The Caobaiwang Herding Sheep
Once upon a time，there were no sheep breeds or sheep herders.It was Caobaiwang who began to herd sheep！
At that time，the Kunlun Mountains（it was a very high mountain in the Bai people's imagination，not the Kunlun Mountain in general meaning）were surprisingly high and could reach the sky from above.All day long，the clouds were wrapped in the fog，the ice and the snow were not melted，and it was very cold.Caobaiwang and his mother lived on the mountain.They plowed the fields and planted crops.The crops did not grow well and the harvest was poor.They often planted many but collected little.The life was very tough！
The Caobaiwang lived on the mountain，plowing in winter，sowing in spring，weeding in summer and harvesting in autumn.He went to work outside，and his mother had to cook some porridge for him to eat.
One day，at noon，his mother was cooking by the stove when suddenly there came an old man with white hair.The old man was pale with hunger and his feet fluttered.Seeing the porridge in the pan gurgling rolling up，he begged the Caobaiwang's mother to give him something to eat.Hearing this，the mother looked at his poor appearance and gave all the porridge to him.
The old man left after eating up all the porridge in the pan.The son didn't have lunch，so the mother only cooked wild vegetables to send it to her son.
The mother walked to the edge of the ground and saw Caobaiwang plowing and sweating.She felt sad and told her son what had happened.Caobaiwang smiled and said，“Ama！Don't be sad.As long as the guest is full，it doesn't matter if I'm hungry or not.”
The mother nodded and said，“Okay，okay！”
Just then，the old man came to the field and said kindly to the mother and the son，“My child，why do you have to work so hard to plough the field？”
Caobaiwang was puzzled to hear this and asked him，“What do you eat if you do not plough the field？”
The old man replied，“I'll take you to the other side of the mountain to be a king.When you become the king，you'll have enough food to eat.”
With saying this，the old man went to the middle of two oxen and cut off the tendons of the oxen.He freed the oxen and led Caobaiwang and his mother down the Kunlun Mountains.
After walking for 49 days，they came to Dali.The old man made Caobaiwang become the king of the Bai people.Before the old man left，he said to Caobaiwang，“The king should love his people from all aspects.If not，when the sheep's horn blossoms，it will be unlucky.”After saying that，no matter how sincerely they persuaded him to stay，the old man left Dali.
Time flew so fast that several years passed.One day，at the source of Jinsha River，a coyote drove a fairy sheep down the high mountain，to the Jade Bridge，to Bijia Mountain，and finally reached to Cangshan Mountain.The sheep ran into the king's uncle's house，where there was only one family in that village，and it refused to leave.The king's uncle had never seen sheep before.Seeing the curved horns，long hair and bleating things，he did not know what wild things it was.He ran down the mountain to invite the king to see it.Seeing that it was sheep，the king said happily to his uncle，“Let it be passed on to you for stocking.Iwill come to take the sheep in three years.”
The uncle was very embarrassed and said，“I've never herded sheep before.I don't know how to breed it.”
The king said，“It doesn't matter，as long as the sheep eats grass every day，it will breed in groups.”The uncle replied，“Well，come and see in three years！”
After the king left，the uncle felt uneasy.He thought to himself，“There is only one ram.How can it breed？”The more he thought，the more panicked he got，so he went to find his clever brother for help.The younger brother beamed and said，“Brother！Don't worry.Just drive the sheep to the bamboo mountain and let it find its mate，and then it will naturally breed.”“That's good！”The elder brother listened to his younger brother's advice and drove the sheep into the bamboo grove and let it stay there for 81 months.Then he came to the top of the mountain again，picked a tender leaf，stuck it on the corners of his mouth，blew it，and the sheep ran out with whooping.There were big ones and small ones，and some were goats，some were sheep.All the sheep and goats were sleek and smooth，jumping and gathering into a flock！
From then on，the uncle began to herd sheep.Throughout the year，the uncle grazed on high mountains.Sheep herding dogs accompanied him every day，coming and going in the wind and rain.In spring，he grazed on the burning ground through spring water.In summer，with the rain on top of his head，he grazed on the slope.In autumn，with autumn wind，he grazed in the valley.In winter，with green frost，he grazed on the Bazi.After three years，the king of the Bai people came.
Seeing a large flock of sheep on the mountain，the king said happily to his uncle，“My uncle，let's count how many sheep we have！”
The uncle asked him，“How do you count？”
The king said，“We can't count them one by one.Let's measure them in a dou（the unit for calculating the capacity）.”
“Where is there such a big dou？”
The king pointed to the valley in front of him and said，“The valley is a bucket.Please call the sheep and measure them.”
The uncle agreed，“This is a good solution.”With that，the two of them herded the sheep into the valley.The upper part of the valley was the litre and the lower part of the valley was the dou.They marched the sheep in groups and measured them one by one.It took them three days and three nights to measure the sheep.Since then，people have called this valley Sheep Measuring Valley.
Later，Caobaiwang distributed sheep to people living in high mountains and goats to people living in Bazi.From then on，there have been sheep in the world.