Wawa

Description: Wawa, a creature with supernatural powers, helps a man with his catch of mating turtles. Things go horribly wrong when the man betrays Wawa.

The story of Wawa told by Walter Waria from State Library of Queensland on Vimeo.

Storyteller: Walter Waria
Translation: Leonora Adidi
Language: Kala Lagaw Ya
Dialect: Mabuiag
Island: Badu

Translation and transcription

Ina ngaw koesim thathiw umayzi yadayl,
This story was told by my adopted father. 

inaabi gidha, Wawa.
The story of Wawa.

Urpun goeyga, nuy wapi zilmaydhin, nuy gathiya soenir,
One day, a man went fishing,  he was wading in the shallows

nuydh soelal imadhin, gathaw wanayzinga.
when he came upon mating turtles beached upon the shallows.

Nuy mina koey sigal nungu goegaythngu,
He was very far from this village

nuy mabayg gig nubeka ipuydhayka.
No one was around to help him.

Nuy si walmiyar, mabaygka,
He was calling out to people

mabayga nagay nubeka ipuydhayka,
looking for people to help him

magaygaw adhayginga.
but there was no one around.

Nuy kay  koey wakaya poeybay,
He was calling at the top of his voice

nungu poeybay mura thonarnu ina,
He was saying this,

“kawki adhiya, adhiw niyayzinga, waruya sarurya ipal, warurya sarurya oy, koey baw I, koey baw o”.

Sena nungu poeybay mura thonarnu matha kedha adhiw kunaka nika nubeka, nuy poeybay, mabaygaw adhayginga,
He kept calling out but no one came out.

senaabi kaliya nuydh karimidhin koey nur,
Then he heard a deep rumbling sound

nungu wakaynthamam kedha padal gawguy meka.
He thought it was a hill shaking.

Ngapa adhadhin nubeka sewa markay,
Appeared before him was a markay

koey markay nuy, koey guridhalnga.
a big markay, a supernatural creature, with a humped back.

Nuy ngapa adhadhin nubeka ipuydhayka.
He came out to help him.

Nuy nubeka mulaydhin, ngath soewlal imawman ipal,
He told the markay, I have found these mating turtles

ngay mabayga nageka ngayka ipuydhayka.
I am looking for people to help me.

Nuy lak poeybaydhin
He called again

“kawki adhiw niyayzinga, warariya, sawrariya ipal, warariya, sawrariya o, koey baw o”.

Nuy seenu koey markay nubeka yapoeybaydhin,
The big markay asked him

sepal soewlal milagnu, warul milagnu,
where are the turtles

nuydh nubeka danthayadhin.
He showed him where they were lying.

Palay koezi uzarewmadhin kaymel muluka,
They walked

senaabi danabayka,
down to the shallow lagoon

nuydh warul milaga imadhin, soewlal,
where he had seen the mating turtles

nuy nubeka mulaydhin,
The markay said to him

“soewlal kawa ngaw guridha wanar gima, ni lak gima thanur”.
Put the turtles on my back, he sit on it as well

Palay madhin kadaka, waaru wanadhin.
They put the turtle on his back.

Nuy nubeka mulaydhin,
They said to him

“nidh amay aymar,” senuubi koey markay, amay aymar.
“Make an amay, earth oven ” said the big markay.

Nidh noe pugayk noe, ina waaru, ngoena walmanekay,
When you have finished cutting up the turtles, awake me.

ngath kay mamuy kulay kulka wanik, waruw kulka.
But first I will drink the blood of the turtle.

Wa nuydh amay aymadhin.
He then made the amay.

Ngapa ipika waaru pugan,
He cut up the female turtle

nuydh nuyn ngulayg paladhin.
and he told the markay.

Senuubi koey markay ngapa uzaraydhin,
The big markay came over

nuydh kulka wanidhin,
he drank the blood

nuydh akural purthadhin wagel kayne nuydh amay aradhin uniya waaru.
he ate the guts before he put the turtle in the amay.

Nuy waaru aradhin, nuy kay mikiya ngoenapudaydhin, nuy puyiw kuyku apa thanuraydhin.
After he put the turtle in the amay, he rested under a tree.

Nuydh wagel garka waaru nge pugan, nuydh lak senaabi za aymadhin.
Before he cut up the male turtle, the markay repeated what he had said before.

Ngoena walmar a ngoena ngulaygpalar,
Wake me and let me know

ngath kay lak sena kulka wanik
I will drink the blood

a ngath lak akural purthayk,
I will eat the guts

wagel kayne nidh garka waaru arayk amay muyi.
Before you put the male turtle in the earth oven.

Nuydh senaabi zapul aymadhin,
He repeated what he did before

markay kulkan wanaydhin, akuran purthaydhin.
the markay drank the blood and ate the guts.

Nuy markay nubeka mulaydhin,
The markay said to him

“ngay apiya yunayk,
I will take a nap

ina aydayl noe giyasik noe,
when the food is cooked

ngoena walmanekay”.
awake me.

Nuy markay, koey markay apiya yunan, matha thawpay thonarka
The big markay went to sleep for a short time

nubiya para adhan, nuyn parathayar.
He started to snore.

Iinu nuy wawa* wakaynthami,
He thought to himself

iinu parathayayk, ngath ina ipika waaru pamayk,
he is snoring, I will take the female turtle

ngath mayka goegaythka ngaw ipika a kazika,
I will take it back to the village for my wife and child.

thanamun aydun poeybayk.
so they can eat it.

Nuydh senaabi za aymadhin.
He proceeded to do it.

Nuydh madhin, koey markay apiya iyar, nyudh ipika waaru
While the big markay was sleeping he took the female turtle

Adhaka madhin soewlal ngu, thabay tharadhin uzaraydhin
out and hoisted it on his shoulders.

Paypakidh, nungu goegaythka,
He returned to his village

kaypa nuydh nungu ipi a kazil aydun poeybadhin.
to feed his wife and child.

Kaypun noe nuy noe markay noe kadaka miyaydhin noe, nuydh lumadhin.
Meanwhile, the markay awoke and looked for him.

Garka geygeyadh miyaydhin kaypun, thoersimaygasidhin.
Wawa became very angry.

Kasa kedha nuydh matha purthadhin, nuydh sena garka waaru purthan,
But he ate the male turtle anyway

senaabi kaliya nuydh mura nungu bupaw uruyl ngapa miyaydhin,
he called the other creatures from the bush to him

nubeka thanamunka mulaydhin,   
he said to them

“ngalpa napaypa inaabi goegaythka, nuydh ngawngu mina waaru manu”.
“We will go to the village, he has taken the prime turtle from me.”

Nuy noe kaypaypa, nuy siki ulamay, nuyn lumar nuy seenu wawa milagnu miyar.
He went looking for him to see where he lived.

Ngapa wa, nuydh nuyn imadhin.
He then found him.

Nuydh mithonara imadhin noe, nuydh nubeka inuubi ya mulaydhin,
As soon as he found him, he said to him
“umay umay muli paymuliya, ngoelmunka matha mithaka may”.

Nuy wawa tharthayi thanamunka umay thayan.
Wawa threw a dog over to them.

Nuydh umay noe thayadhin nuy, koey markay, nuy nubiya
The man tossed the dog over to them, the big markay Wawa

gizul klak miyar, kimus, nuy kimusu nan thayadhin,
had a kimus, a sharp spear

nuydh kimus* umay thayan kuniya thanamunka, nungu bupaw uruyka.
Then he threw the dog to his creatures of the bush.

Bupaw uruyn nuyn mura purthan.
The creatures ate every morsel of the dog.

Nuy markay lak walmizi, koey markay “burum muli muli
paymuliya, ngoelmunka matha mithaka may”.
The big markay chanted again “burum muli muli
paymuliya, ngoelmunka matha mithaka may”.

Wawa*,  nuy mizi a nungungu burum adhaka mani, thanamunka thayan,
He took his pig and tossed it to them.

burum lak ay kimusu nanthi, wagel kayne nuydh thanamunka thayan.
The kimus pierced the pig, then he threw it to them.

Thana umay, umay purthadhin, matha kedha thana puka purthadhin,
They devoured the pig as they had devoured the dog

thanamun dhibaw gasamaygimga, mamuy dhibaginga.
They were still hungry

Nuy koey markay lak poeybaydhin nubeka,
The big markay chanted to him again
 “kazi muli muli, paymuli ya, ngoelmunka matha mithaka may.”

Setha nungu markiyaw poeybayl, nuydh Wawa* senaabi ya karimin, nuy nungu ipika tharthayaydhin, palay matha nagay sagul tharewmadhin kedhamayka palmun matha urpun ipiyay kaazi.
When they heard him chanting, they looked at each other, they only had one daughter.

Wawa* nuy wara dagamuka uzaraydhin, goegaytha, wara dagamuka uzaraydhin
He walked all over to the other side of the village

a ipi wara dagamuka uzaraydhin, kazi yuday,
his wife went the other side, pleading for a child

palay umew mar kedha ina ngalbayn matha urpun kaazi,
they said, we only have one child

ngalbaynka inub markayka mayka lawnga.
We will not give it to this markay

Mura mabaygal palay umewmar,
They pleaded with everyone

thanamun ya mura matha kedha,
everyone replied to them

“ni ngapa warulayg mima, ninu ngoelmun poeybayginga miyadh”.
You came here with a turtle and you did not share it among us.

Palay lak ngapa kuniya, palmun kaazi madhin,
They returned home and took their child

palmun ipiyay kaazi , palay nan warkidh mayin abadhin.
their daughter, and wept over her.

Palay nan thayadhin noe, nubeka markayka, wagel kayne senuubi za maymiyaydhin, palay noe ngapa kuniya tidewmadhin, palay imadhin,
When they returned, they saw 

a matha kedha palay karimidhin, nuy markay matha poeybay,
and they heard the markay chanting 
 “kazi muli muli pay muli ya, ngoelmunka matha mithaka, may e”.

Nuy thuma thuma poeybay, palay nubeka nan ipiyay kaazi thayadhin.
He kept on chanting, they tossed their daughter to him.

Nungu kimasuw angayginga nge miyar, palay nan thayadhin, nungu markay getha pudhaydhin.
He did not have the kimus instead he caught her in his arms.

Ngoedhe kedha palay noe, nuydh sena markay nan gima gethan gasamdhin noe,
He reached up to catch her

nungu nanu mathamayginga,
he did not kill her

nungu nanu klakaw pagayginga a kimasuw nanthayginga miyar nabiya, nuydh nan madhin.
He did not pierce with a spear or his kimus

Thana ngapa midhi dagamungu, milagaz ngapa danamaydhin,
They returned to where they had come from

thana nan lak sipa kuniya madhin, thanamunya kaymel mayka.
and took her with them.

Thana noe miyaydhin noe, thana karimidhin kedha sena markiyal a matha kedha sena bupaw uruyl nawul muray, na nuy naw iinu,
They could hear the markay and the bush creatures singing,
 “kazi muli muli paymuli ya,ngoelmunka matha mithaka may e”.

Ina gidhaw kuth.
This is the end of the story.

Ngay lak koeyma eso mura nithamunka.
I thank you all very much.

Ngay lak apasin ngaw thathika.
I pay my respects to my father

Nuydh ngoena koesimdhin.
He raised me
Inaabi gidha lak nubeka kuniya umayk, matha kedha kazil a
kaziw kazika, 
Retelling his story again, for our children and their children.

Eso.
Thank you. 
Words in red* Storyteller error with character names.
Wawa is name of the creature not the man.
Kimus is the name of the spear.