This Saturday our practice group will finish reading and translating Si Kanåriu Yan Si Chungi’, so the new story for this week is a short one, about what can happen when we don’t ask for permission before collecting from the jungle. One of our aunties who regularly attends our practice group very kindly gifted me more Chamorro stories, and this is one of them. This post includes the Chamorro text, a Chamorro audio narration by Jay Che’le, and an English translation. Happy reading!

I Buniton Mångga

Tinige’ as Elizabeth Cruz

Humånao si Benny måmfe’ pugua’ gi halom tåno’. Gi kinekiyong-ña, manli’e’ manamaríyuyu yan agágaga’ siha na mångga gi mås yahúlulo’ na råmas. Guaha mås ki singko gi un rasimu. Ha po’lo påpa’ i kinatgåga-ña ya ha tutuhon humotde i trongkon mångga. Ti apmam hulo’, esta gaige gi un råmas ni manggaige i manbunitu siha na mångga. Ha tife’ mås ki siette na mångga ya ha balutan gi me’nan i chininå-ña.

Ha tutuhon tumunok påpa’, lao kada ha atan påpa’, mås chågo lini’e’-ña. Sigi ta’lo påpa’, lao kada ha atan påpa’, lumá’chågo’ ha’ i tano’.

Ha hasson maisa si Benny na kalan båba este i che’cho’-ña. “Fa’na’an ti debi na bai tife’ este na mångga.”

Ha li’e’ otro na dångkolon råmas, lao åntes di u falak guatu ilek-ña, “Guella yan Guello, dispensa yu’ sa’ ti hu tungo’ na ti debi na bai tife’ este na mångga.”

Annai monhåyan ha sångan este, ha hago’ guatu i dangkulon råmas ya ayu na siña måtto påpa’ gi hilo’ tåno’. Annai tumunok påpa’, ha baba i balutån-ña mångga lao ti bunitu esta i kulot i tinife’-ña mångga.

The Beautiful Mango

By Elizabeth Cruz

Benny went to pick betel nut in the jungle. On his way out, he saw some very yellow and red mangoes on the highest branch. There were more than five on a single bunch. He put down what he was carrying, and he started to climb the mango tree. Not long after climbing up, he was already at a branch where there were beautiful mangoes. He picked more than seven mangoes, and he wrapped them in the front of his shirt.

He started to descend, but every time he looked down, what he saw was more distant. He kept going down again, but every time he looked down, the land still got farther away.

Benny thought to himself that it seems as though what he did was bad. “Probably I should not pick this mango.”

He saw another big branch, but before he went toward it he said, “Grandmother and Grandfather, forgive me, because I did not know that I should not pick this mango.”

When he finished saying this, he reached toward the big branch, and that’s how he was able to arrive down to the earth. When he got down, he opened the mango he wrapped, but the color of the mangoes he picked was already not beautiful.

References

I Buniton Mångga. (1999). In Mandidok Yan Mamfabulas Na Hemplon Guåhan (p. 83). Government of Guam Department of Education.