Tiqin Ch'q'u Aggeya Sukdu'a

By Albert Wassillie
Transcribed by James Kari

ts'ił łu tiqin ghin aggeya eł niłyida ghila
once upon a time, there was a wolf and an otter

ki q'u jan idi eła tiqin gin ven diyu
they were very good friends

idi eła aggeya łu veq'ach' yighilzhit'
one day, the wolf came to a lake where at the same time the otter, sliding along, met him

tiqin gin łu t'eyiłni, "aa', idal
"I'm glad to meet you," the wolf said to the otter.

nenki k'idiki nqakena denłggech' yughuda shughu tilzhitda," yełni łu ex iqech' q'u nt'an daki nchutl'a ghetidighiltex shit," yełni łu

"shihdi shqakena denłnaz. yughuda shughu nzhah daghiłkugh ghuki nugheshjax ch-u shqada qilanch' yan t'esht'ada"
he continued to tell the otter, "do you know something, my friend? your legs are very short. that's why you slide along. if you keep on doing that, you will wear a hole through your stomach. I have long legs. that's why I can run through the deep snow and still get my food"

aggeya gin łu. "lyal yagheli yida," yełni łu
the otter said to him,"oh, that's alright. don't worry about it" eng then they parted

tiqin gini łu ne'ech' yeh ketashjay
the wolf started running up the lake

aggeya ginihdi t'ech' yeh łu nishtalzhit'
the otter started down the lake

aggeya gin łu ven q'estsiq' k'etnu ch'aniyu
the otter came to an outlet

idi eła iygu k'etnu gu łu shagela niłk'uch' ghu ghelchił ch'q'u dnaghelt'a
here in this river, the otter found an abundance of fish of all different species

lyeh denduq' sht'a łu ex qenq'a niqini'un
so he built himself a house on the bank of the river

tsiłq'i heyi igu ghidu
he lived there for a year

nuhdazet ch'q'u hey nuqisdlan
it was winter once again

tiqin gini ench'u chik'delt'ik hdyuq
the wolf began to have a bad luck spell

eyeh nugheyuł ch'q'u k'undeł dyuq ch'q'u veteya qisil
he hunted but could not kill anything for his food eng he finally began to get weaker and weaker from hunger
he started to the river where the otter was eng he kept on walking even though he was weak until he came to the river

yeh nih ghu nugheyuł ch'q'u iy k'etnu łu ch'aniyu idi eła vida aggeya gun łu k'etnu shagela iqul'an ex shagela łu iy vegh ni'iltan tenq'
while this was going on, his friend, the otter, was fishing for trout and he had a great big pile of fish on the ice

tiqin gun łu vida aggeya gun yeghi'an
the wolf saw his friend, the otter

q'uyehdi yech' tazyu
he, therefore, started walking towards him

tiqin gini q'u k'idiki htasdzet ch'a aggeya gun nch'u hnuyiditnil ex q'uyehdi hnuyiditni

ch'q'u yegh yich'adadzet ex aggeya gin łu t'eyełni
the wolf was so very thin, that the otter could hardly recognize him

"idal nda'int'a dida'?" yełni łu
when he finally recognized him, he got very excited and he asked him, "what happened to you?"

tiqin gini łu, "nch'u chik'dzelt'ik ht'eshdyuq. ch'q'u k'undet tayeshni," yełni li
then the wolf told him,"l hunted but I was unable to obtain any food. that's why l'm starving and getting weak"

"iyal niynich'k'ezeda. t'anch' q'u yagheli yit. ida ki sheł nutidyux. yudut gu shqenq'a qilan," yełni łu
the otter then said to him,"(now don't worry about that. everything will be all right) I have a little house down the bend river. just follow me, and we'll make it there"

yeh łu yeł nutasdyu jitgheli deqenq'a yeł dun'idyu
the wolf was so very weak that he could barely walk the short distance to the house

ch'q'u aggeya gin łu t'eyełni
when they arrived at the house and went inside, the otter told him to lie down and take a rest

"qanilghuł ha nuqunelyix. k'idiki k'undet dighint'ał ghuda k'ta'a shla tsa nghutgheshqux," yełni
"you have been without food too long. I will give you a little soup a little bit at a time"

iqech' ghu t'eyeł'an ch'q'u veteya nuqisdlan hnuyu qich'a yeghuk'ełket ht'eytał'an
the otter, therefore, kept on feeding the wolf with a little more soup each day until the wolf started to get some strength back

q'uyehdi k'un gheli yeghułket hyadalchet
then the otter began to give him regular meals

yada shagela, ts'qałs'uk'a, denyahi nihdi
these meals consisted of fish, clams, and wild vegetables

ch'q'u vetiya nuqisdlan
then in a few days, the wolf got his full strength back

qevegh nich'en łu k'etnu qegh tuni'u
in the place where the animals lived, there was open water above them, and also down the river from them

qevegh duch'en ki q'u łu qegh tuni'u ex kiq'u q'ut'un, idi eła aggeya gin łu t'eyełni, "idal qich'a nteya nuqudlahni chich'ul'ulni," yełni łu

"jangu ggul ch'tuł'ił," yełni
so one day, the otter said to the wolf, "well, friend, since you now have your strength back, you need some exercise. so let's play. today, we will have a race"

yunit qegh tuni'u ghu keqezyu
they went to the open water

aggeya gin łu t'eyełni, "iygu qech' yudut ghu qegh tuni'u ghu qech' niłch'nul ggex," yełni łu
the otter said to the wolf, "we will race from here to the open water below. so get ready. when I say,'go', you start running down to the open water. When you get to the open water, stand there. I will jump into the water and swim under the ice"

hhuki neł da'eshdyuq da q'u hch'atghitjax
so when the otter said, "go", the wolf started to run

yudut qegh tuni'u ghu nishghinjay da itighisah
the otter reached the open water down below the river, and he jumped onto the ice eng he looked for the wolf and saw that the wolf was only halfway there

shihdi qegh tuni'u gu tutgheltleł tent'uh nishdgheshtnił," yełni ex 'hhuki" Ghu dadyuq ch'u tiqin gini hcha'idjay

aggeya ginihdi tugheltlet ex aggeya tent'uh nishdutnin ch'u yudut qegh tuni'u ghu hugheltlet tenq'
they continued to hold this race every day

idi eła tiqin gini q'udehdi nishqugh ni'itjay
one day, the wolf arrived at the open water at exactly the same time as the otter

ghu nuytelqux ch'q'u iqech' qet-anch' ch'q'u tiqin gini qich'a vech' qaydelzix qadalchet
each day, the wolf started to get closer and closer to the otter

ki jani idi eła ve'eł gheli q'u nishjax qadalchet

q'uyehdi aggeya gini t'eyełni, "q'udi ki yagheli nuzidlan shida," yełni
q'udi ki chik'dilt'ix hnutghidnił yida," yełni łu

"shi shughu k'undet dni'eshluq da," yełni łu
hughdeh ga ven at sht'uyidaziyu hga k'idiki nqakena denłggech' sheł dghini ghu ghuda shughu dni'eshluq da," yełni łu

ye'uh ggagga ch'ilanch' enda'ich' k'i ch'ut'a ye'uh ggagga nak'ghighunch' shughu ch'it'ada," yełni łu
so the otter said to him, "friend, you are now strong enough. You are able to hunt and get your food again. but friend, I will tell you something. I am the one that caused you all the hardship to make you go hungry. remember last year when we met on the lake? you said that I had such very short legs, that I had to slide along, and that I would wear a hole in my stomach. well friend, we, animals, are all created differently with different ways of being what we are according to the ways we were made"

tiqin gini łu, "duk'idli gheli," yełni łu
the wolf was very unhappy and ashamed."l am very sorry. Will you forgive me?"

ch'q'u yech'ana'idyu, ha udiyeh q'u chik'delt'ix ha qanadalchet łu tiqin ghini
then the wolf went back to his own territory and started to obtain his own food again

dach' hdi łu qidyuq
this story actually happened