How Turtle Escaped

	How Turtle Escaped
	Cahto Language
	from Bill Ray (via Goddard 1909)

Cahto ¹		English Translation ²

---- Ts'inteelh naaghaa-kwan yaa'nii, saahding-haa'.		---- Turtle was walking along alone, they say.
	-------ts'u^n.te;---na.ga.kwa7n---ya^E.n"Ü---sa^c.du^n).ha^E
	---- Turtle / was walking / they say, / alone.
Kowang tc'nilkat yaa'nii.		They came to him, they say.
	ko#.wu^n)---tc'n.nu^l.ku^t---ya^E.n"Ü
	To him / they came / they say.
K'aa' ntcee'tc ³ naalee-kwang yaa'nii.		He was carrying some poor-quality arrows, they say.
	k'a^E---n.tcetc---na.le#.kwa7n)---ya^E.n"Ü
	Arrows / poor / he was carrying / they say.
Nee' ninyaa'lhk'aas yaa'nii, k'aa'.		They pushed the arrows into the ground, they say.
	ne^E---nu^n.ya^E;.k'as---ya^E.n"Ü---k'a^E
	Ground / they pushed them in / they say / arrows.
Sheek' kw'it'ch'yaa'sheeh (?) yaa'nii.		They spat on them, they say.
	cek'---k'wu^t.tc'.ya^E.ce^c---ya^E.n"Ü
	Spit / they spit on them / they say.
Tghaamaats.		It was by the shore.
	t.ga.mats
	By the shore.
Too haaskaan yaa'nii, bink'it.		There was water there, they say, a lake.
	to#---has.kan---ya^E.n"Ü---bu^n.k'u^t
	Water / was there / they say, / lake.
Shing-hit.		It was summer-time.
	cin).hu^t
	Summer-time.
Ch'ideelan yaa'nii.		He was angry, they say.
	k'u^t.de#.lu^n---ya^E.n"Ü
	He was angry / they say.
S'isdaa yaa'nii.		He sat, they say.
	s'u^s.da---ya^E.n"Ü
	He sat / they say.
Yaa'slan yaa'nii, kowing.		They laughed at him, they say.
	ya^Es.la7n---ya^E.n"Ü---ku#.wu^n)
	They laughed / they say / at him.
K'aa' nins'islai yaa'nii.		He picked up an arrow, they say.
	k'a^E---nu^n.s'u^s.lai---ya^E.n"Ü
	Arrow / he took up / they say.
S'istc'an yaa'nii, naahneesh.		He shot a person, they say.
	s'u^s.tc'a7n---ya^E.n"Ü---na.nec
	He shot / they say, / person.
Hai too-bii' taa'ghinlhaah yaa'nii.		At that he jumped that water, they say.
	hai---to#.b"Ü^E---ta.gu^n.;a---ya^E.n"Ü
	That / water in / he jumped / they say.
Naahneesh beeding yaa'nii.		The person died, they say.
	na.nec---be.du^n)---ya^E.n"Ü
	Person / died / they say.
Too-bii'k' naas'its yaa'nii.		He ran around inside the water, they say.
	to#.b"Ü^Ek'---nas.^Eu^ts---ya^E.n"Ü
	Water inside / he ran around / they say.
Jaang tc'istciing' yaa'nii.		He made it muddy, they say.
	djan)---tc'u^s.tcin)---ya^E.n"Ü
	Muddy / he made / they say.
Shoo' kaayaa'ch'kwintee (?) yaa'nii.		They looked for him in vain, they say.
	co#---ka.ya^E.tc'.kwu^n.te#---ya^E.n"Ü
	In vain / they looked for him / they say.
Jang sliing' yaa'nii.		It became muddy, they say.
	dja7n)---sl"Ün)^E---ya^E.n"Ü
	Muddy / it became / they say.
Ch'kaak' yeehghaa'ang yaa'nii, chin-kw'it.		They stretched a net on a stick frame, they say.
	tc'.kak'---ye.ga.^Ea7n)---ya^E.n"Ü---tcu^n).k'wu^t
	Net / they stretched / they say / stick on.
Kwaa'ch'ghistkaa' yaa'nii, ch'kaak'- bii'.		They dipped for him in the net, they say.
	kwa.tc'.gu^s.t.ka---ya^E.n"Ü---tc'.kak'.b"Ü^E
	For him they dipped / they say, / net in.
Kashnaataagh-haa' taatc'ilh'its-kwan yaa'nii.		He had run out without their knowing it, they say.
	ku^c.na.taG.ha^E---ta7.ts'u^;.^Eu^ts.kwa7n---ya^E.n"Ü
	Without their knowledge / he had run out / they say.
Shoo' kwaa'lhkat yaa'nii.		They went for him in vain, they say.
	co#^E---kwa.;.ka7t---ya^E.n"Ü
	In vain / they walked for him / they say.
Lhaakwaa ghilhgheel' yaa'nii.		It was just dark, they say.
	;a.kwa---gu^;.gel'---ya^E.n"Ü
	Only / it was dark / they say.
Chaakoghilhgheel' yaa'nii.		It was very dark, they say.
	tca.ku#.gu^;.gel'---ya^E.n"Ü
	Very it was dark / they say.
Kwtc'oonghitcaang' (?) yaa'nii.		They let him go, they say.
	kw.tco#n.gu^t.tcan)^E---ya^E.n"Ü
	They let him go / they say.
Kaa'andai ⁴ dee'tghilghal' yaa'nii, kwon'ding.		The threw the body on the fire, they say, on the fireplace.
	---------------ka^E.u^n.dai---de^Et.gu^l.ga7l'---ya^E.n"Ü---kwo#n)^E.du^n)
	Body / they threw in fire / they say, / fire place.
---- Kwanlhang.		---- That is all.
	-------kwu^n.;a7n)
	---- All.

₁. Click on highlighted words to search for them in the Dictionary/Lexical database. The top line is in the practical orthography. The middle line is in Goddard's transcription except that "underhook"/"Polish hook" is represented by "subscript left half-ring" ("underhook" is not present in the SIL IPA fonts). The bottom line is Goddard's word-by-word translation, with [occasional additions or emendations by me in square brackets].
₂. Line-by-line translation by me, largely informed by Goddard's translation, but attempting to translate every sentence, and to do so more literally (within the limits of English readability).
₃. Idiom: k'aa' ntcee'tc (arrow bad-diminutive), means worthless, poor quality arrows--hence the ridicule of the next two lines. Goddard's translation as "mean-looking" seems to carry a very different connotation.
₄. This term seems to be reserved for the corpse of one dead by violence. Tc'indin is the term for other corpses.

Goddard's Translation

Some people came where Turtle was walking along by himself. He was carrying some mean looking arrows. They took them away from him, spit on them, and thrust them into the ground. It was summer-time and a body of water was there. As he sat by the shore the others laughed at him. He took up one of the arrows and shot a man, killing him.
Turtle jumped into the pond and ran around on the bottom, making it so muddy they could not see him. They got a net, stretched it on the frame, and dipped for him. Turtle had run out without being seen. They hunted for him until it was quite dark before they gave up the search.
They put the body of the dead on the fire and burned it.
That is all.

8/30/99 Sally Anderson using perl version 5.034000