The Crow & The Peacock

Muring tells a folk story in the Ba Kelalan dialect of Lun Bawang. The story explains how the peacock and the crow agreed to decorate each other's plumage. The crow decorates the peacock beautifully but the peacock does not uphold his end of the bargain and simply paints the crow black. This story was recorded in Buduk Nur on 1st November 2017.

Audio file

00:00:01cerita luk ruen uih mada' nekinih
The story that I'm going to tell now

00:00:05ineh ratnan Bungkak dengan Tuwau
is about Crow and Peacock

00:00:11bang ceh kerab iBungkak riweh iTuwau papu'
once upon a time, Crow and Peacock met

00:00:17dih riweh mada'
then they said

00:00:20"teh naat luun kiteh naru' kiteh metaga"
"let's paint ourselves and make ourselves beautiful"

00:00:23"naru' kiteh mebarit roo' taga"
"make ourselves beautifully patterned"

00:00:25pengeh idih buri' iBungkak
after that Crow said

00:00:40"mo, naru' kiteh ieh", keneh
"ok, let's do it", he said

00:00:43pengeh idih buri' iTuwau
after that Peacock said

00:00:45"naat kuih ko atun"
"paint me first"

00:00:46"ngaceku rayeh burur uih"
"because I have a bigger body"

00:00:48"mio-mio ko naat kuih napeh", keneh
"and paint me properly", he said

00:00:52"mo", buri' iBungkak
"yes", said Crow

00:00:54dih Bungkak nenaat ki Tuwau feh
so then Crow painted Peacock

00:00:57naru' keneh roo'-roo' taga
made him beautiful

00:00:59narit luun ieh
and drew patterns on him

00:01:00naru' keneh roo'-roo' beruh
and did it properly

00:01:01pengeh nih feh
and when he was finished

00:01:03nabud, mabud masa ieh naat ki Tuwau feh
when he had finished painting Peacock

00:01:07dih Bungkak mada'
then Crow said

00:01:09"uih ieh feh", keneh
"it's my turn now", he said

00:01:10"iko naat kuih feh", keneh
"you paint me now", he said

00:01:11buri' iTuwau
but Peacock said

00:01:12"merur uih", keneh
"I'm tired"

00:01:14"ara' uih", keneh
"I don't want to", he said

00:01:15dih Bungkak mada'
then Crow said

00:01:16"dih kiteh pengeh neperjani' na!", keneh
"but we promised just now!"

00:01:18buri' iTuwau neh
so Peacock said

00:01:20"mo, dih uih naat kemu", keneh
"ok, I'll paint you then"

00:01:22dih ieh nalap saat mitem feh
and he took some black paint

00:01:25dih ieh nenaat keneh mitem mung feh
and he painted him all black

00:01:27dih neh upun, dih nenalan, neh upun
then he ran away

00:01:29necan ki Bungkak feh men
and left Crow all alone

00:01:31a kidih mecing co sinih
so that's why to this day

00:01:33kai Lun Bawang megai' mada' "malui Bungkak"
the Lun Bawang often say "repay the Crow"

00:01:36atuapun "imet jani'", mo
or "keep your promise", ok