When I was little, this legend was always a favorite of mine and I was very excited on the day I realized I could finally read it in Chamorro. This version in Chamorro is good for beginners because the sentences are short and simple. In this post I’ve transcribed the Chamorro and included the English translation, and the original pdf is also in this post if you prefer to see the illustrations while reading. The narration is done by Jay Che’le. Enjoy!
This is a legend I found on Påle’ Eric’s blog about why the fanihi (fruitbat) doesn’t have friends. I enjoyed this legend, and had never heard any story about the fruitbat before reading this one. We used this story during one of our practice sessions, and Jay Che’le recorded the narration because this was one of Påle’s older posts that didn’t have audio. I’ve also included the Chamorro and English in this post for reading along with the audio. Hope you enjoy it!
Here is the legend of Alupang Rock, written by Simon Camacho. We have been reading and translating Chamorro stories during one of our practice groups, and we did this one a couple months back. The Chamorro text, a Chamorro audio narration by Jay Che’le, and an English translation are in this post. The original illustrations were done by Rogelio G. Faustino, but I’ve refreshed it with this illustration generated by the Midjourney art AI. Happy reading!
Growing up, my grandmother always warned me against going to sleep with wet hair because if I did, I would wake up with crooked fingers or a crooked neck. It wasn’t until I started learning Chamorro and reading our legends in our language that I realized there is an entire legend based on this! Here is that legend, the version collected by Carmen C. Blas and narrated by Jay Che’le.
Lengguahi-ta 