Conlangers,

Someone over on the ENFP (my MBTI type) list posted this and I thought
it might make a fun (if sorta long) translation exercise.  Anyone want
to have a go at it??

>The Origin Of The Strawberry
> As told by Rogers Clinch/Western Band Cherokee
>
> Back when there was just one man and one woman on earth,
>they began to
> argue, and the woman kept getting angrier and angrier and
>turned and
> walked away from her husband.  For a time he tried calling
>her back,
>but
> she just totally ignored him and wouldn't look to the left
>or the right
>
>or  up or down, just looked straight ahead and kept walking.
>
> They had done this for three days, and the man was
>following after her
>and  getting very discouraged and his head was hanging
>down.  And the
>woman in
> her anger still just kept walking as hard and as fast as
>she could.  On
>
> the evening of the third day she was out on the horizon,
>and each of
>them
> camped where they were.
>
> Then on the fourth day, as the sun came up, the woman began
>her journey
>
> and was disappearing from sight when the one that we called
>Goodmind
>came
> down and spoke to the first man and asked him, "Does this
>woman walk in
>
> your soul?"  In other words, did he love her; we don't have
>that word.
>He
> said, "Oh yes, I wish that I could walk in her soul as she
>walks in
>mine."
>
> And Goodmind asked him, "Well, if she comes back to you, do
>you care
>for
> her so much that you'll never argue with her so hard that
>she'll run
>away
> from you like this again?"  And the first man promised, "Oh
>yes."
>
> So Goodmind went ahead of the  woman and began to plant
>all of the
>berry
> bushes that we know today but that up until then hadn't
>existed.  Still
>
> she just ignored them and walked straight on.  He began to
>plant along
>the
> path all the trees that bear fruit, like the cherry tree,
>the
>persimmon,
> the plum, and many others.  Still she ignored them and
>wouldn't look to
>
> the left or right or up or down, just straight ahead and
>kept walking.
>
> So, finally, he went ahead of her and planted a big patch
>of
>strawberries
> in all stages of development.  And as she walked along, in
>her anger,
>she
> began to step on these ripe strawberries and a good smell
>came up to
>her
> nostrils.  She stopped and looked down, and she saw those
>beautiful red
>
> berries, the green leaves, and the white flowers, and she
>remembered
>that
> she hadn't eaten for three days.  She was hungry, so she
>knelt down and
>
> she began to taste these berries, and she found that they
>were both
>bitter  and sweet -- like life.  She ate a few more.
>
> She looked over her shoulder, and way in the distance she
>could see her
>
> husband coming.  She ate a few more and a longing began to
>grow in her
> heart to be with him.  So she gathered up a handful of the
>berries and
> stood up and began to walk in his direction.  And every
>once in a while
>
> she would take one of those berries and eat it as she
>walked along, and
>
> each time she did this she would go a little faster until
>finally she
>was
> running as hard and as fast as she could run.
>
> Her husband in the distance saw her coming and ran to meet
>her.  As
>they
> stood face to face, and the woman looked in her hand and
>she only had
>one
> berry left.  This she put in her husband's mouth.  So it's
>because of
>the
> strawberry that all of us are in the world today.
>
> Strawberries are a reminder today, that we are suppose to
>love one
> another.  If you look at a strawberry, you notice that the
>seeds are on
>
> the outside, and that's the way our love is suppose to be.
>So many
>people,  they say they love someone, but they'll never show
>it.  We're
>suppose
>to  show our love.
>
> Even today, in a traditional Cherokee home, you'll find
>that the woman
> keeps a jar of fresh strawberries packed in honey.  And if
>she ever has
>
>an  argument with her husband, she won't keep it going.
>She'll go to
>her
> kitchen and take down that jar of strawberries and begin to
>eat them
>while  she cools down.  And when she's calm enough, then
>she'll get up
>and
>she'll  take one of those berries to her husband and put it
>in his mouth
>and
> remind him of the promise that first man made to Goodmind
>in the
> beginning.


I may even try this one myself after I finish the Graavgaaln and Lrahran
versions of the Babel text and Tehillim (Psalm) 23.

Adam Walker


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