The Journal of the Siam Society Vol. LXXI, Part 1-2, 1983 - Khamkoo

116 · ,.. Anthony k; Wa1ker ···
8. Nyi.., te" mo_ te" cu"', te" mo_ te".cu"ve, ya" nyi cho.,. ka.., hk'aw chhe" hk'aw
·vui.., te pa te ve ..
9. Yeh.., te _hk'a" te law,; te cheh" ve, cho.., ka.., hpa" ya"·te cheh"-ve, a-, naw.., cheh"
kui.., caw" k'o" k'o, ci_:_ la" she..:..: meh:-.
10. o-, o~. aw~ kui aw.., na ci_ -la".·she_, cao.., yaw" cao..,pa ", cao.., keh-o cho..,
ka.., ve.
TEXT ONE-- TRANSLATION
1. Ob, bo42, we people of this community bring for you here at this place beautiful
beeswax candles and beautiful rice43 prepared by our own bands; here at this
place we buy, we barter, this hill in order- to live here.
2. Here at this place, under your feet and under your hands, 44 we buy and we
barter [this hi11];4S oh, Prince, Great' Prince, Pure Prince, if yo!Jr d~elling place
is here, please move to the bottom or to tlie top [of this· area]. . .
3. All-knowing Prince,·all-true person, we people cannot know ali tb,ings, cannot
be true; oh we of this community bring for you these beautiful beeswax candles
and this beautiful rice prepared by o;n. own hands, we bring for you thes~ beeswax
candles;46 oh Prince of this place, you who sit upon the bends in the hills,47 we
reach under ·your feC?t and under your hands. ·
4. If you have your dwelling-place here at this place, piease move to the bottom or
to the top [of this area], please move to the bottom or to the top of this place, to
the. top of the hill OJ: to the bottom of the hill.
42. Lahu prayers frequently begin with conventional introductory sounds which carry no ineaning.
43. Peh" ve"aw _ !!e" is one of the poetic couplet~· which abQUnd in. Lahu prayers. Literally it
means "beeswax-candle flower, cQoked-rice flower" ( peh" from pehv haw "beeswax candle",
ve" from aw.., ve" "flower", aw_ "cooked rice");
44. This couplet is an exaggerated expression· of humility; a common device used by Lahu when
dealing with the supernatural powers~ With respect to the· supreme being,·G'ui.., sha, the
humility usually is sincere enough, but when directed to a spirit it is probably just a ploy to
·obtain one's own ends. Lahu call it ne." hta,._he.., ve "lying.to the. ~pirit" •.
45. Words in brackets do not appear· in the L~hu original but are implied.
46 .. The Lahu uses a pair ofco~plets: pehv ve" aw_-~e" (seen.. 43). and peh" hkawv nawv hkaw"
"beeswax candle" (the two parts of this couplet cannot. be· translated~ separately; 1tkaw" is a
·classifier,- and nawv means "something sticky"-but l am unsure ·whether thw· translation
would be appropriate here).
47. TJ:ris is simply for poetic effect. It does not indicate any preferred·locale on the p~rt of the
spirit.