Stealing the Baby <a name="ret1"><a href="#fn1"><sup>1</sup></a>

	Stealing the Baby ¹
	Cahto Language
	from Bill Ray (via Goddard 1909)

Cahto ²		English Translation ³

---- Laa'lhbaa'ing tc'yankii laashii' bii'nooghilheegh yaa'nii.		---- Ten women were soaking buckeyes, they say.
	-------la^E;.ba^E.u^n)---tc'.ya7n).k"Ü---la.c"Ü^E---b"Ü^E.no#.gu^;.;eG---ya^E.n"Ü
	---- Ten / women / buckeyes / were soaking / they say.
Skii' tceeh yaa'nii.		The baby cried, they say.
	s.k"Ü^E---tce^c---ya^E.n"Ü
	Baby / cried / they say.
"Dee ilhtish skii," tc'eek, "dee ilhtish skii," tc'in yaa'nii.		"Here give the baby," said a woman, "give the baby here," they say.
	de---u^;.tu^c---s.k"Ü---tc'ek---de---u^;.tu^c---s.k"Ü---tc'in---ya^E.n"Ü
	"Here / give it," / baby / woman, / "here / give it / baby," / she said / they say.
"Naa'aa'."		"Take it!"
	---------------na.^Ea^E
	"Take it."
Waalhtiin yaa'nii.		He gave it to her, they say.
	wa;.t"Ün---ya^E.n"Ü
	He gave it to her / they say.
Tcaakowilhgheel'.		It got very dark.
	---------------tca.ko#.wu^;.gel'
	Very it became dark.
Tc'eek nintyaa yaa'nii.		The wife arrived, they say.
	tc'ek---nu^n.t.ya---ya^E.n"Ü
	Woman / came home / they say.
"Taahjii shkii?		"Where's my baby?
	ta.tc"Ü---c.k"Ü
	"Where / my baby?
Nteeslaalh-'ang?" tc'in yaa'nii.		Is is asleep?" she said, they say.
	n.tes.la;.u^n)---tc'in---ya^E.n"Ü
	Is it asleep?" / she said / they say.
"Daang' naaniilhtiing."		"I gave it to you a long time ago."
	---------------dan)^E---na.ni;.tin)
	"Long ago / I gave it to you."
"Doo-shghaalhtish-'angii," tc'in yaa'nii.		"You didn't give it to me!" she said, they say.
	---------------do#.c.ga;.tu^c.u^n).g"Ü---tc'in---ya^E.n"Ü
	"You didn't give it to me" / she said / they say.
"Doo-shghalhtish."		"You did not give it to me!"
	do#.c.ga7;.tu^c
	"You did not give it to me."
Kaayaa'intee.		They looked for it.
	---------------ka.ya^E.u^n.te
	They looked for it.
Doo-ghilsaang yaa'nii.		They did not find it, they say.
	do#.gu^l.san)---ya^E.n"Ü
	They did not find it / they say.
Skii tceeh yaa'nii, yiisee', tcaakowilhgheel'-bii'ing'		The baby cried in the west in the deep darkness, they say.
	c.k"Ü---tce^c---ya^E.n"Ü---y"Ü.se^E---tca.kwu^;.gel'.b"Ü^E.u^n)^E
	Baby / cried / they say. / West / very dark in / they say
Bischloo dinii yaa'nii.		An owl hooted, they say.
	bu^s.tc.lo#---du^n.n"Ü---ya^E.n"Ü
	Owl / hooted / they say.
Tghiniilh yaa'nii.		It kept hooting along, they say.
	t.gu^n.n"Ü;---ya^E.n"Ü
	It kept hooting / they say.
Yiisee' nees-ding kwanyaayool, nees-ding tcaakowilhgheel'-bii' yaa'nii.		They followed it far west, far into the deep darkness, they say.
	y"Ü.se^E---nes.du^n)---kwu^n.ya.yo#l---nes.du^n)---tca.kwu^;.gel'.b"Ü^E---ya^E.n"Ü
	West / far / they followed / far / very dark in / they say.
Kwtc'oonghitcaang yaa'nii.		They gave up, they say.
	kw.tco#n.gu^t.tcan)---ya^E.n"Ü
	They left it / they say.
---- Kwanlhang.		---- That is all.
	-------kwu^n.;a7n)
	---- All.

₁. Goddard footnote 244: "The being who appeared as a woman and asked for the baby is said to be the sort described in the next story." [The Man Eater]
₂. 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].
₃. 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).

Goddard's Translation

Ten women were soaking buckeye flour at the creek. A man was tending the baby in the house. The baby cried. Some one came in keeping her face turned away and said, "Here, give the baby to me." '' Take it, " he said, and put it in her arms.
It was quite dark when the woman came home. '"Where ia the baby? Asleep? " she asked.
"I gave it to you long ago."
"You did not give it to me," she said.
They looked for it a long time, but did not find it. They heard the baby crying toward the west in the darkness. An owl kept hooting. They followed it far into the dark night toward the west. They finally gave it up.
That is all.

8/30/99 Sally Anderson using perl version 5.030000