Nettie Ruben: "The Story of Skunk" (1957)
Primary participants: Nettie Ruben (speaker), William Bright (researcher)
Date: 1957
Project identifier: WB_KL-46
Publication details: William Bright, The Karok Language (1957), pp. 246-247, Text
46
Additional contributor: Nico Baier (annotator)
Text display mode: paragraph | sentence | word | word components
[1] |
víri vaa káan uum vúra kun'ûupvunaati tayiith. |
(Ground squirrels) were digging brodiaea roots there. |
[2] |
máruk tá kunítraatih. |
They looked uphill. |
[3] |
axmáy ík máruk ára u'íhuniheesh. |
Suddenly a person was about to dance down. |
[4] |
chátik vúra tá ûumukich. |
Finally he was close by. |
[5] |
púyava kunímuustih. |
So they looked at him. |
[6] |
tá kuntápkuup pakunímuustih, u'íihtih. |
They liked him as they watched him, he was dancing. |
[7] |
púyava kun'áraarahitih, kunímuusti axchaytunvêechas, mukúnuuthkam tupíhivriin. |
So they sat, the little ground squirrels watched him, he danced back and forth
in front of them |
[8] |
púyava kári xás tóo pif. |
And then he broke wind. |
[9] |
kári xás tá kuniktírish pa'axchaytunvêechas. |
And the little ground squirrels fainted. |
[10] |
kári xás tóo psáansip patayíith tishnamkanvínusunach.
|
Then (the type of skunk called) tishnamkanvínusunach carried off the
brodiaeas |
[11] |
ii! tá kunpifúksiip. |
Oh, then they got up again. |
[12] |
kári xás tá púfaat pamukuntáyiith. |
And they had no brodiaeas. |
[13] |
púyava kúkuum vúra imáan " chími nu'ûupvanvi kúkuum." |
So again the next day (they said), "Let's go dig roots again!" |
[14] |
púyava táay tá kun'ûupva patayíith. |
So they dug a lot of brodiaeas. |
[15] |
xás kúkuum kunítraatih, kúkuum tu'íhithun. |
And again they looked uphill, he was dancing down again. |
[16] |
kári xás upiip, " púya, payêem ík vôohara mûuk ivúreesh, papay'ôok tu'íhithunahaak nunúthvaaykam." |
And (one) said, "Say, this time we must jab him with a digging stick when he
dances around here in front of us." |
[17] |
xás púyava vúra tu'íhuni tá ûumukich. |
And so he danced down close. |
[18] |
púyava vúra tá kunkáriha pakunkupavúraheesh. |
And they were ready to jab him. |
[19] |
kári xás víri vaa tupuxíchkaanva poo'íihtih, kûufan 'an 'an
'an." |
And there he was exerting himself as he danced, (singing) "kûufan 'an 'an
'an." |
|
(Bright: "These words evidently contain kuuf, the name of a species of skunk. It is not clear whether kuuf and tishnamkanvínusunach are two names for the same species.") |
[20] |
kúuk tukúchnaaxma, upífeesh.
|
He turned his buttocks toward them, he was about to break wind. |
[21] |
kári xás chikus! tuvur.
|
And wham! They jabbed him. |
[22] |
kári xás ukyívish, áfup patá kunvúr vôohara mûuk.
|
Then he fell down, when they jabbed him in the buttocks with a digging
stick. |
[23] |
kári xás pamukuntáyiith kunipsháansiip,
kunpíhmar.
|
Then they carried off their brodiaeas, they ran home. |
[24] |
kunpírurav.
|
They fled. |
[25] |
púyava vúra koomahich.
|
So that's all. |