*Note this story is in Masbatenyo
Sa kadugayon, libre na ako. Matawhay na an kamutangan ko…
Sa yana na nagbalyo kami ninda Mamay kag Papay sa harayo hali sadto na maraot na ginhalian namon, nakaturog na ako sin maayo kay wara sin nababatian na ginaparatawhan ako kun gab-i. Malipay-lipay kag nagapasalamat gad ako sadto na alublari… albulary–albularyo kay ginsabihan kami na magbalhin san bag-o na istaran. Mabuot man siya.
Damu-damo an pwede himuon didi. Damo man din an mga naamiguhon ko, amo man akon magurang na lalaki kag ginikanan sa inda mga hilig. Nagin paborito nakon an plasa apiki sa amon balay. Igwan dako na tabyugan na mas dako pa ki sa maski nano na sadto ko nakita dati. Siguro kun itabyon ini bagan makaabot ko an mga bituon. Purburan ko gani ina buwas…
Yana naman, may nakita ako na nagahibi. Igwa sin dyutay na bata na nagatangis kag usad-usad la sa idalom san usad ka puno didto sa plasa. Kay matahom san iya banghoy pero kamundo niya, kaya ginkanaman ko siya hasta mag-abot an iya iloy. Ginhingaw ko sa iya an ngaran nakon: Teleia, kag sumadya an bata. Sige an hagikhik sin katawa sa entiro namon na pag-upod.
Matunod na an adlaw kag nagaparalingo-lingo na an bata kay basi ginahanap an iya ginikanan. Kaya, gin-istoryahan ko siya parte kanda Mamay kag Papay sadto sa dati na gin-istaran namon. Wara magdugay, nag-ayo kag nagkakaigwa na san mehoras si Mamay kag dili na nagakasakit. Aba, ta kay makusog kag kaya na mag-ataman kag magpakaon sa akon dyutay na manghod.
Ugaring san magtuna sadto na nag-istorya ako amo na “pagpakaon”, nag-utro pa sa pagtangis an dyutay na bata. Nagsiniyak kag nagkurag-it ini na bata, pero wara gad ko mahimo o kun nano. Nagapadulom na kaya nag-unabi ako sa bata na hulat-hulat lang anay pa agod tawagon ko si Mamay kay basi mahatagan ta siya sin pagkaon.
Aram na niya an iya himuon.
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English Version
I’m finally free.
Now that Mama and Papa moved us away from that bad place, I can sleep again. It’s so great to have a night where I don’t hear anyone laughing at me. I’m so glad the Mr. albulari—albulury— Albularyo—man told us to go find another place to live. He was nice.
There’s so much to do in this new place. I have so many new friends and Kuya and Mama and Papa all found new things to do. My favorite place is the new park near my house, there’s a really big swing, bigger than I’ve ever seen before. Maybe I can swing and reach the stars. I’ll try that tomorrow.
Today though, I found someone lonely. There was a little baby crying all alone under a tree in the park. It was so cute and lonely that I decided to play with it until its mommy came. I told it my name, Teleia, and the baby found it so funny. It would just laugh and laugh all the time with me.
The sun was setting and the baby was looking around and I think it was looking for its parents so I told him stories of my Mama and my Papa. Mama was getting better after what happened in our old place and she isn’t even sick anymore. She was even strong enough to feed my baby brother.
When I was talking about feeding the baby started crying a lot. It started screaming and I didn’t know what was happening. It was getting really dark so I told the baby to wait a little bit so that I could call my Mama. Maybe she can give it food.
She’ll know what to do.
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*Masbateño or Minasbate is a Bicol-Visayan language spoken by more than 600,000 people, primarily in the province of Masbate in the Philippines. It is very close to Capiznon, Hiligaynon/Ilonggo and Waray-Waray, all three spoken in Visayas. It is considered a Bisakol language, meaning a language intermediate between Visayan languages and Bicolano languages.
Written by Karl Gaverza
Masbatenyo Translation by Gene Patrick Balisi
Copyright © Karl Gaverza
Translation Copyright © Gene Patrick Balisi
Story continued from Aura’s Tale
Story inspired by the Tiyanak legends
Tiyanak Illustration and Watercolor by Yanna Gemora
FB Page: Yannami