Nettie Ruben: "Why Lightning Strikes Trees" (1957)
Primary participants: Nettie Ruben (speaker), William Bright (researcher)
Date: 1957
Project identifier: WB_KL-44
Publication details: William Bright, The Karok Language (1957), pp. 244-245, Text 44
Additional contributors: Nico Baier (annotator), Erik Maier (annotator)
Text display mode: paragraph | sentence | word | word components
[1] |
chími kunímthaatvunaavish.
|
They were going to play shinny. |
[2] |
xás kunipéer, "
púya íf yâamach peepâanvutih.
|
And they said to (Horsefly), "My, your face is painted pretty! |
[3] |
fâat kôok peepâanvuti iim."
|
What did you paint it with?" |
[4] |
kári xás tóo piip, "
mán vúra naa vaa kári xás tá nixus, '
chími kan'ápivan panipâanveesh.'
|
And he said, "Why, I thought I would go look for something to paint my face with. |
[5] |
púyava ípaha tá nishxáxaar.
|
So I ripped open a tree. |
[6] |
víri vaa káan tá nimáh panipâanvutih."
|
There I found what I am painting it with." |
[7] |
kári xás ífuth pakunpímthaatvunaa.
|
And afterward they played shinny again. |
[8] |
kári xás kúkuum vúra vaa chí kunímthaatvunaavish.
|
Again they were going to play shinny. |
[9] |
púyava kunípeentih, "
hôoy iim imáahtih peepâanvutih."
|
So they said to him, "How do you find what you paint your face with?" |
[10] |
xás kunxús "
nuu káru vaa tîi núkuuphi."
|
And they thought, "Let us do that too!" |
[11] |
pa'ípaha kuníkfuukiraa.
|
They grabbed the trees. |
[12] |
púfaat vúra pá'aax.
|
There was no blood (in them). |
[13] |
káruma uum pa'áraar tóo par,
xás pamú'aax tóo pûuxsur.
|
The fact was, (Horsefly) had bit human beings, and taken out a mouthful of their blood. |
[14] |
víri vaa poopâanvuti pa'arará'aax.
|
Human blood is what he painted his face with. |
[15] |
xás araramvanyupsítanach uxus, "
xáyfaat vaa nipiip, "
tóo piip, "
ípahak kích panimáahti pá'aax."
|
and Horsefly thought, "Let me not say it"; he said, "I find the blood only in trees." |
[16] |
púyava payêem patóo snur,
pa'ípaha tóo kfuukiraa,
tóo sxáxaar.
|
So now when it thunders, (Lightning) grabs the trees, he rips them open. |