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Item details
Item ID
KK1-1422
(Collection Details)
Title Hpaji rawng ai magwi (The Wise Young Elephant) with English translation
Description Translation (Htoi San)
Once upon a time, there was an elephant country. Only the male elephants could attend the school in that elephant kingdom. The female elephants were not allowed to attend school. People said, "The girls need to work the house chores and no need to be educated. It is fine for the girls just working at home and knowing how to cook." A young female elephant wanted to go to school very much. Her grandfather had many books and taught her at home as she could not go to school. She spent time reading her grandfather's books. One day, tigers from a tiger kingdom came to them and asked for quizzes. "We will ask a query. If you can answer it, we will never make you an enemy and never start a war between you and us. We will stay together in unity and happily from now on," said the tigers. When the tigers asked for a quiz, no one could answer from the elephant kingdom. Even though there were many educated ones, no one could say the answer. The query that the tiger king asked was, "Where is the middle of the world?" None knew where the middle of the world was. Then the elephant king announced to the whole country who could answer it. Unfortunately, no one knew the answer. But the young elephant said, "I will answer," and she went into the palace bravely. There were tigers in the palace, and the tiger leader said surprisingly, "This girl! Such a little female elephant. Even mature, educated adults could not answer our query. Are you answering the question?" The girl replied, "It is fine. I will answer." The tiger let the girl answer, "Okay then. Give your answer." The tiger questioned, "Where is the middle of the world?" The young female elephant pointed out with her trunk on the ground in front of her. She showed them the place in front of her and said, "Here is the place." The audiences were surprised as she pointed out a place. The tiger leader said, "Yes, it is correct." "There is no way to measure and mark the middle of the earth. So this place is right as we can't measure it." Thus the elephants awarded the girl with much gold and silver. In the end, the tigers and the elephants united, and female elephants were allowed to attend the school to study due to this young female elephant.

Transcription (La Ring)
Moi shawng e da dai lauban wa kaw gaw kasha masum lu ai da. Dai kasha masum gaw da i um kasha masum lu ai da. Ma Gam Ma Naw Ma La dai i masum lu ai shaloi she da i Ma Gam wa gaw da i Ma Gam dan re shannau ni masum hpe le i dan re hkauna ni yi sun hkauna ni shi gaw grai lauban ai re majaw "Hkauna ni garan jaw na" ngu na tsun ai da. Dai shaloi she dai shaloi she i lauban wa gaw da shan nau ni masum kaw na e grai i shi na ndai lauban dai shara kaw lu dung na matu "Grau hpaji rawng ai wa hpe i nye shara kaw dung shangun na" ngu dai hku tsun ai shaloi she i da shan nau ni masum hpe gumhpraw lap um moi na ten gaw grai manu dan ai i dai she lap hkying hkying jaw ai da. Dai shaloi she kahpu yan "Ndai gumhpraw hte nanhte kam ai hku galaw mu" ngu tsun ai shaloi she kahpu wa gaw da num la kau ai da. Kanau e aw Ma Gam wa gaw num la kau ai da. Ma Naw wa gaw da dan re i tsa seng ni hkan sa hpa ni i dai hku wa ayai kau ai da. Ma La bai rai yang gaw da shi gaw da i kawa jaw ai gumhpraw hte i kawa jaw ai gumhpraw hte da i namsi sun kaba langai mi mari kau ai da. Namsi sun kaba langai mi mari kau na shaning shagu shi gaw dai namsi sun hpe sha dai hku i grau namsi ni grau di na grau shi na i shi na i grau rawt jat wa na hku i dai hku grau rawt jat wa na hku galaw ai da. Dai hku galaw ai shaloi she da i kahpu ni gaw tsun ai da "Nang ndai namsi sun ndai sun galaw na nang gaw nhpa akyu lu na ma anhte na zawn zawn dan re gumhpraw lu nga ai aten hta ndai hku galaw kau u le" ngu tsun ai da. Dai shaloi she i um "Gumhpraw lu nga ai ten ndai hku galaw kau u le" ngu tsun jang "Dai gaw nmai byin ai da i ndai hku galaw da yang she i lama na anhte na gumhpraw gaw da i hkam ai ngu nnga ai da ndai hku galaw da yang she shaning na na lu sha ai" ngu dai hku tsun ai da. Dai hku tsun ai shaloi she kawa gaw dai lam hpe na na shi kasha hpe i dai Ma La wa hpe gaw i da dan re i shi na shara kaw dung shangun nna kahpu yan hpe gaw da kachyi chyi sha amwi [heritance] e dan re i sutgan ni kachyi chyi sha jaw ai da. Ngut sai.
Origination date 2017-02-21
Origination date free form
Archive link https://catalog.paradisec.org.au/repository/KK1/1422
URL
Collector
Keita Kurabe
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Countries
Myanmar - MM
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Language as given Jinghpaw
Subject language(s)
Jingpho - kac
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Content language(s)
Jingpho - kac
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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
N. Seng Nu Mai : speaker
DOI 10.4225/72/598b381d38218
Cite as Keita Kurabe (collector), Keita Kurabe (depositor), N. Seng Nu Mai (speaker), 2017. Hpaji rawng ai magwi (The Wise Young Elephant) with English translation. EAF+XML/MPEG/VND.WAV. KK1-1422 at catalog.paradisec.org.au. https://dx.doi.org/10.4225/72/598b381d38218
Content Files (3)
Filename Type File size Duration File access
KK1-1422-A.eaf application/eaf+xml 15.2 KB
KK1-1422-A.mp3 audio/mpeg 2.12 MB 00:02:19.311
KK1-1422-A.wav audio/vnd.wav 76.8 MB 00:02:19.281
3 files -- 78.9 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
Myanmar - MM
To view related information on a country, click its name
Languages
Jingpho - kac
To view related information on a language, click its name
Access Information
Edit access Nick Thieberger
Keita Kurabe
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Data access conditions Open (subject to agreeing to PDSC access conditions)
Data access narrative
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