Foreword

Dali，a habitable region embraced by the beautiful Erhai Lake and Cangshan Mountain，has been home to the Bai people for thousands of years.Within such a history，the Bai people have created a splendid culture and fascinating myths and legends，among which some stories are from the lives of the Bai people，some from the Bai people's unique worship of their Village God（本主）and some from the special natural sceneries in Dali，such as Erhai Lake and Cangshan Mountain.

After scrutinizing different versions of the Bai people's myths and legends，the translator carefully selected those stories that can well represent the Bai people to translate.The translator followed the following principles in sorting out the stories：（1）the most widely-spread myths and legends of the Bai people；（2）the most representative ones embodied with the Bai people's values，philosophy，cultures and traditions；（3）the ones carrying the characteristics of the Bai language，which include the words endowed with the Bai's unique culture and custom，the sentences bestrewed with their special rhetorical devices of metaphor and personification，and the passages enliven with the combination of saying and singing，poetry and folk songs.

Myths and legends are a nation's precious spiritual wealth，as are the Bai people's myths and legends.Answering to the national initiation of“telling China's story in a good way，and being a good spokesperson”，the translator's efforts to translate the selection of the Bai's myths and legends into English is of great significance.Therefore，it is the translator's sincere hope that more and more people in the world can understand and enjoy the Bai people's culture so that it can be better remembered and inherited.

Shi Hongmei