Conversations: Remembering Our Childhood

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（Play All）Conversations: Remembering Our Childhood

Lu Yunhua & Lu Meiyan, Tasha Rural Township, Longshan County
recorded on 30 January 2003

01	M: ni² bi²kui¹-zu² qie⁴ gao¹-la¹? Y: nga² bi²kui¹-zu² ya² ge³ci² ca² la. eng wu² ka⁴-xie², wu² ka⁴-zu² ya² ge³ci² ca² la. M: What did you do when you were small? Y: When I was small I had a good time. I used to look after the cow while it grazed, it was fun.
02	M: kei³ ka⁴-la¹? Y: qie¹lie¹ ku¹za⁴ ga³ ya, ai¹lie¹ me qie¹sa¹ ya, hang² wu² ka⁴-la¹. M: Where did you take it? Y: Up on Qielie Mountain, then also up in the hills, that's where I looked after it.
03	M: a³se⁴ da⁴ha³? Y: a²guo¹-die¹ gai⁴ yo. ang² ai¹jie³-lie¹ wu² ka⁴-zu² me, ge³ci²-ma¹ ge³ci², ka³ wo⁴-ma¹ ka³ wo⁴, wu² ka⁴-ma¹ wu² ka⁴. M: Who did you go with? Y: Lots of friends. When we were watching the cows, those with nothing to do enjoyed themselves, those who'd come to fetch firewood did so, and those who'd brought their cows grazed them.
04	ni² le? ni² bi²kui¹-zu² qie⁴ gao¹-la¹? M: nga² me bi²kui¹-zu² wu² ka⁴, wu² ka⁴ ge³ci² ca²-xi³tai². And you? What did you do when you were young? M: Me, when I was young I looked after our cow, that was great fun.
05	Y: ni² wu² ka⁴-zu² qie⁴ gao¹-la¹? M: nga² wu² ka⁴ me a²guo¹-die¹ da⁴ha³, wu² lao⁴ po¹-lie³ me ni² jiu¹ ni²duo³ ni²-nie³ gao¹-di¹xi³. Y: What did you do whilst grazing your cow? M: When I was grazing the cow with my friends, you let the cow go and then you could do what you wanted.
06	wo³sa³ lao³ga³ lao⁴ wo⁴, su¹ku¹ la² pa¹ wo⁴, ai¹lie¹ jiu¹ ka³ ni¹ ya! I would carry a big back-basket, and a firewood knife, and then go and look for firewood!
07	Y: ang si²di¹, ang² ai¹ si³jie³ ka³ wo⁴ ye¹ huan³zeng⁴ wo³sa³ lao⁴ wo⁴-bo³ mo³, ai¹lie¹ jiu¹ su¹ku¹ mo³-lie³ xi¹la³ xi¹la³, ai¹lie¹ ka³, ka³ ni¹ ang, ai¹di¹ kuai²-ma¹ me jiu¹ ai¹di¹, ai¹jie³ hi⁴-bo³. Y: Yes, we used to carry firewood, we always carried a large back-basket, and honed the firewood knife until it was very sharp. We then went off to look for firewood, those who had collected their firewood quickly would rest there.
08	la¹sa¹die¹ yi² kong⁴ tai²-nie² me jiu¹ ka³, ai¹lie¹ jiu¹ guo²duo³ guo²duo³ ni¹ ang, ni¹-lie³ yi¹hou² me jiu¹, ai¹ jiu¹ ge³ci² ang. Those who hadn't even got a bundle would go off on their own to find some. When they had collected firewood, they could play there.
09	M: o! cu¹ ye⁴-liao³, cu¹ ye⁴-liao³ jiu¹ hi⁴-bo³, qie⁴ duo³ gao¹-ta¹-duo³ o eng, ka³ wo⁴-xi² kong¹zi¹ ci⁴ jiu¹ ra³lie³ la² bu², ra³lie³ la² bu² ta²-duo³ o. M: Oh! When we came home, we would rest at home, we didn't need to do anything else. If we had collected a big load of firewood, we could fry ourselves an egg, a fried egg.
10	ai¹ si³jie³, bi²kui¹-zu² ang² li³-xi² la, ni² hao⁴ri³ ba? Y: hao⁴ri³. M: hang jiu¹ huo²nie³, ai¹lie¹ le? Y: ai¹me¹ jiu¹ da⁴ ge³ci² ang, wu² ka⁴ me qie⁴. Those were the days when we were young; you must know what we've been talking about. Y: I know. M: It was like that, and afterwards? Y: Well, we played together, grazed our cows, nothing much.
11	ai¹ si³jie³, nga² die²-bo³ me, ai¹ si³jie³ ang²-nie³ wu², nie¹ ma¹ da⁴ wu² lao⁴-lang², ai¹ wu² ka⁴-zu² le jiu¹ ang²-nie³ a²da¹ ang² nie¹ hu³ mang, guo² le jiu¹ ka³ wo⁴, nga² le jiu¹ zuan¹meng³ le wu² ka⁴. I remember it well, we used to only have one cow between two households, and when we took the cow out to graze, my elder sister and I went together. She collected firewood, but my job was grazing the cow.
12	M: eng... o nga² hao⁴rou³, nga² hao⁴rou³! nga² le jiu¹ ni² da⁴ da⁴ze³-da², ang² le jiu¹ la² ma¹ le wu² lao⁴-lang². M: Hmm, I know, I know. It wasn't the same for me, just one household to look after the cow.
13	wu², la² ma¹ wu² lao⁴ xie², wu² la² nie¹ hi⁴lie³ ang²duo³ ka⁴-duo³. luo⁴die¹ ka⁴-ta¹ mang, you² ang²-nie³ wu², nga²duo³ ka⁴-duo³. Our family had one cow, so we had to look after it ourselves every day. There was nobody else to look after it, we had to look after our cow ourselves.
14	ai¹ si³jie³ la⁴ hhi² me²ze³-liao³ die³! lao³ci³ meng ge³ci² ca², me²ze³-liao³ jiu¹ lao¹huo⁴ la, la⁴ you² hhi²-xi² lang¹, lao³ci³-zu² jiu¹ ge³ci² ca²-xi³tai², lao³ bie¹li³-zu² ang² jiu¹ wu² ji⁴-bo³ mo³; ai¹lie¹, ai¹lie¹ jiu¹ cu¹-bo³ eng³qie². In those days, going out in the rain, ugh! When it was sunny we had fun, but when it rained it was tiring, and not easy to get around. When the sun was shining, it was great fun, and when the sun went down we would ride our cows, then we would go home.
15	ni² le? Y: da⁴ze³, ai¹ si³jie³, ang² wu² ka⁴-zu² mang, ang² wo³ la² da² wo⁴, sang¹mei¹zai¹ me ci¹pei¹ la² pei¹ hao³ a. How about you? Y: The same, when we used to look after the cow, I would carry a back-basket, and sometimes I would take a book.
16	ci¹pei¹ la² pei¹ hao³ me, ka³ wo⁴-da² me jiu¹ ci¹pei¹ ba⁴, ci¹pei¹ ba⁴, ci¹pei¹ ba⁴, ai¹di¹ ba⁴-bo³ ca², ai¹di¹ ci¹pei¹ huo³-bo³-xi² da⁴ la² dong² yi²qi³ da⁴ ba⁴. I would take a book, when I wasn't collecting firewood, I would read, I would read. If the books were interesting, we would sit together and read them.
17	M: o ai¹lie¹ ai¹ ga³ha² mo²hu¹, ai¹ ga³ha² mo²hu¹-lie³ jiu¹, ba³ti³ luo⁴ jiu¹ ti², ge³ci² ca²-xi³tai². mu²lang¹ me ci¹tu¹ le, ai¹lie¹ ai¹di¹ gai⁴jiu⁴ duo³ gao¹-bo³-dao² ao. M: And we used to shout up on the mountainside, shout from up there, and folk down below would shout back, that was great fun. Now we need to study, so it's a long time since we did such things.
18	Y: mu²lang¹ qing²die¹ di²yi¹ kuai²huo¹, qian² duo³ gao¹-ta¹-duo³. M: ang² ai¹ si³jie³ me ku⁴-xi³tai², la² nie¹ la² nie¹ wu² ka⁴-duo³. Y: Nowadays children are very lucky, they don't do a stroke of work. M: We worked hard in those days, having to take the cow out every day.
19	luo⁴ci¹ba¹ duo³ luo³-lie³, ka⁴-ta¹ jiu¹ luo³, ha³-si³-i. mu²lang¹ le ang² jiu¹ ci¹tu¹-ma¹, ci¹tu¹, ci¹tu¹-zu² le nga² you¹ si³jie³ ai⁴duo³ die²-bo³-la¹-nie², ai¹di¹ ge³ci² ca²-xi³. All the grown-ups scolded us, if you wouldn't take the cow out, they'd scold you, and give you a thrashing. Now we are students, and when I am studying, sometimes I remember what fun we used to have.
20	la² nie¹ la² nie¹ die²-bo³-la¹-nie², ni² le? Y: ang² ai¹ si³jie³ be², ni² qie⁴ die²-bo³-la¹? Every day, I still remember, how about you? Y: We used to do the same things; what do you remember?
21	M: jiu²si² wu² ka⁴-xi² la. Y: ai¹ a³se⁴ duo³ die²-bo³-la¹ heng, ai¹ si³jie³, zui² ge³ci² ca²-liao³ wa! cu¹ duo³ gao¹-ta¹lie³, huan² kang³ku¹-bo³ hhi², kang³ku¹-bo³ wu² ka⁴-ca². wu² ka⁴ me, ka³ yi² kong⁴ wo⁴. M: Just looking after our cow. Y: Everyone remembers that, those days, they were such fun! We didn't want to stay at home, we were always heading for the hills, always wanted to take the cow out to graze. Graze the cow, or collect a load of firewood.
22	M: si¹ma³-ta¹-ce¹, lei⁴ da⁴ze³. ang²ni¹ jiu¹ cai³mo¹ ci¹tu¹-duo³, ai¹ wu² ka⁴-xi² ku⁴ le ang²duo³ hao⁴ri³ o! M: I can never forget it, just as if it's happening today. Now we have to study hard, we ourselves know what difficult times we had looking after our cows!
23	ang²duo³ cai³mo¹ ci¹ zang⁴jing³ tu¹, ni² le jiu¹, mu²lang¹ zang⁴jing³ gao¹-duo³. Y: ang si²di¹ eng. M: ca²-liao³ ba! We have to study hard, and you, you have to do well in your job. Y: True. M: OK!

-: - pron: you n: small (one) suff: [then] pron: what vt: to work, do vsuff: [continuous, repetitive] -: - pron: I, me vt: to compare vi: to have fun vi: to be good part: (excl) part: (excl) n: cow vt: to guard vsuff: [come] pron: where pn: (name of a hill) n: mountain n: on part: (excl) conj: then part: (topic marker) n: hill, mountain advm: like this pron: who(ever) advm: all, together n: companion nsuff: [plural] pron: many; how many? part: (excl) pron: we advl: there nsuff: [at, from] vsuff: [doer] n: firewood vt: to carry on the back part: (new topic marker) vsuff: [very] num+cl: one (person/animal) vt: to place, pasture, release, shoot vsuff: [past] conj: then pron: you yourself suff: ['s] vsuff: [can] n: backbasket n: large one n: knife for firewood num: one cl: (for fires, handfuls and things grasped in the hand, e.g. knives, flutes) vt: to look for part: (excl) expr: yes pron: that n: period of time advm: also advm: anyhow vsuff: [stative] part: (-wise) vt: to grind vi: to be sharp pron: that vi: to be fast vi: to rest pron: some num: one cl: bundle vi: to not have vsuff: [yet] pron: (him)self advt: after part: (excl) n: home vt: to arrive vsuff: [past+now] advm: all vsuff: [won't] vsuff: [want] vsuff: [that which] n: load vi: to be large n: hen's egg cl: (for compact round items such as eggs, stones, millet, firecrackers, and for events of brief duration) vt: to fry; to dry in the sun vt: to say vt: to know part: (excl) part: (excl) advm: so conj: then advm: all, together vt: to think of num: two cl: household suff: [only] n: elder sister cl: (for people) part: (excl) pron: he advm: specially vt: to know+[now] vt: to resemble vsuff: [not] vt: to have cl: day num: [each one] pron: we ourselves pron: (other) people advm: again; both... pron: I myself n: road vt: to go vi: to rain part: (emphasis) n: to shine (of the sun) part: (topic marker) vi: to be tired vi: to be difficult n: sun vt: to lose vt: to ride nsuff: [towards] vi: to come n: backbasket cl: (for trays, hats and bowl-shaped objects) advm: sometimes n: book cl: (for books) vt: to hold part: (excl) vt: to look at vt: to hold cl: (for actions taking a short time to do) advm: together n: on vi: to shout, to sing (people, birds) n: below n: person vt: to answer advt: now vi: to read, study pron: a long while; how long? vsuff: [not+now] part: (excl) n: child num: first vi: to be cheerful n: a little vi: to be hard, difficult n: adult vt: to scold, curse vt: to hit vsuff: [dead] vsuff: [irrealis] vt: to have advm: yet, still vsuff: [very] advm: also advm: namely part: (excl) advd: most part: (excl) vsuff: won't advm: always n: (in the) mountains vsuff: [want to] vt: to forget vsuff: [willing] advt: today pron: we advm: well n: (book) vi: to make progress vt: to read, study