Nabu - U hka hte hkam hkam u a lam (Crow and Hkam Hkam bird) with English translation

Item details

Item ID	KK1-2270 (Collection Details)
Title	U hka hte hkam hkam u a lam (Crow and Hkam Hkam bird) with English translation
Description	Translation (Rita Seng Mai) This is about the crow and the Hkam Hkam bird. Some people call it Tap Hkang bird. In the past, the crow was white. The crow and the Hkam Hkam bird were friends. They discussed, "Let's be the most beautiful birds." They decided to make each other beautiful by drawing patterns on their bodies. The next day, when it was sunny, they prepared to dye the fabric. They mixed indigo, which people use for dyeing. It was impossible to bleach the indigo after it was dyed. The crow first drew patterns on the Hkam Hkam bird's body. After drawing beautiful patterns, it said to the Hkam Hkam bird, "It's done." When it was time for the crow, both of them got a nice smell. They also saw smoke rising from the village. The crow thought to itself, "It's the time when humans offer offerings to the nat spirits." It was thinking about eating those offerings. So it hurried the Hkam Hkam bird to finish drawing the patterns quickly. The Hkam Hkam bird tried its best to draw the patterns quickly. However, the crow kept hurrying it, so the Hkam Hkam bird pushed the crow into the indigo pool. It got impatient and pushed the crow into the indigo pool. And it flew away into the forest. The crow got out of the pool and chased after the Hkam Hkam bird. It said, "How could you do that to me?! I told you to make me beautiful, but you pushed me into it!" The Hkam Hkam bird hid in the deep forest. The crow was angry, but at the same time it wanted to eat the meat, so it didn't chase the Hkam Hkam bird any further. After eating meat from the nat offerings, the crow searched for the Hkam Hkam bird again. It kept searching for it the next day, too. Since that day, the Hkam Hkam bird never went out during the daytime because it was scared of the crow. It only went out at night. The crow has been searching for the Hkam Hkam bird to this day. Our elders told us that the Hkam Hkam bird has very beautiful patterns on its body, but no one ever sees them during the daytime. Transcription (La Ring) Langai gaw ndai Kahka, U Hka hte Hkam Hkam U.. nkau mi gaw Tap Hkang U mung nga ma ai. Rai yang gaw, e ndai.. Kahka gaw da mi.. de gaw Kahka gaw ahpraw re da. E rai.. Hkam Hkam U hte U Hka ndai lahkawng gaw rau sha kanawn ai manang yan re da. Rai yang gaw "An lahkawng gaw grai tsawm ai u rai ga" ngu nna she shan hkawng gaw bawng hkat ai da. Langai hte langai hkum kaw grai tsawm hkra hkra rai na maka jawm soi.. jawm shatsawm hkat na hku shan hkawng jawm myit hkrum ma ai da. Dai majaw hpang shani gaw jan ja nga yang she maka soi na matu dai.. mahtat lap ni e mahtat i dan re.. wo palawng ni moi anhte Jinghpaw ni lang ai hpun palawng hkan e sumpan shing re lachyit ni hte da la ngut ai hpang mahtat lap, mahtat ntsin kaw tsing kau jang gaw achyang i.. ndai nsam nprai ai hku rai nga. E dai baw rai na hku re da. Dai ntsin kaw e jawm soi na matu rai yang gaw shawng e gaw U Hka shawng ndai Hkam Hkam U hpe e maka soi ya ai da. Maka grai.. tsawm hkra sama ya.. ngut sai da. "E.. grai tsawm sai" ngu na she jahkring da ya na hku rai nga. Ya U Hka na chya na matu re shaloi gaw, dai shaloi she sama grai manam pyaw ai sama wa lu wa ai da e. Dai she mare de wan hkut mawng.. rai jang gaw, "hunn.. ndai aten gaw shinggyim masha ni nat jaw e nat hkungri hta hkungga nawng ya ai aten rai na re". U Hka a myit kaw gaw ndai aten gaw shanhte nawng tawn da ai shan ni, hkungga shan ndai ni hpe sa sha.. rai na matu she shi gaw dai myit mat na hku rai nga. Dai majaw ndai Hkam Hkam U hpe lawan soi ya na matu i.. lawan soi ya na matu lawan shatin na hku rai nga. Ndai wa mung soi gaw soi ai, jahtum e gaw.. ndai wa nau tsun shatin rai jang she mahtat la-ing kaw mahtang kanawng bang kau dat ai da. Mahtat la-ing kaw kanawng bang kau dat re na gaw, shi mung kanawng bang myit ngalu wa na kanawng bang ai lata gaw shi gaw nam de hprawng mat ai da. U Hka wa dai la-ing kaw na bai lu pru wa re hte gaw, hkan shachyut ai da "Ngai hpe me shing re de kanawng bang grai tsawm ai hku she soi ya rit ngu na rai yang nang gaw shing re ai" ngu na tsun ai majaw shi gaw hkan shachyut ai da. Ah.. ndai Hkam Hkam U mung maling grau.. htat ai de makoi mat ai da. Ndai U Hka wa gaw pawt mung pawt mayu sha mung sha mayu re majaw gaw grai ngut hkra gaw ntam ai da. Raitim mung dai mung hkan tam let mare de na ndai.. hkungri kaw na shan ni hkungga shan ndai ni sa sha lu na matu shi ginjang tam nna hpang shani mung bai tam ai da. Dai shani kaw nna ndai Hkam Hkam U ngu gaw e shana ngoi ai. Shana sha ngoi sai i, rai yang gaw.. shani na aten hta e.. ndai U Hka hpe hkrit ai majaw shinggan de nwam, npru, npyen hkawm mat ai re da. Rai na U Hka gaw daini ten du hkra Hkam Hkam U hpe naw hkan tam nga ai. Dai majaw Hkam Hkam U gaw shana na aten hta she pru nna shi a maka kumla, shi a hkum kaw grai.. tsawm hkra chya tawn da ya ai.. soi tawn da ya ai maka hpe e grai tsawm timung, masha ni e nmu, shani na aten hta nmu lu ai re... nga na hkai dan ma ai law..
Origination date	2019-01-23
Origination date free form
Archive link	https://catalog.paradisec.org.au/repository/KK1/2270
URL
Collector	Keita Kurabe Find similar
Countries	Myanmar - MM To view related information on a country, click its name
Language as given	Jinghpaw
Subject language(s)	Jingpho - kac To view related information on a language, click its name
Content language(s)	Jingpho - kac To view related information on a language, click its name
Dialect	Standard Jinghpaw
Region / village	Northern Myanmar
Map not displayed for automated requests
Originating university	Tokyo University of Foreign Studies
Operator
Data Categories	primary text
Data Types	Sound
Discourse type	narrative
Roles	Keita Kurabe : depositor Jangma Htoi Nan : speaker
DOI	10.26278/5fa1775b94f4b
Cite as	Keita Kurabe (collector), Keita Kurabe (depositor), Jangma Htoi Nan (speaker), 2019. U hka hte hkam hkam u a lam (Crow and Hkam Hkam bird) with English translation. EAF+XML/MPEG/WAV. KK1-2270 at catalog.paradisec.org.au. https://dx.doi.org/10.26278/5fa1775b94f4b

Content Files (3)

Filename	Type	File size	Duration	File access
KK1-2270-A.eaf	application/eaf+xml	14.9 KB
KK1-2270-A.mp3	audio/mpeg	4.22 MB	00:04:36.697
KK1-2270-A.wav	audio/wav	152 MB	00:04:36.660
3 files	--	156 MB	--	--

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Collection Information

Collection ID	KK1
Collection title	Kachin folktales told in Jinghpaw
Description	Recordings of Kachin folktales and related narratives in Jinghpaw. These materials were collected by Keita Kurabe, Gumtung Lu Awng, Sumdu Ja Seng Roi, Hpauhkum Htu Bu, Labang Tu La, Gumtung Htu Nan, and Lashi Seng Nan as part of a community-based collaborative fieldwork project in northern Myanmar. As of April 10, 2026, the collection includes 2,491 stories, 2,481 ELAN files, 2,481 transcriptions, and 1,827 translations. Transcriptions were contributed by Gumtung Lu Awng, Pausa La Ring, Galang Lu Hkawng, Sumdu Ja Seng Roi, Hpauhkum Htu Bu, and Keita Kurabe. Translations were prepared by Nbanpa Rita Seng Mai, Sumlut Gun Mai, Lazing Htoi San, Maran Seng Pan, Dumdaw Mike Tu Awng, Nhkum Htoi Awng, and Keita Kurabe. Related resources on Kachin culture and history are available at: https://catalog.paradisec.org.au/collections/KK2 https://catalog.paradisec.org.au/collections/KK3 https://www.youtube.com/@kachinfolktales https://www.facebook.com/KachinStories This research was supported by Linguistic Dynamics Science 3 (LingDy3), Description and Documentation of Language Dynamics in Asia and Africa　(DDDLing), and TUFS Field Science Commons (TUFiSCo), all from the Research Institute for Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa (ILCAA), Tokyo University of Foreign Studies (TUFS), JSPS KAKENHI (Grant Numbers JP17H04523, JP20K13024, JP20H01256, JP24K03887, JP25H00465), as well as the JSPS Program for Advancing Strategic International Networks to Accelerate the Circulation of Talented Researchers, "A Collaborative Network for Usage-Based Research on Lesser-Studied Languages."
Countries	Myanmar - MM To view related information on a country, click its name
Languages	Jingpho - kac To view related information on a language, click its name

Access Information

Edit access	Nick Thieberger Keita Kurabe
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Data access conditions	Open (subject to agreeing to PDSC access conditions)
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