Julia Starritt: "The Bear and the Deer" (1957)

Primary participants: Julia Starritt (speaker), William Bright (researcher)
Date: 1957
Project identifier: WB_KL-32
Publication details: William Bright, The Karok Language (1957), pp. 226-231, Text 32
Additional contributor: Clare Sandy (annotator)

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Text display mode: paragraph | sentence | word | word components

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[1]	káan	ávansa	úkrii
	there	man	he.lived

A man lived there.

[2]	áxak	muhrôovas
	two	his.wives

He had two wives.

[3]	pamupiship'ihrôoha	uum	yítha	mu'avansáxiich
	his.first.wife	3.SG	one	her.boy

His first wife had one boy.

[4]	káru	payítha	uum	áxak	mutúnviiv	avansáxiitichas
	also	the.one	3.SG	two	her.children	boys

And the other had two children, they were little boys.

[5]	pa'ávansa	atahári	vúra	u'ákunvutih
	the.man	always	Intensive	he.was.hunting

The man was always hunting.

[6]	káru	uum	pa'asiktávaan	atahári	vúra	kunikyáviichvutih	ávaha	kunikyáatih
	also	3.SG	the.women	always	Intensive	they.were.working	food	they.were.gathering

And the women were always working, they were gathering food.

[7]	xás	papíshiip	veehrôoha	uum	itníivka
	then	the.first	its.wife	3.SG	mean

And the first wife was cruel.

(Bright: "The cruel wife, with the single child, was Bear. The one with the two children was Deer.")

[8]	kâarim	ukyáati	peehnohá'anamahach
	bad	she.was.doing.to.her	the.little.wife

She treated the little wife badly.

[9]	paxuntápan	kunífiktih	kúuk	tóo	kvíripma	xás	koovúra	tu'ífik	píshiip
	when.acorns	they.were.picking.it.up	to.there	she.had	run.to	then	all	she.had.picked.it.up	first

When they picked acorns, she would run there, and she would pick them all first.

[10]	xás	pamu'átimnam	uum	vúra	axyár	atahári
	then	her.burden.basket	3.SG	Intensive	full	always

And her burden basket was always full.

[11]	payítha	uum	vúra	chîimich	pamu'átimnak
	the.one	3.SG	Intensive	little.bit	in.her.burden.basket

There was little in the other's burden basket.

[12]	xás	vúra	kâarim	ukyáatih
	then	Intensive	bad	she.was.doing.to.her

And she treated her badly.

[13]	áathva	ukyáatih
	be.afraid	she.was.making.her

She made her afraid.

[14]	xás	itháan	pakun'ípak	xás	úpeenvunaa	pamutunvêech	papuna'ípakahaak	kuxúseesh	tá	neeykáraheen
	then	once	when.they.returned	then	she.told.them	her.little.ones	if.I.don't.come.back	you.will.know.it	PERF	she.killed.me

And once when they returned, (Deer) told her little ones, "If I don't come back, you will know (lit., think) that she's killed me."

---

[15]	xás	itháan	u'ípak	pakéevriik
	then	once	she.came.back	the.old.woman

And once the old woman (i.e., Bear) came back.

[16]	xás	pa'avansáxiich	upíktar	pamútaat
	then	the.boy	he.missed	his.mother

And the boys missed their mother.

[17]	xás	upíip	hôoy	uum	tátach
	then	he.said	where	3.SG	mama

And they said, "Where's mama?"

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[18]	xás	upíip	pakéevriik	uum	vúra	má'	tóo	kvéesh
	then	she.said	the.old.woman	3.SG	Intensive	uphill	she.is	spend.night

And the old woman said, "She's spending the night in the mountains.

[19]	yakún	táay	vúra	íp	úmkaanvat
	you.see	much	Intensive	PAST	she.gathered

You see, she gathered a lot.

[20]	víri	hûut	chími	ukupeepsháanvaheesh
	so	how	soon	she.would.take.it.back

How was she to carry it home?

[21]	víri	imáan	xásik	u'ípakeesh
	so	tomorrow	then.(future)	she.will.come.back

She'll come back tomorrow."

---

[22]	xás	imáan	kúkuum	vúra	upvâaram
	then	tomorrow	again	Intensive	she.went.back

The next day (Bear) went off again.

[23]	xás	kúmateech	ikxúrar	vúra	xára	xás	vúra	u'ípak
	then	later.in.day	evening	Intensive	long.time	then	Intensive	she.came.back

And later on, in the evening, she came back late.

[24]	xás	pa'avansáxiitichas	tá	kun'áasishrih
	then	the.boys	PERF	they.went.to.bed

The little boys had gone to bed.

[25]	xás	pa'avansaxichákaam	utníshuk	vasasúruk
	then	the.big.boy	he.peeked.out	under.the.blanket

And the big boy was peeking out from under the blanket.

[26]	xás	yánava	pa'átimnavak	umáhyaanahiti	táhpuus
	then	visible	in.the.burden.basket	it.is.stuffed.in	young.fir.tree

And he saw fir branches sticking in the burden basket.

[27]	ii	yánava	uhyárishukva	pamútaat	múpsiih
	oh!	visible	it.is.sticking.out	his.mother	her.leg

Oh, he saw his mother's leg sticking out!

[28]	ii	xas	u'aapúnmat	pamútaat	tóo	ykáraheen
	oh!	then	he.knew	his.mother	she.had	killed.her

Oh, then he knew that she had killed his mother!

[29]	xás	u'íkihvuti	poopvôonfuruk	maath	póoktaamtih
	then	she.was.grunting	as.she.came.back.into.the.house	heavy	that.she.was.carrying

And (Bear) was grunting as she came in, as she was carrying a heavy load.

[30]	xás	pa'avansáxiich	u'aapúnma	vúra	if
	then	the.boy	he.knew	Intensive	true

And the boy knew it was true.

[31]	xás	púxay	fâat	vúra	pítihara
	then	not.yet	what	Intensive	he.wasn't.saying

And he didn't say anything.

---

[32]	xás	imáankam	kúkuum	vúra	upvâaram
	then	next.day	again	Intensive	she.went.away.again

And the next day she went away again.

[33]	pamítaat	kúmateech	xasík	u'ípakeesh
	your.mother	later.in.day	then.(future)	she.will.come.back

"Your mother will come back later today."

[34]	xás	kúkuum	vúra	xára	xás	u'ípak	ikxúrar
	then	again	Intensive	long.time	then	she.came.back	evening

And again (Bear) came back late in the evening.

[35]	yánava	usáanvuti	axvaharaxárahsas
	visible	she.was.carrying	long.pitch-woods

(The boy) saw she was carrying long pieces of pitch-wood.

[36]	xás	pa'avansáxiich	vúra	uum	uxráratih	kúna	vúra	u'íchunvuti	pooxráratih
	then	the.boy	Intensive	3.SG	he.was.crying	in.addition	Intensive	he.was.hiding	when.he.was.crying

And the boy was crying, but he hid when he cried.

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[37]	xás	upêer	pa'avansáxiich	imáankam	sáruk	astíip	pamíchaas	xákaan	ík	kuyâarameesh	ikxúrar
	then	she.told.him	the.boy	next.day	downhill	shore	your.younger.brother	with.(one.person)	must	you.two.will.go	evening

And she told the boy, "Tomorrow evening you and your younger brother must go down to the river-bank.

[38]	xasík	paaxvaharaxárahsas	kuvêehkuriheesh	yúuxak	u'ahítiheesh
	then.(future)	the.long.pitch-woods	you.will.stick.them.into.it	in.the.sand	it.will.burn

You will stick the long pieces of pitch-wood in the sand, they will burn.

[39]

xasík

vaa

ík

vúra

kóo

káan

ku'íineesh

paaxvâahar

tóo

msípishrihaak

xasík

kupínaavish

then.(future)

so

must

Intensive

as.much.as

there

you.two.will.stay

when.the.pitch-wood

it.has

cooled.down

then.(future)

you.will.come.back

You must stay there until the pitch-wood is extinguished, then you will come back."

---

[40]	xás	kári	pa'avansáxiich	aah	úkyav	ikmaháchraam
	then	then	the.boy	fire	he.made.it	sweathouse

Then the boy made a fire in the sweathouse.

[41]	xás	pamu'aaníhich	upêer	chôora	nupíkniihvan	ikmaháchraam
	then	his.older.brother	he.told.him	let's.go	let's.go.sweat.ourselves	sweathouse

And he told his older brother (i.e., the Bear's son), "Let's go sweat ourselves in the sweathouse!"

[42]	xás	kuniruvôonfuruk
	then	they.went.inside

And they went in.

[43]	xás	pa'avansáxiich	upíshkaakrupuk	sákriiv	vúra	úkyav	páchivchak
	then	the.boy	he.jumped.back.outdoors	hard	Intensive	he.made.it	the.door

Then the boy jumped out again, he made the door tight.

[44]	xás	pamúchaas	xákaan	sáruk	kunithvíripfak
	then	his.younger.brother	with.(one.person)	downhill	they.ran.downhill

And he and his younger brother ran downhill.

[45]	xás	paaxvâahar	uvêehish
	then	the.pitch-wood	he.stuck.it.down

And he stuck the pitch-wood down.

[46]	tu'áahka
	he.lit.it

He lit it.

[47]	xás	upíip	chími	nuthvîipi
	then	he.said	soon	let's.run

And he said, "Let's run!"

[48]	xás	yúruk	kunithvíriprup
	then	downriver	they.ran.downriverward

And they ran downriverward.

---

[49]	pa'avansáxiich	ukpêehvuti	ikmaháchraam
	the.boy	he.was.shouting	sweathouse

The boy inside the sweathouse was shouting.

[50]	cháas	neepchívchaaksurih	tá	ni'íinka
	younger.brother	open.back.up.the.door.for.me	PERF	I'm.burning

"Younger brother, open the door for me, I'm burning!"

[51]	xás	kúkuum	vúra	tóo	kpêehva	neepchívchaaksurih	tá	ni'íinka
	then	again	Intensive	he.did	shout	open.back.up.the.door.for.me	PERF	I'm.burning

And again he shouted, "Open the door for me, I'm burning!"

---

[52]	xás	mútaat	u'ípak
	then	his.mother	she.came.back

Then his mother came back.

[53]	xás	umnishkírihva	pá'iish
	then	she.cooked.it	the.meat

And she cooked the (deer's) meat.

[54]	sáruk	utfákutih	yánava	paaxvâahar	kári	vâaramas	uvêehriv
	downhill	she.was.looking.downhill	visible	the.pitch-wood	then	long.ones	they.stand

She looked downhill, she saw the pitch still standing long.

[55]	xás	peekmaháchraam	kúuk	u'árihma
	then	the.sweathouse	to	she.ran.to

Then she ran to the sweathouse.

[56]	xás	uhyûunish	pamú'arama	chéemyaach	árihrupuki	tóo	mtup	pamú'iish	chimi	nu'am
	then	she.shouted.to.him	her.child	quickly	jump.outdoors	it.is	be.ripe	her.meat	soon	let's.eat

And she shouted to her child, "Jump out quickly, her meat is cooked, let's eat!"

[57]	xás	púxay	íhivriktihara
	then	not.yet	he.wasn't.answering

But he did not answer.

[58]	xás	chavúra	u'árihfuruk
	then	finally	she.jumped.inside

Then finally she jumped in.

[59]	chéemyaach	chími	nu'am
	quickly	soon	let's.eat

"Quick, let's eat!"

[60]	ii	xás	umah	yánava	ámtaap	kích	ukrítuv
	oh!	then	she.saw.him	visible	dust	only	it.was.lying.in.a.pile

Oh, then she saw him, she saw just ashes lying there!

[61]	xás	upíip	aaaw
	then	she.said	imitation.of.Bear's.growl

And she said "OW!"

[62]	xás	sáruk	astíip	kúuk	ukvíripma
	then	downhill	shore	to	she.ran.to

And she ran down to the river-bank.

[63]	xás	ukfuukíraanaa
	then	she.grabbed.at.them

And she grabbed at them (i.e., at where she thought the children were).

[64]	xás	aah	kích	úkfuukiraa
	then	fire	only	she.grabbed

But she grabbed just the fire.

[65]	xás	utúraayva
	then	she.looked.around

Then she looked around.

[66]	yánava	yúruk	tá	kunithvíriprupaheen
	visible	downriver	PERF	they.had.run.downriver

She saw that they had run downriver.

[67]	xás	ukvíriprup
	then	she.ran.downriver

So she ran downriver.

---

[68]	xás	pa'avansaxích'anamahach	tóo	kfuuyshur	puxích	vúra
	then	the.little.boy	he.got	be.tired	very.much	Intensive

Then the little boy got very tired.

[69]	xás	káruk	kunítroovutih
	then	upriver	they.were.looking.upriver

And they looked upriver.

[70]	víri	kúna	káruk	ukvíripvarak
	so	in.addition	upriver	she.ran.down.from.upriver

She in her turn was running down from upriver.

[71]	kúkuum	kunpítroovutih
	again	they.were.looking.upriver.again

They looked upriver again.

[72]	vúra	ûumukich	tu'uum
	Intensive	near	she.had.gotten

She was getting near.

[73]	pa'avansáxiich	vúra	tá	pukúnish	ikviiptíhara	kóova	tóo	kfuuyshur
	the.boy	Intensive	PERF	not.sort.of	he.wasn't.running	so	he.was	be.tired

The boy could hardly run, he was so tired.

[74]	xás	ithyáruk	kunitkáratih
	then	across	they.were.looking.across-river

Then they looked across-river.

[75]	yánava	káan	ára	úkriihvutih
	visible	there	person	he.was.fishing

They saw a man fishing there.

[76]	xás	pa'avansáxiich	ukpêehva	kinvítivrik
	then	the.boy	he.shouted	you.row.to.meet.us

And the boy shouted, "Row to meet us!"

---

[77]	xás	upíip	naa	púfaat	nanípaah
	then	he.said	1sg.	nothing	my.boat

And he said, "I don't have any boat."

[78]	xás	káruk	tuthítiimnoov	póoxruunhitih
	then	upriver	he.heard.upriverward	she.was.growling

Then he heard her growling from upriver.

[79]	xás	kári	upíip	pananípshii	ithyáruk	nipiivkáreesh
	then	then	he.said	my.leg	across	I.will.step.it.out.over.water

And he said, "I'll just put my leg out across-river.

[80]	víriva	káan	kiik'iruvátarini
	so	there	you.all.cross

Walk across on that!"

(Bright: "The fisherman was áxvaay 'Crane' (actually the blue heron); this explains his long leg.")

[81]	xás	kuníkakar
	then	they.jumped.across.it

So they jumped across.

[82]	víri	kúna	kukâam	tóo	kvíripvarak
	so	in.addition	a.little.ways.upriver.from.there	she.had	run.down.from.upriver

(Bear) in turn was running down from close upriver.

[83]	xás	pamúpsii	upithyúrukiv
	then	his.leg	he.pulled.back.in

So he pulled in his leg.

---

[84]	xás	pakéevriik	ukpêehva	navítivrik
	then	the.old.woman	she.shouted	you.row.to.meet.me

And the old woman shouted, "Row to meet me!".

---

[85]	pûuhara	naa	púfaat	nanípaah
	no	1sg.	nothing	my.boat

"No, I don't have any boat."

---

[86]	xás	upíip	vúra	píivkathi
	then	she.said	Intensive	put.your.leg.across

And she said, "Put your leg across!"

---

[87]	xás	upíivkar
	then	he.stepped.out.over.water

So he put his leg out.

[88]	káru	pa'avansáxiich	uum	tá	mâam	kun'íkakraa
	also	the.boys	3.SG	PERF	uphill	they.hurried.uphill

And the boys were already climbing uphill.

[89]	xás	uvátarin	pakéevriik
	then	she.crossed	the.old.woman

Then the old woman walked across.

[90]	xás	paapsíh'aachip	tu'uum
	then	the.middle.of.the.leg	she.got.to

And she got to the middle of the leg.

[91]	xás	pamúpxaan	upûusur
	then	her.hat	she.took.it.back.off

And she took off her hat.

[92]	xás	pa'íshaha	utêekship
	then	water	she.dipped.up

And she dipped up water.

[93]	xás	úyvaayvar
	then	she.poured.it.in.her.mouth

And she poured it in her mouth.

[94]	xás	patóo	píishrav	xás	pamúpxaan	umchanáknak	páapsiih
	then	when.she.had	drunk.from.it	then	her.hat	she.knocked.it.against.it	the.leg

And when she had drunk from it, she knocked her hat on his leg (to shake the water out).

[95]	xás	upíip	akee
	then	he.said	ouch!

And he said "Ouch!"

[96]	xás	upithyúrukiv	pamúpsiih
	then	he.pulled.it.back.in	his.leg

And he pulled in his leg.

[97]	xás	ukyívivraa	ishkêesh	úkyiimkurih
	then	she.fell.over	river	she.fell.into.water

And she fell over, she fell into the river.

[98]	xás	pa'avansáxiich	uum	máruk	túuyship	kunithvíripuraa
	then	the.boys	3.SG	uphill	mountain	they.ran.uphill

And the boys ran up the mountain.

[99]	páy nanu'ávahkam	kúuk	kunithvíripma
	sky	to	they.ran.to

They ran to the sky.