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Translation (Keita Kurabe)
I am talking about the story of a very valuable spit. Once upon a time, spit was very valuable. If you spit on something and said, "Die!" it really died. That is why people did not spit in vain. They only spat when it was really necessary. People spat and said, "May that happen! May this happen!" then it really happened. The spit was valuable. People did not spit everywhere. They would spit, but only after thinking it over. They did not spit in vain. Because the spit was very valuable. If you spit in vain, the power of the spit was thought to be lost. Because the power of the humans' spit was so strong, the spirits did not like it. So the spirits thought, "Hmm, the power of the humans' spit is very strong." "We must make them lose their spit power." So the spirits placed a flute with four holes on the road. They placed it on the road where the humans were coming and going. When the humans came along the road, they found the flute on the road. When they picked it up and blew on it, a pleasant sound came out. A pleasant sound came out of the flute. When they held one hole and blew on it, or held another hole and blew on it, all the spit flowed into the flute. Since then, the value of human spit has been lost. We Kachin people call spitting "Mahtaw ai." To spit at a person or a place means that you are deriding it. For example, if you spit at a person, it is as if you do not consider that person as a person. In the past, if people heard bird song or pig song as they travelled along the road, they considered it a bad omen. If they heard a wild bird calling "Yeck, yeck, yeck", they would spit at the bird and say "May nothing happen!" The meaning is "May nothing bad happen!" They spat with that meaning. When they heard a bird called "u kala" calling "Gong tak, gong tak", they did not spit. This was because the bird's call was considered a good omen. It meant that it was a sign of happiness. If they heard it, they would say, "Chirp again! Chirp again!" People in the past thought this way. Thank you.
Transcription (La Ring)
Ya hkai dan na maumwi gaw "Grai reng ai mayen a lam" re. Moi shawng de gaw Mayen gaw grai reng ai re ai da. Mayen hpe "Htawk!! Si u ga!" ngu yang, mahtaw na tsun yang kaja wa si ai da. Majoi joi mung mayen n mahtaw ma ai da. Dai majaw "Htawk!" ngu ra yang she Mayen hpe mahtaw ma ai da. "Htawk!" ngu mahtaw na "Hto ra byin u ga! Le ra byin u ga!" ngu yang kaja wa sha byin ai da. Mayen gaw grai reng ai majaw she shara shagu mung n mahtaw ma ai da. Prat na nga yang mung kaja wa sha, atsawm sha prat da ai da. "Htawk!" nga na kadai n prat ma ai da. Grai reng ai majaw rai na hku rai nga. Majoi mi mahtaw kau yang gaw hpoi mat ai ngu hkam la ma ai da. Dai majaw ndai shinggyim masha ni a Mayen gaw nau reng yang she nat ni gaw manawn sai da. Shing rai jang she nat ni gaw "Mayen ndai, hmm, shinggyim masha ndai ni na Mayen ndai grai reng ai." "Ndai hpe shamat kau ya ra ai," ngu na she dum ai baw langai mi hpe she, hku mali waw rai na, lam kaw hkra di na tawn da ai da. Dai hku nat ni gaw shinggyim masha ni lai ai lam kaw sa tawn da ai hku rai nga. Shing rai yang she, shinggyim masha ni dai lam kaw na lai wa yu ai shaloi gaw, dai dum mai ai rai hpe mu sai hku rai nga. Shing rai jang she, hta la na, gawut yu yang gaw nsen pru wa ai da. Nsen pru wa ai hte she, hku langai kaw bai dip yu, kawut yu, hku langai kaw bai dip na kawut yu, rai yang gaw Mayen ni yawng gaw dai hku kata de yawng hkrat rawng mat ai da. Dai ten kaw na she shinggyim masha ni na Mayen gaw n reng mat ai re ai da. Anhte Jinghpaw Wunpawng myu sha ni gaw "Mayen hpe mahtaw ai," ngu tsun ma ai re. Masha langai ngai, shing n rai, lam langai ngai hpe Mayen mahtaw kau sai ngu tsun yang gaw jahpoi ai ngu lachyum nan rai sai da. Ga shadawn masha langai mi hpe "Hhtawk!" ngu na mahtaw kau sai rai jang gaw dai masha wa hpe masha ngu na n sawn la ai ga nan rai sai da. Dai majaw moi na masha kaba ni gaw lam hkan lai hkawm sa wa yang u nsen, wa nsen ni na yang kaja n kaja ai namik kumla re ngu ai hku na she, ga shadawn nam u nsen "Yek yek yek," ngu na yang gaw dai u hpe she kalang ta "Htawk! Htawk! Hpa n ra u ga!" ngu na mayen mahtaw na lai hkawm sa ai da. Lachyum gaw "N kaja ai lam ni hkoi mat u ga, n du u ga, mat mat u ga!" ngu lachyum hku na Mayen mahtaw ai re da. Bai na she ndai u kala ngu ai u hpan na nsen "Gawng tak, gawng tak," ngu yang gaw Mayen n mahtaw ma ai da. Ndai u nsen hpe rai jang gaw "Mai kaja ai lam re." "Kaja ai, kabu hpa, pyaw hpa, shiga lamik kumla ni mu lu na, na lu na re," ngu lachyum hku na she Dai nsen na yang gaw "Aw, bai tsun u, bai tsun u," ngu na tsun ma ai ngu na moi na masha kaba ni ndai hku tsun ma ai re law. Yawng hpe chyeju kaba sai.
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https://doi.org/10.15026/0002000068
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