David Tuggy
Mösiehuali texts

Pōro wa tēkʷāni

(The Donkey and the Mountain Lion)

Pōro wa tēkʷāni
The donkey and the mountain lion

by
Zenón Casasanero

This story, in the Mösiehuali language (ISO code nhg), was told about 1951, by Zenón Casasanero, then about 30 years old. It, along with four other texts, was published as part of Richard Pittman’s doctoral thesis (1954:60-61)*.

Pōro w͎ēw͎enc̸ī
The Old Donkey

1.	Sente one ƛākaƛ man kipiyaya had sente one pōro donkey w͎ēw͎enc̸ī old ki that ayekmo no.longer tekitiya. worked A man had an old donkey that was no longer good for anything.

And

okikahkā

he.left.it

with

kaltēnko

field

poro

but

oksahpa

again

mokʷepaya

it.was.returning

īčā.

its.home

And he left it in the fields, but it would return home again.

Pilalakme

boys

īpa

on.it

ƛehkoya,

they.were.climbing

ƛīmač

whatnot

kičīw͎iliya.

they.were.doing.to.it

The boys would climb up on it, and do all sorts of things to it.

Ītēko

its.owner

ayekmo

no.longer

īka

with.it

ƛahƛaniya

he.was.inquiring

por

for

laliw͎is

very

already

w͎ēw͎enc̸ī.

old

Its owner no longer cared about it because it was so old.

5.	Sē One tōnali day okiw͎īkak he.took.it kači more w͎ehka. far One day he took it farther away.

with

ompa

there

pōro

donkey

okalak

entered

kʷahkamak

forest

kāni

where

nemi

they.live

tēkʷānime.

people-eaters.

There the burro entered a forest where man-eaters (fierce beasts) live.

Sē

one

īsi

morning

kʷalkā

early

okihtak

he.saw

sente

one

tēkʷāni.

people-eater

Early one morning he saw a man-eater (mountain lion or other dangerous animal).

Kiƛapohtaya

it.was.constantly.opening

w͎ēyi

big

īkamak.

its.mouth

It had its mouth wide open.

Nēsiya

they.were.appearing

w͎ēw͎eyaki

long.pl

īƛankočwa.

its.teeth

Its teeth looked very long.

10.	Okihto it.said tēkʷāni: people-eater ‘ƛī what taštinemi you.go.around.doing nikā here īpa on.it noƛakʷal? my.food The man-eater said, “What are you doing here on my feeding-ground?

Nikneki

I.want

šikīsa

get.out

īsihkā

quickly

nikā.

here

I want you to get out of here right now.

ƛā

amo,

not

timic̸kʷās.

I.will.eat.you

If you don’t, I’ll eat you up.

Timic̸kokotoc̸as

I.will.tear.you.to.bits

with

noƛankoč.’

my.tooth

I’ll tear you into pieces with my teeth.”

14.	Nēka that yōlkāƛ animal onāwat: responded ‘¿ƛīka why tinēčkʷās? you.will.eat.me The donkey answered: “Why are you going to eat me?

Naha

nikpia

have.it

sente

one

alāvos

nail

īhtik

in.it

nokši,

my.foot

with

nēčkōkowa.

it.hurts.me

I have a nail in my hoof, and it really hurts.

ƛā

tikneki,

you.want.it,

šinēčkištili

take.it.out.of.me

īnī

this

alāvos.’

nail

If you’d be so kind, please take the nail out of my hoof for me.”

18.	Tēkʷāni people-eater omopačo approached īƛak by īkši its.foot pōro donkey w͎ēw͎enc̸ī. old The man-eater came near to the old donkey’s foot.

Okiƛehkaw͎i

it.raised.it

īkši,

its.foot

okikamatiriksak,

it.mouth-kicked.it

noči

all

īƛankočwa

its.teeth

okintepēw͎ili.

it.scattered.for.it

It raised up its foot and kicked it in the mouth, knocking all its teeth out.

20.	Sātēpa later īnō that pōro donkey opē began ka with moc̸ihc̸ikʷīni. it.jumps.repeatedly Then the donkey began to caper around.

Oyeya

there.was

sātēpa

later

w͎ēyi

big

ilwiƛ.

fiesta

Then they threw a big party.

Tēkʷāni
The mountain lion

Notes

* See the orthographic conventions used in this document. The numbers correspond to those in Pittman (1954).

Drawings used in this document

The drawings that appear with the text come from the collection “Art for Literacy in México”, from the Instituto Lingüístico de Verano. They are used by permission.

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Pōro wa tēkʷāni The donkey and the mountain lion

by Zenón Casasanero

Notes

Drawings used in this document

Pōro wa tēkʷāni
The donkey and the mountain lion

by
Zenón Casasanero