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Story 23: Brother-Sister Race

Brother-Sister Race

Author: Anonymous

Very early on, there were no mountains or rivers in the vast land. From the corner of the earth to the end of the sky, there are green old forests and green grassland everywhere. In the low recesses of the grassland, there are dragon pools one after another.

At that time, the sky was white, the sun and stars were yellow, and the clouds floating in the sky were colorful. People living between heaven and earth have no distinction between nationalities. Everyone lives in harmony and lives a happy and joyful life.

In a faraway place, there is a Kapo village, and there is a large dragon pond next to the village. People in the village rely on the water in the dragon pond to irrigate their crops and reproduce their offspring.

One year there was a severe drought, and there was no harvest in the fields. Life was really hard to endure. In order to survive, people go hunting in the old forests. Peel the bark off the tree. Seeing that the bark of the trees was about to peel off and the wild animals were about to be hunted down, people went to Longtan to fish again. Longtan is almost dry and cannot withstand a few days of fishing.

When the fish are almost finished, people go fishing for shrimps again. One day, people caught a big carp in Longtan. Nine people used nine ropes for a long time to drag it ashore. This time, the whole village was happy! Everyone had a full meal. At night, a few dark clouds appeared in the sky, and it looked like it was going to rain. When drought came and rain came, the people in the village were crazy with joy. They lit a bonfire beside the village.

Young and old gathered around the fire pit, sang “Haba” (a song sung during festivals, sacrifices and drinking), and blessed each other. The guys played the sanxian, the girls blew the “Bawu”, played the rattles, and sang “Aqi” (that is, folk songs and love songs.). People played, played, sang, and caroused all night long. The next day, there was a heavy rain that people had never seen before.

The dragon pond next to the village set off layers of evil waves. On the top of the evil waves, a ferocious Dragon King appeared, shouting at the people of the village: “You have eaten my descendants and harmed my water tribe. I want you to do it.” You suffered a flood, and I want you to pay with your life!” After saying that, the Dragon King turned into golden light and got into the water.

When people saw that the Dragon King was angry, they were anxious and frightened, and quickly kowtowed and begged for mercy. However, begging for mercy was of no avail. The heavy rain still poured down, and the ground was on fire! The village turned into a pond, the withered seedlings were submerged, the thatched roofs floated, and people in the village were dying and fleeing. Even if people run fast, they can’t escape their bad luck.

At this time, there was a family of two brothers and sisters. The elder brother was called Zhebi and the younger sister was called Pama. They were strong, smart and capable. When they saw a flood, they quickly found a big gourd and hollowed it out from the top down. They got in and let the water drift.

The heavy rain continued for nine days and nine nights. The floods covered the ground and reached the sky. The green leaves and grass on the ground floated to the sky, the white sky was dyed blue, the flood washed the sun and stars in the sky, the sun turned red, the stars turned white, the colorful clouds were washed away and divided into pieces. of clouds. After the heavy rain stopped, the floodwater slowly fell.

Some places subsided with the flood and turned into river valleys. The places that did not sink became mountains. The brother and sister floated in the gourd and stopped at the foot of Ailao Mountain. They jumped out of the gourd and looked at these bare mountains, feeling sad. The seventeen-year-old brother Zhebi was sad, and the fifteen-year-old sister Pama cried. The sky has changed, the earth has also changed, and everything in the world has become strange and scary, how can people survive?

At this moment, the goddess Oma flew towards them on colorful clouds. Omar said to the brother and sister: “Poor children, don’t be sad. The ferocious Dragon King destroyed mankind, and God has given him the punishment he deserves. You two are lucky to survive. In order to promote the reproduction of mankind, you two should get married!”

Zhebi shook his head and said: “Dear gods, birds in the same nest can become one family, but how can brothers and sisters of the same nest be matched?”

“Let’s compare!” Omar advised again: “I know you two are brother and sister. If you two don’t become husband and wife, mankind will become extinct in the future! Do good things for the prosperity of mankind!”

Zhebi and Pama were silent. Omar guessed their thoughts and said: “Then let’s see what the God of All Things means. There is a millstone on the top of the east mountain, and there is also a millstone on the top of the west mountain. You two are separated.

Go up and push them down the mountain. If the two millstones roll together, it means that the God of all things will marry you and your brother and sister. If the millstones don’t come together, you two can still be brothers and sisters!”

Zhebi and Pama agreed. So, Zhebi went up the east mountain, and Pama went up the west mountain. Zhebi and Pama pushed the millstone at the same time, and the two millstones moved toward the depression between the east mountain and the west mountain at the same time, and they joined together! Omar laughed “Haha”, and said to the brother and sister: “From now on, you two can no longer call us brother and sister. Get married as soon as possible!”

Omar’s sympathizers Bi and Pama gave them hoes, axes, grain seeds, cattle, and sheep. Zhebi went to Nanshan to cut wood, and Pama went to Beishan to cut thatch. They built a new thatched house. On the same day, they got married. At night, they lit a fire with stones and set up a fire in the field outside the door. A bonfire was lit, and the two of them danced and sang around the bonfire.

The speaker sang: 
Brother and sister became husband and wife, 
We are the golden deer and the phoenix. 
Oh God Oma!
We will never forget your trust. 
Pama then sang:
The high Mopan Mountain! 
The golden bridge leads to happiness. 
The God of all things has paved the way for us. 
We spread the human race for the first time in the world.

Zhebi and Pama sang in chorus:
The flood that destroyed the heaven and earth,
It is difficult to destroy mankind.
For the survival and reproduction of human beings,
Brothers and sisters in need,
Being a couple in need,
To spread the human race from the beginning of the world.
……

A few months later, in the spring of the next year, Pama became pregnant. A few months later, Pama gave birth. Zhebi and Pama were very surprised that the child they gave birth to was a gourd. In anger, Zhebi picked up the gourd and threw it out the door. By chance, a man stretched out his hand to catch the gourd. It turned out to be the god Omar. She walked in and said, “Congratulations on giving birth to a baby gourd.”

Zhebi and Pama said in unison: “Dear gods, we have never done anything wrong, how could we give birth to a gourd?”

Omar smiled and said: “The gourd saved mankind. What’s wrong with humans giving birth to a gourd? Let me tell you, millions of human descendants are cultivated in this gourd. You have to water and dry the gourd once a day. The sun. When you both reach thirty years old, you dig a hole in the gourd, and then millions of creatures will come to the world. You must remember and remember.” After saying this, Omar went to heaven.

From then on, the Hani people in Ailao Mountain had a rule that “if you are under thirty, you are not allowed to break the gourd”.

Zhebi and Pama watered the gourd once a day and basked it in the sun. The gourd grew bigger day by day. The cuckoo crows after fourteen

In spring, the cherry blossoms have bloomed for fourteen times. Zhebi is thirty-two years old, and Pama has just turned thirty. On this day, the sun rose very early and the clouds were more beautiful than usual. The peacocks in the mountains opened their tails, and the phoenixes on the trees flew into the sky. The vast Ailao Mountain is covered with dark primeval old forests.

Thrushes, pheasants, white pheasants, and magpies… flew in and out of the old forests, and the lovebirds sang the most beautiful songs… Zhebi and Pama, holding the gourd After washing it again, I carefully took it out of the house and placed it on a large flat bluestone in front of the door. The large bluestone is covered with green pine hair, which represents the good fortune of mankind and its everlasting greenness.

They used bamboo knives to gently dig a hole in the gourd. After a while, the gourd started to move, and a man and a woman as big as fingers jumped out. The man and woman saw the sun and slowly grew bigger and bigger. Then, two, three, four pairs jumped out… These dozens of pairs of men and women all grew up. The children must have a surname!

So Zhebi and Pa mutually named the first pair of children “Yati”, the second pair of children “Haowu”, and the third pair of children “Haole” according to the names of wild beasts in the mountains. , the fourth pair of children are called “Hao Re”. (Yati: means wild boar, Haowu means old bear, Haole means tiger, and Haore means bamboo.)

According to the children’s habits, they identified “Yati” as the ancestor of the Caddo people; “Haowu” as the ancestor of the Budu people; “Haole” as the ancestor of the Biyue people; and “Haore” as the ancestor of the Biyue people. Determined as the ancestor of the West Moros…

When “Yati” saw the beautiful sky and green old forest, he loved it and ran all over the mountain. Leaves all over the mountain cling to them, all kinds of colors
and wildflowers stuck to their hair. From then on, Caddo women’s clothes were made of various fabrics with patterns of various colors, and their hair was decorated with ribbons of various colors.

When “Haowu” saw the beautiful sky and green old forest, he also liked it all over the mountain. The ivy on the mountain wrapped around their heads, and the bark of the wild banana tree in the garden covered their feet. From then on, Budu women had to wear leggings on their feet and a bun on their heads.

“Haole” and “Haore” were so happy to see the beautiful sky and green old forest that they went into the mountains. “Howler” was wrapped in banana leaves and had a “monkey sling” on his head. (Monkey backpack: a herbaceous plant with wide and long leaves, mostly growing on the edge of the qing. Legend has it that it is a sling used by monkeys.) From then on, Biyue women put on clothes, with headscarves hanging down to their legs.

“Hore” was wrapped with potato leaves between the legs, and its chest was covered with “yi penny” (yi penny: a herb with leaves like copper coins, hence the name “yi penny.”). From then on, the heads of West Moro women Wear a three-cornered hat and a silver medal on your chest.

Since Zhebi and Pama passed on the human race, the Hani people in Ailao Mountain have multiplied. To this day, the Hani old man can still sing his heartfelt song:

The ferocious flood
Destroyed our ancestors. 
Zhebi and Pama, 
And he created man on the earth, 
The sky, the earth, the sun, and the mountains and rivers have changed.
Human beings continue to reproduce from generation to generation. 
O God of all things!
We will never forget our ancient ancestors. 
……

Popular area: Mojiang County
Collection and arrangement: Li Canwei
Source: “Hani Folk Stories” by Yunnan People’s Publishing House