RB8-20221101_03 - The child Nebiaur and the spirits

Traditional story This is a story told by Daniel Pakanatangala at Raputput village, Makada on 1 November 2022. The speaker recounts a traditional story. The story explains the origin of a creek near Narakoi village on Makada Island. The creek is usually dry, but when it rains hard enough, the water flows down the creek and into the ocean. Nebiaur, the child– Father and mother left their child here. The two went, they entrusted her to someone [and] they went. The two went on and on [until] the sun was sitting like this [The speaker points up to the midday sun.] So it was sitting up [in the middle of the sky]—the sun; it was afternoon. The two went around here; yes, they came here to a plantation. Some spirits revealed themselves to that little child. Like this one. [The speaker points to a nearby girl to indicate the approximate age of the child in the story: younger than five years old.] Like the girl here. The girl here: the child Nebiaur was like that. Then the spirits stood [and] they revealed themselves to her like this. They stood, revealed themselves to her, [and] she saw them. [Sometime after the spirits have revealed themselves to Nebiaur and have left the house, the parents return from their daily activities.] Then, much later, in the afternoon, when the sun was sitting down like this, [the child] started crying to drink [something]. [She] cried and cried and cried, [so] they [= the parents] gave water to her, [but] she did not want [any]. [She] just cried. [She] cried and cried and cried and cried. They implored her to drink; her mother implored her to drink. She implored her to drink breastmilk, but she did not want [any]. [She] just cried [and] cried [because] the spirits had ruined [her]. [She] continued [crying] until it was afternoon, it was night. They slept, [but] the little child Nebiaur just cried. Cried [and] cried [while] they slept. They slept here. As for them, they [came] down from Toro, the little spirits [came] down from Toro. [Toro is a region of Makada, uphill from Narakoi village.] And [they went] down to the village, and then [back] uphill. They ran all the way down [and] they carried her off. They carried her, they went way up there, [and] they climbed up along the trunk of an ironwood tree. They ordered her to drink: “Drink water!”. Like this, way up the trunk of an ironwood tree, there was a pool of water. [She] drank and drank [and] said that [she] was already full. She told the spirits, said that [she] was already full. [But] the spirits said, “Drink!”. [They] said, “You wanted water, [so] drink!”. [She] drank and drank the water [until] it ran out from her nose. From her mouth, from her ear, from her two ears, [and] she died. She died, and then they stood up, way up high on that trunk, the trunk of the ironwood tree. They shouted for Togirarau—yes, her father. And Netakak. [The little girl Nebiaur’s father was Togirarau, and her mother was Netakak.] [They] said, “Togirarau and Netakak!”. They shouted and called to everyone, [and] they heard [it]. [They] said, “Hey, hey, hey, your child has died!”. They threw [the child] down. She went flying, tumbling, stumbling down to the village, here at Narakoi. In the village, her belly broke [and] water flowed down. She died. [Translation adapted from Barlow (2024:46–51)] Barlow, Russell. 2024. The Makada dialect of Kuanua. Te Reo 67(1): 1–71. Interpretive summary by a Kuanua speaker from Gazelle Peninsula with understanding of the dialect. One day, a father and mother left their child, Nebiaur, and they went off into the bush. (An example of the child’s age is given by comparison to a contemporary girl in the village.) While the parents were spending the whole day away, into the afternoon, the child was exposed to some spirits of the land. The spirits, through their supernatural powers, possessed the child, and she started crying. She resisted breastfeeding from her mother, who was trying to calm her and feed her, thinking she must be hungry. They went home, and she was still crying because she was possessed by the spirits. The spirits returned and took the child away from the parents and brought her up to the nearby bushes, up into the treetops. She was fed with some bitter water and forced to continue drinking despite her refusal, until water was filling up her nose, ears, and mouth, until she died. Sooner after, the spirits ran out shouting and calling to the child’s father, ToGirarau, and mother, IaTaka, to get their attention. The people eventually heard the shouting, and they all went with the parents to the place, only to be told that the child had died. The spirits threw the dead child down from high up in the treetops to the ground in front of them, and her body was crushed, the stomach split open and intestines coming out. (Steven Gagau, April 2024) (revised, Russell Barlow, May 2024). Language as given: Makada dialect of Kuanua

传统故事
本故事由丹尼尔·帕卡纳坦加拉（Daniel Pakanatangala）于2022年11月1日在马卡达（Makada）的拉普普特（Raputput）村落讲述。讲述者转述一则传统创世故事，该故事阐释了马卡达岛（Makada Island）纳拉科伊（Narakoi）村落附近一处溪流的起源。该溪流平日干涸，仅当降雨量充足时，水流才会沿溪谷汇入海洋。

孩童内比奥尔（Nebiaur）的故事——父母将孩子托付给他人后便离开了此地。二人远行，直至日至中天（讲述者指向正午太阳），彼时正值午后。他们一路前行，抵达一处种植园。若干精灵向这名幼童显现身形。[讲述者指向身旁一名女童，示意故事中孩童的年龄不足五岁] 就像这位女童一般，内比奥尔当时便是这般年纪。随后精灵现身，以这般姿态出现在她面前，她亲眼目睹了精灵的模样。

[精灵向内比奥尔显现身形并离开房屋后不久，父母便结束日间劳作返家。] 时至午后晚些时候，太阳西斜，孩童开始啼哭索要饮品。她哭个不停，父母递来清水，她却不肯饮用，只是一味啼哭。父母反复恳求她饮水，母亲更是劝她喝母乳，但她依旧只是啼哭——只因精灵已然附体。她的啼哭持续至午后入夜，父母入睡后，内比奥尔仍在哭号不止。此时，一众精灵从托罗（Toro，马卡达境内一处位于纳拉科伊村落上方的高地）降临村落，随后又沿原路折返上行。它们一路疾驰，将孩童掳走，带至高处，沿一棵铁木树（ironwood tree）的树干攀爬至顶端。精灵命令她饮水：“喝水！” 铁木树的顶端有一汪水潭，她饮了几口后表示已经喝饱。但精灵却说道：“喝！你既想要喝水，便继续喝！” 她不停饮水，直至水从鼻腔、口腔与双耳溢出，最终殒命。她死后，精灵们立于铁木树顶端，高声呼唤托戈拉拉乌（Togirarau）——也就是孩童的父亲，以及内塔卡卡（Netakak）——内比奥尔的母亲。它们喊道：“托戈拉拉乌、内塔卡卡！” 精灵们向众人呼喊呼叫，村民们闻声赶来。精灵们喊道：“喂！喂！喂！你们的孩子已经死了！” 随后将孩童的尸体抛下。她从高处坠落，翻滚着摔落至纳拉科伊村落的地面。在村落中，她的腹部破裂，水流涌出，最终殒命。

[译文改编自巴洛（Barlow，2024：46-51）] 巴洛，拉塞尔（Barlow, Russell），2024年。《宽阿语（Kuanua）马卡达方言》。《泰雷奥》（Te Reo）67(1)：1-71。
本解读由来自 Gazelle 半岛（Gazelle Peninsula）、通晓该方言的宽阿语母语者完成。
某日，一对父母将孩子内比奥尔留在家中，二人前往丛林。（孩童的年龄以村落中一名同龄女童作为参照） 父母整日外出直至午后，孩童遭遇了若干地灵。地灵以超自然力量附体于孩童，使其开始啼哭。母亲以为孩子饥饿，试图安抚并喂食母乳，但孩童拒不配合。父母返家后，孩童仍在啼哭，只因依旧被地灵附体。地灵折返，将孩童从父母身边掳走，带至附近丛林的树顶之上。地灵喂给她苦涩的水，并强迫她继续饮用，哪怕她百般抗拒，直至水灌满她的鼻腔、双耳与口腔，最终殒命。不久后，地灵们高声呼喊，以吸引孩童父亲托戈拉拉乌（ToGirarau）与母亲伊塔卡（IaTaka）的注意。村民们最终闻声赶来，与孩子父母一同前往事发地点，却得知孩童已然殒命。地灵将孩童的尸体从树顶抛下，摔落在众人面前，孩童躯体碎裂，腹部破裂，肠管外露。（史蒂文·加高，2024年4月）[修订：拉塞尔·巴洛，2024年5月]
原文语言：宽阿语（Kuanua）马卡达方言