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APPENDIX B
NATIVE TEXTS
Sronnzs AND MYTHS RECORDED IN me nmtecrs or MALEKULA,
AND TRANSLATED WHOLLY on IN PART BY A. B. Deacon
The following native texts include a number of stories and myths
and two accounts of ritual practices which Deacon took down verbatim
from certain of his informants. Among these myths are a number
relating to the Ambat brothers in the dialect of Seniang (which dialect
is called Sinesip) ; one concerning the Kabat in the dialect of Mewun ;
and a number of animal tales in Sinesip. Three tales of a legendary
but apparently not mythological nature are given in the dialect
spoken by the people of Lambumbu (the dialect called Mwetelag)
and three, one of which tells of the origin of death, come from Lagalag
district. Unfortunately no texts have been recorded from the territory
of the Big Nambas nor from any district in the interior of Malekula.
One text given below is of special interest ; it is a tri~lingual version
of the myth about the Arnbat Itosombon, which Deacon took down
in Sinesip and in the dialects spoken by the people of Laus and Wien.
In the following pages all the texts have been grouped according
to the dialect in which they are written It will be found that few of
them are completely translated. In most there are here and there
words for which no English rendering is given, and sometimes others
for which two DISTINCT translations are suggested. In view of the
condition of his ï¬Åeld~n0tes this has been inevitable, but it does not
detract seriously from the linguistic value of what has been translated.
1. TEXTS IN THE DIALECT OF SENIANG
T1-n: CREATION or TOMMAN ISLAND AND rm: DEATH or THE AMBAT
BROTHERS i
Ambat ito Batnbriingk, an ilss nitalai.
Ambat lived (at) Batnbriingk, and he saw a giant clam.
I as gris mates tartar, tei larap em levahat.
It snapped, spurting the sea continually, evening and morning.
Ambat isursur nemen tmlamp; mvcmr pix wm reembwil nitalai.
Ambat sent birds many; they could not destroy the giant clam.
En isursur mlal lis nivimbani. Hm niiortor
And he sent yet again an owl. He gave a stake (of torlor wood)
binggen nivimbant, nivimbant {top evdn nitortor mbei. En niialai
to the owl, the owl flew with the stake ? . And the giant clam
ms gris netes, en mates imakak at uivimbant
snapped, spurting the sea, and the sea burst asunder, and the owl
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