Nettie Ruben: "The Story of Tan Oak Acorn" (1957)
Primary participants: Nettie Ruben (speaker), William Bright (researcher)
Date: 1957
Project identifier: WB_KL-31
Publication details: William Bright, The Karok Language (1957), pp. 226-227, Text
31
Text display mode: paragraph | sentence | word | word components
[1] |
yaas'ára u'iiníshriheesh. |
Mankind was about to come into existence. |
[2] |
koovúra kunvíikvunaa,
yíthuk chí kunívyiihmeesh. |
They were all weaving, they were about to go to a different place. |
[3] |
kári xás kunpíip"
chími chêemyaach nutákukvunaa." |
And they said, "Let’s clean out our baskets quickly." |
[4] |
kári xás kunpíip"
chémi, chúvaarap." |
And they said, "All right, let’s go!" |
[5] |
kári xás kunpithxunásiipreen pamukun'ápxaan. |
And they put on their basket-caps. |
[6] |
koovúra yâamachas pamukun'ápxaan. |
All their caps were pretty. |
[7] |
kári xás uum paxuntápan uum vúra pupikyáarara pamúpxaan.
|
But Tan Oak Acorn didn’t finish her cap. |
[8] |
kári xás upkifínmit. |
So she turned it inside out. |
[9] |
kári xás upíthxuunasip. |
And she put it on. |
|
(Bright: "The verb tákuk, translated 'to clean out' in sentence 3, refers to the process of cutting off the projecting sticks on the inside of a basket, after the actual weaving is finished. The heroine, not having time to do this, put her cap on inside out; as a result, the cups of tan oak acorns are prickly, rather than smooth.") |
[10] |
kári xás upíip"
payaas'ára u'iiníshrihaak víri naa pa'avanihichtâapasheesh.
|
And she said "When Mankind comes into existence, I will be the most important
(lit. the highest). |
[11] |
pahûutva kóo yaas'ára u'íinahaak víri naa vúra kích kaná'aamtiheesh,
káruma apxankêemich paninípxaan." |
However long Mankind exists, he will eat only me, (though) the fact is that my
cap is a poor cap." |
[12] |
víri xuntápan vaa úpaanik. |
Tan Oak Acorn said that. |