Mary Marshall

Medicine formula to get wealthy (1927)

Writing system: default | hyphens | linguistic
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Text identifier: MM5
Speaker: Mary Marshall
Primary documentation: Edward Sapir
Edition: , Howard Berman, "Yurok Texts", Collected Works of Edward Sapir, volume 14, Northwest California Linguistics, ed. by Victor K. Golla and Sean O'Neill, pp. 1025-1028
Manuscript source: Edward Sapir, Yurok field notebook, American Philosophical Society

  1. Pekw-tuehl weet 'okw' we'-yon.
    At Pekwtuhl there lived an unmarried woman.
  2. Neesh-kuue nee-mee' nuue-wom' kue we'-yon 'o chee-no-me-wes.
    After a while, a young man (her lover) did not see that maiden any longer.
  3. Te-no' ne-geee'-no-wom'.
    Always he kept looking for her.
  4. Kwe-see' koh-chee 'o le's, Kee ne-geee'-no-wok'.
    And then one time he thought, I'll go and look for her.
  5. Kwe-see' lekw-see 'ee chyuuek'-ween' kue 'oh-kween kue we'-yon.
    He sat outside the house where that maiden lived.
  6. Kwe-see' kee-mohl 'o ko'-mo-yom' keet pe-gah-che-wom' 'o 'o'-le-peek.
    Sure enough, he heard her moving inside the house.
  7. Keet tue' ne-wor.
    Now it dawned.
  8. Kwe-see' 'o ne-wom' keech noohl-pey'.
    Then he saw her come out of the house.
  9. Kes-kee nee-kee soo-tokw'.
    She went right down towards the river.
  10. Kwe-see' hee-noo 'o 'o-ro-gokw' kue chee-no-me-wes.
    That young man followed after her.
  11. Kwe-see' 'o ne-wom' wee't 'o chyuuek'-ween' kue we'-yon.
    He saw that maiden sitting there.
  12. Weesh-tue' 'o hoo-re-chew'; 'e-kah ho-lem'.
    That is where she was basket-weaving; she wove a basket-cap.
  13. Kwe-see' 'ee kap hlom' kue 'we'e-kah.
    He went right up and took her cap away from her.
  14. 'O lem', Kwe-see' weet 'ee mehl 'ne'maa-yohl?
    He said, Is that why you abandoned me?
  15. Kwe-see' pa-'aahl 'o loot' kue 'e-kah.
    He threw that cap into the water.
  16. Kwe-see' hee-noo mehl neee'-no-wom' kue 'e-kah.
    She looked at that cap.
  17. Kye kwen nee-kee le-nekw' kue 'e-kah so puel.
    The cap floated away down river.
  18. Kwe-see' nee-ko'hl wee't 'o 'wechyuuek'-wee-nek'.
    She was always sitting there.
  19. Kwe-see' keech 'o kor' nee lok-see'hl weesh-tue' kem 'o 'o chyuuek'-ween' 'o ko'-mo-yom' kol' kye kwen 'o rue-ro-wom'.
    One year went by, again she sat down there, then she heard some place there was singing.
  20. Kwe-see' woh-pue 'o so neee'-no-wom'.
    She looked towards the water.
  21. 'O ne-wom' yue' we-no'-mo-nekw' kue 'e-kah.
    She saw that cap floating back.
  22. Kwe-see' 'o hlom' kue 'e-kah wo-'eeks so neee'-no-wom' 'o ne-wom' k'en 'oohl-ke's k'ehl nue-mee tom'.
    She picked up that cap, looked inside of it, and saw in it there lay something very small.
  23. Kwe-see' cheeek-cheek wee'.
    It was Indian money.
  24. Kwe-see' nue 'o nek' pa-'aahl 'o nek' kue cheeek.
    She took the money out and put it into the water.
  25. Wee' 'o pa-'an' kue 'o chye-guuek'-ween' wee' pa-'aahl keech 'o 'okw' kue cheeek.
    That money was there in the water where she was always sitting.
  26. Kwe-see' wee-'eeet 'uekoy-kuuel' wee'.
    Then that was her magic rock.
  27. Kwe-see' pe-chan keech reee-ko-mee' kue cheeek.
    In a little while it was full of Indian money.
  28. Kwe-see' hehl-kues 'o nek' kue 'ee cheeek 'oo-lekw 'o soon'.
    She took that money out of the water and packed it back to the house, up from the river.
  29. Pah-tekws 'o nek' ke-gor' pe-ge-chan keech 'o reee-ko-mee' kue cheeek.
    She put it into a storage basket; one by one in a little while they filled up with Indian money.
  30. Hlo-nee-tue' kue too-me-wo-nee pah-tekws keech 'o reee-ko-mee'.
    Finally as many storage baskets as there were had filled up.
  31. Noohl 'o le's, Chuue'hl kee me-ne-chok'.
    Then she thought, Now I'll go away.
  32. Kee ko knok-se-mek' 'o'-loo-le-kwo'-yohl.
    I'll leave it among human beings.
  33. Kee knok-se-mek' k'ee 'nekoy-kuuel'.
    I'll leave that magic rock.
  34. Mo-kee kwehl paas ko'-mee te-nem' weesh kom-chuem' kee n'e-goyk', Weesh-tue' son'.
    Nevertheless there will not be many people who know and will tell about me how I did.
  35. Kye kwe-neesh kee kom-chue-meen k'ee 'nemes nee-mokw-sue wa's-'oy'.
    Whoever knows my medicine will never be poor.
  36. Kwe-see' nee-kee 'ueme-ne-choh-kwek' Pekw-tuehl 'UKerr-cherhweesh-tue' laay' so wo-no-ye-'eek.
    Then right away she left Pekwtuhl Ridge and went to heaven.
  37. Choo-mee' nue keech me raa-yo'-ro-nah noohl cheeek-cheek 'ol' ko nee keech me raa-yo'-ro-nah.
    I ran along so far away, I ran along as far as Dentalium Home.
  38. We'yk-'oh keech 'ne-nes-kwe-chok'.
    Now I've come back.