"Tree God, identify this boy as your son please!" "We bring him here to see you." "He is just a kid." "May the Life Tree be his father?" "May the Exorcising Tree be his mother?" "He is blessed with growing up quickly and being well-off in life." "Praise him for having prospects and punish him for doing wrong." "I entrust him to you." "Please take care of him." "Stand up now and call the tree Father!" "Father!" "I ask you to take care of gun, but not to fire!" "Why did you fire it?" "I just put my finger on it." "I fired it accidentally." "Take care, little one." "Are you going to have the adult ceremony soon?" "You'd better have a gun of your own." "Then you will not to be envious of other people's guns." "Do not fire at random, otherwise you will be punished for disturbing Tree God" "Apologise to the Tree God quickly." "Tree God, I did not fire on purpose." "Be careful!" "The reed-pipe song is only for you." "I do not mean to disturb you!" "Higher, please!" "You will almost reach the top of the tree." "Jim, let me have a try." "Please!" "Jim, let me have a try." "We won't play with a boy who does not have a father." "I don't have a father, but I don't care." "I have asked the fortune-teller." "The 27th of next month is good for ceremony." "You'll be a man after the adult ceremony." "I will be pleased to see you finally enter into the adult world." "How tall is my father?" "Very tall, about 5 feet." "Where is he now?" "Maybe in the Mount Thunder or Mount Luna." "Will he be back to attend my ceremony?" "I am not sure now, but it is really far away!" "Only one month to go!" "I'm afraid he won't return!" "I'll give you everything." "I'll make you another new dress." "This comb can not be used any more." "I still use it." "Itjust missing some teeth." "It is enough for my hair." "I came here waiting for you before daybreak." "Where have you been?" "I started to wait for you after dark." "You should come to meet me tonight." "Are you drunk?" "Why are you singing in the daytime?" "I will tell you a secret!" "I'm going to Guangzhou to work." "I won't be able to see my Life Tree." "I won't be able to see the girl I like either!" "I can't sing these songs of Hmong ethnic minority either." "They only know pop songs in Guangzhou." "Nobody will understand the songs of Hmong ethnic minority." "When will your adult ceremony be?" "I'm afraid I won't be there then!" "The 27th of next month." "I'll be in Guangzhou." "Maybe I'll be singing Karaoke after work." "Gunlala!" "Let's go uphill tonight to meet with the girls." "You've grown up now." "You won't find any pretty girls if you don't go." "Are you drunk?" "You have no idea!" "You won't play the reed-pipe well without drinking some alcohol." "Where is your Life Tree?" "Look, my Life Tree grows very fast." "Almost as tall as yours." "Say again!" "Who'stree is taller?" "Say again!" "Who's taller?" "Yours is taller." "I'm five years older than you." "Isn't my tree taller than yours?" "Honestly, I am going to take you uphill tonight to see the girls." "I can't go there before the adult ceremony." "You are such a fool!" "The Chieftain won't know." "Only a few days to go." "Listen, I'll sing you a song." "I came here waiting for you before daybreak." "Where have you been?" "I started to wait for you after dark." "You should come to meet me tonight." "Did they use these swaddling clothes to carry me when I was a baby?" "Yes." "Don't lose it." "It's what your mother left to you." "Tell me where my father is, otherwise, I won't eat anything." "Such a stubborn boy!" "Your father flew away like a bird." "I don't know where he is now." "He may come back one day." "My mother would definitely tell me if she were alive." "What does my father look like?" "He's the most handsome man in the Hmong ethnic village." "The hunter who could climb trees the fastest, shoot well and draw his knife quickly." "Anything else?" "And?" "A good folk song singer." "His voice could be heard over two mountains." "Any other distinct mark?" "Many hunters can climb trees fast, shoot well and also sing songs well." "I still would not be able to recognise him." "Your father has a birthmark." "A claw-shaped mark on his back." "Now you have your meal." "Hello, Granny!" "Gunlala, are you going to sell firewood?" "Gunlala!" "You see, you have no father." "Nobody will tell you the truth." "You should not use a cart." "You should carry the firewood on the shoulder." "I'm going to sell firewood in town." "I can carry 4 bundles by cart, but only 2 bundles on my shoulders." "Little boy, you don't know the rules." "Don't cut down too many trees." "Just enough for use and no more." "Don't be greedy!" "Every tree has a spirit." "Just cut some for cooking use!" "It's painful to carry on the shoulders." "The trees will feel pain too, when you cut their branches off." "I need money, so I need sell more firewood." "Is your Granny ill?" "You can not do it." "If you use a cart when you are in need, he uses a truck when he is in need, and even a train could be used to carry the firewood, then the hill would soon become bare." "I need money to buy a gun for my adult ceremony." "You can take mine." "I can't take yours." "It's the rule given by ancestors." "You can only carry firewood on the shoulder, not by carts." "Do you like these two coloured ribbons?" "I stitched them for you." "Has the date for your adult ceremony been decided?" "The 27th of next month." "Grandma has asked a fortune-teller." "Is everything ready?" "A basket, a sword, a waist purse, a coloured bag and a headdress." "I'll embroider a waist-belt for you." "All of these have been done." "I have no gun." "Sell it!" "How much do you still you need?" "I can't take this." "I can cut firewood to make money." "Gunlala!" "I know how to sing the folk song now." "It is called "flying song"." "Really?" "Can it fly across the hill?" "Yes, it can." "Then I'll go to the other side of the hill to see if I can follow the trail of your voice." "Dare to dream!" "Standing on the hill-top," "I can see the beautiful scenery afar." "I came here waiting for you before the morning has broken." "Where are you?" "I waited for you as night fell." "Maybe you will come to meet me tonight?" "The charcoal does not sell well." "You've brought too much!" "I need money!" "The price has gone down again." "Now only five yuan for a bundle." "Gunlala!" "Here you are." "Please do me a favour." "Are you going to Guangzhou now?" "Right!" "Come to find me in Guangzhou after I settle down." "You want me to stay here while you go to the toilet?" "Take the clothes home for me." "My father won't let me get a job." "I sneaked out." "Please tell them," "I'm going to Guangzhou to see the world." "I'll come back once I've made some money" "Take care of my clothes." "I'll wear them when I'm back." "How much can you earn a month?" "Five hundred yuan." "Not bad, huh?" "What kind ofjob?" "Security guard." "May I join you, just for a month?" "You're too young and you have no ID card." "Nobody will hire you." "Also, there is a three-month probation period." "You can't work for only a month." "Don't forget to dry my clothes in the sun." "Otherwise, it will go moldy." "Gunlala bought me the millet wine for me." "You've grown up." "Well done!" "Have you set a date for your adult ceremony?" "The 27th of next month." "Can I work here as an apprentice during the summer holiday?" "I already have two apprentices." "You can, but I won't pay you." "I don't need to be paid." "I see, you want me to make you a gun?" "I've saved 40 yuan already." "I will have the rest soon." "I can't give you a gun as a gift." "It is against the rules set by our ancestors." "I'll give you a 30% discount, say, 350 yuan." "Can't go any cheaper." "But it will be the best gun." "You'll earn the money yourself?" "Is it possible in one month?" "Go to ask your father for it." "For Hmong ethnic people, it is by nature that a father should give his son a gun." "Gunlala, come carry some water for me." "I will have saved enough money by the adult ceremony." "By the way, why have you never mentioned your father?" "Granny!" "I'm going to work for the blacksmith in town." "I'll come back next month before the adult ceremony." "I'm off." "Work hard and be obedient." "I will." "Here is the 5 yuan from selling the firewood yesterday." "Uncle, I need to tell you," "Jia Guwang has left for Guangzhou to work." "He'll return once he's earned some money." "That kid!" "He left without a word?" "Why Guangzhou?" "So far away." "Ask him not to go if you see him." "Guangzhou is too far." "He'll go sleepwalking." "So many cars in a big city." "He'll be hit." "I am not going to Guangzhou." "Don't worry!" "He'll be all right there." "I need a pair of shoes, size 40." "The shoes on your feet can still be wore." "I need to walk a long distance." "For work?" "No." "I'm going to find my father." "Where is your father?" "I don't know, so I need to find him." "I'll take one yuan less then." "Just give me seven yuan." "Thank you." "I'll leave my old shoes here." "I'll fetch them when I come back." "I can wear them in raining days." "How much money do you have for the journey?" "40 yuan, now 33 yuan left." "That's not enough." "Better take that 7 yuan with you." "Pay me back when you return." "No need." "It's enough." "Why are wearing the new shoes?" "Are you going out?" "I'm going to look for my father." "Where is he?" "May be in Mount Luna or in Mount Thunder." "I don't know." "It's a large area." "How will you find him?" "I can'tjust stay here and wait for him to come back." "I can't wait any longer." "I must find him before my adult ceremony." "I will ask him for a gun as a gift." "An adult ceremony means nothing without a gun." "What can I do for you?" "Nothing, I can deal with it." "What will you do if you can't find him?" "If I can't find him, I will have no gun." "Then I can't attend my adult ceremony." "The blacksmith in town is making a gun for me, the best gun." "I need to pay him." "Come back before the ceremony even if you can't find him." "There must be a way out, right?" "Yes." "The Tree God in the east." "Please help me fulfill my wish." "Lend me your guidance, please lead me to my father." "This is my only wish." "Other people all have their father." "Why not me?" "If I can find him, I'll repay you by doing good deeds." "I won't cut extra firewood for money, only enough for cooking." "I won't harm any little creatures that belong to Mountain God." "I won't hurt the sapling of Tree God." "Please help me find my father." "Haha." "Who's cooking there on my hill?" "Smells good!" "It's not yours." "It belongs to Mountain God." "Smell so good!" "I haven't had rice meal for days." "Have half of this." "What's your name?" "I'm Wu Bala." "Just call me Ba." "Your gun is not the same as ours." "It has an extra handle." "This handle was invented by my father." "It's safer with it." "It won't go off suddenly." "Oh, I was going to give you half." "I finished it by mistake..." "Never mind." "I'm not hungry." "Are you a hunter?" "Not really!" "That famous hunter Wu Laji of Mount Luna, he is my father." "He is famous for hunting big beasts." "Because he's bored of hunting the small ones." "Tell me some stories about him." "I can't tell you now." "I'm too hungry." "I'll tell you when I am full." "I have lots of stories about him." "I can keep talking for 2 days on end." "You can use my wok to cook." "I will tell you the stories after the meal." "How about that gun?" "Did your father have a gun on his adult ceremony?" "Is he a a skilled marksman?" "Of course!" "Don't ask silly questions." "A good hunter is born with a good aim." "That afternoon after the ceremony," "Grandpa taught him how to use a gun." "He took up the gun and examined it." "He bravely looked into the barrel hole." "Did he see anything?" "He told grandpa there was a ball of fire inside." "Grandpa thought he was teasing, nearly slapped him." "My father pointed the gun at the door, and pulled the trigger." "What beasts have your father killed?" "How can you not have heard his stories." "Are you really a member of the Hmong?" "Once, my father went into the mountain with a hound." "Suddenly the hound was startled and jumped backward." "But my father didn't notice and kept walking, untill he almost bumped into the hound in front of him." "All of a sudden, a big creature jumped out from the bush." "My father pulled the trigger at once." "It was a tiger." "It saw it was my father and ran away immediately." "Later, they found that tiger's carcass." "It died of fear." "So, even the tiger are afraid of your father?" "Your father is useless!" "He hasn't even told you this story?" "Later, the fortune-teller told our people." "that my father was sent by God to kill tigers especially." "Because tigers didn't show gratitude for the Basha people's kindness." "That's why they were punished." "Kindness from the Basha people?" "You know nothing about it?" "Are you a Basha?" "You really don't know anything?" "Your father is so great." "You must be like him." "Please teach me how to hunt." "There are no hunters nowadays." "Hunting is against the law." "People will laugh at you if you can't hunt or use a gun." "What's the point of having 'the best gun'?" "I'm just used to it." "Can't go without it." "Can you sing our folk songs?" "No,I can't." "The woman I love ran away with a singer." "Don't mention singing to me." "I can't sing." "Okay okay." "Forget it." "Where are you going with that half bag of rice?" "My father is lost." "Adults don't get lost." "He has not returned because he doesn't want to return." "How about..." "I'll be your father." "Is your mother beautiful?" "Granny told me my mother died when she gave birth to me." "Only left me the swaddling clothes." "Let's catch some fish later." "Grill fish is very nice." "Where did you get your gun?" "From my father, of course!" "Made by the blacksmith from Tianlongpu." "Don't think all day about guns and hunters." "My father can scare tigers to death." "So what?" "He still had to feed cows when he was old." "Look at me, we're all the same." "There are things I can't tell you now." "I didn't eat your rice for nothing." "I've a lot of dried mushrooms." "Take some with you." "I picked them all by hand." "They are the best ones." "Take the gun." "What are you doing there?" "Come down and wash your hair." "This water is very clean." "Much better than the sour soup we used for hair washing." "Come down, quickly!" "Quickly!" "Quickly!" "You are like a girl." "Hurry up!" "Hurry up!" "Let me have a look at your back." "what are you doing!" "You are not my father." "Of course I'm not your father." "Go to find him on your own if you wish." "Just don't be too sad when you can't find him." "There must be some reasons for him to leave." "Just like me!" "I am 16-year-old this year." "He still hasn't come back." "You left home because your woman left you?" "That's part of it." "The other reason is that..." "I can't go back." "Everyone in family are all good hunters." "Why can't you go back?" "I borrowed some money from the bank to plant tangerine trees." "But, the tangerine trees died." "I have no money to pay the bank back." "The bank will catch me if I return home." "You can try to talk to them." "They aren't police." "There must be a way out." "You must return home one day." "The rice down the hill should be yellow by now." "You have that half a bag of rice." "The rice there is ripe." "I won't be hungry." "And this bag of dried mushrooms." "I give it to you." "Take it." "Uncle!" "Can I help?" "Just give me something to eat." "Sure." "Well, you can eat and drink as much as you want." "Just don't forget to get up early tomorrow morning to work." "Golden yellow rice paddies and beautiful mountains," "Beautiful lands bestow grains on us," "We can only repay you with our songs," "So beautiful is our Hmong village." "So nice is our hometown." "This year is of bumper harvest." "A vast sea of golden rice waves." "All villagers are so happy." "Eat more." "Don't get worn out." "How far have you walked?" "Where are you going?" "I'm going to look for my father." "Where is he?" "I don't know." "That is why I'm looking for him." "There's no hurry." "You can stay at my home tonight." "Have a good sleep after a whole day's hard day of work." "Present the good wine respectfully for our elder brothers." "to express our love and regards" "Help yourself!" "Eat more!" "Serve yourself!" "There is rice in the street every year with different prices." "Be quick!" "We will live together eternally." "There is rice in the street every year with different prices." "We will live together eternally." "My dear!" "I'm longing for you." "When will you marry me and we can be an enviable couple?" "My dear!" "I'm longing for you." "When will you marry me and we can be an enviable couple?" "I am infinitely disconsolate." "You are not by my side when I cross the mountains." "And I am still alone when I get home." "We are both alone and forsaken," "so sad and yet we can not be together." "Where is your girl?" "Why are you following me?" "I can take you as my son." "Please don't disturb me now." "Leave us here." "Go mind your own business." "I can teach you how to sing, and how to love your girl, but nothing else." "Your own father probably can't teach you that." "You are not my father." "I don't have such a headstrong son." "You should learn how to look for your girl." "And keep her by your side." "That's what a man should do." "Understand?" "If you were a bird or a flower," "I'd hold you in my hands and take you with me." "Can a man love two women at the same time?" "What do you mean?" "Uncle was singing with a girl and holding her hand last night." "and even cried." "He loves her." "You'll understand when you grow up." "At least, it's not bad for people to love or to be loved." "I'll be leaving today." "Whether you find your father or not, here will always be your home." "Anyway, you may live here with us when you're back." "My Granny is waiting for me." "She is old." "She can't see clearly." "We'll treat you as our son." "You can live in the big room on the second floor." "I know you treat me well." "But I must find my father." "I won't be able to sleep." "Water comes from the mountain and flows to the sea." "Where did you come from, brother?" "Where are you going to, brother?" "The merciless water flows on with no return." "The merciless water flows on with no return." "Brother, don't learn from the flowing water" "Don't forget me." "No matter you are rich or poor." "We'll be here waiting for you every year." "Looking forward to your coming back." "Old Wei!" "Old Wei!" "Isn't this your son?" "Not mine, has to be someone's." "Thank you for still thinking of me still." "I have been traveling all my life." "I won't lie to you, boy." "You should go with him." "Trust me." "He'll treat you even better than your own father." "If we fail to pass on "The Song of the direction to paradise"." "we'll owe our ancestors and we won't be able to return to them." "It is more important than finding your father, understand?" "No." "Let me give you an example." "Now, you are looking for your father, but no one shows you the way!" "Similarly," "After someone dies, he needs to return to the place where he was originally from, to return to where his ancestors stay are." "to reunite with his family in the nether world." "But he doesn't know the way." "He needs someone to show the way for him." "You are that person." "I'll teach you how to sing "The Song of the direction to paradise"" "to sing in the funerals, to direct the ways for the dead." "Let the dead reunite with their families, go back to their ancestors." "Please show me the way leading to my father." "If someone can't go back to one's ancestors after death," "It is a very urgent thing!" "Think about it." "Above all, your looking for your father does not bother everyday lives." "Don't worry." "I'll help you find your father." "If it could even lead the way to the ancestors," "Why would there be a problem locating your father?" "Will I be able to learn the song?" "I've learned only one song of Hmong ethnic minority." "My voice is getting more and more hoarse." "I can't sing very well now, and will not sing for a longe time." "My son is not willing to learn." "I need to impart someone else." "You'll break the rule if you teach me." "My ancestors won't blame me." "My father is really a good singer." "His voice is so touching that all the listeners will be moved to tears." "They seem to see their ancestors on the other side of the river." "My sneaking son is not going to learn the song." "This is my father's songs recorded by the State Bureau of Culture in the year one." "Very clear." "My father will teach you after me." "This was recorded one month before he died." "I'll give you a bowl of wine by using the bamboo divination symbol." "We're ready to lead you to start off." "Since you are dead, don't long for your wife and children any more." "A dead person can't resurge again." "Don't turn back after you leave." ""The Song of getting direction to the paradise" is sung for the dead." "It is also sung for the living." "It tells the truth of life." "One's life is given by parents." "So he should thank his parents first after his death." "Listen to my singing." "I did not realize winter goes so fast." "When spring comes, I'll go to work with mother." "My parents hold my hands." "I did not realize winter goes so fast." "When spring comes, I'll go to work with mother." "My parents hold my hands." "They are working so hard for me." "Our fields are located far away." "The work in the fields make people sweating profusely." "We request the fields for food." "We use our songs to redound upon the fields." "Looking at my parents' working so hard, I feel disturbed." "One returns to his ancestors after death." "Don't feel so sad about it." "Just forget your parents, sisters and friends." "Never remind youself of the past on the earth." "Listen to my singing." "When a cock crows, the sun shines." "It brightens up the roads here and there" "You've gone!" "When I think of your words, my tears will come down and the forehead will naturally perspire." "But the living will miss the death, and won't easily forget him." "So it encourges them to live on and not to be regretful." "Have you anything to regret?" "Yes, everyone has." "I have worked as a ship repairer for years." "I live by the river." "That year, the ferryboat of the village was broken." "Neither of the villagers can go out without the ferryboat." "I repaired it continuously for three days on end." "When I finished the work and returned home, my mother has just passed away." "My mother liked to eat rice noodles in Meilin Town very much." "I promised to buy some for her." "But I was too busy." "I wished she could have had some before she died." "What's wrong?" "Master!" "I miss my Grandma." "I want to go home." "Hello, Sister, how are you?" "Fine!" "How much is it?" "Not sure." "Let me weigh first." "Better keep one." "Do not sell all of them." "No." "I'm old." "They have no use for me." "Gunlala!" "You come back in no more than one month." "So opportune!" "Where is your hair bun?" "I lost it." "How comes?" "I planned to be a security guard at first." "But I was not allowed to have long hair." "They asked me to cut it, but I refused to do so." "A friend introduced me to another fast-food restaurant." "The job is to send packed food." "The boss is very nice to me." "I could also have nice meal." "and have a brand new uniform and a cap with the company's name on it, to represent the company." "But one day, I was on a company's van going back, on a very wide road." "My cap was blown away and dropped onto the road." "It was so bizarre." "I jumped off the van instinctively to pick up the cap." "I hit the road in the head." "The road in Guangzhou is very hard." "What a poor kid!" "But anyway, he is lucky to be with you." "Gunlala is a smart child." "He won't get lost." "He'll definitely return." "His gun is almost finished." "I carved a dragon on the buttstock." "The boy won't get lost." "I also consulted the fortune-teller." "He said he wouldn't be lost." "Take the money." "No, I can't." "Go to redeem your silver ornaments." "You should not sell them." "You need not pay the money right now." "we almost arrive." "Do you need take a rest?" "Please bring me my dress of Hmong ethnic minority." "People there will laugh at me if I wear this." "All right!" "Please wait for me here." "You are back, Gunlala!" "I said, he won't be lost." "How much is this comb?" "Pay as much as you can." "on the basis of your still thinking about your Grandma." "Thank you." "Any news of Gunlala?" "He is still working outside?" "Or does he get lost?" "No idea!" "I only know his Grandma is very worried and cries everyday." "It's the fate." "She adopted him and brought him up." "Now he is lost." "We are all controlled by our ancestor Jiang." "If Jiang wants somebody, he must go." "If only there is the medicine for regret!" "Don't cry for the spilt milk." "At least, you have seen a big city." "What's wrong with you?" "I was also away for one month." "I feel a bit sad." "You may go back first." "I'll wait here for a while." "Are you all right?" "I am fine." "I wait for my grandma." "She is outside." "Grandma!" "I'm back." "You are finally back home!" "Grandma!" "Do you know how much I miss you, my boy." "I miss you, too." "Gunlala!" "Gunlala, you come back with Jia Guwang?" "He can't wake up." "Go to have a look!" "Jia Guwang!" "Jia Guwang!" "The ancestors want him to go there." "He died because of this cap." "Ancestors, if you really miss him, let him go you there." "Gunlala!" "Take them to cut down Jia's Life Tree." "To make a coffin for him." "One day is not enough." "Is this Jia Guwang's Life Tree?" "This is mine." "This one is not big enough, either." "Not big enough to make a coffin." "Jia is only 20 years old." "Cut down his father's, instead." "His father can use his in the future." "We'd better discuss with Jia Wangyuan, and consult the fortune-teller." "I'll go to ask them." "His father will defintely agree." "He'd even die for his son." "Today, we are sending this person to the nether world." "Fire the guns." "Wish him peaceful on the journey!" "Go back to your home along the road." "Open the wardrobe!" "Put on your favourite clothes." "On the same road, you will say good-bye to parents and return to the ancestors." "You need thank your parents for giving you life." "Because when your parents gave birth to you, they were panting like a cow, with their eyes popped out." "Parents have bred you for years." "By shaking their hands can you grow up." "Guangzhou is not your hometown." "Karaoke is no better than a sing in our village." "Look at your parents again, and your village." "Feel secure to start off." "to return to where the ancestors stay." "The living head east." "The dead will head west." "Found it?" "Yes!" "But Jia Guwang did not." "He is lost!" "Tomorrow you will take the adult ceremony." "This waist belt is for you as a gift after I finish." "Gunlala is a man today." "Let's catch some fish for him." "Wish him happy like the fish." "I've caught one." "I've caught a second one." "Here is one." "Get it!" "Today this child is 15 years old." "He is now a man." "We are very proud of him." "For Gunlala." "You're 15 years old today." "You are a man now." "You can have a gun." "Grandma!" "I'll redeem your silver ornaments." "Nothing can compare with the joy of your being a man." "Gunlala." "Fire the gun."