*Note this story is in Kapampangan
Tatakut ku.
Melakwan ya pa murin I tatang ku ka rin kayabe ne itang alimaw. Sibukan kung tapangan ing sarili ku tsaka kula panagalan pero ala kung agawa. Malati kupang anak at pane na yaku ing panibatan ning kasiran dang biye da reng tau. Ala kung agawang masanting.
Masyadu yang madalumdung ing gubat kanaku, unya makapirmi ku mu keng metung a lugar. Sambit ng koyang ku dati, nung makapirmi kumu king metung a pwestu, masagli da ku mung apantun deng tau. Ala kung agawa nung ali gumaga namu. Kaybat na ing milyari kang Aura, nung makananung apanasakit ning bingut I ima, at nung makananu ya mebating I koyang, ngeni naman I tatang ku makitagalan ya king alimaw, eku balu nung nanu ing mali kanaku.
Yaku I Teleia, malati ku mung anak at ali makapamye panatag king kanakung pamilya, ‘Kumpletu’ ing buri ng sabyan ning lagyung Teleia. Makanita ing binye ng lagyung ima ku kanaku, uling inyang oras a mibait ku kaya, kumpletu ya ing pamilya ku. Pero para kanaku, yaku ing sanhi ning pangabalbal na niti. King sobrang mua ku, kinangwa kung batu saka ke belugse.
Disuldit, atin kung dimdam masikan a gulisak, kaybat kabud nemung nilwal ining makatakut ayni menibat ya ka reng punu. Anti mu yang anak, kayanti ke naman, pero gamat ing gagamitan na king pamaglakad na. Katuling na mayap, bala mung aninu ya mu. Sibukan kung pulayi mu naman, oneng kasakit dang mayap deng tud ku, asna nong kasakit.
E ko bitasang agamit deng bitis ku, unya ginamit ku nala mu rin deng gamat ku. Mipakirut na ku mung mayap uling kasaguli namu palang gawan. E ku man bitasang makapagtambling kanita! Oneng ngeni makapulayi ku king pamamagitan da reng gamat ku, kabilis a kabilis. Kalaut kuna king makatakut a bageng ngayta.
Ay katula kung mayap, balu kuna ing gawan ku. Ing gubat masanting ya karas ning bengi. Pwedi kung salikut maski nokarin! Kailangan ku mung lumakad gamit da reng gamat ku uling masakit la pa mu rin deng bitis ku. Masakit, pero ayus mu, uling ini na ing bayung yaku.
Magi yang masanting ini, salese ya ing pamilya ku maski ala ku. Apagtantu ku na pwedi kung makipagkaluguran. Kailangan ke mung lawen ing bayu kung kakyalung, at manasakit la mu rin deng karelang bitis! Saka la lumakad gamit da reng gamat da, anti kanaku!
Dakal ku pweding maging abayung kaluguran.
Kailangan ku mung makapantung dakal anak na akayabe ku.
=—————–=
English Version
I’m so scared.
Papa’s still back there with the monster. I tried to be brave and run after them, but there was nothing I could do. I’m just a little girl who keeps ruining people’s lives. I can’t do anything right.
The forest is too dark for me to walk through, so I just stayed in one place. Kuya told me before that if I stay in one place then people can find me. All I could do was cry. After what happened with Aura, how the baby hurt Mama, how Kuya disappeared and now Papa’s running away from a monster, I just don’t know what’s wrong with me.
I’m just Teleia, the little girl that can’t keep her family safe. Teleia means ‘complete’. My Mama named me that because she said that when I was born it made our family complete, but I think I just tore it apart. I was so angry I took a rock and I threw it!
I heard a loud scream and I something scary came out of the trees. It was like child, like me, but it was walking on its hands. It was also very, very dark, like it was made of the shadows. I tried to run away, but my knees started to hurt. It was so painful.
I couldn’t move my legs, so I just started using my hands. I was really surprised when it was so easy. I couldn’t even do wheel-carti-cartwheels before! But now I was walking on my hands, really, really fast. I was so fast that I was away from the scary thing in no time!
I was so happy. I think I know what to do now. The forest is so nice when it’s night. You can hide anywhere! I just need to keep walking on my hands because my legs still really hurt. It’s really painful if I try to walk normal but it’s ok. This is how I’m gonna be now!
It’s going to be great. My family’s going to be fine without me. I found out I can make new friends. I just need to look at a new playmate and their legs will hurt too! And they’ll walk on their hands just like me!
I can make so many new friends.
I just need to find more kids to play with.
=—————–=
Story continued from the Harimodon’s Tale
* Kapampangan, Pampango, or the Pampangan language is a major Philippine language. It is primarily spoken in the province of Pampanga, southern Tarlac, and northeastern Bataan. Kapampangan is also spoken in some municipalities of Bulacan and Nueva Ecija, by various Aeta groups of Central Luzon, and in scattered communities within the SOCCSKSARGEN region in Mindanao. The language is known honorifically as Amánung Sísuan (“breastfed, or nurtured, language”)
Written by Karl Gaverza
Translation Copyright © April Christian L. De Leon, MAEd
Inspired by the Bugsok entry in Bikol Beliefs and Folkways: A Showcase of Tradition. Nasayao 2010..
Bugsok illustration by Nia Cortezano
Tumblr: http://niakawa.tumblr.com/