Text 2: Verdena's grandmother's job as a nanny (VP-131007-08)
I can go ahead and tell the story, OK? This is about my grandmother, who was a nanny to a Colonel Dougherty when it was soldier occupation on the Hupa reservation.
she got the job, there she worked, I know (from her telling) she was watching after a child.
small child starting to sit up, it started growing up a little bit, then it started walking
she packs the child around, and then a Chinaman is the cook
he worked there, then he would invite them in and tell them to eat. (direct quote, come on in, eat!)
haya:ł misGiy'ts miq'it-dahky'a:n sa'a:n-ding dahno'indil hayah ma'k'i'iłkit hay mije'e:din ya'k'e'iya'n haya:ł
then there was a small table they sat at, she would feed the child, they would eat
after awhile it was walking
it pulls on her and says "let's go!"
then they walk outside. Sometimes
they walk around the house
after awhile it was running all around and then he always tells her
we're going to see his father at that place
let's go there, then she wondered what's going on in that big house
she hears a big noise, after awhile there's a really loud sound she hears
the sound became scary to her (came to be in a scary way to her)
then after awhile he talked to her, the child pulling and pulling on her
he said, let's go look at father, there for sure is where he's at
then, okay she said, then he started running ahead of her up to the door
then there was a sudden realization that someone was standing right there
then he said come in, come in he said
then they went in there
oh gee, there are only men walking around in there
then she got frightened, then
hayah na'wa: hay kile:xich mita' haya:ł 'a'de:ne' q'ut 'e'n do'n ye'ohdił digyung na:de:'ohłya' haya:ł te:soh'ing'
his father is walking around there then he said it's OK, come on in, stand here and you watch
and then they stood there
then after awhile one of them picked up a big ball, and then
they make it roll
it started rolling along further away (over there), towards something standing there (ball rolls into them)
when it rolled into them a big noise came up, then it dawned on her and she thought
oh, that's (what's making) the sound
then they went back out, they went to the other house (to the west or left--houses all faced the same way)
then they returned back
naya'widil haya:ł me:da'ay-ne:s 'e'n na:'ulte' miq'it-na:na'ay-e: ła'ay-xw ch'ina'n ting niwho:n miq'it-na:na:di'a' wha:ne me' na:k'idił-ne'in
they're coming back, then as for the Chinese, he was working at ironing, he did really good ironing, they only went around in well-ironed clothes
haya:ł miq'it-dahky'a:n-q'it dahsid'ut'-tah ła'ay-xw q'ut dists'e:n łiqay mina:t ya:silay 'aht'ing-xw-'unt'e k'iwitł'o:n
the linens (tablecloths) are all stiff and white, there was lace on the edges
hayahujit xong dahch'e'iliwh diywho' 'aht'ing-xw-'unt'e: dahch'itixa:wh ła'ay-xw-q'ut tin ne'iwho'n-e:
he always puts all kinds of flat things and containers (onto the table), he puts them up there, she sees all that stuff from a distance and thinks it looks so good
then as for them (her and the boy) they (the parents) are not letting them (grandma and child) in there
and then right there, it's only there in the kitchen they can sit up to the table and eat
she realizes that the Chinese man sucks up water with his mouth
all over the top of it
on top of it
he uses his mouth to spray this water all over (the biscuits)
hayi miq'it-xw 'e'iliw-e: hayahujit miq'i-na:na'a'a' hayi-xw de:ch'in' hay 'a:niwho:n haya:ł, hay...
it (water) gets all over the top of it (the tablecloth), then he irons it, and that's what makes it so good
made stiff
it's been soaked in starch and then they hang it up
he softens it back up and then in that way he irons it
and then as for her, she thought something nasty his saliva is on everything
haya:ł mine:jixomił hayi-xw na:'iya' haya:ł tsumehstł'o:n ya'xo:tehłts'it xoł dinił'a' ya:'uschwe'n diywho' [nay...] na:k'iwilxut'-tah
and then after a while, she'd walk around there, then she started to get acquainted with women, they started teaching her sewing and stuff like that
also cutting out dresses, she became a seamstress
she would make some dresses sometimes, some people hired her
she became a good seamstress, and then
after a time she came back in fast
de:di-'ungya' me:da'ay-ne:s ch'ischwin'-xola:n la'ay-xw-q'ut tin niwho:n de:diwiłiq' me' silay wilchwe:n haya:ł ya:na:da:wh
she realized that the Chinese man made [all at once] really good bread sitting in (a pan) and it was rising
then she realized that he was spitting all over the top of it, then
do: ch'ilyo' sile'n hay na:mitł'a'-ding haya:ł ch'in 'e'n tin niwho:n-ne'in hayi de:-ch'in ta'na:n [ya:w] ya'iwhiwh miq'it-xw 'aht'in-ding
she never liked it no more, then it was no longer really good because he would suck up water (and spray it) all over the top
it has that on it, and then
for that reason, she wouldn't eat very much, and then I guess
after awhile she left, the boy is getting pretty big, [then I guess]
it could be three years or four years she looked after that boy
hayah-din do'n xo'ye: 'a:'udyaw haya:ł hay na'widahł-din na'te'ida:wh chwola'-din nay'iłxa'-mił na:wilwił-ding
at that time something bad happened to her, when she was going home, she returns back on the fifth day in the evening (Friday night)
somebody was waiting for her there, he did a bad thing to her, and then
that's the end of the story, after that she didn't work
That was end of story.