ET-Raven and his Sisters
spaal’ ’i’ tthu ’ul’elushs
Raven and his siblings
q’ule.e.eq’e’, thu qwuni ’i’ kwthu, tey’ kwu’elh ’uw’ mukw’ ’uw’kw’ul’muhw sqw’ulesh,
Crow, Seagull, and all the other species of birds,
thi.i.i tthu snuhwulhs ’i’ wulh ’e.e.ey’ sqw’uqw’i.i.il’ thu sqw’iil’muhw.
they had a big canoe, and blackberries were all getting ripe.
suw’ xut’us tuw’ne’ullh, xut’us tthu spaal’ sqwiil’qwul’tul’, “’uy’us kws tuw’ wulh m’i ts’uy’hwe’um tst.
They were talking together, and Raven said, “I guess we had better do some drying.
’uy’ ’uw’ nem’ut tth’oom.”
We’d better go pick some berries.”
suw’ xut’us tthu spaal’, “nem’ tsun p’uw’ hwq’awiltalu, ’uw’ le’lum’uta’lu.”
So, Raven said, “I will come along with you and look after you.”
sus ’uw’ nem’.
So, he went along.
’a.a.alh ’u tthu snuhwulh.
They all got on board the canoe.
ne.e.em’ ’u kwthu ni’ shnem’s kwus tsqw’iil’muhw.
They went paddling to where they pick blackberries.
suw’ thut-s tuw’nilh, “huy tsu[n] tse’ kwu’elh ’uw’ tsutse’tsuw’ ’ul’, ’uw’ nu shlemuxutun tseep ’ul’, nu shhw’a’luqw’a’ nu ’ul’elush.”
So, he says, “I will just stay down at the beach, and I’ll be your watchman, my older and young siblings.”
’e.e.e, sus ’uw’ huliye’, ’i’ ’uw’ ’a’mut tsetsuw’.
So, they all left, and he sat by the shore.
ne.e.e.em’ wulh q’putus tthu q’uts’i’.
A nd he went and gathered moss.
shtsuw’etuwun’, nuw’ xtsutus kwus wulh qux shun’tsus tu ’ul’elushs.
He was clever, figuring out when his siblings had already picked a lot of berries.
sus ’uw’ teem, te.e.emutus, “t’ahw, wulh yu ’e’wu tun’….yu ’e’wu tu .. m’i shtl’equlhmuns,” ’uw’ niis shhw’iint.
And then he called, called out to them, “Come down, because the enemy is approaching,” whatever that meant.
suw’ m’i t’ahw wulh m’i t’ahw.
So, they came down, they came back down.
he.e.e ni’ wulh kwukwtsem’ [‘uw’] t’ahwus (tu) ’ul’elushs.
Heeee, he was screaming, and his siblings came down.
“’a.a.a tstamu, nu ’elush?”
“Oh, what’s the matter, sibling?”
“’a.a.a, wulh yu ’e’wun’usaam’.”
Oh, they are approaching you.”
sus ’uw’ulh ’ul’aalh huqewulh.
And so, they all got on board and pushed the canoe out.
“nem’ tseep ’uw’ q’lhan ’ile’uq tsu tse’.”
“You all go to the front, and I’ll go to the back.”
sus ’uw’ stu’e wulh ’aalhst-hwus.
So, they all did it like that when they got on.
“nilh tse’ tuw’ huy’tun tst tu’i.”
“Okay, this will be our weapon.”
’a.alhstum tthey’ q’uts’i’ ’uw’ stutes ’u tuw’nilh.
He had loaded on the moss, and he was close to it.
“’ushul, ’ushul lhu, ’ul’elush, ’ushul!
“Paddle, paddle, siblings, paddle!
’ushul! timuthut!”
Paddle harder!”
yelh sus ’ushul, ’ushul thu....
So, they paddled, [his siblings] paddled.
’i’ ’uw’ stutes thu q’uyutl’un’ ’u tuw’nilh.
And Snail [Slug] was sitting close to him.
’ayum kws ’imushs ’uw’ tstamutus.
She walked too slow to do anything.
“’a.a.a, ’ushul timuthut, nu ’ul’elush!”
“Oh, paddle hard, my siblings!”
’i’ ’i ts’u ’eey’ ’i’lhtun’, ’i’lhtun’, ’i’lhtun’ ’u thu stth’oom.
And he kept eating, eating, eating all the berries.
suw’ yu qwastus tey’ thithu q’uts’i’.
And he was throwing the large pieces of moss into the water.
“’ushul, ’ushul nu ’ul’elush!
“Paddle, paddle, my siblings!
’e’ut wulh yu ’e’wu.”
They are coming.”
suw’ ts’alusum tthey’ ’a.a.a, ts’alusum tu ’ul’elushs.
And they looked back, heee, his siblings all looked back.
“’uy’ kw’us timuthut ’ushul, ’ushul.
“You’d better paddle harder.
lheel ch tse’ ’ul’ ’u tu’i.”
Just go to shore here.”
ni’ wulh tsmuq’muq’um tu spaal’, sus ’uw’ lheelust-hwus tu ’ul’elushs.
Raven was already full, and his siblings brought him to shore.
“’e’ut nan ’uw’ ’ulh yuts’its’umul’, nem’ tseep kwu’elh lhew’.”
“They are coming closer, so you all go run away.”
’e.e.e, lheluw’ tsam, yelh sus kw’lhasum muqw’utus tthu sqw’iil’muhw.
Heee, they fled uphill, and then he poured blackberry [juice] on his head.
ni’ xut’u kwus wulh m’i matl’utum, ni’ wulh mutl’matl’utum
He was saying they were being attacked, they were being attacked.
kwukwtsem’, “nem’ lhew’, nem’ lhew’, nu ’ul’elush!”
He was screaming,“Run away, run away, my siblings!”
’i’ hay thu q’uyutl’un’ ’ayum.
But Snail was too slow.
nuw’ huye’ ’ul’ ’uw’ yuts’utum ’ul’, nuw’ mul’ts’thut ’ul’, ’u tthu hilthut ’u tthu qwlhey’ ts’al’we’lh.
She just went crawling, and she just rolled into a ball and dropped herself over the log.
nuw’ lumnum ’u thu q’uyutl’un’.
And then Snail saw him.
kwukwtsem’ tthu ni’ lheluw’ nem’ tsam
The ones that were fleeing were screaming, going uphill.
ni’ st’e ’u kwthey’.
That’s how it was.