A51 The Cow and The Poor Girl

Maryam Gwirgis of Canda, Georgia in Canda, Georgia

ʾe tavərta zardə ʾət-xá brata ⁺casəb꞊va. ʾita ʾə́tvala ʾayən yəmma ʾuga. har ⁺və́rtəva ⁺bar de tavərta zardə ⁺və́rtəva ⁺baro. gano ⁺mumrítova. ʾe yəmma ʾuga k̭a-de ⁺goro mə́rtəva ʾa ⁺bayyət lé-⁺bayyət ʾa tavərta zardə prumla, ʾana basman. mu ʾavədva? hi ⁺busra ṱ-⁺axlan, basmana. ⁺baram leva ⁺byaya ⁺ʾavva naša parə́mvala ʾayya tavərta. cu jur ṱ-iva primalə. primalə. ⁺xarta ʾe tavərta zardə tunítəva k̭a-dé c̭əč̭č̭ə yan ʾən parmali ʾēn garmo ⁺jammatte ⁺rappatte gu-xa-⁺č̭alə ⁺ṱašyatte ʾani. k̭a-diyyax ⁺lazəm ṱ-avini. hi꞊da xina ʾe tavərta primale ⁺xilale. ʾe c̭əč̭č̭ə ⁺jummela ʾēn garmə ⁺ruppela gu-⁺č̭alə. ⁺xarta tila ⁺dana mu jura, xa malca brūn-malca ⁺ṱavvúyəva ⁺bar꞊t calu calu yan gavərva brata. ʾita ⁺xdərrə ⁺xdərrə ʾita tilə k̭a-dá brata xzilə ⁺rədyalə. ⁺rədyalə, ʾe baxta xita꞊da yəmmo ʾuga ʾə́tvala tre bnatə xinə ʾayən꞊da tre xa xinə. hi da ⁺bar꞊t tilə cēp vədle ⁺supra ptəxle. ʾicət ʾannə ⁺guranə ⁺guranə ⁺ʾalma xəšle ⁺tama, ⁺xluyla, ʾita ⁺xluyla ṱ-i xəšle, ʾe yəmma ʾuga, šk̭əlla ʾannə ⁺xəṱṱə ham꞊da ⁺rəzza, ham꞊da mu ʾatxa dəryela ⁺ʾal-⁺ʾarra, buzbək̭k̭ela dəryela k̭am de brito ʾuga. mərra hal꞊t ʾatyan ʾannə cul dana dana ⁺jammatte b-nošé, ⁺ʾavva b-nošu, ⁺ʾavva b-nošu. la hadax xina ʾən tili ci-ʾó yumax b-yavvənnə. ʾayən꞊da ⁺hayvan təvla, vila bəxya, ⁺bərra ⁺bərro bəxya. ʾana mújjurra ⁺jammanne? ʾannə mu ʾodana? ⁺xarta ⁺ʾək̭balo ⁺ʾuxča ṱ-iva raxmanta ⁺ʾuxča ṱ-iva jīs ʾe c̭əč̭č̭ə tila hənnə yonáy yonáy tile cul ⁺jmile mərre la-⁺zdi. la-⁺zdi. mərre ʾati silax luš sak̭əl bak̭əl silax gu … ⁺ʾal xalta šteta gu-⁺šara silax. ʾaxnan ʾannə b-⁺jammaxle. ʾita hi k̭ak̭ raz ʾatxa vədla, txərra, txərra ʾe tavərta zardə ṱ-i mərra ʾēn garmo ⁺rappile ⁺tama. hi? xəšla ṱ-i-ptixela ʾani, gušək̭la tilə ⁺pltəṱlə xa suysa smuk̭a payṱun tila, sodanta payṱun suk̭əlta buk̭əlta tila. təvla ⁺ʾal-dé payṱun, xəšla. xəšla. ʾadiyya ʾe-yəmma ʾuga ṱ-i xzila k̭a-dexa brito ham꞊da ʾannə xatvato ʾuga mərre ʾaha ʾe hə́nnəla, briteni. mərra la ʾayən m-ica ʾatxa jullo? m-ica jullət dayən? mara ʾaha vela tə́vtəla beta ʾayən xəṱṱo ⁺ʾanjaǧ ⁺jammalə. hi ⁺spay. xəšla ⁺vərra. cullə ⁺xdirelə, ⁺xdirelə ʾo brūn-malca cəs-hə́č naša la rk̭ədlə, xəšlə rk̭ədlə cəs-dé brata, cəs-dé ⁺casəb xəšlə. cəs-dayən xəšlə rk̭ədlə. iʾ k̭a-dayən ⁺rdilə. xa-ca. ʾa-spar d-tre-ca ⁺ʾal-dó yumət d-tre-ca ʾa-spar tilə xazzə cuma suysa tilə mədrə gu-⁺payṱun. ⁺xarta tilə yumət ṱla꞊da tilə xa suysa ⁺xvara payṱun ⁺xvarta sodanta tila. šk̭əllə ⁺ṱrilə xəšlə. xəšla mədre ʾayən ʾe c̭əč̭č̭ə ʾe ⁺casəb. har ʾani ʾe yəmmo ʾuga ʾēn xatvato har mara ʾa ʾayən꞊la? mara la. ʾayən꞊la? la. ⁺xarta ʾužé ⁺bayyiva yan k̭emiva ʾaziva ʾa brata rək̭la. ⁺pləṱla, rək̭la, xəšla. hi ⁺pləṱla mudəvla ⁺pləṱla. ⁺ʾuxča ṱ-iva malyuzə malyuzə, ʾa ⁺savəlto šləxla, pəlla ⁺ʾal-⁺pallacanə ⁺ʾal-⁺pallacanə xina. ʾayən ⁺ṱrila xəšla. ʾo brūn-malca ṱ-i pəllə ⁺baro, ⁺pləṱlə ⁺baro tilə, ʾe ⁺savəlta šk̭ilalə. ʾe ⁺savəlta šk̭ilalə, xəšlə ⁺rxəṱlə, ⁺rxəṱlə ⁺baro. la mučxalə xina. ʾayən prəxla xəšla, prək̭la. hi ⁺xarta ⁺xarta ⁺dana tila, cul dənyə cul maváy ⁺xdirḗl ʾo brūn-malca, mərrə ʾa ⁺savəlta k̭a-cút ʾoya ʾana ʾayən gorənna. xina ⁺roba maváy ⁺xdərrə. ⁺roba mdiyáy ⁺xdərrə. k̭a-hə́č naša la vila. b-⁺xartət ⁺xarta ⁺xartət ⁺xarta xəšlə cəs-dé casəb. ⁺tama xəšlə ʾēn tre xatváy ʾuga ʾə́tvala ʾayən. ʾani꞊da har ṱ-i-xela vado b-xela yan lošávala ʾe ⁺savəlta, la vila. k̭a-dé xita la vila. ⁺xarta ʾēn švavə mərre cela ʾe c̭əč̭č̭ə? cela ʾe xatoxun ʾuga? mémunla. xina ʾayən ⁺hayvan ⁺və́rtəva gu-xá ⁺čolə. gu-xá ⁺čolə ⁺və́rtəva čulluxta. xina cut-jur ṱ-iva, švavə ⁺pulṱale. pulṱale, xəšla, mulvəššale. ʾe ⁺savəlta k̭ak̭-raz vila k̭a-dayən, k̭a-dé casəb vila xina. ʾaha k̭a-diyyax vila, ʾayən꞊da ⁺pulṱala ʾe ⁺savəlta xita꞊da muxziyyala. mərra ʾaha díyyila. ʾo brūn-malca šk̭ilalə mutyəvvalə ⁺ʾal-suysət ganu gu-⁺páyṱunət ganu lublalə beta. beta lublalə cəs-babu yəmmu. xina ⁺šavvá yumanə ⁺šavvá lelaváy víyyələ ⁺xluyla ⁺šara. ʾatxa, prək̭la məttəlta.

The yellow cow belonged to a poor girl. Now, she had a stepmother. She was going after that yellow cow, went after it. She (the stepmother) pretended to be ill. The stepmother said to her husband ‘Whether you want to or not, slaughter this yellow cow so that I will be cured.’ What could he do? ‘Yes, I shall eat the flesh and shall be cured.’ But that man did not want to slaughter the cow. One way or another, however, he slaughtered it. He slaughtered it. Now, the yellow cow had said to the girl that if she slaughters me, you should gather the bones and put them in a pit, hide them. You will need them (one day). Well then, they slaughtered the cow and ate it. The girl gathered the bones and threw them in a pit. Later, a time came, one way or another, in which a king, the son of a king, was searching for a bride, a bride, in order to marry a girl. Now, he searched and searched, then he came, saw this girl and he liked her. He liked her, but the other woman, her stepmother, had two other daughters, herself and two others. Now, after he came, they made merry, they held a feast. Where the nobles, the noble people went, the wedding, now when they went to the wedding, the stepmother took grains of wheat and rice and I don’t know what, and threw them on the ground, she scattered them, threw them before her stepdaughter. She said ‘Before I come back, you must pick up each one of these by itself, this one by itself, that one by itself. If (you have not done) thus when I come back, I shall indeed give you hell.’ She, the poor creature, sat down and started crying, wailing and crying. ‘How shall I gather them? What can I do about these?’ Then came her good fortune, so caring was she, so good was that girl, that … came, doves came, they all gathered and said ‘Do not fear, do not fear.’ They said ‘You go and dress, make yourself beautiful and go to the feasting, go to the party. We shall gather these.’ So, she did exactly that. She remembered, she remembered that the yellow cow said they should throw its bones there, yes? She went and when she opened them up, she saw that a red horse came out, a carriage came, a fine carriage which had been made beautiful came. She sat in the carriage and went off. She went off. Now, when the stepmother saw that stepdaughter of hers, and also her stepsisters (saw her), they said ‘This is … , our daughter.’ She said ‘No, where (could) she (get) such clothes from? Where (could) her clothes (have come) from? She says ‘She is sitting at home. She could hardly manage to gather up the wheat.’ Oh, fine. She went in. The son of the king went around everybody. He did not dance with anybody, but he went and danced with that girl, he went to that poor girl. He went and danced with her. He liked her. (This was) once. The second time, on the day of the second time, on that occasion he came and sees that a black horse has come, again together with a carriage. Then the third day came and a white horse came, a fine white carriage came. It (the horse) took (her) and rode off. That girl, that poor girl. Her stepmother and her sisters kept saying ‘Is this her?’ She says ‘No.’ ‘Is this her?’ ‘No.’ Then they already wanted to get up and go. The girl fled. She went out, fled, went away. Yes, she went out. She managed to leave. She was in such a great hurry, that her shoe came off and fell on the stairs, on the stairs. She drove off. When the son of the king went after her, went out after her, he came and took the shoe. He took the shoe, went off and ran after her. But he did not find her. She flew away and disappeared. Yes. Then some time later, the son of the king searched the whole world, all the villages, and he said ‘I shall marry whoever this shoe fits.’ He went around many villages. He went around many towns. It fitted nobody. At the very end he went to that poor girl. He went there. She had those two stepsisters. They—when (one) tried to force the shoe on, it did not fit. It did not fit the other. Then the neighbours said ‘Where is the girl? Where is your stepsister? Bring her.’ Now she, poor creature, had gone into a hut. She had gone into a hut, into a cabin, but one way or another, the neighbours brought her out. They brought her out, she went and they dressed her. The shoe fitted her exactly, it fitted the poor girl. ‘It fits you.’ She took out the other shoe and showed it. She said ‘This is mine.’ The son of the king took her, mounted her on his horse, in his carriage and took her home. He took her home to his father and mother. Then there was a wedding party for seven days and seven nights. This is it, the story has ended.