Introduction.

In this story the mischievous rang had something of a field day at the expense of the young couple, the mother-in-law and the Chinese traveller.

The basket into which the young couple put their present of food for mother-in-law was carried on the back, so it was quite possible for the rang to throw out the cakes and the eggs, the latter being hard boiled and ready to eat, without the bearer realizing what was going on, until the rang itself leapt out and disappeared.

In Miao villages, the cattle, sheep and goats were taken out every day to graze on the hillsides. The pigs remained at home foraging around the village. The older women kept an eye on them. If a pig wandered away it had to be brought back, and there was a special cry for calling pigs: "ao, ao, ao, ao, …." It was this cry that alerted the rang to the mother-in-law’s return.

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