Item details
Item ID
KK1-1587
Title N-gun ja ai magwi (The elephant and the ant) with English translation
Description Translation (Lydia Seng)
Many years ago, in a village, there was a group of elephants. Then the group had particular time to play with small elephants. So, they allowed the small elephants to go into the forest. Then, they stopped at one of the bases of the big tree. Then, they led the little elephants to play a lot. When they were playing game, they prepared another game, the one with the ant nest. They hanged the ant nest on the branch of the tree, and invited all the players to grab it. They all played pretty well in that game. So, those inside the nest of the ant had headaches. Because they tossed the nest and also played the way they wanted. After that, some of the ant inside the nest died. After all the little elephant stopped for a moment, the leader elephant rested with them. While they stopped, one of the ants from the nest came out and said to them, "You guys tortured us so severely. Many of our family and friends died in the nest." And he thought he could take revenge for the death of his friends. When he considered like that, immediately his tears came out. Then, he said, "Oh... I got it. I tried to get in the elephant's ear as an act of revenge on them." So, he affirmed this kind of retaliation. Then, the ant made its way into the elephant's ear. As he entered, he thought about the death of his friend, he got mad and bit the eardrum of the elephant. The elephant couldn't stand when the ant bit the its eardrum once because of too much pain. He felt almost falling as well as dizzy. Extreme discomfort and pain were unbearable for the elephant. Then the ant took another bite and the elephant was hurt again. He just tolerated with the severe pain. With lots of pain, the elephant returned to the first location. When he arrived, and laid down, where it was the base of the tree, he met with another ant. Then the ant said to the elephant, "Hey, brother elephant, can you make a promise with me?" He asked. The elephant answered, "What is it? What kind of promise do you want to do with me?" "To remove all your pain, let's get the promise together with me," he told the elephant. The elephant also said, "All right, let's do it." Then, the ant explained that "Your guys destroyed us, because of your games, so I took revenge on you. Actually, you shouldn't do it to all of our ant's families." He repeated, "From now on, you never kill my friends and families again. For me, I would heal all of your pain, and also, I won't do it again to you." That day, they both agreed and promised each other. The elephant also agreed all the suggestion and said, "It is OK for me. "The elephant also promised that "From now on, I will be nice to you when I see you. I'm not going to destroy all the ants. I won't kill nor play the game as well," said to the ant like that. So, the ant laid eggs when he was inside the ear of the elephant. Soon all the eggs were about to hatch, but the ant took all the eggs from the elephant's ear. After that, the elephant also reduced all its pain and, also cleaned up all the things in its inner ear. Both took the promise from one another and, the elephant's pain also disappeared.

Transcription (Lu Hkawng & Doi Ni)
Moi shawng e da kahtawng langai mi kaw she da magwi hpung nawng nga ai da. Hpung nawng nga ai shaloi she da dai shanhte ni gaw da e ma ni hpe woi gasup, dai magwi ma ni hpe woi gasup na matu nam de woi shang mat ai da. Woi shang na she hpun pawt makau kaw she da a ging woi gasup ai da. Shanhte ni hpe woi gasup re ai shaloi she a gasup na matu da ga-gin tsip langai mi mung nga ai da. Ga-gin tsip langai mi noi nga re ai shaloi she dai ga-gin tsip hpe di la na a shi ma ni hpe woi gasup ai da. Woi gasup re she shanhte gasup ai dai ga-gin tsip ni kata kaw rawng nga ai ga-gin ni gaw bawsin ai da. Shanhte kam ai hku taleng, shanhte kam ai hku woi chyai re re nga bawsin ai hte si mat ai ni gaw si mat dang re ni nga ai da. Nga re shaloi she da dai shanhte magwi ni gaw da gasup na hkring nga ai shaloi she da hkring taw nga sai da. Hkring taw nga shaloi she magwi la dai wa mung hkring nga sai da. Hkring nga re shaloi she shanhte dai ga-gin tsip kaw na ga-gin langai mi she "oh da anhte hpe dai ram zing ri ai da," "anhte na amyu ni mung i anhte na dang re manang ni mung si ma ai grai law sai," da "ngai gara hku matai htang ra na kun," da "shanhte na matu ngai gara hku matai htang ya na kun," ngu myit re ai shaloi she da kalang ta myit, myit pru wa sai da. Pru wa rai she "oh rai sai," " ngai shi na na kaw shang rawng na| ngai shanhte hpe matai htang na," ngu tsun ai da. ngai shanhte hpe matai htang na," ngu tsun ai da. Dai hku ngu myit na she dai magwi la wa na na de, na de shi gaw shang mat wa da. Shang mat wa shaloi she da mi yet na shi manang ni si mat ai shi e dai hpe myit di na she shi gaw dai magwi la wa na na lashim kaw kalang mi gawa dat ya ai da. Kalang mi gawa dat yang she magwi wa gaw gara hku n chye hkam sha sai da law grai machyi ai re nga she e galau mat na zawn zawn, bawsin ai zawn zawn, nga na grai machyi na gara hku nchye di na hkam sha sai da. Dai she kalang bai gawa dat yang kalang bai machyi na dai hku jam jau na shi gaw machyi sawng di na nga taw ai da. Machyi sawng na nga taw ai shaloi she da mi shanhte gasup ai dai hpun pawt kaw she da wa galeng nga ai da. Wa galeng nga ai shaloi she da ga-gin langai mi hte bai mu ai da. Langai mi hpe mu she "e hkau magwi da," "nang hte ngai hte ga sadi la hkat na i?" ngu tsun ai da. Dai shaloi she da magwi wa gaw "hpabaw re ma, hpabaw ga sadi la na ma?" "e nang na machyi ai ni yawng mai na matu nang hte ngai ga sadi la ga i?" ngu tsun ai da. Magwi wa mung "e mai ai le, la ga le," ngu tsun ai da. "E nang mung i anhte na amyu hpe dai hku i dai hku re na nanhte ni dai hku woi gasup ai majaw ngai mung matai htang ai re," "dai majaw nang hte nang mung anhte na i dang re amyu dang re anhte na manang ni hpe nang mung galoi ya kaw galoi hkum sat sa yaw," ngu tsun ai da. "Ngai mung nanhte na dang re i nang na machyi ai lam ni hpe shamai ya na" ngu tsun ai da. Dai hku ngu tsun na she dai shan lahkawng gaw ga sadi la hkat sai da. Ga sadi la hkat re she magwi wa mung "mai ai le," da "ngai ya kaw na da nanhte ga-gin ni hpe mung mu tim ma shaga na i dang re atsawm re nga na," da. "Ngai nanhte na i ga-gin amyu ni hpe nhkra ya sai," "nsat sai, n gasup ya sai," ngu dai hku ngu tsun na hku nga dai hku ngu tsun ai shaloi she ga-gin wa gaw da mi shi e kata kaw i di ni di da dang re e dang re kraw wa na dang re ni hpe mung shi gaw yawng ni hpe i na kaw na yawng hpe shaw kau ya ai da. Dai shi di da ai ga-gin di ni yawng hpe shaw kau na she shaw kau ya na dai magwi wa na i, um, na kaw mung yawng mai hkra yawng hpa mung n machyi hkra yawng shaw la kau ya na she shan lahkawng ga sadi la hkat na a magwi wa mung da dai kaw na machyi ai lam ni mai mat ai da.
Origination date 2017-02-25
Origination date free form
Archive link https://catalog.paradisec.org.au/repository/KK1/1587
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. Kai Ja Awng : speaker
DOI 10.4225/72/598c83fc0803e
Cite as Keita Kurabe (collector), Keita Kurabe (depositor), L. Kai Ja Awng (speaker), 2017. N-gun ja ai magwi (The elephant and the ant) with English translation. EAF+XML/MPEG/VND.WAV. KK1-1587 at catalog.paradisec.org.au. https://dx.doi.org/10.4225/72/598c83fc0803e
Content Files (3)
Filename Type File size Duration File access
KK1-1587-A.eaf application/eaf+xml 31.2 KB
KK1-1587-A.mp3 audio/mpeg 3.3 MB 00:03:36.294
KK1-1587-A.wav audio/vnd.wav 119 MB 00:03:36.264
3 files -- 122 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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