Like the first narrative, this one offers a cautionary lesson. But whereas the fate of the seven couples delivers a philosophical message—that even the happiest of existence is hostage to human malice—the second story offers moral instruction. Excessive love that nurtures jealousy, its audience is warned, leads to tragedy.

A typical Dai dwelling. The stairs lead to the living quarters.

Once upon a time, near a river that ran through the forests of Yunnan, lived a famous hunter called Yange. He and his wife, Yukan, loved each other dearly. Every time Yange was out hunting, he would pick fresh fruits and keep them intact until he and Yukan could share them. They worked in great harmony, and when Yange had killed a deer the pair would dismember its carcass and dress its skin.

Only one thing marred Yange’s happiness. The local young men lusted after his lovely wife. When the couple were preparing a deer that Yange had killed, the men would crowd around, gazing at her movements. Yange tried to keep them at bay, but they persisted in pestering her.

The Dai exhibit at the Yunnan Nationalities Villages highlights their cultural emphasis on love.

Although he feigned indifference, Yange worried that his beloved would succumb to temptation. His jealousy increased enormously when he was away for long hunting trips. On one occasion, after he had returned from the forest and discovered his wife was not in the house, Yange was so overcome by fears of her infidelity that he collapsed in despair by their kitchen hearth.

Yukan, as it happened, had simply been washing clothes in the river, so when she entered the house and saw her spouse lying by the fire she couldn’t understand what was afflicting the poor man. Ever the loving wife, she took no chances but gave him some medicine and put him to bed.

Yange recovered in a few days and prepared to go hunting once more. To ease his mind and keep an eye on her, he asked Yukan to come along. She reminded him that she was with child and could not go.