Mary Marshall

Medicine formula to get wealthy (1927)

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Text identifier: MM5
Speaker: Mary Marshall
Primary documentation: Edward Sapir
Edition: , Howard Berman, "Yurok Texts", Collected Works of Edward Sapir, volume 14, Northwest California Linguistics, ed. by Victor K. Golla and Sean O'Neill, pp. 1025-1028
Manuscript source: Edward Sapir, Yurok field notebook, American Philosophical Society

  1. Pekw-tuehl weet 'ok'w we'-yon.
    At Pekwtuhl there lived an unmarried woman.
  2. Neesh-kuue nee-mee' nuue-wo'm kue we'-yon 'o chee-no-me-wes.
    After a while, a young man (her lover) did not see that maiden any longer.
  3. Te-no' ne-geee'-no-wo'm.
    Always he kept looking for her.
  4. Kwe-see' koh-chee 'o le's, Kee ne-geee'-no-wok'.
    And then one time he thought, I'll go and look for her.
  5. Kwe-see' lekw-see 'ee chyuuek'-wee'n kue 'oh-kween kue we'-yon.
    He sat outside the house where that maiden lived.
  6. Kwe-see' kee-mohl 'o ko'-mo-yo'm keet pe-gah-che-wo'm 'o 'o'-le-peek.
    Sure enough, he heard her moving inside the house.
  7. Keet tue' ne-wor.
    Now it dawned.
  8. Kwe-see' 'o ne-wo'm keech nohl-pe'y.
    Then he saw her come out of the house.
  9. Kes-kee nee-kee soo-tok'w.
    She went right down towards the river.
  10. Kwe-see' hee-noo 'o 'o-ro-gok'w kue chee-no-me-wes.
    That young man followed after her.
  11. Kwe-see' 'o ne-wo'm wee't 'o chyuuek'-wee'n kue we'-yon.
    He saw that maiden sitting there.
  12. Weesh-tue' 'o hoo-re-che'w; 'e-kah ho-le'm.
    That is where she was basket-weaving; she wove a basket-cap.
  13. Kwe-see' 'ee kap hlo'm kue 'we-'e-kah.
    He went right up and took her cap away from her.
  14. 'O le'm, Kwe-see' weet 'ee mehl 'ne'-maa-yohl?
    He said, Is that why you abandoned me?
  15. Kwe-see' pa-'aahl 'o loot' kue 'e-kah.
    He threw that cap into the water.
  16. Kwe-see' hee-noo mehl neee'-no-wo'm kue 'e-kah.
    She looked at that cap.
  17. Kye kwen nee-kee le-nek'w kue 'e-kah so puel.
    The cap floated away down river.
  18. Kwe-see' nee-ko'l wee't 'o 'wech-yuuek'-wee-nek'.
    She was always sitting there.
  19. Kwe-see' keech 'o ko'r nee lok-see'hl weesh-tue' kem 'o 'o chyuuek'-wee'n 'o ko'-mo-yo'm ko'l kye kwen 'o rue-ro-wo'm.
    One year went by, again she sat down there, then she heard some place there was singing.
  20. Kwe-see' woh-pue 'o so neee'-no-wo'm.
    She looked towards the water.
  21. 'O ne-wo'm yue' we-no'-mo-nek'w kue 'e-kah.
    She saw that cap floating back.
  22. Kwe-see' 'o hlo'm kue 'e-kah wo-'eeks so neee'-no-wo'm 'o ne-wo'm k'en 'oohl-ke's k'ehl nue-mee to'm.
    She picked up that cap, looked inside of it, and saw in it there lay something very small.
  23. Kwe-see' cheeek-cheek wee'.
    It was Indian money.
  24. Kwe-see' nue 'o nek' pa-'aahl 'o nek' kue cheeek.
    She took the money out and put it into the water.
  25. Wee' 'o pa-'a'n kue 'o chye-guuek'-wee'n wee' pa-'aahl keech 'o 'ok'w kue cheeek.
    That money was there in the water where she was always sitting.
  26. Kwe-see' wee-'eeet 'ue-koy-kuue'l wee'.
    Then that was her magic rock.
  27. Kwe-see' pe-chan keech reee-ko-mee' kue cheeek.
    In a little while it was full of Indian money.
  28. Kwe-see' hehl-kues 'o nek' kue 'ee cheeek 'oo-lekw 'o soo'n.
    She took that money out of the water and packed it back to the house, up from the river.
  29. Pah-tekws 'o nek' ke-go'r pe-ge-chan keech 'o reee-ko-mee' kue cheeek.
    She put it into a storage basket; one by one in a little while they filled up with Indian money.
  30. Hlo-nee-tue' kue too-me-wo-nee pah-tekws keech 'o reee-ko-mee'.
    Finally as many storage baskets as there were had filled up.
  31. Noohl 'o le's, Chuue'hl kee me-ne-chook'.
    Then she thought, Now I'll go away.
  32. Kee ko knok-se-mek' 'o'-loo-le-kwo'-yohl.
    I'll leave it among human beings.
  33. Kee knok-se-mek' k'ee 'ne-koy-kuue'l.
    I'll leave that magic rock.
  34. Mo-kee kwehl paas ko'-mee te-ne'm weesh kom-chue'm kee 'ne-goyk', Weesh-tue' so'n.
    Nevertheless there will not be many people who know and will tell about me how I did.
  35. Kye kwe-neesh kee kom-chue-meen k'ee 'ne-mes nee-mokw-sue wa's-'o'y.
    Whoever knows my medicine will never be poor.
  36. Kwe-see' nee-kee 'ue-me-ne-choh-kwek' Pekw-tuehl 'UKerr-cherh weesh-tue' laa'y so wo-no-ye-'eek.
    Then right away she left Pekwtuhl Ridge and went to heaven.
  37. Choo-mee' nue keech ma raa-yo'-ro-nah noohl cheeek-cheek 'o'l ko nee keech me raa-yo'-ro-nah.
    I ran along so far away, I ran along as far as Dentalium Home.
  38. We'yk-'oh keech 'ne-nes-kwe-chook'.
    Now I've come back.