Nabu - Kanau a sumtsaw wa (The Brothers Who Killed Their Sister’s Lover) with English translation

Item details

Item ID	KK1-2124 (Collection Details)
Title	Kanau a sumtsaw wa (The Brothers Who Killed Their Sister’s Lover) with English translation
Description	Translation (Rita Seng Mai) The story I am going to tell you is about the brothers who killed their youngest sister's boyfriend. Once upon a time, there was an orphan boy. He fell in love with a girl who had many older brothers. The brothers didn't want their sister to be together with the orphan boy. They told their sister not to be in love with the orphan boy, but she didn't listen to them. They were stressed and didn't know what to do with them. One day, (In the past, people used to tap rubber from the banyan tree and use it to catch birds.) the girl's brothers called their brother-in-law and said, "Let's go tap rubber." Then the orphan boy said, "Okay," and followed them to tap rubber. The girl's brothers made him climb up to the top of the tree and tap rubber from there. They climbed down from the tree, but they made the orphan boy keep tapping rubber at the top. They only tapped rubber at the bottom of the banyan tree. And they went back home when it was getting dark. But they didn't tell their orphan brother-in-law, who was at the top of the tree, that they had gone back home. The orphan boy couldn't climb down and grew hungry as it got dark. He was sitting on a limb of the banyan tree, feeling hungry. On the other hand, when the brothers arrived home, their sister asked them, "Where is your brother-in-law?" They answered, "He is still tapping rubber. He will be back soon." They lied to her. However, the orphan didn't return even after two days. On the third morning, the girl went there to look for her boyfriend. She asked her brothers about her boyfriend, but they didn't give her a clear answer. They said, "Go to the banyan tree and check on him. He is still collecting rubber there." Then the girl went there. She saw her beloved dead, straddling the limb of the banyan tree. He was already dead. Since he was already dead, fluid from his body dripped down. When she saw him, she cried out loud. We, the Jinghpaw people, used bamboo bottles to fetch water in the past. She brought it and fetched the fluid from the corpse. When it was full, she took it home. Then she used the fluid to cook rice and fed her brothers. Her brothers died after eating it. This is the end of the story. Transcription (Lu Hkawng) Ya ngai hkai na maumwi gaw moi kanau a sumtsaw hpe la law ai la ni e sat kau ai maumwi re. Moi shawng de e, ndai sumtsaw lu ai shadang sha hte la grai law ai shayi sha hte jahkrai ma a sumtsaw lam re ai. Ndai jahkrai ma gaw shi hkrai sha re na ndai la law la ka hkau ni gaw kajan hpe n kam jaw sha re na kajan hpe hkum ra ngu tim mung dai hku ra chyu ra nga tsaw chyu tsaw nga jang gaw ka hkau ni gaw ndai la wa hpe gaw gara hku di na i ngu na shanhte gaw grai myitru taw nga ai hku nga myitru taw nga yang gaw lani mi na nhtoi hta gaw ndai moi na ni gaw kanoi htu na lagat hpun kaw na kanoi htu na she la nna "u" hkam sha ai baw nga ai majaw shanhte gaw ka hkau hpe ''Hkau e dai ni gaw nam de kanoi htu sa ga'' nga nna saw ai da. Rai jang gaw ka hkau gaw ''Mai ai le'' ngu na kanoi htu hkan nang ai da. Hkan nang jang gaw ka hkau ni rai jang gaw dai ka hkau hpe e kajan a sumtsaw wa hpe htaw lagat hpun ning dung de lung hkrai lung shangun, lung hkrai lung shangun grai tsaw ai de lung shangun ai da. Rai jang gaw dai kaw kanoi htu shangun ai da. Htu shangun na ka hkau wa gaw ka hkau hpe sha lung dat na shi woi lung na shi gaw bai yu wa na she ka hkau hpe gaw dai kaw kanoi htu nga shangun na she ka hkau dai num wa a kayung wa gaw yu wa na le lagat pawt kaw kanoi htu la na she shana de jan du mat jang gaw kahkau yan gaw wa mat wa ai da. Wa mat wa jang gaw dai ka hkau jahkrai ma hpe gaw htaw hpun ndung kaw na n shaga la sai da. Shaga la na mung oh ra wa mung yu wa na ngu tim mung jan du wa tim n lu yu wa re na shi gaw dai hku shat mung kawsi shat mung n lu sha dai hku kawsi na she dai hku hpun ndung kaw gabrang kaw mara n na shi gaw yawn nna dai hku dungsi mara taw nga ai da. Rai yang she dai la dai yan gaw wa yang gaw shi a kajan dai sum tsaw jahkrai ma a sum tsaw jan gaw ya ''Nan a hkau gaw'' ngu yang she ''Hkau hpang de kanoi naw htu nga ta ai'' ngu tsun ai da. Rai jang gaw ya ''Wa na ra ai wa na ra ai'' ngu na masu chyu masu lahkawng ya masu yang gaw masum ya ngu na shani jahpawt ma n wa rai jang gaw shi a sum tsaw jan gaw sa mat wa sai da. Sa mat wa yang gaw san yang mung atsawm n tsun dan ai da. Htaw lagat hpun de sa mat wa u lagat hpun de sa yu u ngu na tsun ai da. Shi kanoi ja taw nga ai ndai kanoi htu ai kaw shi kanoi ndum hte shi ja taw nga ai la nga ngu na sha tsun ai da. Rai jang gaw shi gaw sa mat wa yang she hpun langai mi kaw sa yu yang gaw htaw ndung lagat hpun n brang kaw she ning re na lagaw (khar) na she dai kaw dung na she shi gaw dai kaw yawn si ma ra mat na hku nga yawng si ma ra mat jang gaw na jang gaw dai si ai mang kaw nyi pru ai le i dai hku ning nga na bra hkrat nga ai da. Abya hkrat yang gaw shi a sum tsaw jang gaw dai kaw hkrap na she aw ngai nta de ngai anhte Jinghpaw ni gaw moi hka nhtung kawa dum lawng dai hka nhtung dai wa la na she dai madu wa a ning yi ngu na rai nga dai hkrat ai dai hpe she shi la sa na she dai sa ja na she hpying ai hte la wa na she kahpu yan hpe e dai ning yi hte shat wa shadu jaw ai da. Shat wa shadu jaw yang gaw kahpu yan mung si mat na hku nga Dai kaw htum sai maumwi gaw.
Origination date	2017-04-12
Origination date free form
Archive link	https://catalog.paradisec.org.au/repository/KK1/2124
URL
Collector	Keita Kurabe Find similar
Countries	Myanmar - MM To view related information on a country, click its name
Language as given	Jinghpaw
Subject language(s)	Jingpho - kac To view related information on a language, click its name
Content language(s)	Jingpho - kac To view related information on a language, click its name
Dialect	Standard Jinghpaw
Region / village	Northern Myanmar
Map not displayed for automated requests
Originating university	Tokyo University of Foreign Studies
Operator
Data Categories	primary text
Data Types	Sound
Discourse type	narrative
Roles	Keita Kurabe : depositor Lasang Mahta : speaker
DOI	10.26278/5fa1753c5117b
Cite as	Keita Kurabe (collector), Keita Kurabe (depositor), Lasang Mahta (speaker), 2017. Kanau a sumtsaw wa (The Brothers Who Killed Their Sister’s Lover) with English translation. EAF+XML/MPEG/VND.WAV. KK1-2124 at catalog.paradisec.org.au. https://dx.doi.org/10.26278/5fa1753c5117b

Content Files (3)

Filename	Type	File size	Duration	File access
KK1-2124-A.eaf	application/eaf+xml	21.1 KB
KK1-2124-A.mp3	audio/mpeg	3.57 MB	00:03:53.855
KK1-2124-A.wav	audio/vnd.wav	128 MB	00:03:53.838
3 files	--	132 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 November 4, 2025, the collection includes 2,491 stories, 2,491 ELAN files, 2,481 transcriptions, and 1,710 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 To view related information on a country, click its name
Languages	Jingpho - kac To view related information on a language, click its name

Access Information

Edit access	Keita Kurabe
View/Download access	Keita Kurabe
Data access conditions	Open (subject to agreeing to PDSC access conditions)
Data access narrative

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