Item details
Item ID
KK1-0048
Title Shata jan sakse tai ai lam (The moon being a witness) with English translation
Description Translation (Rita Seng Mai)
The title of the story is 'A moon being a witness'. Once upon a time, there were two traders in a village. They earned lots of money every time they traded things. Their wives were united. One day, they went to another place to trade goods. As expected, they could earn a lot of money. On their way back home, one friend said, "My friend, let's go around the mountain. Let's visit there." Then, another friend agreed to do that. They went there and had fun at the base of the mountain. At night, one man told his friend, "My friend, I will shoot you with this gun. I will kill you." Then, the other one said, "Don't kill me, please. Let's have a witness for us." Then, the first man said, "Where can we find the witness? You find him or her!" The one who would get killed said, "Then, let the moon be our witness. Now, it's up to you. Kill me or not." He killed his friend and took his friend's money. He hid some money there and took some to his house. He went back to his house and lived there with his family. Although he had been living there for a long time, his friend was not coming back. So, his friend's family worried about his friend. His friend's wife came to him and asked him, "Where is my husband who went to the other place with you?" He lied to her, "How can I know? We separated the ways. He went to the other place while I was going to another place to trade goods. I don't see him since then." The woman was devastated and trying to find her husband. But she couldn't find him. One day, the man, who killed his friend, got married. The newlywed was visiting the places on their honeymoon. While they were going out under the moonlight, he was laughing and told his wife, "You know, I really want to laugh when the moon is shining." His wife wondered, "Why do you want to laugh at the moon? Tell me." He said, "No, I can't tell you." She was pouting and said, "There is no way that you can't tell me about it. You don't want to tell me because you don't love me." He was smiling and said, "Of course I love you. But I can't tell you about it." She coerced him, "If you don't tell me about that, I will go back to my parent's house." In the end, he had no choice but to tell. He told her, "In the past, I had a friend who went trading with me together. I killed him. Before I had killed him, he told me that the moon would be the witness. The moon can't speak at all and is not a human! How can it be a witness? That's why I want to laugh when the moon is shining." His wife said about it to the neighbours. She said, "My husband did that kind of action to his friend in the past. He told me that he wanted to laugh at the moon. I was so surprised." The wife told her neighbours about her husband. Then, the victim's wife heard about it and reported him to the police. The police arrested him and inspected him. He confessed, "Yes, I killed my friend. I threw his body into the deep ravine." The police kept all of his belongings after they had arrested him. And they gave those things to the victim's family. The man, who killed his friend, was sentenced to many years in jail. The truth is always revealed one day. I would like to end the story here by saying, "The truth is always revealed."

Transcription (La Ring)
Sakse tai ai lam shata jan sakse tai ai lam dai ga baw dai rai sai. Moi shawng de kahtawng langai mi kaw la marai lahkawng gaw hpaga ga ai. Shan a hpaga gaw grai sa shagu grai awng ai. Shan a madu jan ni dinghku hta mung grai grung ai. Bai kalang mi bai rawt nna sa mat wa ai shan lahkawng. Hpaga sa awng ai hpaga ga na grai lu ai ja gumhpraw grai lu wa ai shaloi gaw manang wa langai mi gaw "E daina gaw an lahkawng gaw htaw lam hkan bum hkawng hkan e an gaw sa dam chyai ga manang wa" ngu ai da shaloi she "Mai ai le sa hkawm chyai ga le" ngu. Shaloi gaw manang wa hte shan lahkawng gaw lahkawng yen htaw bum kawng langai mi kaw e shan gaw sa dam nga sa chyai nga. Shaloi gaw manang wa gaw tsun ai da "E hkau daina gaw nang hpe ngai ndai sinat hte sha nang hpe ngai shangut na ngu na ngai dai hku myit ai" ngu na dai hku tsun ai da. Shaloi she "E hkau ngai hpe rai hkum sat shi sinat hkum gap shi. An a lapran na sakse langai mi tam da ga" ngu tsun ai da. Shaloi she "Gara kaw na sakse tam na ta e tam yu u le" ngu ai da. Shaloi ndai si na wa gaw shi tsun da ai da "E an lahkawng na sakse gaw ndai shata jan she rai u ga yaw" ngu na tsun da ai da. "Dai rai jang gaw na myit sha rai sai gap yang gap" ngu. Dai shaloi shi gaw dai kaw manang wa hpe gap sat kau nna dai lu ai ja gumhpraw ma hkra gaw shi gaw nkau gaw tawn kau da naw ngam kau da. Nkau gaw nta de la nna wa. Shi grai na hkra wa nga ai raitim mung manang wa gaw npru wa jang manang wa na e madu jan ni jinghku jingyu ni gaw shi hpe sa san ai da. "Taw nang hte rau sa ai na manang wa gaw kanang de re ta" ngu "E an kaga ga she hkawm ai dai majaw ngai nchye sa. Shi kaga lam hkawm ai ngai kaga hpaga ga ai re majaw an gaw nmu hkat sai" ngu tsun ai da. Aw dai rai yang gaw shanhte gaw grai tam ai nchye tam ai. Shaloi she ndai sinat gap ai la kasha gaw lani mi hta shi gaw num la. Num la nna dai num hte shan gaw dinghku de nna e wam hkawm ai da. Shata jan mai ai hpang mai rai na wam hkawm ai shaloi gaw la wa gaw ndai hku tsun ai da "Yi ngai grai mani mayu ai ndai shata jan htoi yang" ngu ai da. Shaloi ndai num jan gaw "Hpa majaw mani mayu ai ngai hpe tsun dan u le" ngu tsun ai da. "E tsun dan nmai ai" ngu tsun ai da. "Ah tsun dan nmai ai gaw kanang mai na nang ngai hpe ntsawra ai ga re. Nang tsawra yang ndai ngai hpe tsun dan na rai nga. Nang ngai hpe ntsawra ai majaw dai shata jan mai ai lam ngai hpe ntsun dan ai" ngu. "Tsawra ai law raitim ndai tsun dan nmai ai baw re" ngu da. "E she tsun dan u dai nrai yang ngai gaw nye kanu kawa mayu ni nta wa mat na re she tsun dan yu rit" ngu da. Dai shaloi gaw shi gaw tsun dan sai da "An lahkawng moi hpaga ga ai aten hta e manang wa langai mi hpe ngai sat na ngu galaw ai shaloi an a sakse gaw ndai shata jan rai u ga yaw nga ndai tsun da ai.Shata jan gaw hpa ga mung nchye shaga hkrung ai mung nrai hpe shi gaw dai hku ngai hpe tsun da ai majaw ngai gaw grai mani mayu ai ndai shata jan htoi shagu ngai grai mani mayu ai" ngu tsun dan ai da. Dai shaloi gaw ndai num jan gaw dai madat la nna she wo htawra htingbu ni hpe tsun dan wora htingbu ni hpe tsun dan "Moi shanhte hpaga ga ai shaloi dai hku byin ai da anhte dingla wa gaw dai hku hku shata jan hpe grai mani mayu ai nga majaw ngai gaw grai na mau ai" ngu na manang ni hpe tsun dan ai da. Shaloi gaw dai manang wa langai mi hpe shi sat kau ai dai ni gaw na na she shanhte gaw atsuya rung shawk nna shi hpe sa rim nna san yu shaloi gaw kaja wa shi sat kau ai. Sat na shi gaw le grai tsan ai krung de shi gaw sat bang kau ai majaw gaw kadai mung nmu ai shinggyim masha kadai mung nmu ai. Grai krung hkaraw de shi gaw sat bang kau ai da. Dai shaloi gaw ndai atsuya ni rim ai hte gaw atsuya ni hku na shan nu wa ni lu ai rai ni yawng la yawng magawn la nna ndai sat kau hkrum ai yen nu wa ni hpe e yawng shanhte dum nta kaw nga manga ma hkra dai hku ru hka jaw kau ai da. Dai rai nna shan la mung dai hku madu wa gaw htawng rawng mat shi gaw dai hku nga mat re ai da. Dai majaw ndai tsun nmai ai nga tim tengman ai lam gaw lani mi na aten gaw pru wa ai ngu ai hpe e ndai shata jan a lam hpe e ndai kaw tsun jahtum mayu ai hku re.
Origination date 2016-12-12
Origination date free form
Archive link https://catalog.paradisec.org.au/repository/KK1/0048
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
L. Chang Myaw : speaker
DOI 10.4225/72/59888f7b03af1
Cite as Keita Kurabe (collector), Keita Kurabe (depositor), L. Chang Myaw (speaker), 2016. Shata jan sakse tai ai lam (The moon being a witness) with English translation. EAF+XML/MPEG/VND.WAV. KK1-0048 at catalog.paradisec.org.au. https://dx.doi.org/10.4225/72/59888f7b03af1
Content Files (3)
Filename Type File size Duration File access
KK1-0048-A.eaf application/eaf+xml 31.9 KB
KK1-0048-A.mp3 audio/mpeg 5.41 MB 00:05:55.422
KK1-0048-A.wav audio/vnd.wav 195 MB 00:05:55.410
3 files -- 201 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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