Item details
Item ID
KK1-0043
Title Gaida yen nu ni a lam (Mother who reincarnate as a cow to pay debts) with English translation
Description Translation (Tu Hkawng)
The story that I am going to tell is about a widowed family which has a debt and is difficult to pay, even death the debt is still needed to pay. Once upon a time, there was a widowed family which had two girls and lived together after their father passed away. After that, the two sisters got married and the younger sister gave birth to many children. However, the older sister did not have many children. One day, the two sisters came to their mom and dried the rice grains in the sun. They said, "Hi, mom please watch over our rice while you are staying at home with the kids." Then, the mom saw and said, the older sister's rice grains was a lot although she does not have many children, and the younger sister's rice grains was a few although she does have many children and insufficient food. As both of them are her daughters, so the mom had empathy, then she did not realize that she would have to pay the debt when she died. The mom said, "Both of them are my children, she has many children, but she only has a whit of rice grains and not enough to feed." She also said, "The rice will run out after a few pots of cooking," then she took a fistful of rice grains from the older sister and put it on the rice mat of the younger sister who had many children. Soon later, the old lady (mom) passed away, she informed her children what she had done. As she passed away, her spirit was not allowed to enter into heaven as she still needed to pay the debt of the rice grains. At the place, a harbinger of death (judge) said, "You have a debt of a fistful of rice grains." Because of that, you cannot enter into heaven. After the harbinger of death said that, she replied, "E... because of the fistful rice, I should not be banned from entering heaven, I do not want to enter into hell, I want to enter into heaven, and she pleases." Then, a harbinger said, "Before you enter heaven, you must repay the fistful of rice grains after you pay, then you will be able to enter it." Then, she was sent back to the earth, but as she had died one time, she could not reincarnate as a human to repay the debt. She was reincarnated as a bird and had many chicks to repay the debt, but she was not able to repay it fully, so she was reincarnated as a buffalo and pig, but the debt was not paid fully. Finally, she was reincarnated as a cow, and she was used to ploughing the farm until she was old and as the cow was very old, and the farm cow had a shorter life expectancy. So, the cow died, and the people shared and ate the meat, then they kept the head at the back of the staircase of the rice barn. As the head of a cow was kept at that place, one day's night, a man approached the rice barn to steal the rice. At the time, the old cow's head spoke and said, "E...e... do not think to steal the paddy rice, in the past, I think both of them are my children, so I took only a fistful of rice grains from the old sister's rice drying mat, and put them into the younger sister's rice mat as she had very few, I got the debt from it. I had been repaid the debt as I could not go to heaven, and was back to the earth and reincarnated as bird, pig, and cow. Repaying the debt as much as I could, and became a farm cow, and I was used as a farm's cow for many years. Even today, even though I became a cow's head, I was still thrown under the staircases of the barn. I was still experienced stepping by the people. "Therefore, the paddy rice is not a thing to steal, if you steal it, it is very difficult to repay. I was wrongful with knowledge, but till today I was in an afflicted situation like this."As the cow's head said to the thief, then the thief heard the story and went back with stealing the rice grain. It is the end of the story.

Transcription (Lu Awng)
Ya ngai hkai na gaw gaida yen nu ni ndai hka wa hka kap yang hka wa yak ai, si mat tim hka bai wa ra ai lam re. Moi kahtawng langai mi kaw kawa gaw si mat rai gaida yen nu ni numsha 2 rai malu ai hkan nu ni nga ma ai da. Dai she kasha yen gaw numwa ai, numwa yang gaw kanau jan gaw ma grai lu ai. Kan gaw ma nau nlaw lu ai lani mi gaw kanu kaw gaw kanau mung mam sa lam, kana mung mam sa lam, kanu e nang nta nga ai ma ni hte nga mam jawm yu ya e ngu na kana na mam, kanau na mam lam tawn she, kanu gaw ndai kana gaw kasha nau nlaw lu ai reng mam wa grai law hkra lam, kanau gaw kasha gaw grai law nna shat lu sha matsan mayen rai na reng mam kachyi sha lam, re jang she kanu a myit hta gaw 2 yen e kasha hkrai rai she tsawra matsan dum ai myit she nrawng na i, dan re si yang hka wa ra na re gaw shi ndum i i ngai sha yen hkrai she re gaw ndai kanau jan gaw kasha gaw grai lu nna mam gaw kachyi sha, ndai law sha na mung nrai. Di 1, 2 sha yang ma mat na rai ngu she kade mung shi mung latup mi sha kana a mam jahtai na mam wa she oh ra kasha law lu ai kanau a mam jahtai kaw sa latup bang ya ai da. Dai wa ya hkring gaw shi dinggai dai si mat wa yang gaw kasha ni gaw dai hku she nnga da i, dinggai dai si mat wa ai shaloi gaw hto sumsing mungdan du wa kaw e nshang lu ai, shi e dai mam hka wa naw wa ra ai majaw mam hka kap ai majaw nshang lu ai. Dai kaw na tara ah gyi si du wa gaw nang hka kap ai mam hka kap ai mam latup mi hka kap ai. Dai majaw nang gaw sumsing mungdan nshang lu ai. Dan ngu jang e e ngai dai mam latup mi majaw sha a sumsing mungdan nshang lu hkra rai na gaw nrai na re law, ngai ngarai mung gaw nkam shang ai, sumsing mungdan gaw shang mayu nngai lo ngu jang, shaloi gaw nang dai mam latup mi hka naw wa wa su dai hka ma jang gaw lu shang na lu ai ngu shangun dat yang gaw ga de, anhte ndai mungkan ga bai yu wa yang shi gaw kalang mi si sai re nga shinggyim masha hku gaw nrai sa dai mamhka wa wa ai. Ah u tai nan wa kade mayet maya na wa yu tim ntawm, nga tai nna wa wa, dai nna wa hpang jahtum gaw nga tai nna wa yang gaw nga kanu dai e gaw hkauna htu sha hkauna nga di nna lang jin nna gaw ngai dai gaw nau dinggai nna she nrai i hkaunna htu ai nga ni gaw grai asak kadun la, dinggai mat, si mat jang she ah shan gaw hpya sha kau nna, nga baw e gaw mam dum lakang hpang kaw bai tawn da na hku rai re nga ai. Tawn da yang gaw lani mi na gaw shana gaw la langai mi mam lagu na matu dai mam dum de mam lagu na sa wa ai da. Shaloi she nga baw dingsa dai wa shaga wa na rai re nga ai, e e hkum myit law ngai ndai moi ngai sha yen hkrai re ngu nna kana a mam jahtai na mam latup mi sha kanau a mam nlaw la ai ngu hta bang ya ai hka ya ngai dai ni mungdan ndu nna mungkan ga bai yu wa nna ah u tai nna wa, wa tai let wa, nga tai nna kade wa yu timmung hkauna nga tai ai mung shaning kade ning hkauna na htu jaw. Dai ni mung ya ndai kaw ya nga baw she raitim mam dum lakang kaw naw kabye ai kaw naw hkrum sha nga ai. Mam gaw hkum lagu n lagu ai baw re, mam lagu ai ngu gaw grai wa yak ai baw she re hka, ngai mung nchye na galaw shut ai ngu yang dai ni ndan rai jam jau nga ai ngu nna nga baw dingsa wa dai lagu sa ai wa e dan ngu hkap shaga jang dai lagu sa ai mam dum kaw lagu na nga sa ai la wa mung dai ga na jang nlagu ai wa mat ai da, maumwi gaw dai kaw htum sai.
Origination date 2016-12-12
Origination date free form
Archive link https://catalog.paradisec.org.au/repository/KK1/0043
URL
Collector
Keita Kurabe
Countries To view related information on a country, click its name
Language as given Jinghpaw
Subject language(s) To view related information on a language, click its name
Content language(s) To view related information on a language, click its name
Dialect Standard Jinghpaw
Region / village Northern Myanmar
Originating university Tokyo University of Foreign Studies
Operator
Data Categories primary text
Data Types Sound
Discourse type narrative
Roles Keita Kurabe : depositor
H. Pri : speaker
DOI 10.4225/72/59888f6510d51
Cite as Keita Kurabe (collector), Keita Kurabe (depositor), H. Pri (speaker), 2016. Gaida yen nu ni a lam (Mother who reincarnate as a cow to pay debts) with English translation. EAF+XML/MPEG/VND.WAV. KK1-0043 at catalog.paradisec.org.au. https://dx.doi.org/10.4225/72/59888f6510d51
Content Files (3)
Filename Type File size Duration File access
KK1-0043-A.eaf application/eaf+xml 18.3 KB
KK1-0043-A.mp3 audio/mpeg 4.31 MB 00:04:43.62
KK1-0043-A.wav audio/vnd.wav 156 MB 00:04:43.57
3 files -- 160 MB -- --

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Collection Information
Collection ID KK1
Collection title Kachin folktales told in Jinghpaw
Description Recordings of Kachin folktales and related narratives in Jinghpaw. These materials were collected by Keita Kurabe, Gumtung Lu Awng, Sumdu Ja Seng Roi, Hpauhkum Htu Bu, Labang Tu La, Gumtung Htu Nan, and Lashi Seng Nan as part of community-based collaborative fieldwork in northern Myanmar. A total of 2,491 stories with 2,481 ELAN files, 2,481 transcriptions, and 1,369 translations are currently available (March 25, 2024). Transcriptions were contributed by Gumtung Lu Awng, Pausa La Ring, Galang Lu Hkawng, Sumdu Ja Seng Roi, Hpauhkum Htu Bu, and Keita Kurabe. Stories were translated by Nbanpa Rita Seng Mai, Sumlut Gun Mai, Lazing Htoi San, Maran Seng Pan, Dumdaw Mike Tu Awng, Nhkum Htoi Awng, and Keita Kurabe.

Animated stories are available at:

https://catalog.paradisec.org.au/collections/KK3
https://www.youtube.com/@kachinfolktales
https://www.facebook.com/KachinStories

Other Kachin culture and history are available at:

https://catalog.paradisec.org.au/collections/KK2

Our research was made possible under the support of JSPS KAKENHI Grant Number JP17H04523, JP20K13024, JP20H01256, Linguistic Dynamics Science 3 (LingDy3) from Research Institute for Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa (ILCAA), Tokyo University of Foreign Studies (TUFS), and JSPS Program for Advancing Strategic International Networks to Accelerate the Circulation of Talented Researchers "A collaborative network for usage-based research on lesser-studied languages."
Countries To view related information on a country, click its name
Languages To view related information on a language, click its name
Access Information
Edit access Nick Thieberger
Keita Kurabe
View/Download access
Data access conditions Open (subject to agreeing to PDSC access conditions)
Data access narrative
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