Item details
Item ID
KK1-1572
Title Magwi kawng hpe na dan dan mayu (The elephant tusk) with English translation
Description Translation (Lydia Seng)
Long ago, animals also had their king. When the king ruled over all animals, the elephant was the king of all. So, as king of all, he married two women. After he married, the second wife had a bad heart. She always seemed negative despite everything was good. Then, one day, they walked over to the tree, and enjoyed themselves. Then the elephant king made a joke by shaking the tree. Unfortunately, on the back of the elephant king's second wife, many weaver ants fell. After that, a lot of weaver ants bit her back and she got hurt and screamed. As a result, she felt irritated in her heart. Then she went back home. As time passed, then, one day, the hunters’ group saw them. Afterward, they came for them, and they all ran away to escape. But the king elephant let his first wife run away ahead of them all. So, the first wife escaped from the hunters' hands, but the second wife was struck. After that, all the hunters slaughtered the elephant and the second wife died with angry heart. That’s why she immediately incarnated in the womb of the woman and became the queen. Even though she became a queen, she could not get rid of her anger. She still remembered the past of her elephant's life, and she was seeking information about whether the elephant king was still alive or dead. She instructed the military officers to obtain the information where the elephant king was. Finally, the military officers, who searched in the jungle, obtained the information. After she received the news, she told them she wanted the king elephant’s ivory for her. "Whatsoever you bring it for me. I want to decorate that ivory whatsoever you bring it for me. I want to decorate that ivory. If not, I would die." She told to the king. The king also loved his queen very much. Therefore, the king commanded the military officer, "No matter what you seek for me, the ivory of the elephant king, and I will give whatever you want. If you want one state from my country, I'll give it to you," he said to the military officer. Then, military officer left for it. Eventually, he found the elephant king and shot him. He shot him a lot, but he missed him. The target was hit in its final shot. When the elephant was hit, he spoke to them. Because a long time ago, animals could also talk. “Why do you want to shoot me?” Asked the elephant king. "Even though you shooot me, I don't die. However, why did you shoot me? You should have a reason for that," the elephant king told the military officer. Then the shooter told the reason why he shot him. "Our queen just wants your ivory, because she wants to put it on as her earring," said by military officer. After the elephant king thought about the queen, and he realized that the queen was his second wife from her past life. Therefore, "It is up to you. Now I'm going to lied down, then you cut down my ivory," he told him. "When you cut my ivory, I will cease my last breath and die. But tell her, in her previous life, it wasn't right that I didn't love her. I didn’t do anything wrong. Although I loved her so much, she still wanted to wear my ivory as her earrings. Just let her know that I gave it to her." The king elephant made sure for his message to the military officer. "Yes, of course," said the army officer. Nearly finished chopping the ivory, the elephant king died immediately. Then the army officer picked up the ivory and went back to their house. After that, the military officer made his report to the queen, “We brought the things you wanted. However, the elephant king has sent a message for you, that he never thought of anything evil about you." He also mentioned that he loved her so much. Because of his love, he gave his ivory for you. When queen heard the word, she felt sad and wept bitterly.

Transcription (Lu Hkawng & Doi Ni)
Moi da, ndai dusat dumyeng kaw ma hkawhkam, hkawhkam ngu ai nga ai da. Hkawhkam ngu ai nga ai shaloi, dai magwi dai wa gaw shi gaw hkawhkam rai na hku nga hkawhkam rai re she shi gaw num lahkawng la ai da. Num lahkawng la re ai shaloi she ndai num kaji wa gaw myit hta grai nhkru na hku nga shi gaw kaja ai hku galaw tim n kaja ai hku mu rai na hku nga lani mi na nhtoi hta gaw da, hkanhte ni she, le....de hpun makau de sa nna she hka sa pyaw ai nga kaw she, ndai magwi ala wa gaw hpun hpe ashun dat ai da law, shala ashun ai wa she kam n kaja ai sha, ndai magwi num kaji a shing mang kaw she jahkrau ni di hkrat bun na hku nga. Jahkrau ni di hkrat bun re ai shaloi she ndai jahkrau di hkrat bun ai hte she ndai shi gaw machyi ai hte marawn ni marawn ai hte she shi dai hku nga re na she shi grai myit hta n gut sai shi myit hta n gut na she wa mat sai da. Wa mat na she dai hku nga re she lani mi na nhtoi hta she dai, um, nam hkawm hkawm ai ni mu kau na hku nga hkanhte hpe nam hkawm hkawm ai ni mu kau re she hprawng, hprawng re she ndai hkawhkam wa gaw shi gaw hpa mi nga tim num kaba wa hpe gaw shawng de hprawng shangun na hku nga dai she num kaba wa gaw lawt mat na she num kaji wa kaw hkra mat ai da. Dai shaloi shinggyim masha ni dai magwi hpe hpya kau ai hte she shi gaw si mat ai hte she, shi myit n gut let si mat ai re ngang she kalang ta shi shinggyim masha kan kaw bai shang sha re na she, shi gaw hkawhkam jan bai sa tai ai da. Hkawhkam jan sa tai tim mung shi gaw myit dai wa n mat ai re nga yang shi magwi prat hta na myit n mat ai re nga yang she, shi gaw sagawn ai da. Magwi hkawhkam dai naw nga kun ngu na shi gaw dai, dai mungdan kaw na ndai jaubu ni hpe sagawn shangun ai shaloi she hpang jahtum gaw ndai nam hkawm hkawm jaubu wa lu sagawn na hku nga, naw nga ai nga yang she "shi dai magwi wa na hkawhkam kawng hpe shi ra ai, gara hku tim la wa u," "um, dai magwi kawng hpe ngai na tan tan n lu tan yang gaw ngai si na re," ngu hkawhkam wa hpe tsun ai da. Dai shaloi hkawhkam wa mung madu jan hpe grai ra ai re nga yang gaw "um, dai hku nga jang gaw hpa mi nga tim mung sa tam su jaubu wa e, nang ra ai hpe jaw na," "nang, um, kahtawg langai mi ra ai nga yang kahtawng langai mi jaw na," ngu ai da. Dai shaloi jaubu wa gaw sa ai da. Sa re ai shaloi dai magwi hkawhkam wa hpe sa gap ai da. Kade gap tim n hkra, kade gap tim n hkra hpang jahtum na lang hkra sai da. Hkra ai shaloi gaw dai wa gaw magwi wa gaw ga chye shaga na hku nga moi prat gaw rai she, "nang ngai hpe hpa baw majaw gap ai?" ngu ai da. "Nang ngai hpe gap tim, ngai gaw n si lu ai gaw," "rai tim mung nang hpabaw majaw gap ai, nang gap ai lam gaw nga na re," ngu da. Dai shaloi tsun dan ai da "ya anhte hkawhkam jan gaw, nang na kawng hpe she na tan tan mayu ai nga na tsun ai," ngu tsun ai da. Dai shaloi shi gaw myit dat ai shaloi she aw, moi na shi num kaji wa rai taw nga jang "um, dai hku nga jang mung na myit sha re ai le," "ya ngai galeng mat wa na, dai shaloi nang ret la u, ndai kawng hpe," ngu da. "Magwi kawng ret wa nga ning len kaw ngai nsa hti mat na re," "rai tim mung nang wa tsun ya rit, ngai shi hpe moi prat hta n ra ai n re," "ngai n ra ai hku ma n galaw lai wa sai," "grai tsawra ai rai tim mung shi ndai she na tan yang mai na re nga jang gaw ngai jaw dat ai ngu na wa tsun ya rit," ngu na she dai la wa hpe tsun ai da. La wa hpe tsun ai shaloi la dai wa gaw "um, mai sai" ngu na she ret sai da. Magwi kawng ret, ret she htum wa na mahka magwi hkawhkam wa gaw si mat ai da. Dai shaloi shi dai magwi kawng hpe la wa sai da. La wa na hkawhkam jan hpe wa tsun sai da. "La wa sai hkawhkam jan e," "rai tim mung dai hkawhkam wa gaw dai hku htet dat ai." "Nang hpe shi nhkru n kaja ai hku n myit ai," "nang hpe mung shi grai tsaw ra ai," "dai, nang hpe tsawra ai majaw shi ya ndai si hkam na nang hpe magwi kawng jaw dat ai re," ngu na tsun ai shaloi hkawhkam jan gaw grai myit n pyaw ai sha dai hkrap mat ai da.
Origination date 2017-02-25
Origination date free form
Archive link https://catalog.paradisec.org.au/repository/KK1/1572
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. Hkawn Bu : speaker
DOI 10.4225/72/598c83baac7ca
Cite as Keita Kurabe (collector), Keita Kurabe (depositor), L. Hkawn Bu (speaker), 2017. Magwi kawng hpe na dan dan mayu (The elephant tusk) with English translation. EAF+XML/MPEG/VND.WAV. KK1-1572 at catalog.paradisec.org.au. https://dx.doi.org/10.4225/72/598c83baac7ca
Content Files (3)
Filename Type File size Duration File access
KK1-1572-A.eaf application/eaf+xml 41.1 KB
KK1-1572-A.mp3 audio/mpeg 2.98 MB 00:03:15.788
KK1-1572-A.wav audio/vnd.wav 108 MB 00:03:15.762
3 files -- 111 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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