Item details
Item ID
KK1-0163
Title Nhkum Tu Yau hte wa ndu (The hunter Nhkum Tu Yau and the wild boar) with English translation
Description Translation (Rita Seng Mai)
I am going to tell you about Nhkum Tu Yau and the boar. The name of the diviner was Nung wa Pung Hkoi. Remember the name. When Kachin people divined the future, they used small bamboos or vaginant leaves. In Nung wa Pung Hkoi's time, he used the stones to divine the future. Everything he divined was right. Nhkum Tu Yau was a hunter. He hunted the animals with his gun. One day, he could hunt a boar. He wanted to test Nung wa Pung Hkoi because he was very famous. So, he cut one side of pig ear. And he put some leaves on the boar without noticing the boar was dead or not. And he went to Nung wa Pung Hkoi. But he didn't show him the boar's ear. He told Nung wa Pung Hkoi, "Today I could catch a boar. Can you divine whether we could eat the boar or not?" Then, he divined whether Nhkum Tu Yau got the boar or not. When he divined, he found out that Nhkum Tu Yau couldn't catch the boar. Tsanang Gam refers to the boar. And he said, "The boar has resurrected, and Nhkum Tu Yau is upset." Then, Nhkum Tu Yau showed him the boar's ear and mocked him, "Your divining is totally wrong. See!" Nung wa Pung Hkoi was embarrassed and threw his stones hard to the floor. The stones were broken into pieces. Some stones hit the vaginant leaves while some stones hit the small bamboos. Numg wa Pung Hkoi was embarrassed and couldn't even show his face. Nhkum Tu Yau called his friends and told them, "Let's go and carry the boar I got today!" When they arrived there, there was no boar. It was because he covered the boar with the resurrection plants. There might be the resurrection plants in the past. Since he covered the boar with those plants, it was alive and ran away. Since then, we don't use stones for divining. We use the small bamboo or the vaginant leaves for divining. I will tell another story along with this one.

The boar had run away. In our Kachin language, there is a word called 'Mai Byit'. An animal had shot down, but it was alive and ran away. The hunter still needed to chase it. That kind of animal is called 'Mai Byit' in Kachin. Nhkum Tu Yau knew, "The boar would be in pain and couldn't run far away. It would be somewhere near here." He searched for the injured boar. He arrived the sun land while he was searching for it. He asked people from the sun land, "Has the injured boar arrived here?" They told him, "You are the culprit who hurt our boar!" In fact, the boar was from the sun land. Then, they arrested him. And they took Nhkum Tu Yau to the chief of the sun land. The chief told them, "Don't kill Nhkum Tu Yau. Send him back to the earth. Give him a girl from the sun land." Then, they let him marry a girl from the sun land and sent him back to the earth. And they also gave him a pig. They told Nhkum Tu Yau and his wife, "Raise this pig. Let's eat it when we come to the earth." Then, he went back to his house and lived happily while raising the pig. Do you know 'shalip'? It's a cockroach. It is red and can fly. There are cockroaches in every house. The buffalo saw it and asked it, "Why do you have a beautiful red colour on your body?" It replied, "It's because I eat the pig fat. I have a beautiful red colour on my body because I eat the fat." The bird resting on the roof heard them saying.

Nhkum Tu Yau covered the pig with the leaves. He didn't know what kind of leaves that were. When he arrived the sun land, he got a wife and a pig. The chiefs from the sun land gave him a blessing too. They told him, "Since you have touched the reincarnated leaves, you will be blessed. Whoever you touch, their pain will be eased. You can ease the leg and hand sprain." Kachin people believe that the pain can be eased if people from Nhkum clan gave massage. My wife belongs to Nhkum clan. When someone has a leg sprain or hand sprain, people let people from Nhkum clan give massage to him or her. It was because people from Nhkum clan had touched the reincarnated flowers in the past. So, they could ease the pain. There were a cockroach and a buffalo there. And there was a dove on the roof near them. I told you about the cockroach first, but now I will tell you about the buffalo. The buffalo was big and fat, so it looked beautiful. Then, the cockroach asked it, "Why are you so big and fat? Why do you have a nice body?" There was eggplant grass in the forest. Animals ate that grass. We make brooms with that too. The eggplant grass is delicious for the animals. People also like eating them because they are sweet. The buffalo said, "It's because I eat those eggplant grass." And it asked the cockroach, "What about you? Why do you have such a beautiful colour?" The cockroach said, "It's because I eat the pig fat." The dove heard their conversation. It flew to the sun land and said, "My lord, Nhkum Tu Yau killed the pig you gave him." The chief was annoyed and said, "We gave him to raise it, not to eat. I told him that we would eat the pig when we come to the earth." The chief called his daughter, Nhkum Tu Yau's wife, and asked what had happened. She said, "My parents, we didn't eat it. We are raising it." They were asking for the reasons in the story that I told you yesterday. But now they were not asking for the reason. They were asking who would take the responsibility. The chief asked the dove first. Since his daughter said that the pig was still alive, they were finding who said a lie. They saw a big bird in the jungle and asked it, "Is it you who said a lie?" It said, "No, it's not me." After that, they saw the dove and asked it, "Is it you who said a lie?" The dove confessed, "Yes, it's me. I eavesdropped on the cockroach and the buffalo. Maybe I misheard their conversation. The cockroach said it had a beautiful red colour because it ate the pig fat. So, I thought Nhkum Tu Yau and she might kill the pig that you gave. So, I told you about it." Then, now...

Nhkum Tu Yau and his wife were still raising the pig. So, they were released. The chief told them, "Now, go back to the earth and raise the pig well. When you arrive there, set up four posts for a nat shrine. When we offer birds or chickens to nats, we usually set up one post. Set up four posts, make a shrine and build a ladder. You can offer things to us there." We offer things to upper nats at the shrine with four posts since then. Since then, we have a ritual of offering nats.

Transcription (La Ring)
Ya nang hpe ngai Nhkum Tu Yau hte wa ndu ngu ai a mying aw nre labau maumwi hkai dan na re. E ningwawt kaba Nung wa Pung Hkoi ngu ai mying re shi na Nung wa Pung Hkoi ngu gaw ningwawt kaba wa na mying. Dai ma nang matsing da u Nung wa Pung Hkoi. Rai jang gaw ndai Jinghpaw ni ningwawt wawt ai ngu gaw ya prat hta gaw kahtan kawa kapaw ai rai na shaba lap hpe ashin nna makyit nna wawt ai. Moi prat gaw Nung wa Pung Hkoi a prat hta gaw shi gaw machyu lungdin dai hte she galaw ai. Ndai um dai hte galaw re shaloi gaw shi wawt ai gaw yawng jaw ai chyu chyu rai sai. Yawng jaw ai rai jang she lani mi gaw ndai Nhkum Tu Yau ngu ai wa gaw shi gaw mukhkyu kaba. E ndai sinat hte shan gyam ai mukhkyu kaba le i. Dai wa she wa du langai lu gap ai shi gaw. Wa du langai mi gap rai na she ndai Nung wa Pung Hkoi gaw grai gumhkawng ai majaw shi na ga teng ai nteng ai shi gaw chyam yu mayu ai. Chyam yu mayu jang she wa du kaw na she na hpe kadoi la ai shi gaw. Na hpe kadoi la nna she wa du gaw si sai le dai kaw si nsi hkrung nhkrung re kun gaw nchye ai le. Rai na she namlap hte magap da. Namlap hte magap da rai jang she ndai wa na hpe gaw Nung wa Pung Hkoi hpe gaw nmadun sai. Rai yang gaw "Gai ningwawt kaba Pung Hkoi e daini ngai wa ndu langai mi gap ai wa anhte lu sha na kun nlu sha na kun wawt yu u" ngu hku rai nga. "Nang ningwawt wawt yu u" ngu jang she dai wa mung dai machyu lungdin hpe dai hku na kawut wawt dat jang she e gara hku na wawt lu ai i nga jang gaw ndai shi gaw ndai hku tsun ai "E daini wawt ai gaw tsanang gam wa ndu prawn a Nhkum Tu Yau yawn a" ngu ai mahtai lu ai ngu ai. Lachyum gaw ndai tsanang gam ngu ai gaw wa ndu hpe tsun ai ndai shi na ningwawt ga hte tsun ai le i. "Wa ndu gaw prawn mat prawn ai ngu gaw yaw si kaw na hkrung mat wa sai. "Shi gaw hkrung na hprawng mat wa sai Nhkum Tu Yau gaw grai yawn na re ngu na dai mahtai lu ai" ngu tsun jang she "E na na gaw ningwawt gaw hpoi sai nang yu u wa na nang si sai" ngu na she dai shaloi she Nung wa Pung Hkoi gaw grai gaya mat. Gaya mat nna shi ndai e machyu lungdin hpe abyen kabai kau ai shaloi gaw miyet tsun ai hpa dai hkyep ni gaw dai kawa kaw hkra e kahtan kaw hkra shaba lap kaw hkra. Re majaw dai hkyep a hkra ai hpe she ya du hkra gaw dai hku na lang ai re nga ai i. Rai jang gaw e Nung wa Pung Hkoi a ga shi gaw gaya na dai hku di kau rai jang she sa yu ai hku rai nga shi gaw. Manaw manang ni hpe e "E ngai mani gap lu ai wa ndu hpya sha saga" ngu sa yu yang gaw kanang na wa ndu gaw hprawng mat wa sai. Hpa majaw shi e shi magap dat ai gaw moi ni dusat dumyeng ni yawng mi sha shama ai mi anga tim dai gaw tsi hkrung tsi nan ngu gaw shawng nnga dawng i. Dai ten hta ngam mung ngam na re kaga mung rai yang rai na le. Ndai tsi hkrung tsi nan lap hte magap hkrup kau dat ai shi gaw. Rai jang wa ndu gaw dai hku nna e hkrung di prawn mat wa ai da. Hkrung mat wa nna she ndai dai kaw nna ndai anhte na machyu lungdin ma nnga mat sai. Kahtan hte e shaba lap kaw na e wawt ai hku re. Re gaw de a matut ai maumwi bai hkai gaw.

Rai yang gaw wa ndu dai gaw hprawng mat sai le i. Hprawng mat timung ndai Jinghpaw ga gaw maibyit ngu ai nga ai. Maibyit gaw sinat hte gap hkra sai dusat dumyeng langai ngai dai hkrung ai hkrung gaw hkrung timung e nlu naw shachyut sha ra ai le i. Maibyit ngu gaw sinat pala hkra sai dusat dumyeng langai ngai hpe tsun ai. Rai yang gaw Nhkum Tu Yau gaw "Umm ndai ram ngai gap ai gaw ya shara mi kaw gaw ndai wa ndu ndai gaw nga na re" ngu na shi gaw hkan nna hkan sa tam ai le wa ndu hpe. Hkan sa tam re shaloi gaw htaw ra jan sha ni nga ai shara de du mat wa ai. Nat ga de pyi tam ai ga rai nga nat ga nraitim shanhte hte hkrum ai re shaloi gaw a dai kaw na jan sha ni hpe san. "Nang nang de wa ndu maibyit nmu i" ngu san ai shaloi gaw wora ni tsun sai gaw "Aw anhte na wa gap jahpye ai gaw nang she re hka i" ngu na shi hpe rim la kau ai hku nga. Shi gaw nat wa re ga rai nga dai mung "Aw nang she re hka gaw anhte na wa hpye ai ngu yang gaw" ngu na bai shi hpe rim la kau nna she htaw jan sha ni ga de rim la jan salang ni hpang de sa ap kau ai hku rai nga ndai Nhkum Tu Yau ngu ai mukhkyu la wa hpe gaw. Re shaloi gaw wora kaw na jan sha ni gaw atsawm sha bai myit yu re shaloi gaw "E ndai Nhkum Tu Yau hpe gaw e hkum sat mu. Shinggyim mungkan ga de nga nna mayat maya nna nga u ga shayi sha chyawm me jaw dat mu" ngu na shayi sha langai mi shi hpe Nhkum Tu Yau hpe jaw dat ai. Rai na wa langai mi bai jaw dat ai. "Nanhte rem mu yaw ya hpang de anhte nanhte hpe sa gawan ai shaloi she sat sha na re" ngu da. E dai hku na Nhkum Tu Yau gaw dai shayi sha ma lu sai le i e wa rem na nang de bai wa rai na nga ai da. Re shaloi she e lani mi she nta langai mi kaw ndai shalip ngu ai chye ai i? Shalip le ndai tsit tsit re grai nga ai le shalip le um cockroaches le. E dai wa she shalip la shi gaw grai tu kabrim ai le shi gaw ahkyeng le i pyen ma pyen chye ai le dai yawng kaw nga ai le nta shagu shalip nnga ai gaw nnga ai le. E dai wa hpe she e dumsu wa she dai hpe mu rai jang gaw "Ga nang gaw hpa rai na dai daram ram tu tsawm kabrim nta" ngu tsun ai shaloi gaw "E ndai wa la sau tawng sha nna re" ngu tsun ai da. Shi gaw "Dai ram ram kabrim tsawm ai gaw wa la sau tawng sha na ngai kabrim tsawm taw ai re" ngu. Dai gaw hpe she wo numgaw kaw dung nga ai u na ai hku rai nga.

E miyet tsun ai hte maren le i e Nhkum Tu Yau gaw wa ndu hpe e tsi lap hte magap da ai le i. Hpabaw re gaw shi gaw nchye sai re re majaw gaw shi gaw wo de du ai shaloi miyet tsun sai kasha jaw dat ai. Rai na she wa langai mi jaw dat ai. Rai jang gaw mahtum mahta ni gaw gara hku bai tsun ai i nga jang dai jan sha ni gaw "E nanhte nhkum amyu ni gaw tsi hkrung tsi nan jum yu sai amyu re dai majaw gaw ya htawm hpang e nanhte e masawp ai ni magra ai ni gaw e hpabaw raitim mung mai tsai wa na ra ai. Law malawng gaw gayaw ai kashin ai i daini rai jang nanhte masawp magra jang gaw mai tsai wa na re" ngu na shaman ga ma tsun ya dat ai. Dai majaw daini anhte Jinghpaw ni gaw nhkum amyu ni e manat jang gaw mai ai ngu ai anhte na i makam nga ai. Ga shadawn nga yang nang ngai na gumgai gaw nhkum amyu rai nga. Rai yang gaw gayaw kashin lagaw machyi jang gaw moi de gaw nhkum amyu ni hpe manat shangun ai. Hpa majaw nga yang tsi hkrung tsi nan jum yu sai lata shanhte gaw e de a majaw dai hku manat shangun ai da. Rai jang she miyet tsun sai hte maren ndai shalip la hte nga langai mi i dai kaw hkrum taw nga dai nta makau kaw htaw ninggaw de hkrudu langai dung taw nga. Rai jang she miyet gaw ngai shalip hpe shawng tsun ai ya gaw ndai nga hpe shawng san ai hku rai nga. Nga gaw grai hpum tsawm ai da. Grai hpum tsawm nna she shalip gaw "Nang gaw dai daram ram hpum tsawm ai gaw hpabaw sha nna hpum tsawm nta" ngu yang gaw nga gaw "E ngai gaw" ndai kasen kinla ngu ai gaw ndai nang kaw kasen kinla ngu ai nam e tu ai baw dusat dumyeng ni sha ai hpan le i e dai ga shadawn gaw ya anhte dun ye galaw ai dai mung kinla hpun kaw na rai nga ai. Dai zawn re makru ni le kasen makru kinla makru ngu gaw sha yang grai mu ai le. Dusat na matu le i. Shinggyim masha ni pyi daw sha majoi mi sha majoi gawa chyai yang grai sau ai le. "E dai zawn zawn rai na dai sha nna ngai gaw hpum ai rai nngai" nga jang she bai dai kaw na nga gaw shi hpe bai san sai. "Taw nang gaw dai ram ram" miyet na shalip hpe le i "Nang gaw dai ram ram pri ten tu tsawm ai gaw hpa majaw" ngu. "Ah ngai gaw wa la sau tawng sha ai majaw ngai gaw tu tsawm ai re" nga tsun jang wo nang ninggaw kaw nga ai ashe wa she u hkrudu she na sai gaw. Na na she wo jan ga de mahtum mahta ga de sa nna she "E nanhte Nhkum Tu Yau hpe jaw dat ai wa hpe gaw shanhte sat sha kau manu ai da" nga na shawk dat ai le. Dan rai shawk dat rai yang gaw wora ni mung e "Ga anhte yu yang she sat sha mu ngu na rem shangun ai wa nang dai mi asat sha ai gaw" ngu na she kasha hpe bai sa woi la nna she kasha hpe san yu ai. "E nu ni wa ni e an nsat sha ga ai naw nga ai" ngu jang she miyet na i mani hkai ai maumwi kaw hpa majaw i why le i kadai ya na lang gaw why nrai sa. "Kadai i kadai lit nga ai" ngu jang gaw nambat langai gaw ndai e uhkru hpe i shawng san ai le. Nambat langai gaw ndai kasha gaw "An nsat sha ai rem da ai" nga ai le i. Rai jang gaw "Anhte hpe dai hku masu tsun ai gaw kadai" ngu na gawn wa ai ga rai nga. Shi gawn wa ai shaloi gaw u gum ngu gaw u kaba re grai kaba ai. Dai u gum hpe shawng san ai gaw "Ning ja jum nam nga u gum nang nrai nni" ngu san ai shaloi gaw "Ngai nre nanhte hpe tsun ai ngai nre" bai ngu yang gaw e rai yang gaw u hkru hpe bai mu nna san yang gaw "Ning ja bu nam nga u hkru nang nrai ni" ngu shaloi gaw u hkru gaw hkam la sai. "Ngai rai nngai" ndai nga ngahpaw miyet gaw nga wuloi ngu ai le i ngahpaw nga wuloi mi ngu tim maren sha re le. "Nga hte e ndai shalip la i ga shaga ai hpe na nna ngai na shut la nna le i ndai sau tawng sha ai nga re majaw gaw dai nanhte jaw dat ai wa sat sha nna sau tawng sha di na tsawm ai ngu hku na ngai na nna dai hku na nanhte hpe tak nna i sat sha kau ang sai ngu na nanhte hpe sa shawk ai re" ngu tsun ai da. Dai re shaloi gaw ya...

Rai yang gaw Nhkum Tu Yau hte ndai jan shayi sha gaw wa hpe naw rem da ai le i. Rem da ai hpe teng sai dai majaw gaw mara dat ya ai. Raitim ga langai mi htet dat ai gaw "E dai rai yang gaw nan lahkawng mungkan ga de bai yu wa masu. Dai wa hpe atsawm sha rem da mu. Dai shaloi gaw anhte du sa ai shaloi gaw nan hkungri nat hkungri galaw nna dai kaw gaw shadaw mali" nat hkungri gaw ndai u sha sat ai hkungri gaw shadaw langai sha re gaw. Shadaw pyi nre law hpun hpe langai sha jun na tingra kaw she ndai pinra galaw nna dai jaw ai. "Ya nan sa ai shaloi gaw shadaw mali jung mu. Dai kaw pinra galaw rai na she dai kaw lakang ma htan mu i anhte hpe jaw jau ai shaloi" ngu di htet dat ai. Dai majaw ya du hkra gaw ndai jan nat i jan nat jaw ai shaloi lamu nat htaw ra madai nat lamu nat jan nat jaw ai shaloi gaw ndai ashe ndai lahkawng le wora shadaw mali jung ai le e dai hku na shadaw mali jung nna nat jaw ai. E dai kaw nna e ndai nat jaw ai lam gaw dai kaw nna e hpang wa ai re.

Origination date 2016-12-22
Origination date free form
Archive link https://catalog.paradisec.org.au/repository/KK1/0163
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
W. Awng : speaker
DOI 10.4225/72/598891375de69
Cite as Keita Kurabe (collector), Keita Kurabe (depositor), W. Awng (speaker), 2016. Nhkum Tu Yau hte wa ndu (The hunter Nhkum Tu Yau and the wild boar) with English translation. EAF+XML/MPEG/VND.WAV. KK1-0163 at catalog.paradisec.org.au. https://dx.doi.org/10.4225/72/598891375de69
Content Files (12)
Filename Type File size Duration File access
KK1-0163-A.eaf application/eaf+xml 25.4 KB
KK1-0163-A.mp3 audio/mpeg 4.03 MB 00:04:24.699
KK1-0163-A.wav audio/vnd.wav 146 MB 00:04:24.677
KK1-0163-B.eaf application/eaf+xml 21 KB
KK1-0163-B.mp3 audio/mpeg 3.28 MB 00:03:35.248
KK1-0163-B.wav audio/vnd.wav 118 MB 00:03:35.223
KK1-0163-B2.mp3 audio/mpeg 5.08 MB 00:05:32.538
KK1-0163-B2.wav audio/vnd.wav 183 MB 00:05:32.524
KK1-0163-C.eaf application/eaf+xml 32.8 KB
KK1-0163-D.eaf application/eaf+xml 10 KB
KK1-0163-D.mp3 audio/mpeg 1.33 MB 00:01:27.352
KK1-0163-D.wav audio/vnd.wav 48.2 MB 00:01:27.341
12 files -- 509 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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