Benonie Harrie: "A Hunting Yarn" (1927)

Primary participants: Benonie Harrie (speaker), Jaime de Angulo (researcher), L.S. Freeland (researcher)
Date: 1927
Location: Northern California
Project identifier: DAF_KT-05c
Publication details: Jaime de Angulo and L.S. Freeland,International Journal of American Linguistics 6 (1931), pp. 202, 224-226
PDF of published text: http://linguistics.berkeley.edu/~karuk/text-pdfs/DAF_KT-05c.pdf
Additional contributors: Julay Brooks (annotator), John Ku (annotator), Line Mikkelsen (annotator), Ebony Milbury (annotator), Michelle Park (annotator)

Note: This text has been retranscribed in current spelling and some translations have been modified to better reflect Karuk sentence structure.

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[1]	papishyavpîish	mit	ni'ákunvarat
	the.autumn	near.past	I.went.hunting

Last fall I went on a hunting trip.

[2]	xás	masúruk	saamváruk	nikvêesh
	then	up.a.creek	at.the.creek	I.camp

I made camp up the creek.

[3]	imáankam	xás	mah'íitnihach	xás	ni'ákunvarat
	next.day	then	early.morning	then	I.went.hunting

Next morning early I went hunting.

[4]	kári	xás	máruk	káan	xás	nimáahrav	ta'ítam	nithíravaheen
	then	then	uphill	there	then	I.track.him	so	I.trailed.him

Up the hill there I tracked (a deer), and I followed the tracks.

(de Angulo and Freeland's translation is "Up the hill there I found deer tracks leading out, and I followed the tracks." It has been changed here to better reflect the structure of the Karuk sentence.)

[5]	chímiva	piríshriik	su'	nipthíramkaa
	soon	brush.pile	inside	I.trail.him.into.it

As it happened, I tracked him into a patch of brush.

[6]	káan	xás	u'árihship	sáruk	ukvíripunih
	there	then	he.jumps.up	downhill	he.runs.away.downhill

There he jumped up and he ran down the hill.

[7]	ta'ítam	ni'áharamaheen
	so	I.chased.him

I ran after him.

[8]	saamvároo	ithyárukirukam	súva	as	úxaakti	itharípriik	vúra	hôoyvarihva
	creek	on.other.side.of.river	listen!	rock	it.is.making.a.noise	fir.forest	Intensive	somewhere.or.other

On the other side of the creek I could hear the noise of rocks somewhere in a fir thicket.

[9]	chavúra	kári	xás	nimah
	finally	then	then	I.see.him

Finally I saw him.

[10]	viri	kúna	vúra	ithyárukirukam	kumavîitkir	chími	ukfúkuvravish
	so	in.addition	Intensive	on.other.side.of.river	its.ridge	soon	he.will.climb.over

He was about to climb over the ridge on the other side of the creek.

(de Angulo and Freeland's translation is "He had run nearly to the top of the opposite ridge on the other side of the creek." It has been changed here to better reflect the structure of the Karuk sentence.)

[11]	ta'ítam	ni'aaksúraheen
	so	I.shot.at.him

I took a shot at him.

[12]	kári	xás	sâam	upishkáakfak	káruma	vúra	yiiv
	then	then	little.downhill	he.jumps.down.from.uphill	in.fact	Intensive	far

Then he gave a jump down, but it was very far away.

(The transcription of the verb is uncertain. de Angulo and Freeland's write "ishkyav", which Bright and Gehr render as "ishkáakfak" in their dictionary. Bight and Gehr's transcription is adopted here.)

[13]	púxay	vúraxay	naxútihara	káan	ukyíimeesh
	not.yet	definitely.not	I.don't.think.so	there	the.shot.will.reach.that.far.down

I didn't think it (my shot) reached him there.

(de Angulo and Freeland's translation is "I didn't think I could have hit him at that distance." It has been changed here to better reflect the structure of the Karuk sentence.)

[14]	ta'ítam	kúkuum	ni'aaksúraheen	chímiva	súrukam	kúna	nipásip	tama	uskákavraa
	so	again	I.shot.at.him	soon	under	in.addition	I.shoot.	then	he.jumps.over.the.ridge

I shot under, and he jumped over the ridge.

(de Angulo and Freeland's translation is "Then I shot again, but under. My shot passed just as he jumped over the ridge." It has been changed here to better reflect the structure of the Karuk sentence.)

[15]	kári	xás	kúuk	ni'uum
	then	then	to.there	I.go

Then I went in that direction.

[16]	yíthukam	yánava	sáruk	tukvíripuniheen
	on.other.side	visible	downhill	he.had.run.away.downhill

I saw that he had run downhill on the other side.

[17]	kári	xás	máruk	níkfuukraa	chavúra	máruk	ípan	nikfúkuvraa
	then	then	uphill	I.climb.up.from.downhill	finally	uphill	end	I.climb.over

Then I climbed uphill and finally I climbed over the hill top.

[18]	káan	xás	ikhúripaak	ni'árihripaa
	there	then	along.a.ridge	I.run.inland

Then I went along the ridge.

[19]	purafátaak	vúra	pamukunfíthih
	nowhere	Intensive	the.their.tracks

No tracks anywhere.

[20]	kári	xás	ikrírihak	nivápathuk
	then	then	steep.hillside	I.go.around

Then I went around to the steep side.

[21]	káan	xás	yánava	nanisâam	uhyárih
	there	then	visible	below.me	he.stands

There he was, standing below me.

[22]	ta'ítam	ni'akuníihkaheen
	so	I.shot.at.him

So I shot at him.

(de Angulo and Freeland's translation is "So at last I shot him." It has been changed here to better reflect the structure of the Karuk sentence.)

[23]	mâa	vúrava	sâam	súva	vúrava	papírish	úxaaktih
	look!	just	little.downhill	listen!	just	the.brush	it.is.making.a.noise

A little downhill I heard a noise in the brush.

(de Angulo and Freeland's translation is "The last I heard of him was a noise there in the brush." It has been changed here to better reflect the structure of the Karuk sentence.)

[24]	kári	xás	kúuk	ni'uum
	then	then	to.there	I.go

I went toward it.

[25]	yánava	káan	utháaniv	kêeshichas	vêeshur
	visible	there	he.lies	very.big.ones	horn

There he lay, a big buck.

(A more literal translation might be "Behold, (its) big horns lay there". )

[26]	káan	nik	nishripíhpih
	there	a.little	I.tug.at.it

I tugged at it

(de Angulo and Freeland's translation is "I could hardly move him." It has been changed here to better reflect the structure of the Karuk sentence.)

[27]	kári	xás	ta'ítam	nitatnúsaheen
	then	then	so	I.gutted.him

So then I gutted him.

[28]	kári	xás	vúup	kúna	nivúsur
	then	then	neck	in.addition	I.cut.it.off

Then, in addition, I cut off his neck.

[29]	ta'ítam	nithvásipreeheen
	so	I.packed.it.on.my.back

So I packed it on my back.

[30]	viri	ûum	vúra	ni'á'ha
	so	barely	how	I.get.up

I could scarcely get up.

[31]	púxay	vúra	xay	hûut	koo	neethvávara	táma	âapun
	not.yet	how	Intensive	how	all	I.cannot.pack.it	then	on.the.ground

I could hardly pack it any distance at all, before (I had to put it) down again.

[32]	kári	xás	pâanpay	xás	kúkuum	nipithvásip
	then	then	after.while	then	again	I.pack.it.again

Then, after a while, I packed it on my back again and rose.

[33]	matêe	kumamáathkich
	later	its.heaviness

Later, it became heavier.

(de Angulo and Freeland's translation is "Later, it becomes heavier.")

[34]	kári	xás	nixus	"chími	kánishfin	ta'ítam	nishfíraheen
	then	then	I.think	soon	let.me.skin.him	so	I.skinned.him

Then I thought I should skin him soon, so I skinned him.

(de Angulo and Freeland's translation is "Then I think I should skin him soon, so I skin him.")

[35]	kári	xás	pa'ishmúnaxich	íithva	nikyâaheen
	then	then	the.meat	packload	I.made.it

Then I made a pack of only meat.

(de Angulo and Freeland's translation is "Then I make a pack of only meat.")

[36]	kári	xás	nithvásip
	then	then	I.pack.it

Then I packed it.

[37]	unuhyâachhiruva	kúma	u'árihishrih	pananí'iithva	víri	natakníihshurootih
	too.round	3sPOSS	it.becomes	the.my.pack	so	it.keeps.rolling.off.me

My pack was becoming too round, so it kept rolling off me.

(The use of "kuma-" in this sentence is puzzling. Normally "kuma-" is used on nouns to express possession or "a kind of X", but here it is followed by a verb.")

[38]	fátaak	xás	tá	nikyívish
	somewhere	then	PERF	I.fall.down

I fell down somewhere.

[39]	xayvéekva	kúkuum	nipíkfuuksip
	by.luck	again	I.get.up.again.from.a.lying.position

By luck, I once again get up on my feet.

[40]	achavúra	pâanpay	niyrúhunih
	then(?)	after.while	I.roll.it.downhill

Finally I rolled it down.

(de Angulo and Freeland's translation is "Finally it rolled away downhill out of sight." It has been changed here to better reflect the structure of the Karuk sentence.)

[41]	mâa	vúrava	sáruk	papírish	kich	uváyvaayhitih
	look!	just	downhill	the.brush	only	it.is.waving

Only the brush was moving.

[42]	kári	xás	nikvíripunih
	then	then	I.run.down

Then I ran down.

[43]	yánava	sáruk	xás	pírishak	uthantákikva
	visible	downhill	then	in.the.brush	it.is.stuck

I found that it had got stuck in the brush down there.

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[44]	kári	xás	sáruk	nithyúrunih
	then	then	downhill	I.drag.it

After that I just dragged it down the hill.

[45]	tá	nithyúrunih	tá	puna'íithvutihara
	PERF	I.drag.it.	PERF	I.don't.pack.it

I dragged it, I didn't try to pack it anymore.

[46]	koova	tá	neekvúrish	chavúra	kúkuum	ni'iyruhunih	chímiva	ípaha	úkuyva
	so	PERF	I.am.tired	finally	again	I.roll.it.downhill	soon	tree	it.strikes

I was so tired finally I rolled it down again, but it hit a tree.

[47]	kári	xás	úsxax	pananipûuvish
	then	then	it.tears.open	my.sack

Then my sack burst.

(de Angulo and Freeland's translation is "That ripped my sack." It has been changed here to better reflect the structure of the Karuk sentence.)

[48]	káan	ni'uum	ta'ítam	nipifikpiithvaheen
	there	I.go	so	I.pick.it.up.around

When I got there, I had to pick up the pieces.

[49]	pa'íish	ôokmas	páy	yítha	utháaniv
	the.meat	here.and.there	this	one	it.lies

The meat was lying all around.

[50]	chavúra	víri	ûumta	nipifikfiip
	finally	so	hardly	I.pick.it.up

It was as much as I could do to get it all together again.

[51]	kúkuum	nipkíshap
	again	I.tied.it.in.a.bundle.again

Again I tied it up.

[52]	kári	xás	ta'ítam	kúkuum	nipithyúrusipreeheen	sáruk	nipithyúrunih
	then	then	so	again	I.started.to.drag.it.again	downhill	I.drag.it.again

Again I started to drag it. I dragged it down the hill.

(de Angulo and Freeland's translation is "Again I dragged it down the hill." It has been changed here to better reflect the structure of the Karuk sentence.)

[53]	sáruk	ikveeshríhraam	ni'íipma	víri	kúna	vúra	chimi	ukxáramheesh
	downhill	campground	I.return.to	so	so	but	soon	it.will.be.night

I got back to the camping place just as it was getting dark.

[54]	yée	víri	íiv	nipíivur	kóova	puxich	nikvúrish
	well	so	meaning.unknown	I.barely.survive	so	very.much	I.am.tired..

I was so tired I was nearly dead.