Ngwote na oskeenow “Ngutaawe kwoche muxe neemunaw,” kne otinaawã [otinãan], yuthkumeen sãapew muxe peepmãat. Kneema [maawe] peepmaw kne kaanwãʔkumaak peepmaw sta kaakway muskumoowe. Kne mtokweʔkook pmithow kneʔãam apnithãʔkwok opãan. Kne omuskuwãan paʔpaʔkowun. Kne okutaw pãakwãanãan paʔpaʔkowun. Sokw ni onumeʔãan paʔpaʔkowun apnisaʔ omeettheen. Kne paʔpaʔkow otinãan “Kaakway ktãayãatum?” Oskeenow otinãan, “Ngutaw one peepmã.” Paʔpaʔkow otinãan, “Keeseʔãam knãʔtumãan.”

Kne otinãan, “Niʔãameen ktãan neepeeseʔkook nãakaawe.” Kneema ni otãan ãanawma ni paʔpaʔkow otinãan kneema nãakaawe toʔ opãan. Toʔ okwocheemoonãan paʔpaʔkowun, “Ktãane keeseʔãam msinãakw apnithuk?” Kne paʔpaʔkow otinãan, “Kneʔãameen ndop nduwaʔaan mostaʔãan mtokw.” Kne na otinãan toʔwun, “Ãapskwaʔ ni naʔun,” kneʔãameen kseʔnaw ndun omostaʔãan neen mtokwun. Kne na toʔ ãapskwunaw ndun omostaʔãan mtokwun ndun oskway onooktaʔmin.

Kne ninãapaw ãapskwaw ndun ni toʔwun otunmitãacheʔunãan. Kneʔãam ãapskwunaw wãak. Kneema ãastaw muxkw ni opãan. Kneema muxkw okwocheemoonãan paʔpaʔkowun, “Ktãane ktinmin waacheʔãam apnithuk kmeeche?” Kne paʔpaʔkow otinãan, “Mtokwok ktineekwothe,” muxkwun. Kneʔãameen, “Ãayãatumuna ni waʔweekayã apnithuk, kneʔãameen ktineekwthe ãaytun spome mtokwok.” Kneema na muxkw otineekwtheen ndun muxe meetthow apnithaʔ staʔãam keese neexeewe.

Kneema paʔpaʔkow otinãan ninãapaan, nima otinãan, “Naʔo muxkw oche kiya, kaache hnaʔ!” Kneema muxkwun otinmitãacheʔunãan. Kneema paʔpaʔkow otinãan ninãapaan, “Staʔãam kneʔnãw paʔpaʔkow kaache ndun nãanaayeka aaneʔãak neek kchoothuk.” Oche kaacheʔãam owa one peepmãat.

  • Sot Quinney’s Story. Translated by William Dick (Aug. 3, 1914) at Keshena Wisconsin.
  • Forms in brackets given by William Dick, variants from narrator’s terms.

Sentence-by-sentence translation

  • Ngwote na oskeenow “Ngutaawe kwoche muxe neemunaw,”
    • Once there was a young man [who thought] “I want to try to be a great man”
  • kne otinaawã [otinãan], yuthkumeen sãapew muxe peepmãat.
    • and they told him that he will have to first be a great hunter.
  • Kneema [maawe] peepmaw kne kaanwãʔkumaak peepmaw sta kaakway muskumoowe.
    • Then he went out hunting for a whole day but he found nothing.
  • Kne mtokweʔkook pmithow kneʔãam apnithãʔkwok opãan.
    • Then he was walking through the woods and he came to an apple tree.
  • Kne omuskuwãan paʔpaʔkowun.
    • And he found a partridge.
  • Kne okutaw pãakwãanãan paʔpaʔkowun.
    • He wanted to shoot the partridge.
  • Sokw ni onumeʔãan paʔpaʔkowun apnisaʔ omeettheen.
    • But there he saw the partridge eating apples.
  • Kne paʔpaʔkow otinãan “Kaakway ktãayãatum?”
    • Then the partridge said to him, “What do you want?”
  • Oskeenow otinãan, “Ngutaw one peepmã.”
    • The young man said, “I want to hunt well.”
  • Paʔpaʔkow otinãan, “Keeseʔãam knãʔtumãan.”
    • The partridge said to him, “I would help you.”
  • Kne otinãan, “Niʔãameen ktãan neepeeseʔkook nãakaawe.”
    • Then [the partridge] said to him “Go into the woods in a little while.”
  • Kneema ni otãan ãanawma ni paʔpaʔkow otinãan kneema nãakaawe toʔ opãan.
    • Then he went as the partridge had told him and in a little while a deer arrived.
  • Toʔ okwocheemoonãan paʔpaʔkowun, “Ktãane keeseʔãam msinãakw apnithuk?”
    • The deer asked the partridge, “How can we both get some apples?”
  • Kne paʔpaʔkow otinãan, “Kneʔãameen ndop nduwaʔaan mostaʔãan mtokw.”
    • Then the partridge told him, “I would just use my head to strike the tree.”
  • Kne na otinãan toʔwun, “Ãapskwaʔ ni naʔun,”
    • [The partridge] told the deer, “Go back far,”
  • kneʔãameen kseʔnaw ndun omostaʔãan neen mtokwun.
    • So then soon [the deer] could run and strike that tree.
  • Kne na toʔ ãapskwunaw ndun omostaʔãan mtokwun ndun oskway onooktaʔmin.
    • Then that deer went back and struck the tree and broke its neck.
  • Kne ninãapaw ãapskwaw ndun ni toʔwun otunmitãacheʔunãan.
    • Then the man came back and dragged the deer away.
  • Kneʔãam ãapskwunaw wãak.
    • He then walked back again.
  • Kneema ãastaw muxkw ni opãan.
    • Then a bear came along.
  • Kneema muxkw okwocheemoonãan paʔpaʔkowun, “Ktãane ktinmin waacheʔãam apnithuk kmeeche?”
    • The bear asked the partridge, “What do you do to eat those apples?”
  • Kne paʔpaʔkow otinãan, “Mtokwok ktineekwothe,” muxkwun.
    • The partridge said to the bear, “I climb up the tree”
  • Kneʔãameen, “Ãayãatumuna ni waʔweekayã apnithuk, kneʔãameen ktineekwthe ãaytun spome mtokwok.”
    • Then, “If you want the apples that I like, you should climb up to the top of the tree.”
  • Kneema na muxkw otineekwtheen ndun muxe meetthow apnithaʔ staʔãam keese neexeewe.
    • So the bear climbed and ate so many apples it was not able to come down.
  • Kneema paʔpaʔkow otinãan ninãapaan, nima otinãan,
    • Then the partridge said to the native man, he said to him,
  • “Naʔo muxkw oche kiya, kaache hnaʔ!”
    • There’s a bear for you, now kill it!”
  • Kneema muxkwun otinmitãacheʔunãan.
    • So he dragged the bear off.
  • Kneema paʔpaʔkow otinãan ninãapaan,
    • Then the partridge said to the native man,
  • “Staʔãam kneʔnãw paʔpaʔkow kaache ndun nãanaayeka aaneʔãak neek kchoothuk.”
    • You will not kill partridges now and if this is so [we will treat you as friends].
  • Oche kaacheʔãam owa one peepmãat.
    • From now on he is a good hunter.