Nenaboozhoo and the Artichokes
Mii dash gaa-ni-zhi-mamaajaad. Ngoding go babimosed wiya gii-waabamaan.
“Aaniin e-zhnikaazyeg?” gii-inaan. “Gnige gdamgoom na go?” “Enh,” ogii-goon. Mii dash gaa-god: “Enh, geget ndamogoomi.” “Aaniish e-nkaageyeg wi sa niibna amogooyeg?" “Gaawii sa wiin go gegoo ndi-nkaagesiimi. Mii sa eta go wi boogdishkaageyaang, boogzikaageyaang." Mii dash gaa-zhi-mwaad, aaniish gii-goon wi amondwaa; baamaa gaa-de-amwaad ogii-booniikwaan. “Geget sa g-minpogzim,” ogii-naan. Mii dash pii ni-aabsikaad. Ngoding go ni-babimsed baamaa go shkweyaang mdwewenig, “Boo’!” nwenid ezhi-maajiibtood, “Awenen gaa-nwed?" gii-nendam. Waasa gii-ni-bgambatoo. Megwaa go miinwaa ni-babimsed, “Boo’!” inwewan wiya, ezhi-biimskobgizod, “awenen gaa-nwed?” gii-nendam. Megwaa go miinwaa ni-babimsed, baamaa go enji-boogidid ezhi-maajiibtood. “Ambe sa nongo, nga-gagwe-nganaa wa gaa-nwed,” gii-nendam. Gwej go eni-nanaawjiised baamaa go miinwaa, “poonh’!” e-nwenid. Mii sa zegizid. “Ambe sa naa, nga-akamwaa wa gaa-nwed,” gii-nendam. ezhi-akandwaadang wi miikan; mii sa go gii-zhi-azhewse, bngii gii-bskaabiigaadese. Mii dash maa waazaamdang wi miikan. Baamaa go miinwaa obakwanaang wiya noondwaad. Mii sa njida e-nwenid, “poonh!” ezhi-bzigonjised. “Baapnizwaagan! Wenesh wa bemnaazhkaagwiyaanh? Gechi-mnidoowigwenh,” gii-nendam ezhi-maajiibtood ayaapiichbizod. Megwaa go ni-bmibtood, baamaa go miinwaa, “Poonh!” Gchi-waasa bngishin, biimskobgizod; aaniish, gaawiin waabmaasiin aano-miiwganaamaad. Baamaa go miinwaa widi bakwanaang enji-noondaagzinid, “Poonh!” “Baapnizwaagan!” nendam ezhi-maajiibtood. Mii go imaa maajiibtood, miinwaa, “Poonh!” “Baapnizwaagan!” nendam eni-zhi-gchi-maajiibtood; Gegpii go besha patoo, ooshme gzhiikaabtoo. Mii sa njida e-ntang odashkweyaaming, “Poonh!” Gegpii go enso-aandamiid, “poonh, poonh, poonh, poonh, poonh!” Mii dash wi mii da-gii-naa gaa-zhiwaad n-shiimeyag sa gaa-bi-waabmagwaa giwi ashkipwaag. ‘n-boogzikaagemi,’ ngii-goog. Aaniish go naa enji-bgamjiwyaanh? Eyii, n-boogid! Mii sa ge-kidwaad anishinaabeg n-zhisheyag, biinish ni-shkwaa-kiiwang.” Megwaa go ni-babimosed, baamaa go miinwaa, “Poonh!” “Eyii, n-boogid!” |
So then upon his way he slowly went along. And once while travelling along he saw some creatures.
"What are you called?" he said to them. "Wonder if you may be eaten for food !" "Yes," he was told. Now, this was what he was told: “Yes, truly we are eaten for food.” "What is your effect upon one after a great deal of you has been eaten?" "No (evil) effect of any sort do we leave. The only thing we do is to make one windy in the stomach." Thereupon he ate them, for he was told that they were good to eat ; not till he had had his fill of them did he leave them alone. “Truly a pleasing taste you have,” he said to them. And so then he kept straight on his course of travel. Now, once as he was travelling along, of a sudden at the rear, "Po!" came a sound. As he started running, "Who was it made that noise?" he thought. Afar was he now getting while on the run. And while again he was walking along, “Po!” was the sound something uttered; when round he whirled, “Who was it made that sound?” he thought. And while again he was walking along, suddenly from the place where he broke wind he started running. “Well, now, I will try to leave behind the one that is making the sound,” he thought. Just as he was about to slacken his speed, then suddenly again, “Po!” was the sound something made. Thereupon he became afraid. "Well, now, I will watch for the one that uttered the sound," he thought. Then he lay in wait for it beside the path; and then a short ways back he went, and so from there by the road he watched for it. Suddenly again at his back some creature he heard. And as before, it uttered the same “Po!” Then up he leaped to his feet. “For goodness sake! Wonder who it is that may be following me! It must be a great manitou being,” he thought as he started running at the very top of his speed. And while he was running along, suddenly again, “Po!" A great distance off he landed, when round he whirled; why, he did not see the one at whom he tried in vain to aim a blow. And later again, from yonder at his back, was heard the sound of some one saying, “Po!” “For goodness sake!” he thought as he started running. And there where he started running, again, "Po!" “For goodness sake!” he thought as with speed he started running. Then at last a short way he ran; as he went, he ran with speed. But what he heard behind him was still the same sound, “Po!” Then finally at every step he took it was, “Po, po, po, po, po !” “Why, this was just what my little brothers told me when I saw the artichokes. ‘We make people windy in the stomach,’ I was told. Oh, why, I am breaking wind! That is what the people, my uncles, shall say till the end of the world.” And while he went walking along, then of a sudden again, "Po!" – “Why, I am breaking wind!” |