Tan Madiip
Taman Ata tells the folk story of Tan Madiip in the Pei' Aloon dialect of Sa'ban. This is a story about a man who comes from the sky to live with the villagers of Tan Madiip. He tests them by setting a fish trap and asking them to wait until the morning to share the fish out but the villagers fail the test when one old man takes a fish. The story was recorded in Long Banga on 10th March 2019.
éek la' aroo' si' cerita
I'd like to tell a story
nok aroo' lun mraal ma'oen minoot
I'd like to tell a story that our elders used to tell
nok lé' éek lah
that I know
alam an hmeu lun mraal
in the past, according to the elders
mluen lun mraal ma'oen lem Pei' Aloon ngaai hmeu deh
the elders lived in Pei' Aloon, they said
si' awéeng deh, adiin awéeng deh si' nah Tan Madiip
the was a village there named Tan Madiip
adiin awéeng noknah
the name of the village
jadi mluen lun mraal
so the elders were living there
lem si' sieu, an deh minoot
and one day, they said
lem la'koe liyak
in the early morning
kira hran lai lem pukul alau, pukul iwaa' nonoh
maybe about 8 or 9am
kan deh ngngéeng a' si' anok ttoo' wan sataat ai
they heard something whooshing down onto the yard.
am deh lé' nah noon
they didn't know what it was
pi, mai deh nnal
so they went to see
nnal deh, dúel si' lei
and they saw a man standing there
aroo' yeh abeh anaak yeh lem kaang
he was carrying his child in a basket
kaang bi'ieu
a beaded basket
dúel si' lei wan sataat ai
a man was standing on the yard
hmeu yeh, "wei' la'aan éek la' araai nguoi ciem"
he said, "I would like to come and live with you"
"wei' la'aan éek la' araai nguoi ciem"
"I would like to come and live with you"
"dei ne'éek nai araai"
"that's why I came"
"ken paji ciem aroo' éek"
"if you'll let me"
"on éek si' mréeng nan éek alaak awiit waan taam"
"I will set a "mréeng" fish trap to catch fish for us"
nyeh dodoi ndeh
he said to them
"oh am sala'"
"no problem"
"kai keh la' aroo' mréeng ai"
"if you want to make a fish trap"
"on ceh nyeh," ndeh dodoi
"go ahead," they said
pi rruet yeh mai lem pei' ngaai
so he went down to the river
mai lem pei' ngaai, wan éra ngaai
went down to the stones at the side of the river
alaak yeh anaak yeh
he picked up his child
aroo' yeh mraang yeh wan si' atau
and put him on a stone
aroo' yeh mraang yeh si' atau
and put him on a stone
lekuu' anaak ai lem kaang ai wan atau noknah
and so the child in the bag sat on the stone
pi aroo' yeh... mai nyeh alaak ayeu
then he went to fetch wood
alaak waai naan yeh aroo' mréeng ai
and fetch rottan to make the fish trap
aroo' mréeng maksud yeh nan alaak awiit
to make the trap so they could catch fish
aroo' yeh mréeng ai
so he made the trap
pi-pi yeh aroo' mréeng ai
and after he had made the trap
imeu yeh ndeh lun awéeng ai
he spoke to the people in the village
hmeu yeh, "kai kem wei' nynyel hmeu éek tau"
he said, "if you listen to me then"
"la' éek la' araai mluen nguei ciem waai"
"I want to come and live with you here"
nonoh ddúet hmeu yeh
that was what he said
"kai éek araai nguei ciem waai tau"
"if I come and live with you here"
"on éek mahaat tana' nai naan taam mluen"
"I will flatten the area for us to live in"
"tana' nok liyo'-liyo' nok waan-waan këut nai"
"the ground twists and turns and has hills"
"tau an éek mahaat yeh naan taam mluen"
"I will flatten it for us to live on"
"kai ciem la' nnal yeh"
"if you want to see"
"nonoi ddúet éek aroo' yeh"
"ithis is how I will do it"
mai yeh, aroo' yeh nnén-nnén wan tana' ai
he went and stepped on the ground
jadi nah si' si' pataal ciek
and a little bit became flat
parap naan si' awéeng lah
that could become a village
naan parap aroo' si' awéeng
that could become a village
"nonoi ddúet yeh on éek waan taam"
"this is what I will do for us"
"naan taam mluen nguei," nyeh dodoi
"for us to live together," he said
pi-pi nah alaak yeh anaak yeh
afterwards he picked up his child
aroo' yeh abeh anaak yeh ai
and carried his child
mai lëu' seu nok naan yeh hruen ina dei
and went back to the place where he landed earlier
ttoo' ina dei
where he arrived earlier
pi imeu yeh ndeh
then he spoke to them
hmeu yeh, "iim ciem mai kacau-kacau mréeng ai"
and said, "don't go and mess with the trap"
"loe' awiit lem yeh tau"
"if there are lots of fish"
"loe' an taam mpiet tah yeh"
"there will be lots that we can share out"
"ciek awiit mai lem yeh tau"
"if only a few fish get trapped"
"ciek an taam mpiet tah yeh"
"then we will share out a few"
"aréel eu tah mai lem yeh tau"
"if it is just small fish that get trapped"
"kat eu tah mai lem yeh tau"
"if it is just small fish that get trapped"
"kat an taam mpiet yeh"
"ithat's what we will share out"
nonoh ddúet hmeu yeh ndeh
that was what he said to them
"kai ciem la' mluen hnguei"
"if you want to live together"
"la' waan éek mluen hnguei nciem"
"if you want me to live with you"
"noon padei' éek nciem nai"
"what I said to you"
"apan ciem, an ciem nynyel yeh," nyeh dodoi
"you must take it on board and obey it," he said
"mai ne'éek lëu' hom"
"I'm going home now"
"la'koe tau dei éek araai lëu' nnal mréeng ai," nyeh dodoi
"tomorrow I will come again to look at the trap," he said
pi
then
alaak yeh anaak ina dei
he picked up his child
tatook yeh mai lëu' yaang langét yaai
and jumped back up to the sky
teja'úp deh nnal yeh
they stared up at the sky watching him
ilaat-ilaat yaang ipaal ai, mai yaang langét ngaai
the soles of his feet shone bright as he went up to the sky
pi belsem, malem nah sieu
then when it's dark
lan deh ttoo' awiit luang mai lem mréeng yeh ai
they could see lots of big fish going into the trap
hnoo' mréeng ai si' awiit
the trap was full of fish
pi si' lei raah
then an old man
lei raah aban lemluen noknah
he was a widower
mluen hlong yeh lah
and he lived alone
mungkin am cukup-cukup noknan yeh
he probably didn't have enough to eat
ta'oen yeh hran lah
poor thing
pi nonoi nah lem sawaai ngaai
so he thought like this
belsem tau mai ne'éek alaak si'
when it's dark, I'll go and fetch one
ken ayeu nyeh lé' yeh?
he won't notice!
nah hnau lei raah noknah lah
that was the old man's thought
pi belsem sieu
so when it was dark
mai nyeh alaak si' awiit ai
he went to get a fish
luang nok kira nonoi adeu' ai
a fish that is roughly this long
alaak yeh luang noknah
he got the fish
mai yeh lëu'
and went home
aroo' yeh mwal yeh
he cooked it
maan yeh lah
and ate it
pi pada hal nnal lei nok ina dei éraat ttaa' yaai
but actually the man was watching from up high
lé' yeh deh mai alaak yeh
he knew they had taken one
pi sieng sieu kira lem pukul sembilan
so when day came about 9am
ma'et idéeng
the sun was out
dei nah arai manah yeh lem pukul sembilan
that's why I say it was about 9am
nynyel deh
they listened
ngéeng a' si' noi anok ttoo' wan sataat deh
and heard a sound whooshing down on the yard
nnal deh
they looked
dúel a' lei nok salam dei
and the same man as yesterday was standing there
pi imeu yeh, nonoi nyeh
then he spoke and this is what he said
"ndeh nah et eu-eu madei' ciem?" nyeh dodoi
"why is it so difficult for you to learn?" he said
"dei ne'éek madei' salam"
"I told you yesterday"
"kai naan awiit lem mréeng ai tau"
"if there are fish in the trap"
"an taam mpiet"
"we will share them"
"an taam mpiet pahaat yeh"
"we will share them equally"
"loe'-loe' si' tau"
"if there are many"
"loe' an taam mpiet"
"we will share many"
"ciek si' tau"
"iif there are few"
"ciek an taam mpiet"
"we will share the few"
"kat, aréel eu tah mai lem yeh tau"
"if it is just small fish"
"an taam mpiet yeh, ne'éek salam dei"
"we will share them, I said yesterday"
"am ciem nynyel"
"you didn't listen"
"am kem alaak hmeu éek"
"you didn't take my words on board"
"kai nonoi ai, am ciem parap naan hnguei," nyeh dodoi
"since it's like that, I cannot live with you," he said
mai yeh lem pei' ngaai
he went into the river
aroo' yeh minaat mréeng nok hna dei
and pulled out the trap
manoot nah awiit ai lah
the fish floated away
pi, "kai nonoh ai hom"
then he said, "if it's like this"
"nai pat taam papuu' nai"
"this is the last time we will meet"
"mai lëu' ne'éek"
"I am going home."
"am ciem lún nai parap naan mluen hnguei," nyeh dodoi
"you cannot have me living with you," he said
pi tatook yeh mai lëu' ttaa' ngaai lah
then he jumped back up to the sky
saraau nlún, lún awéeng, lún et ma' nah dei
so all the people in the village were scrambling
mai manam awiit ai
to collect up the fish
jadi nonoh ddúet cerita noknah an lún mraal minoot
so that is the story that the old people told
tapi bukti noknah, masih dei yeh sieu nnoi
but the proof of this is still there today
atau nok naan yeh mraang anaak yeh ina dei
the rock that he put his child on
tana' nok aroo' yeh mahaat na dei
and the earth that he flattened
lé' éek si' taman ceh ai naan noknah
I, your father, know where it is
tetapi naan noknah lem Kalimantan, lem Indon
but it's in Kalimantan, Indonesia
mau, nonoh ddúet ciek cerita nok an éek minoot
so that is the short story that I will tell