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The origin of tiger people

The Tiger People of Lili Minority take tiger as their God. They never hunt tigers and it is said when they meet tigers, they won't be hurt too. Every Tiger Year, the leader of their clan will have sacrifice with all members to bow to wood-made tiger sculptures or tiger pictures. Then the old will sing a song in Muguabu tone, tell the story of the origin of Tiger People, so that no offspring will forget it. At last, they will drink and sing and dance together till the next morning.
Why they worship tigers so much? It has a story of that.

Long, long ago, when the mountain was covered by thick forest and the bank of Nu River was full of eryngoes, tigers often appeared here. At that time there were only a few families living on the small hill beside the forest. They made their living by open wasteland to plant buckwheat and hunt for birds and deer.

Among these people there was a young maid who lived in the foot of the hill alone. Her parents died very early and she had no brothers and sisters. One day when she was chopping firewood in the forest, a tiger suddenly appeared with a squall. The girl was so scared that she ran away crying. She ran and ran, her feet were lacerated by the stones, her hands were staved by the silver chain, her clothes were sweat, and her wind was lost. She run to the foot of a giant tree, and decided to climb up. At that time she looked back but only found a handsome young man standing behind her. She felt pleasantly surprised and asked, "Did you see a tiger just now?"
"No." The young man shook his head.
"Isn't that a tiger running outside the forest just now? I was so frightened that I left my chopping work and ran here."
"Just now it's me coming outside the forest. I saw you were working alone and wanted to help you. As to the tiger, may be you had a mistake."
The girl was still puzzled but the young man had seized her axe and helped with her chopping. They work together and talked with each other till the sunset. They chopped too much firewood for the girl to carry it by herself. The young man said, "It's going to be dark soon. Could I help you to carry the firewood back?"

The girl was a little bit worried, "There is nobody else in my home. What will other people say when they see us?"
The young man said cordially, "If you don't mind, you can tell others I am your husband."
The girl shyly nodded.

From then on they lived a happy life together. Everyday the husband hunted in the forest and brought deer or muntjac back and the wife cooked them at home. She soon found there were only imprint of grasp or bite on the prey, but no scar of knife or arrow. It was odd, but she didn't ask her husband how he hunted these animals particularly.

Several years later, they had their children. One day, the man went to the forest again and the woman weaved at home. One of her female friends in her youth came and asked her to pick mushrooms in the forest with her. So they went to the forest with her elder son and her younger daughter on her back. When they just came to the middle of the hill, they saw a tiger on the next hill running after a muntjac. It caught the muntjac at last on their hill. Suddenly, the tiger turned to a man, he carried the muntjac on his shoulder and came down the hill. The woman knew he was her husband when he came near. The man saw his wife, her friends and his children and asked happily, "Are you here to pick mushrooms?"

But they just looked at him in afraid and have no words to say. He looked back at the next hill and understood everything. Hence, he put the muntjac down and said sadly, "My secret is exposed and I can't live in the village anymore. I must go now." After these words, he peered at her wife and children in deep sorrow. Tears run down his cheeks. Then he ran back into the thick forest without looking back. The woman and her children regained their consciousness and cried to ask him back, but it was too late. The man had never returned.

When the children grew up, they were called Laba, which means Tiger People.