Item details
Item ID
KK1-1686
Title Ga hpe htap htuk hkra chye shaga (The spirit of the Banyan tree) with English translation
Description Translation (Rita Seng Mai)
Once upon a time, three women traveled to visit another village. The lady walking in the middle said, (There was a large banyan tree beside the path they were walking along.) "Let's take a rest here for a while. Let's continue after taking a rest." Her two friends said, "Okay." Just as they were about to sit down, the guardian spirit of the tree said, "Why are you sitting here without permission?! You are sitting here without asking for my permission!" The girl walking in front said, "We are the daughters of the king! We don't need to ask for anyone's permission! This is my father's country! Why do we need to ask for permission? We don't need to! We are the daughters of the king! Don't you know that?" The guardian spirit said, "But this is my place! So you need to ask for my permission!" The three ladies said, "We don't need to ask for anyone's permission!" The guardian spirit grew angry and ate the girl who was standing in front. He said, "The king has only three sons! He doesn't have three daughters. You lie to me!" He ate the first girl. When he was about to eat the girl in the middle, she begged him, "Don't eat me. I am not the one who suggested we rest here! It was them! They told me to take a rest beneath this tree. I didn't do anything wrong. Please don't hurt me. Let me go." The guardian spirit said, "You are the one who told them to rest here. Now you are blaming others so that you won't get punished. You are the one who said to take a rest here!" Then he ate her too. When it was time for the last girl to be eaten, she said, "Human-eater, please don't eat me. I will let you know something." She talked to him gently. He said, "What are you going to tell me?" She said, "You committed many sins and did bad things in the past, so now you have to live this kind of life. You have to live unhappily. If you let me go, I will pray for you. I go back to the village and will only pray for good things for you." He said, "If you promise me, I won't eat you. I will spare you." He told her like that. The girl said, "I am really thankful to you for sparing me. You need to remind yourself not to do any of the bad things you did before. Your life becomes bad because of what you did before. So don't do anything bad now. I will go back to the village and hold a prayer ceremony for you." Then she went back to her village. When she arrived at her village home, she held a prayer ceremony for the spirit. She knew how to speak respectfully and keep her promise, so she was spared.

Transcription (Lu Awng)
Moi kalang mi na hta da, mare kahtawng langai mi kaw she da, ah num kasha ni masum marai masum gaw shanhte gaw ni i laga mare de wam hkawm na matu sa wa ai da. sa wa re ai shaloi she da, dai ga-ang kaw na shanhte masum kaw na ga-ang kaw hkawm ai num kasha wa gaw da, e shi gaw nan hku tsun ai da. shanhte lai wa na makau kaw she lagat hpun kaba law nga ai da. dai lagat hpun kaba law nga ai kaw she shi manang gaw anhte ni masum i ndai kaw jahkring mi naw hkring la ga, ndai kaw hkring la na she bai matut hkawm ga ngu tsun ai da. matut hkawm ga ngu tsun ai she, oh ra lahkawng mung mai ai ngu na she dai lagat hpun kaw nga ai da. shanhte jahkring mi naw dung na maw na ni hku naw dung dat na maw shi yang dai kaw hpun sin ai nat kaba wa she nanhte ni marai masum hpa rai na ngai na ahkawn ahkan n lu ai hpa re na ndai kaw sa dung nga ai, ngai hpe n hkan nhpyi ai nanhte sa dung ai i ngu dai hku ngu tsun ai da. Dai she, dai shawng kaw hkawm ai num kasha wa she, ah ah anhte gaw anhte ni marai masum gaw ndai kaw na hkawhkam kaba ai kasha re kade ahkan hpyi ra ai ndai ni yawng gaw nye wa na mungdan sha re hpa baw ahkan hpyi ra ai, kadai kaw ahkan nhpyi ra ai ngu tsun ai da. anhte masum gaw hkawhkam wa na kasha re nang nchye ai i ngu tsun na hku nga, dai nat wa gaw rai tim mung ndai hpun kaw gaw ngai nga ai majaw ngai kaw ahkan hpyi ra ai ngu tsun ai da. dai num kasha dai gaw ah kade mung n hpyi ra ai dai hku ngu hkrai tsun jang she, dai nat wa gaw pawt mayu nna shanhte hpe dai shawng kaw tsap ai num kasha hpe amya sha kau ai da. amya sha kau na ndai ndai mare kaw gaw hkawhkam wa na kasha gaw marai masum sha nga ai, num kasha masum nga ai, n nga ai nang nye masum ai ngu na dai hku ngu na shi hpe dai hku ngu pawt na she amya sha kau ai da. amya sha kau na she ga-ang kaw na wa hpe bai sha teng du sai da. Sha teng du she e ngai ngai hpe hkum sha da, ndai hpun kaw woi hkring ga nga ngai tsun ai n re ai da. shanhte ni tsun ai she re ai da. e ndai hpun kaw hkring ga nga nna woi hkring ai she re ngai kaw hpa mara n nga ai, ngai hpe hpa hkum di ngai hpe dat ya u ngu tsun ai da. dai she dai masha sha ai la wa she nat wa shi hpe nang she ndai hpun kaw hkring ga nga nang she tsun ti na ya nang mara n lu hkra nang bai mara bai gawn taw ai i, nang re ndai kaw hkring ga nga tsun ai ngu na she shi hpe mung pawt na bai amya sha kau ai da. amya sha kau na she, dai hpang jahtum kaw na wa na ata bai du sai da. hpang jahtum wa na ata bai du re she, e masha sha ai la wa ye da, ngai hpe hkum sha yaw da, ngai gaw da, um nang hpe lama mi tsun dan na ngu na tsun ai da. dai hku ga apyaw sha shaga ai da. a pyaw sha ga na she, e dai la wa gaw e hpa baw tsun na e da nang gaw da moi ma i n kaja ai amu galaw wa ai majaw da, ya nang n dan re masha ni hpe sha nna N kaja ai hku nga ra ai da. e dan re na majaw da nang myit n pyaw ai hku nga ra ai da. nang hpe ngai nang ngai hpe ndai kaw na dat ya yang da, ngai nang hpe i kaja ai lam hku nga akyu hpyi ya na kaja ai hku sha ngai nang hpe a mare de wa nna akyu wa hpyi ya na ngu tsun ai da. dai hku ngu tsun re she, e dai la wa gaw e rai sai da. nang ngai hpe di re ga sadi jaw yang gaw nang hpe n sha ai yaw da, ngai nang hpe dat dat na ngu tsun ai da. dai shaloi she dai la wa she, dai la wa dai hku ngu tsun yang she num wa mung e da nang ngai hpe dat ya ai majaw chyeju dum ai yaw da, nang hpe ngai nang i moi na lam ni n kaja ai lam ni n galaw na hku nang sa di u yaw da, nang n kaja ai galaw lai wa majaw ma ya ma nang n kaja ra ai da. dai majaw nang n kaja ai lam hpe hkum galaw sa ngai ma nang hpe mare kaw wa nna akyu hpyi poi kaba wa galaw ya na yaw ngu tsun ai da. dai ti na wa mat ai da. dai num kasha wa, wa mat re na she dai nta mare kaw du re ai shaloi she, Dai la wa hpe aw da nat wa hpe na matu akyu hpyi poi kaba galaw ya ti na dai num wa gaw da shi na shi i ga hpe shi htap htuk hkra shi chye shaga ai majaw shi lawt mat ai da.
Origination date 2017-03-09
Origination date free form
Archive link https://catalog.paradisec.org.au/repository/KK1/1686
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 : speaker
DOI 10.4225/72/598c85b3822e6
Cite as Keita Kurabe (collector), Keita Kurabe (depositor), L. Kai Ja (speaker), 2017. Ga hpe htap htuk hkra chye shaga (The spirit of the Banyan tree) with English translation. EAF+XML/MPEG/VND.WAV. KK1-1686 at catalog.paradisec.org.au. https://dx.doi.org/10.4225/72/598c85b3822e6
Content Files (3)
Filename Type File size Duration File access
KK1-1686-A.eaf application/eaf+xml 27.9 KB
KK1-1686-A.mp3 audio/mpeg 3.86 MB 00:04:13.649
KK1-1686-A.wav audio/vnd.wav 140 MB 00:04:13.626
3 files -- 143 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 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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