Water-panther

	Water-panther
	Cahto Language
	from Bill Ray (via Goddard 1909)

Cahto ¹		English Translation ²

---- Naakaa' Naahneesh intc'ee' uusii' teeghiing yaa'nii, ch'ining'.		---- Two Indians were wearing deer heads, they say, stuffed deer-heads. ³
	-------na.ka^E---na.nec---in.tce^E---o#.s"Ü^E---te.gin)---ya^E.n"Ü---tcin.nu^n)^E
	---- Two / Indians / deer / heads / were carrying / they say,/ stuffed heads.
Bitchow ghilsang yaa'nii, naakaa' Naahneesh.		A mountain lion was seen by the two Indians, they say.
	bu^t.tco#---gu^l.sa7n)---ya^E.n"Ü---na.ka^E---na.nec
	Panther / was seen / they say / two / Indians.
Bitchow-nchaagh, intc'ee' kowan-tak yaa'nii.		It was a big mountain lion, with a deer (being carried) between his shoulders, they say.
	bu^t.tco#.n.tcaG---in.tce^E---ko#.wu^n.tu^k---ya^E.n"Ü
	Panther big, / deer / shoulders between / they say.
Kwchii'-lai'k' nootc'imiil'-kwan yaa'nii.		It (the deer) reached to the tip of his (the lion's) tail, they say.
	kw.tc"Ü^E.lai^Ek'---no#.tc"Ü.m"Ül'.kwa7n---ya^E.n"Ü
	His tail end / it reached / they say.
Bitchow-nchaagh, baantoo'-bii' bitchow, too-bitchow.		It was a big mountain lion, a lion in the ocean, a 'water panther'.
	bu^t.tco#.n.tcaG---ban.to#^E.b"Ü^E---bu^t.tco#---to#.bu^t.tco#
	Panther large, / ocean in, / panther, / water panther.
Yeehnaatyaa yaa'nii, see-bii'.		He went into the rock ⁴, they say.
	ye.nat.ya---ya^E.n"Ü---se.b"Ü^E
	He went in / they say / rock in.
Kowining yaa'nii, yoo'oong.		The ground jarred way over there, they say.
	ko#.wu^n.nu^n)---ya^E.n"Ü---yo#.o#n)
	Ground jarred / they say / way over.
Ch'aan-mii' yaa'ch'oosilhsaang yaa'nii		They listened in the hole, they say.
	tc'a.m"Ü^E---ya^E.tco#.su^;.san)---ya^E.n"Ü
	Hole in / they listened / they say.
"Intc'aash (?)," yaa'lhilsing ⁵ yaa'nii.		"Shoot it!" they told each other, they say.
	---------------u^n.tc'ac---ya^E.;u^l.sin)---ya^E.n"Ü
	"You shoot," / they told one another / they say.
Beeniljit yaa'nii.		They were scared, they say.
	---------------be.nu^l.git---ya^E.n"Ü
	They were afraid / they say.
"Hai-haa' kwinteeh-bang," yaa'n yaa'nii.		"Just let that one go!" they said, they say.
	---------------hai.ha---kwu^n.te#.bu^n)---ya^En---ya^E.n"Ü
	"That / let it go," / they said / they say.
---- 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. Worn as decoy for attracting deer and not alarming them.
₄. gfn 243: "A huge, split rock on Redemeyer's ranch. There are supposed to be underground means of communication between certain ponds and the ocean which these mythical animals use."
₅. gfn 211: "This word was perhaps incorrectly recorded."

Goddard's Translation

Two Indians were hunting with deer-heads. They saw a panther. He was very big. He had a deer on his shoulders that reached to the tip of his tail. It was a big panther that lives in the ocean. He went into the rock.^243 The ground jarred with the shock. They listened over the hole.
"You shoot," they told each other.
They were afraid.
"Let it go," they said.
That is all.

8/30/99 Sally Anderson using perl version 5.030000