Maca

　　玛咖

　　In the Genesis of Dongba scripture, human beings are said to be punished by Nature with deluge swallowing almost everything on earth. Only one man, for the mercy of god, is survived. Being forlorn, he enquires the god of Dongba what should he do to reproduce and is indicated to marry the goddess. Before descending to earth, the couple ties the knot in front of the god and is endowed scores of corps as wedding gift. There are, however, two things that are disallowed to carry with, one of which is “Root of Heaven” and in Naxi Dialect named “Maca”, a kind of plant intended for god. Although aware of the warning given by god, the goddess steals the plant and brings it to earth for it has an anti-aging effect. When the god of Dongba discovers it several years later, he is black as thunder. To penalize her misconduct, he casts a spell on the plant, which translates it into turnip, a common plant stripped of the magical effect.

　　东巴经里“创世纪”一篇中就提到，人类被自然惩罚，洪水滔天，人类的一个祖先存活下来。他出来后问东巴神“我要繁衍人类，该怎么办?”东巴神指示他去娶天女。两人准备下凡，天神赏赐给了夫妻两人许多农作物，但是有两种东西没有给他们。其中一个叫“天根”，在纳西话里叫“玛咖”，这是天神吃的东西。之后天女把它的种子釆下带到了凡间种植。若干年后天神知道了大为震怒，便施了一个法术，把“天根”变成了如今农家种的“蔓菁”。