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Story 147: The origin of the Hani people feeding new rice to dogs first

The origin of the Hani people feeding new rice to dogs first

Author: Anonymous

Legend has it that the ancestors of the Hani people did not know how to cultivate the land. Later, there was a god in charge of grains in heaven. He had a field in heaven where 77 kinds of grains were planted. To cultivate the field, 1,200 fairy boys were needed to drive 1,200 divine cows to plow the field for a day to finish plowing the whole field. When planting, 12,000 fairy girls were needed to plant 77 kinds of grains for a day to fill the whole field. When weeding, 12,000 fairy girls were needed to work for a day to weed the whole field. When harvesting, 1,200 fairy boys and 12,000 fairy girls were needed to harvest the 77 kinds of grains for a day.

The 77 kinds of grains harvested required 1,200 fairy boys and 12,000 fairy girls to turn and dry them, and to carry them for a day to dry and clean them and put them into the warehouse. Because people on earth at that time did not know how to grow grains, they had no choice but to go to the mountains and forests to pick wild fruits to fill their stomachs, or hunt wild animals and birds. Without cotton and hemp, people used animal skins to cover their bodies to keep out the cold. People endured this day after day, year after year.

The poor life of the people on earth was seen by the youngest girl in heaven. The youngest girl was a beautiful girl who was smart, virtuous and kind-hearted. She saw that the people on earth were busy all day long, running around, but in the end they still had no food to eat and no clothes to wear. She couldn’t stand it. When she returned home, the youngest girl said to the immortal with worry: “Ada, we have 77 kinds of grains in heaven, and we don’t have to worry about food and clothes, but the people on earth are living a life of hunger and coldness. Even a heart of stone can’t stand it.”

At this point, the youngest girl’s tears were about to flow. Seeing that the immortal didn’t say anything, she asked tentatively: “Ada, if we send some grain seeds from heaven to the mortal world, then the mortal world won’t be so miserable.” Who knew that after hearing the youngest girl’s words, the immortal immediately frowned and said coldly: “Youngest girl, the mortal world must wait another three years before they can get the seeds of these 77 kinds of grains.”

“Wait another three years?” The youngest girl asked back when she heard it. The god was very unhappy with her confrontation, glared at her fiercely, and then said, “Little girl, this kind of thing is not your business. I can’t control whether the people in the mortal world have enough food and clothing, I only know to obey the rules of heaven.” After that, he turned and walked into the house. Little girl looked at the back of the god and couldn’t help but frowning.

A few days later, in order to save the suffering of the human world, the youngest girl took the opportunity when the immortal asked her to dry the rice to dry it, and secretly brought a bag of rice seeds to the human world. The youngest girl came to the human world and turned into an old grandfather. Then she distributed rice seeds to people and taught them how to plant rice. Following her instructions, people were busy digging fields and digging ditches before the Spring Festival.

When the sunbirds started to call, people hurried to plow the fields and sow rice. When the swallows flew, people got up early and worked late to transplant rice seedlings to the carefully raked fields. Hard work pays off. When the rainy season was about to pass, the weather gradually became cooler, and the fishbirds were about to call, so people started to harvest. When the swallows flew away to the south, people started to plow the fields and dig new fields to prepare for the harvest next year.

Later, the immortal saw that the youngest girl violated his will and secretly planted rice seeds for mortals, and he was furious. When the youngest girl returned to heaven, the gods caught her, beat her up, and sent her to the prison. However, in order to let all mortals eat grains and wear clothes made of cotton and linen yarn, the youngest girl tried every means to escape from the prison. She stole the seeds of the other 76 kinds of grains and brought them to the mortal world to teach people how to plant them, and also taught people how to spin, weave, and make clothes.

From then on, mortals lived a good life with clothes to wear and food to eat. The gods found that the youngest girl had sneaked down to the mortal world and repeatedly violated the rules of heaven, so they caught the youngest girl back to heaven, hung her up and beat her up, and punished her by never allowing her to return to heaven again. Then, the gods turned the youngest girl into a bitch and banished her to the mortal world.

After the youngest girl became a bitch, she could no longer work with people, so she helped people guard the door and the house. Since then, every early autumn, after the first batch of rice is harvested, the Hani people will slaughter pigs and sheep, cook new rice, and hold a New Rice Tasting Festival. During the festival, before eating, every family will first serve a bowl of rice to the dog at home, to show that the Hani people will never forget the youngest girl.