ABSTRACT
Once upon a time there had been books. A tribal legend described how long ago the Miao lived on the north side of the Yellow River, but the conquering Chinese came and drove them from their lands and homes. Coming to the river and possessing no boats they debated what should be done with the books, and in the end they strapped them to their shoulders and swam across, but the waters ran so swiftly and the river was so wide, that the books were washed away and fishes swallowed them.
