Item details
Item ID
KK1-0604
Title Bu hkawm la a lam (The merchant killed by spirits) with English translation
Description Translation (Htoi Awng)
The story is about two travelling merchants. Once upon a time, there were two brothers-in-law in a town. And they were merchants. They went somewhere to trade things. And they were coming back home now. It was getting dark on the way. So, a man from wife's side (mayu) said, "Let's sleep at a cemetery!" Then, another man from husband's side (dama) said, "No, let's sleep at a house. It could make us feel safe." They didn't agree with each other. So, they slept separately. One slept at the house while another slept at a cemetery. At night, Nat spirits came to the house. They were dancing noisily. The man from the husband's side (dama) was frightened and hid behind a pole. But, Nat spirits saw him and dragged him down. They dragged him and danced the whole night. The next morning when they were about to go back to their place, they beat him up to death and put him up straight in front of the pole. Then, the man from the wife's side (mayu) came to him and said, "My brother-in-law, let's go!" He saw his brother-in-law standing up straight. He was scared and kept going without waiting for him. But, his brother-in-law followed him in a stumbling way. At one place, his brother-in-law could catch him up. In the past, trees could speak too. When his brother-in-law caught him up, he quickly climbed up a tree. His brother-in-law (dama) also wanted to climb the tree, so he was scratching the tree so hard. But he couldn't climb the tree. The next morning, the man on the tree wanted to climb down and was waiting for the time when his brother-in-law was in lower guard. When his brother-in-law under the tree was a bit off guard, he quickly climbed down from the tree and kept going. On his way, he told every tree he saw, "Don't tell anyone that I passed this way." He said like that to every tree on his way. And he kept going. Then, he reached his house. He said the same to trees in his compound, "Don't tell anyone that I came here." Then, he went inside the house. But, he forgot to tell a tree from the rear of his house. When his brother-in-law (dama) arrived there, that tree said, "Cold, not warm! Cold, not warm!" So, the brother-in-law went inside the house and searched the cold feet in the middle of people sleeping. He found his cold legs and dragged him out. And he killed him. Actually, the brother-in-law had turned into an evil spirit. What people are afraid of at night is him walking around the places and catching people.

Trancription (Lu Awng)
Bu hkawm ai hpaga la yen a lam. Dai moi shawng de da hkan hkau ni mayu dama hpaga ga ai da. Dai wa she hpaga ga sa mat wa na hkawm hkrai hkawm sa mat wa re yang jan du re jang she hpaga ga na jan du mat jang she dama wa gaw nta hpungkraw kaw yup ga le ngu, mayu la wa gaw lup wa kaw yup ga le ngu re yang she e hkau e lupwa kaw yup jang gaw hkrit ai, nta hpungkraw kaw yup jang alum ala nga ai ngu na she dama la gaw nta hpungkraw kaw wa yup, mayu la wa gaw lup wa kaw wa yup re she shana wa she dai dama la wa a lup nat ni sa wa sai da. Nat ni shana ting ting gung sa dum na nga she i mun tu ai yu, mun ntu ai shan nga ngu na she dai dama la wa hto rap ding ntsa kaw lung dung mat tim mun ntu ai nga ai shan nga ai ngu na garawt jahkrat la na she shana ting htawng ka woi ka da, htawng ka woi ka she ka hkrai ka she hpang jahpawt gaw shanhte nat ni nta de wa mat na re shaloi re jang gaw chyinghka lam kaw she chyinghka lam kaw wa ning di gayet sat kau na ning di bai gayet na shatsap kau da, abaw gaw pye pye re hka bai sha tsap kau da da. Dan re jang she ndai mayu la wa gaw e hkau sa le taw sa hkawm mat wa ka le e hkau sa le taw hkawm ga le nga jang ding ding tsap nga da, dan na gaw kahkau wa gaw hkrit na she bai hkawm mat wa re she hkawm mat wa re jang she retim shi gaw baw pye pye re na gaw kanga she kanga nang da, retim shi mayu la wa gaw hkrit na gan she gan mat wa tim oh shara mi kaw gaw dep wa sai da. Dai ten hta ahpun ni mung ga naw chye shaga re nga she dep wa re jang she hpun ntsa de bai lung mat da. Lung mat yang she ya jan du na hpun ntsa lung dung na yup nga she dai dama la wa gaw le hpun pawt kaw na she lung mayu na mahkyit she mahkyit da. Mahkyi she mahkyit tim nlu lung yang hpang e nhtoi bai htoi mat jang dai dama la wa gaw bai mayut hkrat wa na she oh ra mayu la wa bai mayut hkrat wa na dama la wa loi mi yen jang shi gaw bai gan sai da. Gan re na na yang she ndai gan hkrai gan mat wa she ndai nta re ndu lu yang gaw ahpun ni hkan e mung hpun du ni hkan e mung ngai lai wa ai ngu na hkum tsun yaw ngu na tsun kau da na gan mat wa. Shi lu tsun ai ni gaw nlai ai bai ngu kau re yang she jahkring mi gan lai mat wa gara kaw mung shi gan na wa she bai tsun kau da, langai mi bai tsun kau da nlai ai ngu bai tsun da she gan hkrai gan na bai wa re yang she hto nta makau kaw du mat wa. Nta makau kaw du mat, nta makau hkan na hpun ni tsun re she dai hpulum htu gaw dai ni e mung hpun ni tsun dan re she dai mayu la wa gaw hpulum htu e gaw hpun nu tsun da, dai kaw ashan lai wa sai ngu bai tsun yang she ndai nta nbang kaw na htum kaw sha she ngai e hkum tsun yaw ngu na bai ntsun da kau ai da. Dan jang she hpulum htu gaw n lum ntsi nlum ntsi ngu na she dai wa nta du jang masha grai yup taw nga ai kaw she nlum ntsi ngu na shang masawp hkawm yu yang she katsi ai wa dama la wa e she garawt shaw la na she le htum de bai sa abyen sat kau da. Abyen sat kau jang she ya ndai anhte ni shana nsin sin jang grai hkrit ai manga gaw dama la wa manga tai na nyar hkawm mat wa wa re re da.
Origination date 2017-02-09
Origination date free form
Archive link https://catalog.paradisec.org.au/repository/KK1/0604
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
M. Bawk : speaker
DOI 10.4225/72/5989e1b020875
Cite as Keita Kurabe (collector), Keita Kurabe (depositor), M. Bawk (speaker), 2017. Bu hkawm la a lam (The merchant killed by spirits) with English translation. EAF+XML/MPEG/VND.WAV. KK1-0604 at catalog.paradisec.org.au. https://dx.doi.org/10.4225/72/5989e1b020875
Content Files (3)
Filename Type File size Duration File access
KK1-0604-A.eaf application/eaf+xml 16.2 KB
KK1-0604-A.mp3 audio/mpeg 3.73 MB 00:04:04.975
KK1-0604-A.wav audio/vnd.wav 135 MB 00:04:04.967
3 files -- 139 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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