Item details
Item ID
KK1-0992
Title Pajau bum na Nhkum nat a lam (The Nhkum spirit of the Pajau mountain) with English translation
Description Translation (Rita Seng Mai)
The story I am going to tell you is about Nhkum Nat from Pajau Mountain. It happened in the past. It is the real story. Many years ago, there was a woman called Nhkum Hkawn Lung. She had really long hair. It reached to her knees. She was gorgeous and beautiful. One day, she went to the forest to collect wood. She had to sleep there without any plans. She got bitten by mosquitoes and was infected with malaria. But no one really cared for her. A beggar was the only person who came to check on her to see if she was feeling okay. The beggar asked her, "Hkawn Lung, are you feeling okay?" She just said, "I am good." In fact, she lied to him. She took the herbs that the beggar gave her and lived her life a bit longer. However, she passed away after a severe illness. No one prayed for her soul and gave offerings to nat spirits for her. Her dead body was wrapped in a mat. She was buried without any prayers. She was buried somewhere on Pajau Mountain. The place where she was buried was really dense and large. There was no tomb around her tomb. Time had passed by. One night, a person from the village got into severe illness. Nhkum Hkawn Lawn had become an evil spirit and sucked the blood of that ill person. After she had sucked him, his illness became more severe. That person had died after she had sucked his blood the following night. The villagers had died one after another. At last, the chief's daughter became sick. She had been sick because of Nhkum Hkawn Lung, the evil. The evil came there at night to suck the chief's daughter's blood. Meanwhile, the chief couldn't sleep and was sitting on an armchair while drinking tea. He saw a light flying into his daughter's room, but it soon disappeared. After that, he heard the sound from her room. But he couldn't notice it. He was just still drinking his tea there. The next morning, his daughter's illness had become severe. That night, the chief slept soundly. So he didn't know anything about the light. However, the beggar, who cared for Nhkum Hkawn Lawn before she died, saw the light. The light was as big as a ball, and it was red. The beggar saw that the light had turned evil and looked exactly like Nhkum Hkawn Lung. And he witnessed that she was sucking the blood of the chief's daughter. The beggar knew that she was Nhkum Hkawn Lung, so he just pretended to sleep. Nhkum Hkawn Lung knew that he saw her, but she let him go because he was the one who took care of her when she was sick. The next morning, the chief's daughter was dead. The chief held a big funeral for his daughter. Nhkum Hkawn Lung heard about the funeral and secretly went there at night. She thought, "When his daughter died, he held a big funeral for her. But when I died, he didn't even kill an ant for my funeral! How fair he is!" And she went back to her tomb and slept on the mat, on which she was wrapped when she died. The chief was very sure that his daughter was dead because of Nhkum Hkawn Lung. So he went to her tomb along with many villagers to dig the grave. Shockingly, the mat was not decayed at all, and neither was her body. She even had long nails and hair. They placed her body on a long table and cut her body into pieces with the sword that the shaman made. Then they burned the body. Since then, there has been no Nhkum Hkawn Lung nat on Pajau Mountain. We can still see her grave that was excavated there.

Transcription (Lu Awng)
Ya ngai tsun na maumwi gaw pajau bum kaw na nhkum nat na lam tsun na re. Ya ngai tsun na maumwi gaw moi prat kaw na kaja ja byin wa ai mau byin re. Moi shawng de grai tsawm ai Nhkum Hkawn Lung ngu ai wa gaw kara mung lahkap nan nan du re na she grai nan nan tsawm ai gawng shingyan hte hkring zup ai num langai mi nga ai da. Lani mi na aten hta shi gaw nam de hpun hta sa re shaloi shi yup mat hkrup ai da. Yup mat hkrup re na jigrawng ni kawa re na shi hkali bu re taw nga ai shaloi shi e kadai ma nsa yu ai da. Nsa yu re mawhpyi langai mi sha wa yu ai da. E hkawlung kaning hku naw nga nga ni ngu na wa san san re da, zeng re law ngu na masu ai da. Dai a she baw dai nhkum hkawn lung gaw dai mawhpyi wa rau sha hkau re na mawhpyi wa jaw ai tsi sha sha re na kachyi mi na na hkam re na kade nna re shaloi machyi kaba grau sawng wa na si mat ai da. Dai shi hpang gaw da hpa akyu mung n hpyi ya hpa mung n galaw ya, wa langai pyi nsat, u langai pyi nsat , dik shale kagyin langai pyi nsat ai sha dai hku tawn da ai da. Dai hku sha jahtai rau kayawp re na lup kau da ai da. Jahtai rau kayawp re na lup kau da re dai pajau bum ngu ai dai kaw jahtai rau sha kayawp na lup kau da ai da, shi e lup da ai shara gaw grai dam ai da. Grai dam rai dai kaw lup kaga langai ma nnga ai da. Langai ma nnga re hpang e she lana mi gaw masha langai mi machyi sai da. Machyi sawng rai dai nhkum hkawn lung ngu nhkum nat gaw wa chyup sha sha re ai da. Shi kalang mi chyup ngut jang gaw machyi sawng wa ai da. Machyi sawng wa hpang shana bai wa chyup re hte si mat mat re da. Dai hku chyu chyu byin, masha langai mi machyi si, machyi si, hpang e mare du wa na kasha kaw du sai da. Mare du wa na kasha kaw du ai shaloi she mare du wa na kasha e chyup sai da. Shana re yang chyup re mare du wa gaw shana yup n pyaw re na she dai hku mai shamyet ai hpan punghkum kaw dai hku dung re na hpahka lu re na nga taw nga. Wan gumdin langai mi wa shi kasha na gawk de shang mat re hte mat mat re na she dai hku shi kasha gaw ngoi ai nsen zawn zawn hpa zawn zawn re na shi gaw hpahka ma lu re taw nga re re majaw shi dai hpang ahkyak nla mat ai da. A hkyak nla ai sha dai hku hpa hka sha lu taw nga hpang jahpawt nga hte shi kasha machyi sawng sai da. Machyi sawng re shaloi hpang shana nga hte shi gaw yup pyaw ai da. yup pyaw re na yup mat re shaloi wan kadai nmu ai da. Dai mi shi nhkum hkawn lung shi si wa hkyen ai shaloi sin ai mawhpyi wa mu dat ai da. Wan ahkyeng re din din re wan gumdin ya na nga yang bawdin ram kaba ai wan gumdin pyen shang wa re na nhkum hkawn lung rau raw re myi man mung ahkyeng re kara mung rawng rawng re galu law re na rawng rawng re mun tu re, lata lamyin ni mung galu law re du kaw a nyaw na sai chyup sha taw ai mu ai da. Dai mawhpyi wa gaw nhkum hkawn lung re nga ai ngu na shi gaw mawhpyi dai gaw yup masu su mat ai da. Shi yup masu su mat re na nhkum hkawn lung mung dai wa na kau ai re gaw chye ai retim shi e machyi wa ai shaloi sin lai wa ai re ngu ai dai hpang chye ai majaw dai mawhpyi wa hpang dat kau hkrup ai da. Dat kau hkrup ai marang e shi kaw bai nhtang wa ai balen mung shi si na sha re nga, retim shi dai hpang chye tim shi gaw dat kau re na hpang jahpawt nga hte gaw dai mare salang wa na kasha gaw si mat sai da. Si mat re na she mare salang wa na kasha gaw si mat re na she mare salang wa gaw poi kaba law galaw ai da. Nhkum hkawn lung gaw shana poi kaba law galaw na hku nga, nhkum hkawn lung wa gaw shana du wa re jang shana nhkum hkawn lung wa shana wa lagu yu ai da, wan gumdin wa lagu re jang um shi kasha si jang gaw poi kaba galaw ngai si ai shaloi gaw kugyin pa nsat ai ngu da. Dai hku myit la re na nhkum hkawn lung gaw shi na shi e hkayawp da ai jahtai kaw bai kayawp na bai wa yup taw nga ai da. hpang jahpawt nga hte dai mare salang wa gaw hpa mi nga nga ndai wa sha re sai ngu hku na tak re na she shi gaw mare masha ni e woi re na dai lup kaw wa hpya ai da. Nhkun htu htu htu jahtai rau long wa tsep kawp ntsam ai da, ntsam re na she nhkum hkawn lung mung sit sit baba tsam mung n tsam ai da, nhkum hkawn lung ma sit sit ba ba mung nrai ai da. Amying ahkyeng re na a kawng ma tu taw sai da, amun ni tu lamyin ngu grai galu taw nga sai da. Grai galu taw nga re shaloi she dai mu re na she dai nhkum hkawn lung hpang gaw saboi galu law ntsa kaw mara re na dumsa ni shaman bang da ai ri nhtu rau azat chyu azat chyu azat re na azat kau re na wan jang wut re na she dai nhkum hkawn lung hpang dai wan kaw bang kau re na nat kau re kaw na dai pajau bum kaw gaw nhkum hkawn lung ngu nnga mat ai da. Retim shi hpang nat kau ai retim shi na masat masa rau shi hpang lup gaw da jaw ai ya tim naw nga ai da.
Origination date 2017-02-13
Origination date free form
Archive link https://catalog.paradisec.org.au/repository/KK1/0992
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
N. Htoi Hkam : speaker
DOI 10.4225/72/5989e7f67dc68
Cite as Keita Kurabe (collector), Keita Kurabe (depositor), N. Htoi Hkam (speaker), 2017. Pajau bum na Nhkum nat a lam (The Nhkum spirit of the Pajau mountain) with English translation. EAF+XML/MPEG/VND.WAV. KK1-0992 at catalog.paradisec.org.au. https://dx.doi.org/10.4225/72/5989e7f67dc68
Content Files (3)
Filename Type File size Duration File access
KK1-0992-A.eaf application/eaf+xml 20.4 KB
KK1-0992-A.mp3 audio/mpeg 5.93 MB 00:06:29.485
KK1-0992-A.wav audio/vnd.wav 214 MB 00:06:29.473
3 files -- 220 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 1,392 translations are currently available (May 23, 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, JP24K03887, 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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