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Item ID
KK1-1685
(Collection Details)
Title Chyeju chye htang ai la (The blind prince) with English translation
Description Translation (Rita Seng Mai)
Once upon a time, there was a king in a village. He had a child. Although the child had grown up, he still had no vision. The king drove his son out of the palace because he couldn't see. The prince sat on a big rock after he was driven out. At that moment, a passerby asked him, "Kid, what are you doing there?" The prince answered, "I am blind. I am the prince. But I have been driven out. I will have to live like this." The man said, "I have something that you can apply to your eyes. My ancestors gave it to me. I will give it to you. When you go to bed, clean your eyes and apply this paste. Apply it around your eyes before you sleep." Then the prince also did as the man said. He put the paste around his eyes. After a week, he gained his vision. Then he went back to the palace. His father was about to die when he got back to the palace. Soon, the father died. He got the throne as his father's inheritance. He became the king. Later, he attacked the other village to expand his territory. They won the battle against the neighboring village. They arrested every villager from that village. The king asked everyone's name. One man answered, "My name is Myi." ('Myi' is eye in Kachin language.) The king remembered the time when he had been blind. He asked him, "Tell me more about yourself." The man said, "I named myself 'Myi' because I once met a blind boy. I treated him with a special medicine, so I gave myself this name." He explained why he named himself 'Myi'. The king remembered him and said, "The one who gave me the medicine was you. I didn't know who gave it to me because I was blind at that time. You are my lifesaver." He released every villager whom he had arrested from Myi's village. He thanked Myi and let Myi live in his palace. Also, he gave their own authority back to the villagers from Myi's village. He ruled both villages fairly.

Transcription (Lu Awng)
Moi shawng e da kahtawng langai mi kaw sha hkawhkam la wa nga ai da. Hkawhkam la wa nga she dai hkawhkam la wa gaw kasha langai lu ai da. Kasha langai lu she dai kasha wa gaw asak a prat ram wa tim myi mung nmu ai da. Myi mung n mu na she shi gaw dai hkawhkam wang na gau shale kau na gau shale kau ai da, gau shale kau na hkawhkam kasha wa gaw n lung din kaba law ai dai kaw she sa dung nga na hku nga. Sa dung nga re she shi gaw myi nmu re nga dai kaw sha dung nga she dai kaw na lai sa lai wa la langai mi wa she dai la hpe tsun ai da. I ma nang hpa baw galaw nga rai ngu san ai shaloi she dai ma wa gaw i da ngai gaw myi mung n mu ai da. Ngai gaw hkawhkam kasha re ai da ngai hpe gau kau ai da. Ngai ya ndai kaw na ndai hku sha nga ra sai ngu tsun ai da, dai hku ngu tsun na dai la wa gaw aw dan nga jang gaw da myi kaw tsi ai baw chya ai baw tsi ngai kaw nga ai da moi ngai nye na jiwoi jiwa prat kaw na ngai hpe jaw dawn da ai tsi hkyep sha nga ai ngai nang hpe jaw na yaw ngu tsun ai da. Ndai tsi hpe gaw da yup wa na re shagu myi hpe asan sha kashin di na she chya tawn da u yaw. Myi makau hku hku chya tawn da na yup u yaw ngu dai hku ngu htet kau da na re mat wa. Re mat wa she dai la wa tsi la da na mi yet na la wa htet da ai hku galaw na hku nga, galaw na myi makau hku chya shinggrup tawn da na nga taw da. Nga she bat hku 7, 8 ya re wa yang she shi myi wa mu mat ai da. Mu mat na she kalang ta hkawhkam wang de bai wa ai da, hkawhkam wang de bai wa na she shi gaw hkawhkam wang kaw na kawa mung shi wa ai shaloi she si wa maw ai da. Si wa maw ai shaloi she kawa mung bai si mat ai da. Si mat na she dai shi na kawa na hkawhkam aya ni hpe kasha hpe jaw kau da ai da. Jaw kau da na she hkawhkam wa gaw shi gaw hkawhkam bai tai na she kaga mare de shi bai gasat hkat ai da. Kaga mare na hte shanhte mare na ni gasat hkat na she nga re she dai hku gasat hkat nga ai shaloi she kaga mare kaw na ni hpe shanhte mare na ni dang kau na hku nga. Dang kau na dai mare masha ni yawng rim ai kaga mare masha ni yawng e rim kau na she shi gaw nga taw dai shaloi she dai la wa na mying san ai da, kaga mare de na la kasha ni san ai shaloi she hkawhkam wa san ai, na na mying hpa baw nga ai rai ngu dai hku ngu san ai she ngai na mying gaw myi nga re ngu tsun ai da. Myi nga re ngu tsun dan ai shaloi she myi nga yang nga she oh moi shi i myi n mu ai dai ni hpe shingran na she myi nga yang gaw da dan nga yang nang na lam ni tsun dan u ngu she myi ngu shamying la ai gaw da moi da ngai i dai hku lai sa wa ai shaloi da ma langai mi myi nmu taw ai da. Myi nmu ai shaloi dai la hpe ngai myitsi jaw kau da ai majaw ngai na mying myi ngu shamying ai re ngu tsun ai shaloi she dai la wa gaw hkawhkam la kasha wa gaw dai la wa hpe dum dat na aw da moi nang ngai hpe tsi jaw da ai gaw nang she re nga i da. Ngai myi n mu na da kadai jaw da ai re mung n chye ai da, ya ngai na chyeju madu gaw nang she re nga gaw i ngu na tsun di na she shanhte mare kaw na dai mare masha ni dai myi nga mare masha ni yawng hpe shaga la di na she yawng hpe bai dat kau ai da, shanhte rim da ai masha ni yawng hpe bai dat kau na she dai ngam nga ai kasha hpe mung dai hkawhkam la kasha wa gaw shanhte na hkawhkam i wang kaw she a pyaw nga shangun na she shanhte na mare kaw mung shanhte hpe bai up hkang shangun na a hkaw a hkang bai jaw na dai myi wa mung shi chyeju htang ai ga tsun na she shanhte mare hpe 2 maga rap ra hkra up hkang na nga mat ai da.
Origination date 2017-03-09
Origination date free form
Archive link https://catalog.paradisec.org.au/repository/KK1/1685
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
L. Kai Ja : speaker
DOI 10.4225/72/598c85af0f798
Cite as Keita Kurabe (collector), Keita Kurabe (depositor), L. Kai Ja (speaker), 2017. Chyeju chye htang ai la (The blind prince) with English translation. EAF+XML/MPEG/VND.WAV. KK1-1685 at catalog.paradisec.org.au. https://dx.doi.org/10.4225/72/598c85af0f798
Content Files (3)
Filename Type File size Duration File access
KK1-1685-A.eaf application/eaf+xml 26.7 KB
KK1-1685-A.mp3 audio/mpeg 3.29 MB 00:03:35.667
KK1-1685-A.wav audio/vnd.wav 119 MB 00:03:35.651
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 a community-based collaborative fieldwork project in northern Myanmar. As of July 29, 2025, the collection includes 2,491 stories, 2,491 ELAN files, 2,481 transcriptions, and 1,606 translations.


Transcriptions were contributed by Gumtung Lu Awng, Pausa La Ring, Galang Lu Hkawng, Sumdu Ja Seng Roi, Hpauhkum Htu Bu, and Keita Kurabe. Translations were prepared by Nbanpa Rita Seng Mai, Sumlut Gun Mai, Lazing Htoi San, Maran Seng Pan, Dumdaw Mike Tu Awng, Nhkum Htoi Awng, and Keita Kurabe.

Related resources on Kachin culture and history are available at:

https://catalog.paradisec.org.au/collections/KK2
https://catalog.paradisec.org.au/collections/KK3
https://www.youtube.com/@kachinfolktales
https://www.facebook.com/KachinStories

This research was supported by JSPS KAKENHI (Grant Numbers JP17H04523, JP20K13024, JP20H01256, JP24K03887), Linguistic Dynamics Science 3 (LingDy3), Description and Documentation of Language Dynamics in Asia and Africa　(DDDLing), and TUFS Field Science Commons (TUFiSCo), all from the Research Institute for Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa (ILCAA), Tokyo University of Foreign Studies (TUFS), as well as the 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
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Languages
Jingpho - kac
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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
Metadata
RO-Crate Metadata
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