| Description |
Translation (Rita Seng Mai)
The story is about Nangbya and the villagers burning the fields. Nangbya lied to everyone. So, the villagers disliked him. One day, they went to clear the weeds on their fields. The villagers discussed, "Let Nangbya clear the weeds and burn his field. When he burns his field which is in the middle of our fields, we will burn ours. Then, he will die." After clearing their fields, they prepared to burn the fields. They said to Nangbya, "Let's burn our fields today. Since your field is in the middle of ours, you burn it first. We will burn our fields after you." When Nangbya went into the deepest area of his field, the villagers burnt all of their fields. They intentionally tried to kill Nangbya. They thought he was dead. The next day, they went there again to take Nangbya's corpse back to the village. But they couldn't find his dead body. They were shock and surprised. They said, "What kind of person is he!? He didn't die even though we burnt him." In fact, Nangbya knew that the villagers would deceive him. So, he dug a bunker ahead. He built it perfectly and made sure the smoke not to come in. As soon as the villagers burnt the fields, he went into his bunker and hid there. When the fire was put out by itself, he went out from his bunker and escaped the fire. But, the villagers didn't know that. They wanted to kill him at first, but now they were even afraid of Nangbya.
Transcription (Lu Awng)
E ya gaw yi galai ai lam. Nangbya wa mung yi galaw mare masha ni yi galaw re nga, nangbya wa gaw lagawn masu hkrai masu di, bungli mung n galaw di tsing magang na ten gaw magang mam gaw hkai da da. Masu hkrai masu, bungli n galaw re she nangbya wa tsun sai hku re nga. Nangbya wa maw sai, nye yi ndai hku sha re yang gaw shaning tup ngai mam n lu la sai. Dai majaw ngai gaw masu ra sai, la langai shi masu lu nan re nau n zen ai la e she e hkau e saw yi galai ga nkam i ngu hku re nga. Ngai yu yang na yi gaw mam n kaja ai, nye yi she mam kaja ai ngu da. Deng nye yi kaja ai re le ngu. Oh ra gaw nre na yi n kaja ai yi du yang hpun kaw na lung di she nangbya gaw hto yu hto na yi ga hkrai hkrai san re n mu ai i yu, hto nye yi bai yu nye yi gaw a tsit re gaw ngu tsawm ra tsan ai kaw na madun ai hku re nga. Shi gaw tsing n magang da ai re nga ga hpyi ndawng ai le i, ntsa de yu yang gaw a tsit, oh ra wa tsing magang da ai re nga asan asan re yu na yi gaw ga hkrai re, n kaja ai ga re lu dai. Nye yi gaw a tsit san taw ai nmu i ngu tsun ai da. Dai nangbya wa ding ngu sai hku nga, aw deng gaw kaja ai hte n kaja ai galai ga nga she mai law da, galai ga le ngu da. Galai rai, oh ra wa yawng bai yi hkyen tsing ni yawng bai shatsai baw kau mam ni hpe bai galau, kaja wa tsawm wa sai hku nga. Nangbya wa mi na nan nan hpa n galaw jat tsing bai kaba wa di nangbya yi kalang bai n kaja wa. Dai shaloi nangbya gaw mi na zawn sha bai masu oh ra wa hpe. Hpun ndung de bai lung yu ga, an na yi yu yu na yi gaw n kaja wa nga ai lu na yi gaw hkyeng nga ai lu ngu ai da. Na yi n kaja ai bai galai ga bai ngu ai da. Oh ra wa mana re nga loi n zen ai re nga she nangbya ngu ai hpe kam di hpang jahtum gaw nangbya wa hte yi galai kau ai da.
Notes:
1. Nang Bya is a popular trickster in Kachin folktales, who are a person or an animal that always lies and teases others. It is known by the names of Nang Bya, Mang Bya, Mawng Byaw, and others depending on dialects and languages.
2. For more stories about Nang Bya, see:
KK1-0027
KK1-0028
KK1-0072
KK1-0233
KK1-0234
KK1-0296
KK1-0297
KK1-0326
KK1-0339
KK1-0364
KK1-0475
KK1-0549
KK1-0640
KK1-0709
KK1-0735
KK1-0973
KK1-1209
KK1-1210
KK1-1286
KK1-1379
KK1-1462
KK1-1711
KK1-1785
KK1-1786
KK1-1788
KK1-1789
KK1-1790
KK1-1791
KK1-1792
KK1-1793
KK1-1794
KK1-1795
KK1-1798
KK1-1855
3. See Kurabe (2018) for a story of Mang Bya.
References
Kurabe, Keita. 2018. A Jinghpaw folktale text: A liar Mang Bya. Journal of Kijutsuken 10: 69-80. |
