, you must give it to your female and male an- cestors for three generations. Xeo lo Xai.22 It must be a sow that has given birth to pigs. l7 Probably refers to the spirit land. 18111 west China pine trees grow in lower altitudes. 19 In west Chiia fir and chestnut trees generally grow in the higher altitudes. 2'JThii ceremony is observed in the home on the twelfth day after the burial. 21The day of the burial reckons as the first day, so that the twelfth day is really the eleventh. On the twelfth (the eleventh) the dead person deceives the demons into thiig that he will come back. He actually returns on the twelfth day, counted as the thirteenth. 22 When he has repeated the above, he must make offerings to all relatives who have previously died, within three generations, including his own children, and call them by name in succession as described elsewhere. You must come down on the sky ladder and come out on this world. The priest leads you to the burial ground and to the grave pit. You go to the high mountain peak where there are many living peopIe.17 The Chinese obtained in low places. The Chiiese got many trees and pine trees.ls The Mio got high mountains with fir and chestnut treesL9 You go and make your thatched and shiigleroofed houses. Put your chicken down below in the fortified place. If their cock crows, your cock must not crow. You go among the numerous living people. Your flesh is rotten fragments, and goes down and is mixed with blood. Your blood and the rotten fragments go down and are mixed with dirt. What comes down and eats your flesh? The ants come down and eat your flesh. What comes down and sucks up your blood? The ants come down and suck up your blood. What is intimate with your people? The ants are intimate with your people, and love intimately. It is finished. All is entirely finished. Words Sung while Making Oflerings during the Sao Ch'ieh Ceremony 23 (649) You have deceived the demons, coming the thiieenth day instead of the twelfth (so the demons could not come along). You have come back to find a bed to sleep in. I have prepared nine cups of wine nine times for you to drii. I will also give you meat (of a rooster) to eat, and rice. If you cannot eat it all up, do not give it to a demon of sickness to eat, or to a demon that causes death. You must give it to your female and male ancestors for three generations. When you have eaten, you must go and get near to their If the Lolos are numerous there, the grandfather will look after them for you. If the Chinese are numerous, he will also look after them for 2s The rooster is offered alive, then killed, the feathers removed, the meat cooked, and then cut up, then it is brought back and again offered. The thirteenth day is actually the twelfth after the burial. 24The dothiig of the spirits of the grandparents of the deceased, or of the husband of the deceased. 25 When this point is reached, the ancestors for three generations are called upon and offerings made as elsewhere described. NO. I CH'UAN MIAO SONGS AND STORIE~RAHAM 75 Words Sung while Making Oflerings of Rice and Wine at the Sao Ch'ieh Ceremony (650) You have deceived the demons by saying that this festival is on the twelfth day when it is on the thirteenth. You came back to find a bed. I am going to prepare nine cups of wine nine times for you to drink. Now your meat is cooked. You are going to eat meat and rice. If you cannot eat it all, do not give it to the demons that cause sickness or to the demons that cause death. You should give it-to your female and male ancestors for three generations and offer it to all, old and young. When you have finished eating, you must go and stay near your (husband's, if the deceased is the wife, his own, if it is the husband) grandmother's clothing and near your (same as above) grandfather's clothing. If the Lolos Words the Liu Sheng Says When the Soul Is Being Welcomed Back at the Tso Chai Ceremony (515) "Soul, come quickly. Soul, come quickly. The soul has come. Come into the parlor. You must come in the front door. Do not come in over the roof. On the house is a house demon. Come quickly, come quickly. You must come in through the front door. Do not enter through the windows. Do not come in through the opening under the wall lest you meet an old snake. Come quickly, come quickly. Come by the big road, do not come through the forest. In the forest there is no road. Come quickly, come quickly. Come in through the main door. Do not come in through the small door. The small door is the door of the cowpen. Come quickly, come quickly." The sound of the drum says (three beats) "He has come, he has come." Then the liu sheng says, "Soul, you have entered the parlor. Your sons and grandsons will take the winnowing basket for you." The sound of the drum again says, "He has come, he has come." The liu sheng says, "Soul, you must not go upstairs. Upstairs are guests. Soul, come quickly and get on your bed, the bed that your sons and your daughters have ar- 2'JAfter this the offerings are made in the way elsewhere described. 27 When the leader of the ceremony has reached this place, he throws the bamboo diviniig sticks down on the ground. If right, the ceremony is finished. If wrong, the ceremony is repeated until things are right. get numerous, your grandmother and your grandfather will look after you. If the Chinese get numerous, your grandparents will look after yo~.~6 Sending the Soul of the Dead Back to His Abode after the Sao Ch'ieh Oflerings Have Been Made (651) You deceived the demons by pretending that the day for returning was the twelfth when it was the thirteenth. We gave you nine cups of wine to drink nine times, and you have drunk it all up. Now you are dead. Human beings think of their homes, and dead people thiik of their graves. We are sending (releasing) you back to the place you have gotten, to go back to the place where your grave is.27 'so CHAI CEREMONY ranged for you." The sound of the drum says, "He has come." Then the liu sheng says, "Soul, you sit in the highest place." Then the drum says, "He has come." The liu sheng says, "Sit down well. Your sons will prepare wine and food for you to eat." 28 A Song &out Welcoming the Sod of the Dead at the Tso Chai Ceremony 29 (516) "Father and mother and souls of the an- cestors, your sons are thinking of you and have nothing to recompense you with, so we today have erected an altar for you. When the sky and the earth were created Ntii came down and looked, and the world was like smoke. So he blew with his mouth and blew forth the sky, the sun, the moon, the world, and a man. That man is our ancestor. When he appeared he had nothing to eat, but ate the fruit of trees to nourish his life. "One day he ate some fruit that poisoned hi to death. His soul then departed, and dne day his descendants learned about it. 'We have our bodies and bear some hardships, so we know that you, our parents have suffered many hardships and that we have nothing to commemorate you with. So the filial sons ran and invited the uncles on the 28This is repeated twice, that is, chanted three times altogether. 29 While this song is being sung, the filial sons kneel down, hands on the ground, and bowing so that their foreheads rest on their hands. The singer says "father," if the father alone has died, "mother" if the mother alone has died, and "father and mother" if both have died. 76 SMITHSONIAN MISCEUANEOUS COLLECTIONS mother's side, and those on the father's side, and the older and younger brothers to come. They came to welcome your souls back. The filial sons will make an offering of wine and rice to you." 30 Incantations Repeated by the Priest to Exorcise Demons at the Tso Chai Ceremony (187) Yang people will worship demons.31 On the rabbit day heaven will make offerings to guests. The incantations come from below. The incantation wears a silver hat. The incantation comes from the bend below. He wears a straight hat. The incantation comes and looks. The incantation's hand is like a When I have finiihed repeating it and speaking, the demons that cause sickness will fall on the central pillar of the house. When it has been repeated, beams will be heaped up in one place. The demon of sickness will be in the propping-pillar of the house. The incantation will press down the demon of sickness with a heap of beams. If the sick demon (demon of sickness) is pressed on the floor beam, the beam will certainly grow well. When I repeat it I walk toward the place where the sun sets. When I repeat it, I go toward the place where the moon sets.32 An Incantation during the Tso Chai Ceremonv (433) great fan. After the incantation comes, his hand is as big as a big winnowing basket (large, not deep). The incantation has come to the home of you old parents. The incantation will not address your son's soul. It will not address your grandson's soul. It will not address your mother's soul. It will not address your father's soul. It will not address the soul of domestic animals. It will not address the soul of the rice grain. It will not address the souls of the five grains. It will not address the souls of the mountain wilder- ness. The incantation has come here. It will address the tongue, it will address speech, it will address sickness, it will address moaning sounds, it will address death and destruction. It will address partings, it will address ignorant people, it will address lazy demons, it will address fevers, it will address coughs, it will address demons that cause bleeding. When it has been repeated, the repeater of incantations will cause the family to know clearly. When it has been repeated, it will cause you to have power. If you repeat it on the mountain, the mountain will fall. If you repeat it on the stone, the stone will break open. I repeat it, looking toward the place the sun sets. I repeat it toward the place where the sun crosses the mountain. I re- peat it toward the place where the moon sets. I repeat it toward the place on the horizon where the wind falls. If I repeat it on the body of the dragon, the dragon will fall into the cave. The insects will all be collected. 30The above is sung or chanted three times. There is no real altar. If a group of people gather together for this purpose, it is called an altar. After the song is sung three times, the filial sons arise. SIThe world we live in is the yang kiai or world of the yang. and the world where souls live after death is the yin kiai. This is also the Chinese conception. Bo Niong and Je Niong, with two demon roads, please drink three cups of wine. Afterward I will give your lie 33 to YOU (the life of the dog or chick). The flesh of your life is cooked. Again I invite Bo Niong and Je Niong to come and eat. I also request Bo Lu and Je Lu 34 to come afterward and eat your meat. Bo Niong, Je Niong, the meat is cooked. We will also invite the wood demons and the grass demons, the forest demons, the demons in front of the mountain, the demons behind the mountain, the large demons and the small demons, and every demon. You must all come quickly and eat. Those who cannot hear me and whom my voice cannot reach, all come. Come and drink wine and eat meat. When you have eaten, fly into the mountains. When you have eaten, fly into the forests. You must clear the road so the ancestors can lead the soul of the deceased back home.35 32When the above is finished, then the priest performs the Tso Chai ceremony. 33 A young dog should be killed at this time, but if it is not kiiled a recently hatched chicken must be used. 34Lu is anything inanimate placed on the mountain overnight and not brought back. 35The first sentence of this song is repeated as far as "three cups of wine." The three cups of wine are then poured out, then the dog is kiiled by cutting its throat. The blood is splashed or dripped onto the bottom of the door. The dog is burned in the fire until the hair is burnt off, then it is cut into five pieces; the head, one half of the chest with each foreleg, and one half of the remainder of the body with each hid leg. Then the rest is spoken and the dog is offered up and then thrown away. Mr. Shiung went and watched the performance of the ceremony, then had the va gei who performed it repeat the incantation. Written down in the fall of 1935, in the tenth moon. NO. I CH'UAN MIAO SONGS AND STORIES-GRAHAM 77 An Incantation Spoken during the Tso Chai Ceremony 36 (434) What day is a good one on which to com- memorate the ancestors? This year, on the chicken and monkey days, it is a good time to commemorate the ancestors. What day is a good one on which to conduct the Tso Chai ceremony? It is on the days of the chicken, the sheep, and the monkey. Even if the ear of heaven is big, heaven will not know it. If it rains, the earth will not know it. I, the priest, will repeat this ceremony to the sun. Then the sun will set in the mountain. I, the priest, will repeat this incantation to the moon. Then the moon will set in the forest. I will repeat the incantation to the wind. The wind will then set in the vacuum in the sky. I will repeat it to the water. The water will go into the cave. I will repeat it to the trees. The trees will fall down and become firewood. I will repeat it to the bamboo. The bamboo will then break into small pieces. I will repeat it to the forest. The forest will then become vacant and disappear. If your ear is large so that you know about it, heaven does not know. I will then come and spread the things out for the ceremony. If it rains, the earth does not know. Then I will come and spread the thiigs out. Now I am going to repeat this ceremony to the family's ancestors, naming each one by one. I will not repeat this ceremony for the descendants, I will not repeat it for the people's house, or for the souls of the living, male, female, old or young. I will not repeat it for the soul of the unhusked rice, I will not repeat it for the soul of the corn, I will not repeat it for the soul of husked rice or for the souls of cattle, horses, pigs, sheep, dogs, or cats. I will certainly repeat this incantation for the evil and calamities spoken by the mouths and tongues and lips of the ancestors. I will soon spread out things so that even if heaven's ears are large heaven will not know, and if there is a heavy rain, the earth will not know-not know, not know, then not know. The demons at the junctures of the house will perish. I will use rice, beans, salt, and tea, and hit them. The demons are on the central pillar. I will use rice, beans, and salt, 36This was secured by Mr. Shiung after witnessing the ceremony inviting the ancestors to come. Whiie the ceremony is being repeated, the priest has a shallow winnowing basket made of bamboo. In it he has corn, rice, and beans. As he repeats the incantation, he throws the three grains from the winnowing basket into the cor- ners of the room-apparently to exorcise demons. and hit them. The demons are upstairs. I will use rice, beans, and salt and hit them. The demons are below the house in the corners. I will use rice, beans, salt, and tea, and hit them. When I have driven them out, I will escort them upon the pass, upon the hill, upon the cliff. I will again use rice, beans, salt, and tea, and hit them. When I have hit them, I will chase them. I will chase them away ten thousand years. They will go away forever. Then the demons will not come to the home of these old people.37 A Memorial Song 38 (6) We constantly go over all the world with sorrowing hearts and reach the medical tree of the great demon. As for the earth, it is broad. As for the sky (heaven), it is high. We speak of the husband of water-affection, and the wife of fish-affection. The wife sleeps until early dusk (early dawn), then in her hands takes up the broom to sweep the floor, and her husband uses a brass dipper and dips water into the iron cooking basin. Slowly she sweeps, sweeps, sweeps to the central shrine, then also sweeps the rooms on each side. She sweeps to welcome her uncle and older brothers, then sweeps her front parlor to welcome her relatives and her uncles. When her distant relatives and nearby guests are all welcome, then she sweeps clean all the dust in all the rooms. She sweeps the central parlor to welcome the shamanist (calamity father), then sweeps the floors so that the liu ~heng~~ can be played, and the great ceremony of offerings is begun. Two Souls Return from Hades to Enjoy a Memorial Ceremony 40 (7) Constantly going over the world with sor- rowing hearts. He went to Hwa Man and Hwa Ch'in (hwa t'in). Hwa Ch'in came and sat down. Hwa Man was hunting under the great wicker vine. Hwa Ch'in was living by the road on his hunting ground. Hwa Man climbed the large wicker vine. Hwa Ch'in came to his large bamboo grove. Hwa Man 37 When he has finished repeating this, he takes rice and beans and chases them out of the front door, hitting them with the rice and beans. 38 Sung at the Tso Chai ceremony. 39 The liu sheng is a 6-tubed wind instnunent played to the accompaniment of dancing during memorial ceremonies of the Ch'uan Miao. Often it is accompanied by the beating of the sacred drum. 40 Sung at the end of the Tso Chai ceremony after the paper or spirit money is burnt. 78 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 123 saw that his large wicker vine was bearing fruit, abundant like persimmons. Hwa Ch'in saw his large bamboo forest bearing fruit abundant like pears. Hwa Man would not eat. Hwa Ch'in said that he would not agree to this and that he (Hwa Man) certainly must eat, so Hwa Man picked the fruit and put it into one side of hi mouth. It was sweet like honey, truly sweet like litchi nuts. When Hwa Man had eaten ir, he became drunk. Hwa Man found a place where he could rest. Hwa Ch'in rested on the edge of a clii of a mountain covered by a dense forest. Hwa Man rested also in a dry rock shelter in a large dense forest. While Hwa Man slept he heard hi son calling him by name to return to his home for the burning of spirit money because in hi home they were just then having ceremonial offerings. Hwa Ch'in was sleeping and heard his son calling him by name to return home for the burning of incense. Hwa Man said to Hwa Ch'in, "Let us go back (home)." Hwa Man returned to the lower flat and met Ntzi"s slave who tended the hogs. Hwa Ch'in returned to the great flat and met Nitii's shepherd. The swineherder said, 'You must go back and see your son who is about to burn spirit money." Hwa Man returned (to the world) and Hwa Ch'in also returned. Hwa Man saw that his son was just engaged in memorial ceremonies and in his hand held the bamboo divining stidcs and called him by name. Hwa Ch'in's son held a cup to his breast, and picking up a flowery vessel full of wine called repeatedly "My father Hwa Ch'in's soul, arise and drink wine," or called, "Soul of my dead father, arise and eat." Until the middle of the night and nearly daybreak Hwa Man's son detained his guests, and the guests opened their mouths and said, 'We have nothing to use to express our fellowship by giving or by burning for Hwa Ch'in. We have nothing to offer or to be bunt as incense to express our good will for Hwa Man. We will lead a cow to be sacrificed for Hwa Man to use as spirit money, and bring a small male pig to kill and use at the incense-burning of Hwa Ch'in." They waited until the sky brightened, until morning, until daylight, and Hwa Man got a cow and led it to the corral and went to NtzY's stone enclosure. Hwa Man's son detained the put it into a quart measure, and used them as offerings. When Hwa Man's memorial ceremonies were over he went westward. When Hwa Ch'in's ceremonies were over he went eastward. Hwa Man went westward and saw his ancestors for nine generations back. Hwa Ch'in went eastward and saw his ancestors for ten generations back. They went into the green sky and never returned agaim41 The Soul Comes to Seek Food 42 (364) When the weather is clear the spider comes to weave webs. The spider weaving a web flies and lights on the eaves of the house. Then the soul of the ancestor comes and goes around the house. The sons and grandsons of the soul (born in the world of departed spirits) also come and go (fly) around the house. This soul comes to get the life of the cow from the filial family. The sons and grandsons of the filial family come to get the cow king (means a good cow) from the filial family. Now the filial son leads the cow and ties it to the doorsill. He brings a boar and ties it to a peg in the ground below the window. The filial son puts a quart of rice with eggs and salt on the table and calls the soul of the cow (into the house). When he has finished calling, he strikes the head of the cow with the back of the ax. The cow (always a bull) falls down. Then the knife cuts the throat of the cow, and the blood flows into the bucket. The beef is plnced in the big kettle. The flesh and the soup are eaten and drunk by the entire group (of relatives and guests). This year, in the eleventh moon, when it is cold, there is snow and ice in the sky and on the earth. Again wait until spring arrives, when the sky and the earth are mild (neither hot nor cold) and the thunder comes down from above and the wind and the rain descend until the ricefields of the filial family are all full. Other people have a cow, and they take the harrow and the plow and put them on the back of the cow and drive the cow rapidly. The filial family has no cow, but takes a hoe and hoes the field. After they have hoed several days and nights, they still cannot equal what the family formerly did plowing with guests and saw a sparrow hawk. It went to 41 When the Tso Chai ceremony is finished, the edge of the sky and they saw the hawk the soul returns to paradise and seldom comes call a swallow. They shot into the sky and back again. killed the sparrow hawk and put it into a 42~ung at the T~~ Chai ceremony when the bamboo basket, and killed the swallow and cow is being killed. NO. I CH'UAN MIAO SONGS AND STORIES-RAHAM 79 the cow whiie the cow was stepping two steps. (The cow has been sacrificed.) Then the filial son li up his head to the sky and sighs saying, "Alas, the cow which we formerly had was very strong. Now he has gone up into the clear sky." The Winnowing Basket Is Taken ofl the Back of the Deceased Ancestor 43 (366) In most ancient times Ntzi' Niong Leo's 44 chicken and his dogs slept until midnight, then the chicken and the dogs arose and then went searching for dead men's souls. When they met a soul, they would bite it (and eat it). The dead man's descendants prepared some food and wine, and went to invite play- ers of the liu sheng and beaters of the drum to wme. When they had come, they first killed a chicken and a dog at the door (and sprinkled the blood on the doorsill) so as to exorcise unclean spirits. Then the liu sheng was played, and the drum was beaten. Then male and female descendants went out to welcome the dead person's soul back home. When he arrived, they took the bamboo basket off his back. After they had removed this, the soul went laughing and smiling to heaven (the ancient level place of Ntzi'), there to see their ancestors. A Hawk Seized the Winnowing Basket of a Dead Man's Soul and Flew Down to Earth 45 (368) In ancient times there were two birds. One was a la jin, a sparrow hawk able to soar about in circles. The name of the other was gIang ko, a hawk that could fly away out of sight. When these two buds had slept until midnight, they flew to the edge of the sky and the end of the earth. Then they looked and saw a dead man's soul carrying a bamboo winnowing basket on his back, stuck in the door of Ntzi' Niong Leo's palace (he was trying to go in). When these birds saw it, they were impatient and grabbed the basket of the dead man's soul off (so that it fell down). The dead men's descendants, when they want to take the baskets off their backs, must first make offerings to these two birds before they can do so. After they have taken the baskets off, the dead people's souls, laughing and smiling, go back to the sky to meet their ancestors. 43 Sung at the Tso Chai ceremony. 44 Nai' Niong Leo (god, foundation, old) is apparently another expression meaning Nki, the greatest god. 45 Sung at the Tso Chai ceremony. Making an Oflering of Food to the Ancestors 46 (372) When the weather is clear, the thorny mushrooms grow on the trees. When it rains, the shaking mushrooms grow on the maliu trees. One year Na Bo Hmong's souls fell down. After another year Ji Je Hmong's (Mio husband) souls also fell d0wn.~7 They left sons at home and daughters on earth. The sons and the daughters thought of the kindliness of their parents, and they could not endure it in their hearts. Then they went to the creek to catch fish (with their hands) and entered the forests on the moun- tain to shoot wild animals. When they had gotten the wild animals and the fish ready, they returned home and made some clothing. Then the sons and daughters sent word to invite their uncles and cousins to come. When they arrived, they took halves of a bamboo joint to divine before making the offerings. Then they offered food to the departed first forefathers, and invited them to climb upon the bowls (of fish and wildanimal meat) and eat. Then they invited all the ancestors to come and climb upon the bowls. When they had all climbed upon the bowls (and eaten), it was finished. What the Liu Sheng Says When a Certain Tune Is Played during the Tso Chai Ceremony to Welcome the Sou2 of the Dead (435) "De longp8 I welcome you back home. De long, I welcome you back home. I welcome you back. I welcome back your soul so as to take the basket off your back. I welcome you back to remove the basket. When you come to the middle of the garden, you fear snakes. Upstairs you will not fear snakes. Come and drink the wine that welcomes your soul. Drink once. I invite you to come back to visit. Drink the second time. I invite you to come back to enjoy incense smoke. Drink the third time. I invite you to wme back and receive the paper (spirit) money. Drink the fourth time. I invite you to come back and receive gold. Drink the fifth time. I invite you to come back and sit inside the house. Drink the sixth time. I invite you to come back and walk on the paths (near the houses). Drink the seventh time. I invite you to wme 46 Sung at the Tso Chai ceremony. 47 This means that these people died. 48The de is a dental T, and the two words imitate the sound of the liu sheng. 80 SMITHSONIAN MISCEUANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 123 back and change your hat. Drink the eighth time. I invite you to change your clothes. Drink the ninth time. I invite you to come back to see your wife and sons and daughters and relatives and friends. I welcome you back, I welcome you back"49 A Song to Welcome or Lead the Soul of a Dead Ancestor Ba4 Home 50 (448) In a tribe of Miao a woman died and left an orphan at home. In that Miao tribe the husband of this woman also died, leaving a sad son behind. The Miao woman had died a full year, and the Miao husband had also died a full year. The son sat meditating about the mother. This mourning son also thought about his father. He could not get through thinking of his mother and his father. Then he went along the river to find fish. He also was going to proceed along the forest on the mountain to find meat. When he went along the creek, he was unable to net fish. He only caught a small rat. He went along the mountain to net wild animals. He did not net a big animal, but only a small bud. Then he brought the rat and the bird back home. He also took a 2iu sheng and put it in his home. He also took a big drum and put it in hi parlor. Then he played the liu sheng and beat the big drum to welcome back the Miao mother to take the straw mat off her back. The orphan prepared wine and meat and waited to welcome his Miao father back so he could take the bamboo basket off hi back. 49 Thii tune is repeated eight times, that is, it is played nine times in all. It is played to the east of the house, out of doors. With the player of the liu sheng are the guests, the sons of the deceased, and their wives. Although it is daylight, one light is lighted and kept burning by the sons and daughters. They take out with them a flat bamboo basket in which they place an egg, a biscuit, and a bowl of rice. In a bowl is placed a joint of bamboo cut in two. In the basket they stick up a twig to represent a person. Then all march into the house, a son carrying the basket. Inside the house they make circles around to the left, then to the right. Then the basket is put down and hiis wife, daughters and daughters-inlaw, and other women friends weep loudly. The men do not cry, but they also say words ex- pressing their sorrow. The stick representing the ancestor is dressed before they first leave the house. 50 Sung during the Tso Chai ceremony. It is sung three times in succession. The filial son must kneel down on the Boor and put his hands over hi eyes the better to hear what is being said by the singer. When the singing is ended he arises. Relieving the Soul of the Dead during the Tso Chai Ceremony (450) Directions: Take a joint of bamboo and break it into a pair of divining sticks. Then make a seat for the soul. Use a winnowing basket and three bamboo sticks and make them into a circle. For males, use men's clothing and put it on the image. Use women's clothing for women to wear. Take a cloth and wrap it around the head of the image. One garment, two, or three may be used. In the winnowing basket put rice biscuits. Use a bowl of boiled white rice and one egg. Cover the biscuit with a big bowl. Put these all on the table. Then the priest will chant as quoted below. The priest also carries a bamboo flat bowl. In this bowl he uses salt, tea leaves, uncooked rice, and beans. The priest shakes the bowl as he chants. After shaking the bowl awhile he picks up beans and throws them about the room. He chants- "I, the priest, have come from the land of Ntii Niong. When I come, I will wear an iron hat on my head. I come from the sky. I wear palm-fiber clothing. I come onto the pass. I wear a suit of wooden clothes. In my hand I carry a peach branch. On my back I carry a hard bow and a crossbow. In my hand is a sword. I will not cut off a man's head. I will not behead the souls of the domestic animals. I will not behead the souls of chickens and dogs. I will not behead the souls of the five grains. I will not behead the souls of the descendants. I will not behead the souls of the earth, water, or fire. I will behead the souls that cause death. I will behead the demons that cause death at childbirth and demons that cause diseases, and I will behead demons that cause quarrels and evil deeds. I will behead them where the sun sets and where the moon sets. I will also behead the forest demons, behead the mountain demons, behead the demons that cause people to fall in water (and drown), behead demons of cliffs and rocks, and behead the big sea, the big river, and small stream de- mons. When I have beheaded the demons, I, the priest, will bring the souls of the ances- tors back and take off their loads (basket and mat). I will send the soul of the Miao mother and the Miao father up to Ntzl Niong's place where they will go and see their ancestors and will go and find their own living." When he has chanted this far, he puts the two divining sticks in the winnowing basket and empties into the winnowing basket the wine and the meat. NO. I CH'UAN MIAO SONGS AND STORIES--GRAHAM 81 An Incantation Repeated at the Tso Chai Ceremony 5l (451) Directions: Request a priest from another home to stand outside the door. This priest holds a sharp knife in his hands. Another priest holds in his hands two pieces of bamboo used as diving sticks. At the front door three pieces of bamboo are stuck up. The sifter used to dry clothing is put on top of the sticks. A small dog is brought and tied to the post on which the drum is hung. Then the dog is led into the parlor and is led around several times (several times in one direction, then several times in the opposite direction). Then the priest outside the house leads the dog outside the door. Another priest brings a vessel of wine. He offers up the wine (pouring it onto the ground). Then he chants- "Great old forest, great old forest, today is a good day, tonight is a good night. The master will pay respects to the soul (of the departed ancestor). They invite me to call here Bo Lo and Je Lo 52 to come and drink wine (enjoy the feast.) When you have drunk, you must go and drive off the forest demons and the wild demons and drive away the mountain demons and the cliff demons, and drive away the tigers and wolves. You must wait until that family's souls have the winnowing baskets taken off. Bo Lo and Je Lo, when you have eaten, quickly go." When he has chanted to this place, another priest says, "Bo lo and Je Lo, now 1 am going to give the life you wanted to you." Then the priest at one stroke of the sword kills the dog and sprinkles the blood on the bottom of the door. Then the priest lights a fire and burns off the hair of the dog, and then opens the abdomen of the dog. First he takes out the dog's intestines, liver, heart, and lights, and offers them up to Bo Lu and Je Lu.~~ Then he divides the dog up into five parts and offers them up. Then the offering is finished. The Ceremony to Bring the Soul of the Dead Back at the Tso Chai Ceremony (452) In the parlor a bamboo stick is stood upright. Another is placed upright to make 51 During this ceremony a young dog must be killed near the door to clear (open) the mountain. 62 BO LO and Je Lo are a woman and a man who control the demons in the mountains. Apparently they are demons. 53 Bo LU and Je Lu are apparently the same as Bo Lo and Je Lo. a cross. Then request the uncle (father's younger brother) to come and carry the winnowing basket for the father's soul. If it is the mother, request her older and younger brothers to come and carry it. If it is the grandfather, then his younger brother must be requested to come and carry it. If it is the grandmother, her older and younger brothers should be invited to come and carry it. The place to welcome back the soul is a hundred-odd feet east of the house. In that place a bed must be put. On the bed must be placed nine cups and nine wooden bowls. In the home of that family the drum must be constantly beaten until the soul arrives in the house. The one playing the liu sheng goes in front when the party goes out from the house and when they return with the soul. The person carrying the basket for the soul goes behind the person playing the liu sheng. The filial son must go behind the one carrying the basket for the soul. The rest of the men and women and boys and girls all go to the place where the bamboo bed is and stand there. Then the priest chants- "Today is a good (lucky) day. (The name of the one for whom the ceremony is being conducted is spoken.) Your sons and daughters-in-law have placed nine bowls, nine cups, and use wine and rice and come to welcome the father and the mother and the soul of the ancestor to return to have the winnowing basket taken off, the load taken off, and when the load is taken off you yourself must go back to Ntzi' Niong Leo's place." At this time all the women must weep loudly, and the man who plays the liu sheng plays and turns around and around. The drum is constantly beaten in the house. They all parade around the soul's bed three times to the left and three to the right, then bring the soul back into the house. But when the soul is being brought back, the wives of the actually-born sons of the soul must certainly light a torch and stand at the side. When they go back to the house, the person with the lighted torch goes in front. When they come into the main room, they must cer- tainly carry the basket of the soul (in which it is carried) and walk around the parlor to the left seven times, and to the right seven times. When it is done, the filial son kneels down inside the room near the front door. The one carrying the spirit's basket places it on a table at the farther end near the door. When the one playing the liu sheng has finished, the filial son gets up. This is the way the soul is welcomed. 82 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 123 Thanaing and Acting Filial toward the Ancestors (524) The sky was rotten lie chicken manure. The earth was rotten like duck manure. Pan Ku rose to separate the sky and the earth. Hu Hsi came down and created the yin and the yang. Shen Lung the emperor came and created the five grains. Hsuen Yuen the emperor came and created clothes to wear. At that time Li Lao Chiin came to learn the blacksmith's trade. He then used his lips as bellows, and his fingers for tongs. He used his knees for anvils, and his fists for harn- mers. Then he created an ax and a chisel and an adz to cut wood. Then he took these things and cut down an oak and a pine, and they fell on the road. Then he took the oak to make a table of, and the pine to make stools with, and used a high table to put the straw mat of his ancestors on. He will make a stool on which to put the winnowing basket taken off his ancestors. Now we will use this table to put the winnowing basket from the back of the dead ancestor on. The table outside the house is then the table of the soul. The table inside the house is to place offerings for the dead person on. The table outside is for insects. The table in the home is for us to use in showing respect to the soul of the dead. The table outside is like a stool. (People can sit on it at will.) The table in the house is to be used by the filial sons to express thanks to their parents. Now we will take the table (from outside) inside the house. This table has one leg that points toward the mother's brothers. The table outside is flat on top. That table when taken into the house has one foot that points toward the young brothers of the father. The brothers of the mother are called Ye Glang. The younger brother of the father is called li le. So we will take off the straw mat from the back of the mother, thus making her feet and her hands and her whole body lighter so that she may go back to see her ancestors. But what is there that the filial children still cannot do? We request the mother's brothers to tell us. This uncle replies, "Please report what affairs you may have." Then the manager replies, "The filial sons have paid out money, food, pigs, sheep, and cattle. The wives of the filial sons have given clothing, cloth, and skirts." Then the brother of the mother says, "The filial sons gave silver, so the filial sons will have silver to use. They gave food, so they will certainly have food to eat. They gave a cow and a pig, and will also have pigs, cattle, and sheep. The daughters-in-law gave clothes, skirts, and turbans, so the family will have clothes, skirts, and turbans to wear." Here the ceremony is finished. Then the mother's brother will take off the heads of the filial sons the white paper and the white turbans. Then the sons and daughters and their wives and husbands and the grandchildren will all weep.64 At the End of the Tso Chai Ceremony (133) At night, at the end of the Tso Chai cere- mony, when all is finished, the filial son (the oldest son, who has charge of the ceremony) kneels in the main room of the house. First the man who had charge of all the ceremonies asks, "Has the man acting as priest been seated?" All reply, "He has sat down." Then he invites the drummers and the players of the liu sheng to be seated. He invites the near blood-relatives of the filial son on his father's side, the father's older brothers, kther's younger brothers, father's older and younger sisters, and the husbands of the father's older and younger sisters all to sit down together. Then the master of ceremonies reports all the expenses of this memorial ceremony, one by one. When he has finished he addresses the filial son as follows: "Because the filial son has spread a feast, in the future he will have food to eat (because helped by the deceased ancestors). The daughter has given clothing (to the dead person), so in the future she will have clothing to wear." The master of ceremonies again says, "Those of the bereaved family who have given a pig or two in the future wiU have pigs to raise. Whoever presented any other kind of domestic animal will in the future have such animals to raise. Whatever kind has been given shall be had." When he has finished speaking, all the stools and tables are turned upside down. Then the master of ceremonies says, "Let us see whether it is the mother's younger brother who pushes over the tables and stools, or the father's younger brother." If it is the mother's younger brother who turns them over, then the father's younger brother must take off the white mourning cloth from the head of the filial son and help the filial son arise. I£ the 54 Thii is apparently sung during the Tso Chai ceremony. While it is being sung, all the descendants of the dead with their wives and husbands and children hed down. NO. I CH'UAN MIAO SONGS AND STORIES--GRAHAM 83 younger brother of the father overturns the table and stools, then the mother's brother must take off the filial cloth from the head of the filial son and help the filial son arise. The one who turns over the tables and the stools says, "I overturn illnesses and pains and quarrels and lawsuits and deaths. I push them westward to the place where the sun sets, to where the moon sets. From the day when we have pushed them, the descendants will fill up the home. From this time gold, silver, and wealth will come in heaps." After this has been spoken, and the stools Changing the Cofin during the Ch'ao Chien Ceremony (449) The Miao mother died long ago, The Miao father also died very early. They left behind an orphan to watch the grave at home. But the Miao mother was tired of living in the coffin and could not sleep. She then returned and gave a dream for her filial son. The Miao father was also unable to rest quietly in the cotfin. He also came back and revealed hielf to the filial son in a dream. But the filial son also thought of hi mother and father. The filial son saw that the dreams they caused were not good, and these dreams were certainly not right. Then he dished up a bowl of white rice and wrapped it in cloth. Then he took the rice and asked a tuan kung to look at it. The tuan kung opened the package and looked. He looked upward and downward and crosswise, and he could not see any demon. He also saw that there were none of the nine kinds of demons or the four kids of demons. Then he again looked carefully before he saw that the backbone of the Miao mother was erect in the grave. He also saw that the Miao father's backbone ap peared in the white rice. Then the orphan saw it. Then he ran back and followed along the creek to net fish, and followed along the mountain to net animals. He also went into the forest to find wood to make a bed with. In a few days he caught fish and birds and also secured the wood. He took the wood and made a bed and arranged it well. Then he took the big liu sheng and played it and moved (danced) about. Then he brought the small liu sheng and played it a while. 55 The dead will come back again only once, at the Ch'ao Chien ceremony, and at that time his presence is less evident than at the Tso Chai ceremony. and the tables have been overturned, they must be set upright again. When he is setting them back in place he says, "I am setting up the descendants so they will fill up the house. I am erecting their gold and their silver in heaps. From this time onward they will in- crease and become wealthy." After he has finished speaking, then all the family which has had the Tso Chai ceremony will weep and consider the fact that in the future, after the Ch'ao Chien ceremony has been performed, they will be separated from the ancestor forever.55 He also brought the big drum and hung it up well. He himself prepared nine times wine, meat, and rice, and invited the early ancestors to come and eat. He also invited the aged parents who wanted their bones turned over to come and eat. 'When you have finished, we will again place your bodies (in another coffin). You must protect and help your descendants so they have food to eat and clothes to wear. You cannot come again and ask your descendants to turn your bones over." The flower has closed up. The song is ended. A Song about Digging up the Bones of the Dead (487) When a person travels all over the world, it stirs his heart. This year has arrived when Nio Jang was going to (ceremonially) dig up the grave of his ancestor. He then called Ntz7 To Mo to come and open the grave.66 The priest went to the foot of the grave and dug three strokes. Then he dug three strokes with the hoe at the other end and opened kes with the hoe at the other end and opened the grave. He saw that Je Hrnong's bones were as numerous as those of cows or horses. He placed a piece of cloth on the grave, then took the wine and the oil and washed the bones in the coffin well. Then everybody carried dirt to cover up the coffin. When they had finished they all returned to play the 2iu sheng and beat the drum and kill the cow to offer as a sacrifice. When they had finished sacrificing, then the deceased ancestor enjoyed peace. 56 He was a priest or mo, and only a priest should perform this ceremony. Formerly the bodies were buried parallel to the mountains.