Dlin'a Sukdu'a

By Albert Wassillie
Transcribed by James Kari

ts'ił łu qeshqa vey'a qighila
once upon a time there was a rich man's son

yin kił gunhdi ch'qidetnik'
this young man was lazy

vetutda qeshqa nlani ghuda
this was due to the fact that he had a rich father

qevenughełna qilan ha yina q'u qevu ghetnu
they had slaves to work for them

ki q'u jan idi'eła vuntda gun łiq'a lach nichił t'uh
one day, his mother was cooking fish inside a birch bark dwelling

"veduqengheshtl'a ghini veduquq' ch'ayitleh," yełni
his mother said to the young man, "watch the pot of fish and scoop out the grease on top of it"

iy ki ch'qidetnik' hq'u iqechłtast'an sht'a idi'eł q'u yin kił gun dlin'a gguya tikenq'atl'a ch'analggexi ghi'an
he was lazy but he started to watch the pot of fish eng while he was doing this, he saw a tiny mouse running out from one corner

k'ta'a ghini yatak'iłggat ch'u yeł kaqeyenghiłqet'
then he scooped up some scalding hot soup and threw it on the little mouse

dlin'a gguya veq'enighalch'etl' ch'u de'un ht'inuhudult'eq'
the little mouse's back was scorched but he managed to throw himself back into his den

qeshqa vey'a gun nch'u yegh niynik'izet
the young man did not think anything at all about this incident

qut'ana nih ki nch'u eł dinil
he did not even tell anyone about it

naqeli qizdlan
the fall season came

hey k'u nik'hdalkit
they put food supplies for winter

q'uyehdi qeva ezhi qizdlan
when winter came, it became so very cold that it was difficult for them to hunt

shtunqedał hq'u nch'u chik'ehdeł'ik
they hunted and hunted but they could not kill anything

naqeli ghu niqeyedalkidi ghini kiq'u qevegh qisil
whatever supplies they stored for the winter was also gone

qut'ana guna shtunqedał hq'u qevetiya kiq'u qisil
this caused them to lose their strength

q'uyehdi qeshqa vey'a gun shan ghu dlin'a t'enluq ch'ghu qegh ninuynidalen
the rich man's son remembered what he did to the little mouse that summer

"yeghuda łu ghu k'undet ch'it'ada" yenizen
"this is why we have this famine," he thought

nuk'uldatl' dets'iłena ighetneq ch'u hch'aniyu
he dressed up and took his bow and arrow, and went out

taq'aztin qilan htuniyu idi'eła dlin'a un qeghniyu
he walked into the forest eng in the forest, he came to a mouse den

idi'eła deghk'isen vech'ahnaniłggat łu
this he did, and he fell inside a house eng then he heard a woman's voice

"huk'tninlch'ił ha nvit'a nu'u nit'ut. k'ete'uxch' tut niqadiyux ch'u q'uyehdi ełnen atsitghiyeł," yełni
she said to him, "close your eyes and put your sleeves over your eyes. turn around three times clockwise, and put your head against the ground"

iqech' t'edyuq idi'eła qenq'a yuyeh ndudalen
inside the house, the young man saw a woman sitting there

eyq'u hnił'ani eła deghk'isen gu yuyeh gu zdu ex "nhqayeh ghu k'undet t'eht'ach' qit'anqideshni shi. Un nideshni ghuda shughu dih taziyu da. Q'udi shan qilch' nih tazilghelch' du h'inlnex du?"
she said to him, "you have a famine in your village. I wanted you to come and that is why you came"

qeshqa vey'a gun shan qa k'ta'a dlin'a gguya tsendghiłl'it' ghu hnughelnik
then she asked him, "do you recall having done something wrong this summer?" eng the rich man's son remembered how he had poured soup on the little mouse

"aa'," yełni
"yes!" said the young man

"shishgguya shu ghu t'inluggen," yełni
then the woman said to him, "that was my baby you wronged"

deghk'isen gun gga'ilchet ch'u eygu deqizdlu gu yach' qak'ani'et idi'eła ch'q'aynigen ey ztan
then she stood up and pulled apart a curtain

t'anch'gheliq'u tu'ilnich'
there was a child lying in there all burned and swollen

"dach' hghuda shughu k'undet t'eht'a," yełni
"this is why there is a famine in your village," she said

qeshqa vey'a gun, "duk'idli gheli," yełni
the boy said,"I am very sorry. I did not intend for this to happen"

"nch'u qit'ayini'eszeni ghuda shughu t'eshdyuq da," yełni ex q'uyehdi deghk'isen gun yenałsut ha qighishin sht'a yeghuk'niłkit

ts'ełq'i łiq'a q'ina ch'anghalkit ch'u jayinghiq'ay ha yi yeghunani'un
then the woman sat him down and she brought out one salmon roe and cut it in half and fed it to the boy

yeghini suydnulen ch'q'u daghiłey k'tulqat hqugh shunaltek
when the boy ate it up, he was full as if he ate a big meal

q'u q'ak'ilqet' idi'eła t'eyełni "q'udi gu nutghidyuł. yehtl'egh guhdi yagheli sht'a tiht'ał yida," yełni ex "gu htl'egh hdi ye'uh nugheł'eshi nih q'u ghe'inhghił'anilay. tintazidyu da nvit'a nu'u nitghit'eł ch'u dakaq' qatsitghiyeł," ghu t'eyełni ch'q'u t'edyuq idi'eła uch'en nu'idza
when he was through eating, the woman said to him, "you will go home now and you will get enough food and whatever you want. from now on, however, do not do anything wrong to the animals. put your sleeve over your eyes and put your head against the door"

ye'uh q'u hnił'ani iła qenq'a nih k'i qisen
the boy did this, and when he opened his eyes, he was standing outdoors

dlin'a un yan qilan
he looked around but saw nothing except the mouse den

dets'iłena nu'ighetneq ch'u nutasdyu
he picked up his bow and arrow and started towards his home

q'u qayeh ghu qantasdyu iła vetsah łu hdelghetl'
as he was close to the village, he heard a noise ahead eng he started to sneak up to the noise

iqech'q'u hch'ak'nal'in idi'eła vejex veq'ach'yiq' gheł'esh
he saw a herd of caribou coming directly toward him

nutiha veq'di yech' chidałyuq
when the caribou came close by, he shot twelve

gu gheli vegh ninił'uch' idi'eła dets'iłena eła deggeneltlet
then he quartered one up and carried the best parts home

ts'ełq'i gini yekuch'ahdaniłen ha qech' nuytasdghan
when he arrived at his home, he found everyone too weak to get up

nuydiłq'un ha qut'ana k'undet t'ent'ana ghuna qu k'ta'a łchin
so he went to work and started giving them soup and meat a little bit at a time until they regained their strength

q'uyehdi t'anch'q'u k'ta'a shla hghughiquk

iqech' q'u ghu qeł'anch' q'u qevetiya shla nuqisdlan ex q'uyehdi qeyeł nutasdatl' ch'u vejex ghini ch'anahałqeyeldatl'
then they went and packed the rest of the caribou back to their home

ey tl'egh guhdi qeshqa vey'a gun qeve'ezhge'a kiq'u yizdlan ha
after this, the young man was no longer lazy

ghetnu gheli hkiq'u qadalchet
he became a good worker and a good hunter

dach'hdi łu t'qidyuq
(this is how it happened. the people used to tell this story to their children so they would not do the same thing)