Here’s a short, funny story about a married couple that gave me a really good laugh. Jay also thought it was funny, and when he was recording the narration he had to stop to laugh again because of the ending. This story is from the book “Estoriåye Yo'” by Påle’ Eric Forbes, which is great reading (at least I think so!) if we’re trying to learn Chamorro. Our practice group will be finishing up our reading and translation of “The Old Pirate” this week, but if we have time we will also read and translate this short story.

This post includes the Chamorro text, a Chamorro audio narration by Jay Che’le, the English translation, and a Quizlet flashcard study deck to learn the story in phrase chunks. Happy reading!

Magåhet Na Bunita

Tinige’ as Påle’ Eric Forbes
Ginen i lepblo “Estoriåye Yo'”

Umasagua si Kiko’ yan si Denang. Todu i tiempo ilélek-ña si Kiko’ as Denang, “Asaguå-hu, achokka’ ti bonita hao na palao’an, hu asagua hao sa’ pot magåhet na hu guaiya hao.”

Pues siempre ineppe’ gue’ as Denang, “Asaguå-hu, hunggan bunita yu’, lao put i bachet hao ti un líli’e’.”

Pues un Damenggo ilek-ña si Kiko, “Asaguå-hu, an måkpo’ i Misa ta falak i gayera ya ta li’e’ kao iná’atan hao ni taotao siha yanggen magåhet na bonita hao.”

Pues annai eståba i dos gi gayera, ilek-ña si Kiko’, “Asaguå-hu, esta dies minutos hit guini ya ti ma á’atan hao.”

Manoppe’ si Denang, “Hunggan ma á’atan yu’ lao put i mo’na hao mamokkat ti un líli’e’. Po’lo ya hu fonaigue hao mamokkat ya siempre un li’e’.”

Ya magåhet na annai mamokkat i dos ya si Denang gaige gi me’nan Kiko’, ha ripåra na todu i lalåhi ni ma upos ma sen atan si Denang. Lao ti ha tungo’ si Kiko’ na ha fanúnu’i siha ni hila’-ña si Denang.

Truly Beautiful

Written by Father Eric Forbes
From the book, “Tell Me A Story”

Kiko’ and Denang were married. Kiko’ would always tell Denang, “My wife, even though you aren’t a beautiful woman, I married you because I truly love you.”

Denang always replied, “My husband, yes I am beautiful, but you don’t see it because you are blind.”

So one Sunday Kiko said, “My wife, when mass is over let’s go to the cockfight and see if the people will look at you if you are really beautiful.”

So when the two were at the cockfight, Kiko said, “My wife, we have already been here for ten minutes and they are not looking at you.”

Denang answered, “Yes, they are looking at me, but because you are walking ahead of me, you can’t see it. Let me walk ahead of you and you will see.”

And truly, when the two walked and Denang was in front of Kiko’, he noticed that all of the men that they passed were really looking at Denang. But Kiko’ didn’t know that Denang was showing them her tongue.

Notes

fonaigue: This word comes from fo’na.

Study Resources

Quizlet Flashcard Deck to Study Phrases: https://quizlet.com/883945376/magahet-na-bunita-flash-cards/?i=2ugq94&x=1qqt