Another taotaomo’na story this week, from the island of Guam. Set in the village of Agat, this story is about a woman who is accompanied by a strong fragrance and a family who desire to know more about her. There seem to be several stories of the “white lady” or “fragrant woman” spread throughout our islands. Have you heard of a woman like this? This post includes the Chamorro text, English translation, and Chamorro narration by Jay Che’le. Happy reading! (UPDATED 10/14/2024 with discussion notes from our Saturday morning practice group)
Estorian I Paopao na Palao’an
Ginen i lepblo Mandidok Yan Mamfåbulas Na Hemplon Guahan
Gi åntes na tiempo despues di manhålom i Españot, un bunita na enkantao palao’an gaige na sumåsaga gi halom tåno’, guihi na lugåt ni ma å’ålok Nimitz Beach. Kana’ ha’ kada puengi, tumunok påpa’ ginen i gimå’-ña gi sabåna para u o’mak gi kanton i mattingan.
Piot yanggen má’lalak i pilan, gof ya-ña maloffan gi fi’on i lanchon un familia. Tåftataf an ogga’an, guaha gi familia pinangon1 ni paopao i lemón na pao. Ma hongge na i mangnge’ na paopao ginen ayu i palao’an ni sumåsåga gi halom tåno’.
Gof manmalago’ i familia ma tungo’ ginen mámanu ayu na mångnge’ paopao, ya lokkue’ manmalago’ para u ma tungo’ taimanu i kinalamten-ña i palao’an. Put i malago’-ñiha para u ma li’e’ i palao’an, i tata manhåtsa fina’liheng2 gi papa’ trongkon håyu gi fi’on chålan annai3 malóloffan i palao’an ginen i tasi para hulo’ gi4 sabåna. Kontåt ki sigi mågap, sumåga ha’ makmåmata.5
Ti apmam desde ki ha nangga na ha li’e’ na guaha mámamaila’6 ginen i sabåna. I minahngang-ña annai ha li’e’ i palao’an. Binistitidu7 å’paka’, mamómokkat påpa’ para i tasi. Ha nå’na’ gue’ påpa’ para ti u lini’e’, ya ha tattiyi påpa’. Sigi ha’ påpa’ i palao’an esta ki humålom gi halom tåsi. Pues gumama huyong esta guatu gi mattingan.
Media ora, siña ha’8 mås, na humålom i palao’an ginen umo’mak gi halom tåsi. Ha tutuhon mamokkat hulo’ gi sabåna para i gimå’-ña.
Annai sigi hulo’ mamokkat i palao’an, ya sigi lumáhihot guatu gue’ gi annai umá’atok i tata, na ha tutuhon munginge’ sen mames yan sen paopao na lemonchina.
Ginen este na señåla na ensigidas ha tungo’ i tata na guiya este na enkantao palao’an sesso maloffan gi fi’on i gimå’-ña. Lao annai sigi ha’ mo’na mamokkat i enkantao na palao’an, ya sigi tinattiyi ni i tata asta hulo’ gi gimå’-ña, ha fa’baba i tata. Sigi ha’ ha li’e mo’na estaki ti siña ha li’e’ annai humålom gi halom tåno’. Ni håfa råstro-ña para i tata na siña para u sodda’ ta’lo. Malingu hålom ha’ enkantao na palao’an, taimanu ha’ annai på’go tumunok. Ni håyi tumungo’ ginen mámanu mågi este na palacha’9 palao’an.
The Story of the Fragrant Woman
From the book Profound and Fabled Guam Stories
A long time ago after the Spanish arrived, there was a beautiful, enchanted woman who was living in the jungle, at the place that is called Nimitz beach. Practically every night, she went down from her house in the mountain to bathe at the edge of the deep water beyond the reef.
Especially when the moon was very bright, she liked to pass next to the ranch of a family. Very early in the morning, the was someone in the family who was awoken by the fragrance of the scent of lemon. They believed that the delicious fragrance was from that woman, the one who was living in the jungle.
The family really wanted to know where that delicious scent was coming from, and also they wanted to know the how the woman moved about. Because they wanted to see the woman, the father built a kind of shelter under a tree next to the road, where the woman passes from the ocean to go up the mountain. So long as he continued to yawn, he just stayed awake.
It was not long after he waited that he saw someone coming from the mountain. Oh his shock when he saw the woman. She was wearing a white dress, walking down to the ocean. He hid himself down so that he would not be seen and he followed her down. The woman continued down until she entered into the ocean. Then she floated out toward the deep water past the reef.
Half an hour, perhaps more, that the woman came in from bathing inside the ocean. She started to walk up the mountain to her house.
When the woman continued to walk up, and she kept getting closer to where the father was hiding, he started to smell the very sweet and fragrant lemonchina.
It was from this sign that the father instantly knew that this was the enchanted woman who often passed next to his house. But when the woman continued to walk forward, and she continued to be followed by the father up to her house, she tricked the father. He continued to look ahead until he could not see where he she had entered in the jungle. There was no trace of her to allow the father to find her again. The enchanted woman just vanished inside, like when she first came down. Nobody knew where this mysterious/mischievous woman had come from.
Notes
1 guaha gi familia pinangon ni paopao i lemón na pao: The word pinangon in this sentence is the word pångon (to wake up) transformed with the -in- infix. For some learners, we may be most familiar with this infix being used to transform verbs into nouns (i.e.: guaiya -> guinaiya). But it doesn’t just transform verbs to nouns. In many instances, using the -in- infix with a verb allows us to use a sentence structure that brings more focus to who or what is receiving the action. In grammar books this is called the goal focus construction. Here are some simpler examples with pinangon:
- pinangon yu’ ni neni = I was woken up by the baby
- pinangon yu’ ni dandan = I was woken up by the music
- pinangon yu’ ni rediu = I was woken up by the radio
And then the guaha paired with the verb pinangon tells us that there was somebody who was woken up (by the fragrance of the lemon scent). In Chamorro, when we say that there was somebody doing something, we don’t always need to state a word to indicate that somebody, which is what we do in English (i.e.: someone was told; someone was woken up; someone was hurt). The verb guaha paired with a verb is enough to imply this “someone” in the sentence.
2 fina’liheng: This word is a combination of two affixes attached to the word liheng, which means “a shelter, a dwelling, a house.” The transformation order is as follows: liheng -> fa’lihen -> fina’liheng. In this instance, we can interpret a fina’liheng to mean “something like a shelter” or “a makeshift shelter.” In English we might also think of this as “a lean-to.” The idea is that the father quickly built a small structure for himself, from whatever materials he could find nearby. This is different from constructing a more “formal” shelter or dwelling, hence the use of fina’- at the beginning of the word.
Many learners may be most familiar with this “fina’-” prefix with the word fina’denne’, which is a staple of the Chamorro table. The root word for that is donne’ (pepper) and the transformation is the same: donne’ -> fa’denne’ -> fina’denne’
3 annai: As a reminder, this word can mean either “where” or “when.” Just try to pay attention to the context of the sentence or thought to understand which meaning is being used.
4 hulo’ gi sabåna: We had a great discussion during our Saturday morning practice session about using gi with location markers. Usually, when the location marker comes after the gi, we interpret it like this:
- gi hilo’ i sabåna = On top of the mountain
- gi papa’ i sabåna = Under the mountain
But when the location word comes before the gi, we interpret it more like this:
- hulo’ gi sabåna = Up the mountain
- påpa’ gi sabåna = Down the mountain
5 Kontåt ki sigi mågap, sumåga ha’ makmåmata: “So long as he continued to yawn, he just stayed awake.” Let’s break this sentence down:
- kontåt ki = As long as; so long as
- sigi mågap = (He) continued to yawn (the pronoun is dropped; it’s understood in context)
- sumåga’ ha’ = (He) just stayed (the pronoun is dropped again)
- makmåmata = Being awake (this word is reduplicated, so we can understand it as happening now)
6 guaha mámamaila’: In this construction, we again have a verb paired with guaha, which is understood as “There is/was someone or someone coming.” As native English speakers we may want to say something like guaha taotao ni mámamaila’, but the addition of that word taotao is not necessary in Chamorro.
7 Binistitidu: This is another use of the -in- infix, and has the effect of allowing us to use the word bestidu (a dress) as a verb. In this sentence, it’s telling us that the woman is wearing a white dress.
When we say Binistitidu yu’ in English we understand this as “I am wearing a dress.” We get to this form by transforming the word with the -in- infix and by reduplication. Here’s a breakdown: bestidu -> binestidu -> binestitidu
This is a really cool construction, and an easy one to use even if you are just beginning to learn because in its simplest form, the sentence can just be two words long. And it gives more flavor and precision to your speech than if you were to say Hu u’usa i magågu (I am using the clothing).
Here are other ways to use this -in- infix to express similar thoughts:
- Magågu -> Minagågågu yu‘ (I am clothed/ I am wearing clothes)
- Sinturon -> Sinturoron yu’ (I am belted/ I am wearing a belt)
- Sapåtos -> Sinapåpåtos yu’ (I am shoed/ I am wearing shoes)
- Yori -> Yineyeri yu’ (I am flip-flopped/I am wearing flip-flops)
8 siña ha’ mås: Siña ha’ means “maybe, perhaps, it’s possible.” So this phrase translates to “perhaps more”, and it’s in reference to the amount of time she spent in the ocean.
9 palacha‘: This word literally translates to “Tease; teaser; troublesome; troublemaker.” One of the speakers in our group said in the context of the story, we might understand this more as “mysterious” but with that air of being troublesome because they couldn’t find her or figure out where she came from.
References
Mandidok Yan Mamfabulas Na Hemplon Guåhan. (1999). [Book]. Government of Guam Department of Education.
Lengguahi-ta 