Informal story texts: Stories from Yongshun County

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（Play All）Informal story texts: Stories from Yongshun County

This is a selection of texts drawn from Mrs Tian Xintao's memories of her early life in the Yongshun area prior to Liberation in 1949. The first two texts illustrate the rigours of life, at the hands of both men and nature. The third text provides a brief vignette of a traditional Tujia woman, accomplished in the economies of daily life. The final text describes the journey home from Changsha, the provincial capital of Hunan, to Yongshun, an arduous trip of over two hundred miles. Transport in the area was very limited at that time, and rivers were important arteries of communication.

2.7.1: Attacked by Tufei Bandits
2.7.2: Accidents in the Mountains
2.7.3: My Grandmother
2.7.4: The Journey Home from School

Tian Xintao, Daba Township, Yongshun County
recorded on 05 August 2002

01	nga² di¹ga¹ ci¹tu¹, ye³ a⁴yi³-ma¹ qing³nie² eng³jiu³, ge⁴ze¹ cong² ha³ du¹du¹du¹... When I was at school, robbers found their way [into the city]. They fired their guns. Bang! Bang! ...
02	ei¹ya¹! ang²ni¹ a ge⁴-bo³ mo³ xi⁴ca³ ou, wo⁴ta³-bo³ zu² ao, ei¹yo¹! ge⁴ze¹ eng³jiu³ ou! cong² ha³ mo³ ni² kuo¹ba¹ ga³ha² a! Oh dear! We were scared stiff and ran outside. Oh no! They're coming! Firing their guns, right over our heads!
03	nga² da⁴ yi³-zu² ou, ei¹ya¹! ang²ni¹ ge⁴di¹ge⁴ga² ou, xie²hui¹ mo³ xi⁴ca³ ao, xie²hui¹ mo³ xi⁴ca³-bo³ ye⁴ ao! kei³-bo³ ye⁴ a? When we saw them, we were so frightened, we ran off at once, straight away off to hide!
04	ei¹ya¹! a⁴duo³ suo⁴ti³ la¹ bu¹mu³, mie⁴ zu² zu²-da²? eng la¹ ba⁴, mie⁴ tai² ao! you² jie⁴-bo³ mo³ xi⁴ca³, jie⁴-bo³ mo³ xi⁴ca³. Where should we hide? Oh! I felt my body again, to see if I was bleeding. I looked, but there was no blood! Off we ran, off we ran again.
05	ei¹yo¹! ai¹du¹ ha⁴lie³ nie¹ long³ xie², kuan³kuan³kuan³ kuan³kuan³kuan³ kuan³kuan³kuan³. Look! There are two dogs over there. Woof! Woof! Woof!
06	ei¹ya¹! ang²ni¹ a ge⁴ mo³ se²-liao³ da⁴ze³, ei¹ya¹! ang²ni¹ ge⁴di¹ge⁴ga²! We were scared to death, we were so frightened!
07	ai! nga² nie¹ zuo¹ba¹ ang² nie¹ la¹hu³ ba³zi² ga³ha² ou, nie²-bo³, ong³-bo³, nie²-bo³ ong³-bo³ be² ge⁴, ge⁴-ji² la. Hey! My male classmate and I, the two of us we sat and slept on the ground. Sitting or sleeping, we were completely petrified.
08	a¹di¹ ye³ a⁴yi³-ma¹ ou, luo⁴die¹-nie³ qi³qie¹ xie² du¹ wo⁴-ji²-i la, be⁴-ji²-i la. ge⁴ze¹ zao³, ang²ni¹ song¹kuo¹, song¹kuo¹-bo³, ang² cuo⁴-nie³ ye³ yi²si¹ a⁴yi³-ji²-liao³. Those robbers, they will take absolutely everything, they will take it all away on their backs. When they had gone, we came home, and when we returned, we found that everything in our house had been stolen.
09	nga²-nie³ po³pa¹ be² [ge⁴-xi³], nga²-nie³ nie³ba³ [ge⁴-xi³]; nga²-nie³ mei³mei¹ a¹mi¹ bi²kui¹, guo² ge⁴-da², My grandparents were very frightened, and so were my parents; but my younger sister was unperturbed.
10	guo² ci¹tu¹-lie³, guo² a⁴duo³ ye³ a⁴yi³-ma¹ ba⁴ ou! guo² la²bie¹ duo³ ge⁴-da², nga² jiu¹ li³-da². When she finished school, she went to watch the robbers! She wasn't the slightest bit afraid, but I didn't stop her.

Tian Xintao, Daba Township, Yongshun County
recorded on 05 August 2002

01	nga² qing²die¹ bi² si³, nga²-nie³ a³ba¹ nga² jie³-bo³ mo³: "ni² kang³ku¹ hhi²-duo³, ka³ wo⁴-duo³, zi⁴xi³ wu⁴-duo³ a! wu²xi³ suo⁴-duo³ a!", la² ze² la² ze² nga² bo³ a²yi¹. When I was small, my grandmother called to me: "Go up into the hills and fetch some firewood, You also need to get some weeds for the pigs, and cut some grass for the cows!" So she lectured me, one sentence after another.
02	nga²-nie³ ma³ma¹ le, guo² nga² da⁴ha³ le, kang³ku¹-bo³ hhi² ao, ka³ wo⁴-i. ang²ni¹ ei¹-zu² ka³ wo⁴, yi²xi¹ ga³ ka³ wo⁴, ga³ ka³ wo⁴-lie³ ba³ gu³-lie³. So my aunt, she went with me to the hills, to fetch firewood. So there we were collecting firewood, our backs laden with dry wood. With that on our backs, up the hill we went.
03	tong³ ka³mong³ lao⁴ pu²ta¹ yi²xi¹ bie⁴-la¹-hu³, tong³ pu²ta¹ xing²ga¹die³ ga⁴ [hhi¹] tao², There was a tung tree which was beginning to shed all its leaves, with no green leaves left at all.
04	nga² ji⁴-bo³ mo³ ka³mong³ gu³, ka³mong³ gu³ a, gu³ a wa, guo²duo³ ka³mong³ ga³ha²-lie¹, ka³mong³ geng¹ke⁴ la! ei¹ya¹! nga² ka³mong³ da⁴ha³ geng¹ke⁴ la, sa³ la² ze² be² li³-ta¹ti¹. I began climbing the tree, up and up I went, to the top of the tree, and then the tree fell down! Oh no! Down I came with the tree, there I was, utterly speechless.
05	nga²-nie³ ma³ma¹ jie³ a, jie³ a: "kang³ku¹ li¹ se² la! geng¹ke⁴-lie³ se² la! qing³mo¹ ri¹ a? qing³mo¹ ri¹ a?" guo² ji²-bo³ mo³ jie³, ji²-bo³ mo³ jie³, jie³-lie³, My aunt was screaming: "Someone's died in the mountains! Tumbled to her death! What shall we do, what shall we do?" She shouted and wept, shouted and wept, shouted and shouted.
06	luo¹you¹-nie³ pa³pu¹ a, ang¹bei¹-die¹, qian¹ngai⁴-die¹ eng³jiu³, nga²-nie³ pa³pu¹ be² eng³jiu³, nga²-nie³ nie³ba³ be² eng³jiu³. My grandfather, my uncles, and brothers came from the village, my grandfather and my parents all came.
07	ei¹yo¹! ba³ gu³-lie³ nga² be⁴, be⁴-bo³, nga² a⁴duo³ sa³li³-ta¹ti¹, be⁴-bo³ mo³ song¹kuo¹ la. Well! They crossed the mountains, carrying me, and I still couldn't speak, and so they carried me home.
08	ge³di¹ ce³ hu³, ai¹di¹ ce³ hu³ ao, hu³-ji²-lie³, a! ca² la! li³-de¹xi³ la! Drink this medicine, drink that medicine - I drank them all up. Ah! That's better! I could speak again.
09	nga² ong³-nie³ a¹di¹ kuo¹ a yo, a³sa³ gai⁴ qi⁴, kang³ku¹ hhi² a. Where we lived, when you went up in the hills, there were big cliffs.
10	nga²-nie³ a³kuo¹, guo² qi³ long¹ kang³ku¹-bo³ ye³ se¹, la² wo³ se³ wo⁴, wo⁴-bo³ mo³, wo³sa³ gai⁴ qi⁴! My brother, one year he was in the mountains planting crops, with a load of manure on his back, what a huge back-basket it was!
11	guo², guo² ga³ha²-lie¹ geng¹ke⁴-lie³ ba³ti³ hhi² yo, sa³ be² li³-ta¹tiu¹, qing³mo¹ guo² ri¹-ta¹ti¹, ga⁴ nie¹ duo³ se²-liao³ da⁴ye²ze³. He, he fell down from the top, and couldn't speak any more, nor could he do anything else. For several days he lay there as though dead.
12	nga²-nie³ a⁴duo³ ma³ma¹ lao⁴ xie², guo² cu¹ a ye³ xie². guo² le, wo⁴ta³ ge³ci² ei, ra³ki¹ci³ xi³, guo² kang³ku¹ hhi²-lie³, I also had an aunt, from a rich family. She went outside to have fun and to pick some wild onions,
13	ei¹ya¹! hhi² a hhi², geng¹ke⁴-le, gai³di¹ a³sa³ ga³ha² ba³ti³ geng¹ke⁴, geng¹ke⁴, eng¹di¹ a³sa³ ga³ha²-bo³ zao³. off she went up into the mountains. As she was walking, she fell down from this cliff, down she tumbled, down onto the cliff-face.
14	ei¹ya¹! ge⁴ cuo⁴ a, ji²di¹ji²ga² ao, ke⁴-bo³ mo³ song¹kuo¹, guo² be² se² la! Oh! Her family, they were very upset, carrying her back home, but she was already dead.

Tian Xintao, Daba Township, Yongshun County
recorded on 05 August 2002

01	nga² bi²kui¹ si³, nga² a³ba¹ da⁴ha³ ong³-bo³. When I was small, my grandmother lived in our home.
02	nga² a³ba¹ qi³qie¹ xie² be² ri¹. guo² pa¹ruo¹gu¹ ga², mi⁴ wo²tu¹ la¹ wu², wu²-ji²-lie³, se³si² la²bie¹ po¹, la¹ bu², ga²-ji²-lie³. My grandmother could do everything. She used to eat chilli peppers, she would cook them in the fire, and when they were done, add a little oil, crush them a little, and then eat them up.
03	guo²-nie³ qie³bi² a, guo²-nie³ a, [wo¹-ta¹-duo³] a, qie³bi² [wo¹-ta¹-duo³] a, [wo¹-ta¹-duo³] a, qing¹mo³nie³? se³si² la²bu¹ xie². Her bowl, her bowl, she wouldn't wash it, she wouldn't wash it, why? Because there was both salt and oil left [which she wanted to save for the next meal].
04	guo²-nie³ xi¹ba¹, a²xi¹ mo³ guo² wo⁴ta³ da²-ta¹; guo² da²-bo³ mo³ xi¹ba¹ a²pei¹-liao³ ba, guo² wo⁴ta³-bo³ da². Her clothes, the ones she considered new she wouldn't wear outside: when the clothes she was wearing began to wear out, then she would wear them outside.
05	guo² a⁴duo³ kang³ku¹ a ka³ wo⁴, a⁴duo³ kang³ku¹ a ye³ ni¹, guo² a⁴duo³ ce³ku¹ ce⁴, ma³ma¹ long⁴, guo²-nie³ ye³ la²be¹ duo³ bie⁴-ta¹. She would go up into the hills for firewood, and would look for useful plants too. She also spun hemp fibre and looked after my aunts, she never wasted a single thing she had.
06	guo² nga² bo³ a²yi¹-bo³, a²yi¹-lie³ ri³di²ri³ga², nga² yi²xi¹ die²-bo³-la¹. She taught me, taught me many things, all of which I can still remember.

Tian Xintao, Daba Township, Yongshun County
recorded on 05 August 2002

01	nga² di¹ga³ ci¹tu¹, wo⁴ta³ ci¹tu¹, a⁴duo³ la⁴ hhi²-duo³. ang²ni¹ cang³sa¹-bo³ ci¹tu¹, ang²ni¹ la⁴ hhi², hi² ong¹ nie¹ mo³ hhi² mo³ cang³sa¹ ye⁴, When I was a student, I went away to study, and had to walk there. We went to Changsha to study, and we walked, walked for a full fifteen days to reach Changsha.
02	ei¹ya¹! ji³ a, di²di¹di²ga², jie² be² di²di¹di²ga², hhi² du¹ hhi²-ta¹tiu¹. Oh! Our feet were ever so painful, our hands were also painful, we couldn't have walked any further.
03	ai¹du¹ ye⁴, nie²-bo³ be² di², ong³-bo³ be² di², hhi² be² hhi²-ta¹ti¹, ei¹ya¹! ang²ni¹ ya du¹, ma²ni¹ duo³ ji²di¹ji²ga². When we got there, our feet hurt even while we were sleeping, when we sat they hurt, and we couldn't walk. Well, we were all totally worn out.
04	ang²ni¹ song¹kuo¹-bo³ la² long¹ tu¹ la, tu¹ la, [cang³sa¹-lie¹ ying¹seng³-bo³] song¹kuo¹, song¹kuo¹-bo³, la⁴qiu¹-lie¹ ye³ a⁴yi³-ma¹ ri³di²ri³ga². We went home after a year of studying, coming back to Yongshun from Changsha, coming back, there were bandits everywhere on the way.
05	ei¹yo¹! yan³leng³ ying¹seng³ du¹ hhi² a, ang²ni¹ bu⁴ ong³, bu⁴ le, la⁴qiu¹-lie¹ luo⁴die¹ cu⁴-ma¹ yi²xi¹ ha³ mo³ pie² la, Well, we had to go through Yuanling and Yongshun. We got on a boat, on the way, the boat was overturned [by bandits] and everyone was thrown into the water,
06	luo⁴die¹ be² yi²xi¹ zao³, luo⁴ be² yi³-bo³-da² la! nga² bo³ a qi³qie¹xi³ du¹ tao², ang²ni¹ ge⁴di¹ge⁴ga², song¹kuo¹-diu² ba. nga² duo³ la²bu¹ be² ga²-ci³ tai², la²bu¹ la² qi¹, tong³ se³si² hi² qi¹ mo³ a⁴yi³. everybody ran away, there was nobody in sight! We were left with nothing and we were all very frightened, so we set off back home. As a result, we didn't even have any salt to eat, not even a pound, and they took all ten pints of tung oil.
07	a¹di¹ nie⁴ ka¹-ta¹ti¹ a, ka¹-ta¹ti¹ a, la² nie¹ la² long¹ da⁴ze³-bo³ hhe³! Those days were unbearable, unbearable, one day as long as a whole year!
08	zao⁴gu¹die¹ zi³ ga² la, lang³cei¹ zi³ kei²-bo³ ga², a⁴duo³ a⁴yi³-nie³ luo⁴ ye⁴-duo³. zao⁴gu¹die¹ a⁴yi³ luo⁴ luo⁴ ti² la, lang³cei¹ a⁴yi³ luo⁴ luo⁴ bu² la! Breakfast, evening meals, where could we eat - we still had to hide from the bandits. They tied people up in the daytime, and slaughtered people at night!
09	a¹di¹ nie⁴ ka¹-ta¹ti¹, ka¹-ta¹ti¹ a! a³se⁴ li³ be² ka¹-ta¹ti¹ a! Those days were unbearable, unbearable, everyone said they were unbearable!

pron: I, me advt: formerly vi: to read, study n: thing vt: to steal vsuff: [doer] advt: after, behind vi: to come pron: they n: gun vt: to hit onom: (sound of gunshot) expr: (excl) pron: we part: (excl) vt: to fear vsuff: [stative] part: (-wise) vi: to run part: (excl) n: outside nsuff: [towards] vi: to go out part: (excl) expr: (excl) pron: you n: head n: on advm: all, together vt: to see suff: [then] vi: to be very afraid advt: immediately vt: to hide from pron: where advm: yet, still n: body cl: a while vt: to feel, touch n: blood vsuff: [not] part: (excl) vt: to look at vi: to not have advm: again; both... vt: to chase advl: there n: dog num: two cl: (for animals, fish, jars, logs, plants) vt: to have onom: (sound of dog barking) vi: to die vsuff: [past+now] vt: to resemble part: (excl) conj: and n: man pron: we cl: (for people) n: mud vi: to go to bed vi: to sit advm: also vsuff: [very] part: (excl) pron: that pron: (other) people suff: ['s] pron: what advm: all vt: to carry on the back vsuff: [end] vsuff: [irrealis] vt: to move vi: to be gone vi: to return n: house advm: all n: old person vsuff: [very] n: parents n: younger sister n: younger sister n: small (one) pron: he vsuff: [past] advd: some advm: all conj: then vt: to say n: child n: small (one) n: time n: (maternal) grandmother vt: to shout, call n: (in the) mountains vt: to go vsuff: [want] n: firewood n: pigweed (fodder for feeding pigs) vt: to pull up n: cattle fodder vt: to cut, slice num: one cl: mouthful, sentence part: (IO) vt: to study n: aunt; young woman part: (new topic marker) advm: all, together pron: that advm: all n: on n: mountainside vt: to go up n: tung (tree) n: tree num+cl: one (person/animal) n: leaf vt: to leave, fall, shed vsuff: [continuous, repetitive] vsuff: [imminent] vi: to be green num: several, how many? cl: (for thin, flat things: paper, leaves, flags) vt: to not have now vt: to ride part: (excl) pron: (him)self nsuff: [at, from] vi: to fall, topple n: words, matters vsuff: [can't] n: inside pron: how vt: to work, do vi: to cry n: village n: grandfather n: uncle nsuff: [plural] n: brother vt: to cradle in the arms n+vt: to speak pron: this n: water vt: to drink, smoke pron: that vi: to be good vsuff: [can] n: place part: (excl) n: cliff pron: many; how many? vi: to be large n: elder brother pron: what cl: year vt: to sow cl: load n: excrement, waste n: backbasket n: below vsuff: [can't+now] cl: day vt: to resemble n: home vi: to have fun part: (excl) n: wild onion vt: to pull up vsuff: [past] pron: this pron: this pron: they vi: to be very anxious vt: to carry (usually with a carrying pole) n: chilli pepper vt: to eat, bite n: fire n: inside vt: to burn n: oil vt: to place, pasture, release, shoot vt: to pound n: bowl vt: to wash vsuff: [won't] pron: why n: salt n: clothes n: new (one) part: (manner) vt: to wear vi: to become old part: (excl) vt: to look for n: hemp fibres vt: to twist (hemp into a rope) vt: to give birth; to raise advd: some vi: to be very many vt: to think of advt: formerly n: road pn: Changsha (Hunan provincial capital) num: ten num: five part: (until) vt: to arrive n: foot vi: to hurt badly n: hand vi: to hurt part: (excl) pron: we vt: to read, study pn: Yongshun (county in Xiangxi Prefecture) expr: by the roadside pn: Yuanling (town in north-west Hunan province) n: boat vt: to pack vi: to overturn n: person pron: what vsuff: [come+now] vsuff: [that which] cl: catty (500g) n: day vt: to spend (time) vi: to be long, far advt: morning n: cooked rice, meal advt: at night pron: where vt: to bind vt: to kill pron: who(ever)