Salmon Creek
1. Gawu vayughu’ruviyoutw gitga, rruqi’, jagu’ghanuwiwilh, gou da danimuqu’l, gou’wil.
I’m going to tell about how it is, (with) the “little people” who steal humans.
2. Dukdoughugu’, juwa da va vutsuwu’n, valhuk.
Salmon Creek [‘where the trail crosses’] is where they go to dry salmon.
3. Juwa vulh, da douwalhouy, wou da va lusouluwi’, valhuk.
A lot of people live there when they go to smoke salmon.
4. Wala, gourr gou’wil, buda’w, va lalilh, rrak jach vulh, ya guduwilh, buda’yuwaqh.
In the morning, a certain man went to the creek, he went upstream along the creek.
5. Lhe ga svawi lughilh vulh, guduwiqu’l.
He hadn’t gone in very far.
6. Ga wulilh, dalhda, lhawi’, da liqu’l, wourr wulilh, welilh, qa gilhiv.
He started to see something, after he had gone some distance; what he saw were tracks lying there.
7. Ga biwu rradurr, welilh.
The tracks weren’t very big.
8. Rrougurr, qis ga wulilh, lhugilh walh vulh, gawu dougulh, vurraji’, hou’l.
After a while, he suddenly began to see further down, too, that the water was starting to be muddy.
9. Gawu dougushilh, gida lhu gawu re gawu rri’redarilh, qalhda da chge lughilh.
Maybe he was coming near whatever it was going ahead, which was starting to muddy it.
10. Dalhda va, gida ga svawik, lhe gawu kouna’n, va.
Later, after some distance, it finally got dark.
11. Qalhwa lughilh, ji gourr.
Whatever had been going, there it was.
12. Ji vulh da ku’ni, hi tuwani’l, “Ka gou lughi’!”
She grabbed him right there, and told him, “You’re not going back!”
13. “Ji daqh, Gashverilhilh!”
[He said,] “So that’s where you live, Small-foot!”
14. Valhuk, ga’wi, sou’milh, gawa’milh.
She caught one salmon, down at the water, and began to cut it.
15. Vus, hi doulh.
She made a fire.
16. Valhuk, goutsuwudadi’.
The salmon was cooked whole.
17. Wuraghaqh, gouqe vulh, ji dula dout, da shvi doudi’, wuraghaqh, da dout.
It cooked on the coals, the way they used to cook long ago, cooked with no utensil, cooked on the coals.
18. Hi daqhlhayuvilh.
Then she lifted it off.
19. Shabewa’wulunuvilh vulh, gourr valhuk.
She split it in half by hand, that salmon.
20. Qilu’l walh, shabiyusgurr, gourr gou’wil walh, husgurr, hitumoudilh, “Ji viw!”
She [took] half, and that man [was given] half, and she told him, “Eat that!”
21. Lhe ga da’lilh, lhe galu viwilh.
He never spoke, and he never ate it.
22. Huruwu kou’nurr, va.
It got completely dark.
23. Hi wulilh, gawu litwaduqh ya, rruqh, gou tsurarilh.
He saw that the young woman seemed to be getting drowsy.
24. Gawu lughurralilh, gawu lughurralilh, svawi yitwaduqh.
Suddenly she fell over, she almost fell over; she was very drowsy.
25. Qis goutsuvayalilh, ji vulh da’liv.
Suddenly she fell over all the way and just lay there.
26. Lhe ga gou rradidiwurrilh.
She never sat back up.
27. Hi naghilh vulh, “Gitga gutswatuv,” hi naghilh vulh, “Hi klhut hou welilhu’l, gilhi’,” gaqou’milh ya, rruqh, gida vulh hidurritwilh, ya ga rurarutkshilh.
Then he thought, “I’ll put on a lot of wood,” he thought, “Her feet will get hot”; then he realized that she must be sleeping soundly, for she did not move.
28. Shap rruqh, lhe ga rurarutkshilh, gilhi’ welilh, gish gudughunu vut.
He did the same thing [again], [and] she never moved, although her feet were very hot.
29. Tighudalilh, gou gawu dalilh.
He went out, he started back.
30. Gawu rri’redarilh, Dukdoughugu’, qis boushougilh, tsuwesi’.
He started to get near Salmon Creek, when suddenly he heard her shouting.
31. Lhu loudaqhshi’warr yulhitk.
She had already followed him here.
32. Gourr walh na gourr voulhughudalilh, na vulh, gitga da gish gou’selha’wurr, qis gou louwilh.
There where he had started from before, where he had been expected [where everyone had been waiting for him] in vain, he suddenly returned.
33. Hi vou ju rou tighuda’l, vasuda’l.
Everybody came out to meet him.
34. Da qi youwilh, qalhda da halu vou’lilh, qilhda da luw’un.
When he arrived, there was some sort of house, where someone was staying.
35. Guduwalilh walh vulh, ji qilu’l, da qi youwilh.
He just fell into it, when he got there.
36. Gawu vukdeta’luvilh, voul, gish rraqu’l, “Gou louluwu, gourr gou’wil.”
She began to throw aside the boards of the house, thinking in vain, “I’ll take that man back.”
37. Lhe ga gou louluwilh.
[But] she never took him back.
A Wiyot story told by Della Prince, published in Teeter, Karl V. & John D. Nichols (1993), Wiyot Handbook. Memoir 10, Algonquian and Iroquoian Linguistics. Winnipeg: Department of Linguistics, University of Manitoba, pp. 58-61. Spellings have been converted to the approved Wiyot writing system, and English translations have been modified to sound more natural.
