<translate> The children learned that to comfort a grieving person you do not need the right words, for there are no right words; you need only to be there, and to stay, and to let them not be alone.

Karrkay-karrkayangka binalman bama jiba-badi wunbu-bunganka yundu murruji kuku yukil, kuku yukil kari janay; yundu ngundu janay nganga, bundanay, nyulu kari nganga janay bawal.


<lexeme> nyulu present ngayku dajin, "he gave me a present"


<translate> The old people said the trap had been there since the first people, and every year the men mended the stones.

Kamba-kamba balkan: makarr yinyay janan bama ngadikumuny, wungar wubulku dingkar-dingkarangka kulji ngulkurr-bungan.


<translate> The old woman said the scrub is a great larder if you know it: yam below, fruit above, fish in the creek, and the scrub-hen's eggs in the mound.

Mukul-jalbu balkan: madja mayi-bubu yalbay yundu binal-ba — bambayal bada, mayi wangkar, kuyu bana-ba, jarruka-mu karrkay bubu-mabi-ba.


<translate> The old man did not altogether finish the new spear; a little of it still remains for tomorrow.

Mukul-dingkar-angka kalka jirakal kari-rrku bungal; buban niji wungar kada-nya-mu.


<translate> Build the shelter here — the ground is dry.


<translate> The young man put the spear in the house.


<translate> You and I saw the dukunjulu golden whistler here.


<translate> The old woman said the plants tell the water: where the reeds and the paperbarks and the big soft-leaved trees grow, there is water at the surface or just below, where certain hardy scrub grows, the water is deep and hidden, and where nothing much grows at all, there is no water for a long way, so a stranger in a new country could read the water simply by reading the plants.

Wulbumanangka balkan mayi bana balkan: wanja jikan buyku juku birra-kima-mabi baja jarral, bana ngundu yambada bada nganga, wanja majaji-junkurr nyubun jarral, bana bada buyan, wanja yamba buban-baja jarral, bana kari kalbay bajaku, bama-yindu bubu jirakalba nyulu bana ngaral nganga mayi ngaralbu.


<translate> The whole camp worked like one body, the old man said, each part helping the other parts, and that is the secret of a camp that lasts.

Bayan wubulku kirrajin yala bangkarr nyubun, walu wubulku mara-daji-way, mukulungku dingkarangka balkan, yinya bayan kalbay bundaymu kuku.


<translate> They made their own fire smoke to answer, and by evening the two groups could see each other across the valley.

Jana baya wajun, kubu yijarrin balkanka, yilay-yilay jana jambul nyajilwan bubu badanga.


<translate> He sees the spear barb there.


<translate> They were afraid of the curse song.


<translate> The two of them see the smoke there.


<glossary> walngal ; type=transitive-verb ; domain=manipulation-impact <usage_example> Open the gate


<translate> The old man said the crocodile and the shark and the stonefish are the three that will kill you at the water, and each must be respected in a different way: watch the bank for the crocodile, watch the deep for the shark, watch where you place your foot for the stonefish, and a person who learns all three fears of the water can fish and swim there safely a whole long life.

Mukulungku dingkarangka balkan bilngkumu bububay kuyu-kulji baja kulur nyulu yundu kunil bananga, nyubun nyubun yukil-bungal yindu-yindu yala: jalkar nyaji bilngkumunka, bana-dukurr nyaji bububaynka, wanja yundu jina yijarril nyaji kuyu-kuljinka, bama nyulu kulur yinil bananmuny binalman nyulu kuyu-manil marajil yinya yukil wawu kalbay wubulku.


<translate> The old woman left the shield outside.

Wulbuman-angka kunjuri ngalkal-ba bawan.


<translate> One morning the young men went out to fish, though the old man warned them a big wind was coming.

Nyubun wunkuwingku warru-warru kuyuka dungan, yambada mukulungku dingkarangka jana milbin: muyar yalbay kadanya.


<translate> You two saw the baringkan small bird here.


<glossary> didal ; type=transitive-verb ; domain=clothing-adornment <usage_example> I put my good clothes on


<translate> They saw the freshwater crocodile there.


<translate> The girl watched her mother weave a dilly bag all one morning, copied each movement with her own strips of fibre, made her stitches too loose at first and had to pull them out, tried again more carefully, finished her first small bag by evening, showed it proudly, and then carried her own gathered fruit in it the very next day.

Karrkay-jalbu nyungu ngamu balji wukurrinya nyajin muduwajungu nyubunku, mara-daji wubulku nyungu karra-bu murni-manin, nyungu murni jimirr ngadiku kajan bawanka, murni-nyajin buban-buban baja, nyungu balji buban ngadiku dumban kunarangkalba, wawu-minibu milbin, yalada nyungu mayi bangkanmu yinyanga jarrakulbanda wungar yindungu.


<translate> Fearless is just fear walking on the right road.

Yinil-kari nyulu yinil baralba yukilba jilbalmuny nganga.


<glossary> bambal ; type=transitive-verb ; domain=kinship <usage_example> I call her grandmother


<translate> We two, not you, see the flat rock there.


<translate> The old man sang the song of his country at the corroboree.

Mukul dingkar wulngku badin warrmanga, nyungu bubuku.


<translate> He sees the large mud clam here.


<translate> The children cried in the night.


<glossary> balu ; type=adverb ; domain=grammatical-particle <usage_example> I almost hit the chicken


<translate> The father showed his sons how to bind a spearhead: bind it tight with cane, let it dry firm, then seal the join with warm beeswax so it never slips.

Nganjangka kangkal-karra kurrajan dandi-bunga binal-bungan: karra-bu dandi-bungan, marral dandi wunan, jila wumbul-bu dandi-bungan, kariku dungay.


<translate> You see the jalan sea urchin there.


<glossary> dalbarril ; type=noun ; domain=manipulation-impact <usage_example> the man scolded (him), (then left)


<glossary> yalanguwimburr ; type=temporal ; domain=time-deixis <usage_example> Before the store closes, go immediately

Store nandajinjiku, yalanguwimburr dunday


<translate> Tomorrow, if the sea is good, we cross.

Wunkun, kaki jalun ngulkurr, ngana dungay burrira.


<translate> We two (not you) saw the cloud there.


<translate> They saw the small red ant here.


<translate> The children asked what holds a people together when hard times come and there is not enough for everyone, and the old woman said: In good times, generosity; in hard times, the memory of generosity, and the sure knowledge that these times too will pass, and the giving will resume.

Karrkay-karrkayangka babajin wanya bama nyubun karrbal wungar dandi kadanya mayi kari yukil bama wubulmu, wulbumanangka balkan: Ngulkurr wungara, ngulkurr-bu daji; dandi wungara, ngulkurr-bu dajinmu binalku, binal yukil yinya wungar baja dungay, daji-way baja wandin.


<translate> They heard the trade wind here.


<translate> "What is that big animal moving slowly through the long grass down by the creek there?"

Wanyu yinya minya yalbay jilba buban-buban jikan kalbay-burr wawubaja bada-ba?


<translate> The woman saw the dilly bag on the road.


<glossary> babal ; type=transitive-verb ; domain=perception <usage_example> I want to go fishing to try the place out

ngayu baduriji dungaka, yinya bubu babanka


<translate> The woman saw the crocodile in the river.

Jalbu-ngku bilngkumu wawubaja-nga nyajin.


<translate> I am walking down to the water, and my old father is following me along the sandy track.

Ngayu bana-ka bada jilba, ngayku mukul nganjan-angka nganya wukurri jina-burr.


<translate> They saw the jabarrangkul ant there.


<translate> The two of them saw the mawul freshwater eel here.


<translate> Why does the woomera stay when the spears go? — Because the thrower comes home; the thrown does its work out there.

Wanyurrinku balur janay kalka dunganya? Yilbal-bama kaday baja: yilbanmuny murni nyungu murnil kala-kalbay.


<translate> We two, not you, saw the ngarkay waterhen here.


<translate> He pinched his little brother and ran away.


<translate> The children watched from their mothers' laps as the dancers moved like animals in the firelight.

Karrkay-karrkayangka nyajin ngamumu jandalba, warru-warru minya yala jalaman bayanga.


<translate> The two of them see the swallow there.


<translate> The sharp stone cut the child's foot down by the creek.

Kulji dandi-ngka karrkay-mu jina yakan wawubaja karangkal.


<translate> The old woman said the young tree bends in the big wind and does not break, but the old dry tree stands stiff and the wind throws it down.

Mukul-jalbu balkan: juku jirakal muyar yalbay-mba jurrki, kari dumbarri, yamba juku wulman marral janay junkurr, muyar-angka bada dama.


<translate> The candlenut tree is standing there.


<glossary> wawu-daki ; type=adverb ; domain=cognition-emotion <usage_example> He wants to live alone


<translate> This spear my grandfather made is rather long, so a short man cannot throw it well.

Nyiku kalka ngayku kami-ngka bungan jarra-kalbay, dingkar buban kari ngulkurr bawanka.


<translate> The woman asked grandmother: "Where is the water?"


<lexeme> child who has just learned to talk


<translate> The women pounded the nuts into food and cooked flat cakes on the coals.

Jalbu darka nyurrban mayi-ka, mayi-buban wajun baya-nga.


<glossary> jarrngkurr ; type=noun ; domain=weapon <usage_example> He hit the man with his weapon


<translate> But a bigger whirlwind, a cyclone, is a different thing, he said, and when one comes you must lie low and hold the earth and wait.

Yambada jukar-warra yalbay, wadjal, yamba yindu, nyulu balkan, yinya kadanya yundu bada wuna, bubu karrba, maku-janay.


<translate> We two, not you, see the small bat here.


<translate> You all see the windbreak here.


<translate> The old man said a boy raised with hardship and a boy raised without any becomes a different kind of man, for the one who has known cold and hunger and effort holds a strength the soft-raised one has never built, yet too much hardship breaks a child, so the old people gave the young just enough difficulty to grow strong on, and no more.

Mukulungku dingkarangka balkan buban dandi-ji warru-manin buban dandi-kari warru-manin yindu-yindu dingkar-manda, nyulu kiway-kiway dakwuy kirraji baja binalmuny nyulu junkurr karrbal jinbal-ji-bama kari ngadiku bunganmuny, yambada dandi wubul-yalbay karrkay kakal, bama mukul warru dandi buban dayan junkurr-mandanka, kari wubul-baja.


<translate> Doubt the too-sweet story; truth usually arrives with wet feet.

Warmbi kuku-jangkar jiba-wulay bajaku: manubaja jina yaru-ji yabarrka kadal.


<translate> They walked, came to the water, and then sat down.

Jana jilba-dungan, bana-ka kadan, bundan-da.


<translate> The camp is on the mountain.


<translate> He saw the munungkul ground pigeon here.


<translate> The old people rested in the shade during the hot part of the day.


<translate> The snake bit the dog on the nose.


<translate> The old man said: call every older man 'father' or 'uncle', every older woman 'mother' or 'aunt', every child 'son' or 'daughter' — for in our way the whole people is one family.

Mukul-dingkarangka balkan: dingkar mukul wubul nganjan yala kalnga kunja, jalbu mukul wubul ngamu yala mukay kunja, kangkal wubul kangkal kunja — ngali yala, bama wubul nyubun mula-mula.


<translate> The smouldering log is there.


<translate> The two ate Leichhardt fruit.


<translate> He sees the barramundi here.


<translate> You two see the spear point there.


<translate> You and I see the flames there.


<translate> The old woman said a grief with tears and a grief without them are both real, but they must be watched differently, for the mourner with tears is emptying the sorrow the way a body should, while the tearless mourner holds it locked inside where it can turn to sickness, so she sat closest of all to the ones who could not cry, and waited with them until the tears finally came.

Wulbumanangka balkan wawu-mumbu milbal-ji wawu-mumbu milbal-kari jambul ngadiku, yindu-yindu nyajinka, milbal-ji wawu-mumbu-bama nyulu wawu-mumbu buban-manil janka yala, yambada milbal-kari wawu-mumbu-bama nyulu karrbal jiba-nga wanja nyulu buyun-mundu murninya, nyulu bundan ngunduku bajaku jana kari badilmuny, bundan jananji dukul milbal ngadiku kadanya.


<translate> You and I saw the jungu-jungu white ant eggs here.


<translate> Fruit from that tree is good to eat.

Mayi yinya-muny juku-muny ngulkurr nuka-ji.


<glossary> minday ; type=adjective ; domain=value-quality <usage_example> That pig isn't afraid any more, is tame now

Nyulu bikibiki yinyilji karida, mindayda


<glossary> wubaji ; type=intransitive-verb ; domain=bodily-mental-state <usage_example> My feet are swollen


<translate> The two men were silent a while, and slowly their anger cooled like coals going grey, and when they spoke again their words were quiet and they saw the ground could be shared.

Dingkar jambul wunbu janay kanbalka, buban-buban jana dukul-wuri kiwaymanda yala ngunjil ngungulmanda, jana balkanda baja kuku wunbu, jana nyajin bubu daji-wa-nka.


<translate> When the high tide comes in the evening, the old man said, the water rises over the whole flat reef and the fish come in close to feed.

Balar wujurr-ma-nya kaday, mukul-dingkar balkan, bana dulngku ngalkal narmba daka, kuyu ngundu kaday nuka-nka.


<translate> He sees the kalburiji bee there.


<glossary> yunu ; type=adjective ; domain=grammatical-particle <usage_example> I got water for you


<glossary> wuyarr ; type=adjective ; domain=perception <usage_example> He can't see him well, hes too far away

Nyulu wuyarr nbajaku nyajiji, kala-kalbay bajakunda


<translate> Mother left the grass in the shade.


<translate> The tree stump is there on the ground.


<translate> The old man washed his upper leg.


<translate> They two saw the oyster there.


<translate> They saw the ngurrkul fig tree there.


<translate> The woman made rope from kuralbi bark.


<translate> The men pulled hard against the tide.

Dingkar-dingkarangka marrakan kulban junkurrku.


<translate> We two, not you, see the shin here.


<translate> That crown of the head is here.


<lexeme> {'english': 'The doctor man knows that woman will die'}


<translate> I see the grey March fly here.


<translate> The sand is softer than the stone.


<translate> They saw the wuju grass sponge there.


<translate> You and I see the coral here.


<translate> We two, not you, saw the marril ti tree here.


<translate> The turtle swam away under the water.


<translate> The two of them saw the kungkun snake there.


<translate> The war spears slept a whole generation in the shelter roof, and the old man took them down only once — to show the boys how heavy they were, and how happy he was that his arms had forgotten the weight.

Dikarra wunan bayan-dukulba wawu wubulku, mukulungku dingkarangka jana manin badaku nyubunbu nganga: buban-buban milbinka jana wanjarrinya dandi, nyulu wawu-mini bajaku wakuybu nyungubu dandi milka-wulanya.


<translate> Those two women always used to gather the sweet yams together down by the big river.

Jalbu-bulal wukay jiba-wulay muru bangka-l-bangka-n, wawubaja yalbay-ba bada.


<translate> We two, not you, saw the yirku-yirku frog there.


<translate> You all see the seashore there.


<translate> They see the freshwater turtle.


<translate> In the late afternoon we came back.


<translate> The policeman did not see me at all, the old man said, because he was fast asleep in the heavy heat of the middle of the day.

Buliman-angka nganya kari nyaji-n, nyulu warngku-wuna-nya wungar-iji junkurr wangkar-wangkar-a, mukul-dingkar balkan.


<translate> Sit down, eat slowly — the food is not running away.

Bunda, nuka buban-buban, mayi kariku warri.


<translate> We two, not you, see the mirrbangku pencil cedar tree here.


<translate> The women took the long dry leaves of the pandanus to make sleeping mats by the sea.

Jalbu-ngka bajarr marral kalbay mani-n, wunay-ka bunga-nka jalun karangkal.


<translate> You and I saw the jalkay salmon there.


<translate> Never mind, we will stay at the camp; perhaps rain is coming.

Wumba, ngana bayan-ba bundanday, nguba kaba kaday.


<translate> He saw the biwul snake here.


<glossary> diburr ; type=noun ; domain=flora-plant <usage_example> Ngayu diburr manin Sisterandamun


<translate> You saw the baringkan small bird here.


<lexeme> {'english': 'The doctor man knows that woman will die'}


<translate> Tomorrow there is more walking.


<translate> Do it the same way your old grandfather did it, not in some new and different way.

Yijarri yala-ku yunu kami yijarrin, kari yindu walu-yindu-ku.


<translate> My father's sister looks after the children when the mothers are away.

Ngayku bimayangka karrkay kuji-l, ngamu-karra wanja-baja dunga-nya.


<translate> The next morning the family broke camp, let the fire die, and walked up the river singing.

Wunkun wunkuwingku jawunkarra bayan bawan, baya wulan, wawubaja wangkar dungan wulngku badinya.


<translate> The child asked the mother: "Is there sweet honey in that tree? Or is the tree empty and dry inside?"

Karrkay-ngku ngamu babajin: Wunba jiba-wulay juku yinya-ba wuna? Juku kari-ma-nya marral dukurr-ba?


<translate> They saw the sucker fish here.


<translate> The sea turtle was very fat, and the rich fat was sweet on the tongue.

Ngawiya wandul-baja, wandul ngulkurr jiba-wula-wula nyabil-ba.


<translate> The man sees the black scrub goanna on the ground.


<translate> The mujarr fig tree is here.


<translate> Did the two groups make a trade? Yes — we gave them spears and dilly bags, they gave us shells and ochre, and both sides were satisfied.

Bama jambul daji-wan? Yuwu — ngali jananda kalka balji dayan, jana ngananda nikar bajar dayan, jambul ngulkurr-man.


<translate> The two of them see the lizard here.


<translate> You two saw the jabil lizard here.


<translate> You see the running water there.


<translate> The golden whistler is there.


<translate> I went down to the salt water to catch mullet, but a stingray lay in the shallows, so I speared it instead.

Ngayu jalunba dungan, ngalkun karrbanka, yambada yawu bana bada wunan, ngayu yawu daman.


<translate> The old man's head is aching badly today, and his two eyes are sore and weeping from the fire's smoke.

Mukul-dingkar dukul kaka bayan niji, nyungu miyil jambul kaka bana wanarri kubu-muny.


<translate> You and I see the warrabuka yam there.


<translate> They gave clothes to the woman.


<translate> The old woman ground again; the children were hungry.

Mukul-jalbu nyurrban baja, karrkay-karrkay dakwuy.


<translate> The sun is very hot in the middle of the day, so the old people rest in the shade of the big tree.

Wungar wumbul-baja-ku wungar-jarra-jarra, bama mukul mara-kunbay juku-yalbay ngurrban-ba.


<translate> The man tricked the child by lying.


<translate> The two of them saw the moon there.


<translate> We, not you, saw the walkarr goanna there.


<glossary> nyumba-buyun ; type=noun ; domain=cognition-emotion <usage_example> I crab crab meat


<translate> The dugong grazes on the sea-grass in the shallow warm water, the old man said, and its flesh and fat are the richest food of all the sea.

Biwuy wayul nuka bana buban wumbul-ba, mukul-dingkar balkan, nyungu minya wandul-jirr mayi ngulkurr bajaku jalun narmba-muny.


<translate> You saw the kalkarrumbarr lizard there.


<translate> We two, not you, saw the jirimandi coconut tree there.


<translate> The people of that country, who had two languages, spoke both the coast tongue and the inland tongue.

Bama bubu yinya-mu kuku jambul-jirr, jalun kuku jibarr kuku jambulku balkan.


<translate> We all, not you, see the valley there.


<translate> We two, not you, see the charcoal there.


<translate> Mother washed the child's ankle.


<translate> Grandmother saw the freshwater turtle.


<translate> The old man said the green ants build their whole nest by pulling living leaves together with a silk the little ones make, all working as one.

Mukul-dingkar balkan: munjurr jana-mu janku narmba bunga birra kaya-nya murru-murru kulba jinbal karrkay-mu bunga-nya-bu, wubulku nyubun-bu jana.


<translate> The kingfisher and the rainbow bird both dig their homes in the same steep bank, but they never fight over it.

Milman biru-biru jambul bayan baka-l jukar-a nyubun, jana kari kuli-ma yinya-nka.


<translate> I saw the mali small bat here.


<translate> The old woman answered the child: "No, that is not the right way; the good track goes down to the sea."

Mukul-jalbu-ngku karrkay balkan: Kari, yinya jina kari ngulkurr; jina ngulkurr bada dunga-y jalun-ka.


<translate> The old man said: You will spend your whole life giving to people who can never repay you — your children, your elders, strangers in need — and receiving from people you can never repay, and this is not a flaw in the design; this is the design, for it is the giving that cannot be repaid that binds us into one people.

Mukulungku dingkarangka balkan: Yundu wawu wubulku dajil bama jana yundu kariku yukil-manil, nyungu kangkal, nyungu mukul, bama yindu wawuji, manil bama yundu kariku yukil-manil, yinya kari mumbu bunganmuny, yinya bungan, dajil kari yukil-manilbu ngana nyubun bama kajil.


<translate> The scrub wallaby is small and quick, and it hides among the vines.

Bimbarrbay buban bila, karra-nga ngakiji.


<translate> The young one wants to cook, the old woman smiled a little, but wanting is the younger brother of knowing how, so she stood beside the girl at the fire: he who knows how to spear learned it spearing, she who knows how to cook learns it cooking, and the first food burnt hard — that too is teaching.

Buban wawu-manil wajunku, wulbuman yajarr-man buban, yambada wawu-manil nyulu yabaju binalmuny, yalada nyulu janan ngundu jalbu-bubananda bayanga: nyulu binal damanka nyulu binalman damanya, nyulu binal wajunku nyulu binal-mal wajunya, mayi ngadiku wajun bajaku, yinya baja milbil.


<translate> The children climbed up onto the big rock and looked down at the water.

Karrkay-karrkay wangkar kulji yalbay-mba dakan, bada bana-ka nyajin.


<glossary> nguba ; type=adverb ; domain=grammatical-particle <usage_example> Maybe he'll go, maybe not


<translate> The wet season is much hotter and wetter than the long dry season up here in the north.

Kaba-wungar jarra-wumbul jarra-kima marral-wungar-ka, yaluy kungkarr-a.


<translate> We, not you, saw the wakuka bird here.


<translate> The turtle swam away under the water.


<translate> They saw the durra caterpillar there.


<translate> The bright kingfisher sits very still on the branch, watching the little fish down below.

Dabuy juku dakil-ba bunda-l, kuyu buban bada nyaji-l.


<translate> The children learned the law of fair exchange: you do not name your price and hold to it like a stone; you name a price, they name a price, and you move toward each other, each giving a little, until you meet in the middle and both walk away content.

Karrkay-karrkayangka binalman daji-waymu kuku yukil: yundu kari nyungu dandi burri karrbal yala kulji; yundu dandi burri, jana dandi burri, yundu nyubun-nyubun ngundu murni-way, wubulku buban daji, dukurrbu nyaji-wanyjiku, jambulku wawu-mini dungay.


Karrkay-karrkay wawu jirray kinka-n-kinka-nka.


<translate> The fire died down, the night became cold, the water came, and then it put out the last coals.

Baya bada dungan, wujurr kiway-man, bana kada-nda, ngunjil bada nandan.


<translate> The boy set out alone for the first time to check his own small fish trap, walked the creek carefully reading the tracks, found the trap sprung and a fish inside, took it out proudly, reset the trap the way his father had shown him, cleaned the fish at the water, and then carried his very first solo catch home to be cooked for everyone.

Buban nyulu-nyulu ngadiku badan nyungu kuyu-jina buban nyajinka, bana buban-buban jilban jina nyajil, kuyu-jina kajanmanda kuyu dukurr-bu nyajin, wawu-minibu wangkar-manin, kuyu-jina yijarrin nyungu nganjan yala nyulu milbinmu, kuyu bananga karra, yalada nyungu kuyu ngadiku nyulu-nyulu maninmu bayan-mundu jarrakulbanda wubulkunka wajunka.


<translate> Keep the children close, lest they wander far into the big scrub.

Karrkay karangkal karrba, jana madja yalbay-mba kala-kalbay dunga-nyji!


<translate> Grandfather saw the fish tail.


<translate> He saw the jumper ant there.


<translate> You sit first, and then the children eat.

Yundu-ngurr bunda-y, karrkay-karrkay mayi nuka-l-da.


<translate> The bandicoot ran out of the long grass at dusk, and the quick dog caught it by the track.

Kulngu jikan kalbay-muny warri wujurr-ma-nya, kaya buyun-buyun manin jina ngundu.


<translate> The old woman said: I have walked this country for seventy years, and I have learned that you never really arrive anywhere; you only stop for a while, and then the road picks you up again, and the last road, the one we do not speak of, is just the longest walk of all.

Wulbumanangka balkan: Ngayu bubu yinya jilban wungar wubulku bajaku, ngayu binalman yundu kariku nyubun bubu nganga kaday; yundu nganga mara-kunbay buban, baral yundu manil baja, baral bada bajaku, nyulu ngana kari balkalmu, nyulu jilbal kalbay bajaku wubulmuny.


<translate> You all see the torch there.


<lexeme> sharp corner in the upper reaches of Daintree River


<translate> The diwalngku migratory bird is there.


<translate> The crabs stay in their holes in the sand until the water covers them again.

Wurru-bulan janku-ngu jukar-a wunay, bana janangan nanda-nyji baja.


<translate> The old people sang, and the children listened.

Mukul-bama wulngku badin, karrkay-karrkay milka-janan.


<translate> We all, not you, see the straw-necked ibis there.


<translate> The old man said two people can walk into the same dry country, one with knowledge and one without, and the one with knowledge finds the hidden water and lives while the one without knowledge, seeing the very same ground, walks past the water and dies of thirst, for the country gives nothing to the unknowing eye.

Mukulungku dingkarangka balkan bama jambul bubu-kiway nyubunku jilbal, nyubun binal-ji nyubun binal-kari, binal-ji bama bana buyan manil wunay yambada binal-kari bama nyulu bubu nyubun nyajil nyulu bana ngundu-mundu jilbal wulal bana-dakwuybu, bubu yamba nyubun kari dayal miyil binal-karinka.


<translate> The baby ate a little of the bitter leaf and made a face like a storm coming, and everybody laughed, and grandmother said: good — that face means the mouth is learning its first law: not every leaf is food.

Ngawabu birra ngambuy nukan buban, walu murnin yala jarramali kadanya, bama wubulku yajarr-man, babingka balkan: yukil, walu yinya balkal ngandal binal-mal kuku ngadiku nyungu: kari birra wubulku mayi.


<translate> The clothing there is narrow.


<translate> The old people talked and then rested. The next day they sang.

Mukul-bama balkan, wunanan-da. Wunkuny jana wulngku badin.


<translate> Tomorrow there will be more work: yams to dig, fish to catch, stories to tell.

Wunkun kirraji wubul: wukay bakanka, kuyu maninka, kuku balkanka.


<translate> The two of them saw the jiwal-jiwal kingfisher there.


<translate> The dog saw the snake. It ran away.


<translate> Try to walk very quietly on the soft sand, the hunter whispered to the boy, or the sharp-eared wallaby will hear us and be gone.

Babal janka bajaku jilba-nka jukar kima-ba, balbi-bama karrkay-nka janka balkan, kadar milka-junkurr ngana milka-janay wanarri-nyji.


<translate> The two of them saw the baringkan small bird here.


<translate> He saw the barinkan scrub bird there.


<translate> We all, not you, see the mawal bee here.


<translate> You two see the bujabay tree there.


<translate> Sweet — the children's faces were covered in honey all afternoon!

Karrkay-karrkaymu walu wunbaji yilay-yilay!


<translate> When the tide went out, the fish stayed behind the stones, and the people simply gathered them up.

Yira dunganda, kuyu bundan kulji kudamundu, bama nganga jana bangkan.


<translate> The big rain has not come yet, so the dry creeks are still empty and the country waits.

Kaba yalbay kariku kadan, wawubaja marral janka bana-kari, bubu maku-jana-l.


<translate> Sea-turtle meat is much softer than the meat of the big scrub-hen, the old man always said.

Minya ngawiya jarra-kima minya jarruka-ka, mukul-dingkar-angka wungar wubulku balkan.


<translate> The white crane is standing outside.


<translate> You all see the snail there.


<translate> We two, not you, see the door there.


<translate> The old man kept his best spears and his boomerang in the bark shelter out of the heavy rain.

Mukul-dingkar-angka nyungu kalka ngulkurr, wangal, dakil bayan-ba nanda kaba-muny.


<translate> The children became warm near the big fire.

Karrkay-karrkay wumbulmanin baya yalbay ngundu-ba.


<glossary> baru ; type=noun ; domain=body-part <usage_example> she is holding the child in her lap


<glossary> wulman ; type=noun ; domain=weapon <usage_example> the old horse


<translate> You all see the flathead here.


<translate> You two see the wooden sword here.


<translate> The friend laughed at grandfather.


<translate> We hear the barking sound there.


<translate> The old woman keeps digging and digging for the hairy yams on the sandy ridge.

Mukul-jalbu wukay-ku baka-n-baka-ji, bubu jukar-a.


<translate> The mother built the fire up high and wrapped the little children in warm paperbark close to the coals.

Ngamungka baya wangkar ngaran, karrkay-karrkay buban nandan buyku wumbulbu ngunjil ngundu.


<translate> We two (not you) see the dilly bag here.


<translate> The person there is not quiet.


<translate> We two, not you, saw the kurruba freshwater fish here.


<translate> We two, not you, see the fish here.


<translate> When they parted at the crossroads, each family to its own country, they did not say goodbye but said instead the old traveller's words: walk well, sleep dry, and may your feet find the good road, and may we meet again on it before too long.

Jana baral jambul-mandanga bawa-wanya, jawun-karra wubulku nyungu bubungu, jana kari dunga-kuku balka yambada jana jilba-bamamu kuku ngadiku balkan: yukil jilba, karra wuna, nyungu jina baral yukil nyaji, ngali baralba nyaji-way baja kari kalbaymuny.


<translate> You two saw the karrkurr frog there.


<glossary> nuril ; type=intransitive-verb ; domain=perception <usage_example> The child is peeping through the window


<translate> You see the butcherbird there.


<translate> We all, not you, see the dingo here.


<lexeme> see and know someone before he sees and knows you


<translate> The boys tied cane between the trees and the bags hung there.

Dabalangka yibuy kajan jukungu, balji walngkanda yinyay.


<translate> You all saw the kulmba-kulmba gecko there.


<translate> That poor old woman is nearly blind now; she walks slowly and feels the path with a stick.

Yinya mukul-jalbu kari ngulkurr nyaji-l niji; nyulu buban-buban jilba-dunga-y, jina juku-bu nyaji-l.


<glossary> balkal ; type=transitive-verb ; domain=speech-communication <usage_example> I already told you


<translate> We saw the black scrub goanna on the ground.


<translate> The old man cooked the sea turtle in a ground oven of hot stones and leaves, and the whole camp gathered when the sweet smell rose.

Mukul-dingkarangka ngawiya waju bubu-ba kulji wumbul birra-jirr, bama narmba muru kaday kubu jiba-wulay daka-nya.


<translate> The young man left the gun outside.


<glossary> milka ngabal ; type=transitive-verb ; domain=speech-communication <usage_example> I reminded you yesterday


<translate> You and I see the sand there.


<translate> Grandfather told about the hungry year: they moved camp seven times following the food, and the children never knew it was a hungry year, because the old people turned the searching itself into a laughing thing — and that is what grown-ups are for.

Kamingka balkan wungar dakwuymuny: jana bayan wundin wubulkubu mayi wukurrinya, karrkay-karrkay kariku binalman wungar dakwuy yinya, bama mukulungku balbil nyulu-nyulu murnin yajarr-yambaku, yinya murni bama-yalbaymuny.


<translate> This is your older sister, babarr, and this your younger sister, jinkurr, and among the four of you — two brothers and two sisters — you will hold each other up all your lives.

Yinya yundu babarr, yinya yundu jinkurr, yurra jambul-jambul, yaba jambul babarr jambul, yurra nyubun-nyubunji mara-daji-way wawu wubulku.


<translate> The turtle spear has a special detachable point tied on with a long, strong cord.

Ngawiya-nka kalka kurajan yindu karra kalbay junkurr-ji kajan.


<translate> Many little birds are sitting up in the big fig tree by the river, eating the ripe fruit.

Buyi buban wubul juku jilanji yalbay-ba wangkar-a bunda-l, mayi nuka-l wawubaja karangkal.


<translate> We hear the chewing sound there.


<translate> You and I saw the dakwurr-dakwun hammer bird there.


<translate> The thunderstorm did not come; only wind came.

Jarramali kari kadan, muyar nganga kadan.


<translate> The two of them see the board here.


<translate> We all, not you, see the straw-necked ibis there.


<translate> That kuray-kuray tree is here.


<translate> The strong man's chest and shoulders were broad, and he lifted the big log up with ease.

Dingkar junkurr damu binda kalbay, nyulu juku kulngkul jinbal-baja-ku kulban wangkar-a.


<translate> I saw the dalmbal flathead here.


<translate> We two, not you, saw the jandu starch there.


<translate> They saw the daughter's child.


<translate> Leave the anger outside — this is a food-with, story-with fire.

Kuli bawa ngalkalba, baya yanya mayi-ji kuku-jangkar-ji.


<translate> Never take too much from one tree.


<translate> The children are swimming; the old people are watching from the bank.

Karrkay-karrkay maraji; kamba-kambangka nyajil ngubarmundu.


<translate> The man sharpened the knife on the stone, split the log with it, made a good fire, and it burned much of the night.

Dingkarangka naybu kuljibu nyurrban, juku murrngan, baya ngulkurr-bungan, nyulu wujurr wubul wajun.


<translate> Two vicious dogs stayed at camp.


<translate> The old man said there is a kind of walking that is really a kind of praying: you walk slowly through country that holds your dead, and at each place you speak their name aloud, and by the end of that walk the grief has walked itself out of you and left peace in its place.

Mukulungku dingkarangka balkan: jilbal nyubun nyulu yala wawu-balkal: yundu buban-buban jilba bubungu nyulu yundu wula karrbal, kanban wubulku yundu nyungu burri junkurr balka, jilbal dumbaymuny walu-jirrbu-jirrbu jananmuny jilban dungan wunbu bawan yinyanga.


<translate> We all, not you, see the black bream here.


<lexeme> First bay south of Bloomfield River along coast


<translate> Do not make the child afraid of the water; make him respectful of it — one drowns swimmers, the other raises them.

Kari karrkay yinyil-kanga bananka: binal-bunga nyulu yulmbarrinka: nyubunbu maraji-bama bana manil, yindubu jana wandi-bungal.


<translate> High above the camp the big eagle flew in wide circles, watching the ground far below for food.

Wangkar-wangkar bayan-mu buyi yalbay warri murru-murru, bubu bada-bada nyaji-l mayi-ka.


<translate> The child went into the scrub.


<translate> The children of the two groups were shy at first and stood apart watching each other, until one small boy walked across and gave another small boy a piece of fruit, and after that they were all friends.

Jawun-karra jambulmu karrkay-karrkay ngadiku milka-murruji kanbal janay, jana nyaji-way, nyubun karrkay buban jilban ngundu, karrkay buban yindu mayi daji, yindumuny jana wubulku jawun janay.


<translate> Mother went to the shade with clothes.


<translate> The compass here is its own, the old man drew it in the sand: kungkarr, kuwa, jibarr, naka — and for the sea there is no compass word: just say jalun-bu, to the sea; the land's words stay with the land.

Kuku-jina bubumuny nyungu-nyungu, mukulungku dingkarangka jukara milbin: kungkarr, kuwa, jibarr, naka: jalunka kari kuku-jina: 'jalunbu' nganga balka, kuku bubumuny bubunka janay.


<glossary> jinbal ; type=adjective ; domain=manner <usage_example> Karrkay jinbal-kanga, ngana dungankada


<translate> The old man said the bond between a mother and her child is the first and deepest of all, and the language marks it in a special way: the mother and child together are called by one dyadic word, ngamu-manda, the two-who-are-mother-and-child, as if the pair were a single thing, for in the old understanding a mother and her small child were indeed almost one being, and the word held that truth.

Mukulungku dingkarangka balkan karra ngamu nyungu karrkay jambulmuny nyulu ngadiku dukurr bajaku wubulmuny, kuku nyulu dandi-bungal yala yukil: ngamu karrkay nyubunji nyulu kuku nyubun kunjal, ngamu-manda, jambul-jana-ngamu-karrkay, yala jambul nyulu yamba nyubun, ngadiku-milka ngamu nyungu karrkay buban nyulu bajaku nyubun-mabi, kuku yinya kuku-yukil karrban.


<glossary> bila ; type=particle ; domain=manner <usage_example> fast running water


<translate> They saw the wangay vine there.


<translate> The strong young man carried the heavy log on one broad shoulder all the way to the camp.

Warru junkurr-baja-ku juku kulngkul binda nyubun-bu wundin, bayan-ka wubulku.


<translate> They see the domestic turkey here.


<translate> All night long the bush curlew cries out its sad and lonely call near the camp.

Kuyir wujurr wubulku banbadi-l, bayan ngundu yirrka-y.


<translate> I saw the durra caterpillar here.


<translate> The visitors reached the camp at dark, and the two families sat late by the fire sharing news.

Jawunkarra bayanba kadan wujurrbu, jana jambul baya ngundu bundandan, kuku balkanya kunarangkal.


<translate> The two of them saw the munungkul ground pigeon there.


<lexeme> mountain and river flowing from mountain


<translate> The old woman said the deepest teaching of the change-words is that almost nothing in the world is truly fixed, that the hard becomes soft and the soft hard, the wet dry and the dry wet, the young old and, through the children, the old young again, so that a person who grasps this stops fighting to freeze things as they are and learns instead the far harder and wiser art of guiding change well, since change will come whether guided or not.

Wulbumanangka balkan kuku yindu-mabimuny milbil dukurr bajaku nyulu yamba wubulku bubungu nyulu kari bajaku yindu-kari, dandi kima-mal kima dandi-mal, ngawa kaka-mal kaka ngawa-mal, warru mukul-mal karrkay-muny baja, mukul warru-mal baja, bama nyulu yinya manin nyulu bawal warribu yamba yindu-kari-bungalka yala jana janan nyulu binalman yindu dandi bajaku binal-baja janka yindu-mal yukil murninka, yindu-mal kadan wukurril-ji wukurril-kari baja.


<translate> They carried it back and everyone was glad.

Jana jarra-kulban baja bayanba, jana wubulku wawu-mini.


<translate> Grandmother saw the spear-thrower.


<translate> We two, not you, saw the karrandal tree there.


<translate> We, not you, saw the kulmba-kulmba gecko here.


<translate> The old woman said different woods make different fires: the ironwood gives few flames but coals that last all night for the earth oven, the light dry wood flares fast and hot to boil water quickly, and the green wood gives smoke to signal or to keep the biting flies away, so a good fire-tender knows the trees.

Wulbumanangka balkan: juku yindu-yindu baya yindu-yindu bungal: jujubala buban wula daji ngunjil nyulu wujurr wubulku kurrmanka, juku kiway-kiway buban wula warri wumbul bana warri balamunka, juku duna kubu daji kubu-kukuka jibar kala-kalbay karrbanka baja, baya-bama yukil juku binal.


<translate> That country far away to the north is very hot and very dry in the middle of the year.

Bubu kala-kalbay kungkarr-a wumbul-baja-ku marral-baja-ku, wungar dindarra-nga.


<glossary> ngunya-ngunya ; type=noun ; domain=cognition-emotion <usage_example> I imagined I got a knife


<translate> The eggs were down in the warm sand.


<lexeme> Nganjin dungan, ngingkirr nyajin


<translate> You two see the outrigger canoe here.


<translate> The man saw the Torres Strait Island pigeon at camp.


<translate> The old woman said grief comes with unanswerable questions and the kindest thing is not to answer them but to sit with them: when a mother asks why did my child die, she is not really asking for a reason, she is howling, and the person who tries to give her a neat answer wounds her, while the person who simply says I do not know either, and holds her, gives her what she truly needs.

Wulbumanangka balkan wawu-mumbu kadan kuku-yukil-kari-ji kuku-yukil kima kari kuku-yukil-manil yambada jananji bundal: ngamu nyulu babajinnya wanyurrinku ngayku karrkay wulan, nyulu kari bajaku babajil kuku-daji-mundu, nyulu badil, bama nyulu jananka kuku-yukil yukil dayalku nyulu buyun-manil, yambada bama nyulu nganga balkan ngayu baja kari binal, karrban nyulu, dayal nyulu wanya nyulu bajaku wawu-manilmuny.


<translate> You and I saw the barrbal black bream there.


<translate> They saw the fern tree there.


<translate> The strong vine is good for tying the spear head firmly onto the long straight shaft.

Mawar junkurr ngulkurr, kalka dukul juku-ngu karrba-nka.


<translate> Where are they? Maybe they are hiding.


<translate> The old man knows the man with the spear, and he knows the country and all its water holes.

Mukul-dingkar binal dingkar kalka-jirr-ka, nyulu binal bubu janku narmba baja.


<translate> The little dog had fallen into an old digging hole and could not climb out.

Kaya buban daran bubungu, wangkar dakal murruji.


<translate> The child was the first to find the track.

Karrkay-ngku nyulu-ngurr jina warrmba-bungan.


<glossary> milka-daray ; type=intransitive-verb ; domain=cognition-emotion <usage_example> The young man and girl did wrong in the bush

Bulu maral and warru milka-daran duduymbu


<translate> The old man whistled to the birds at dawn, and many small birds came flying down to the water.

Mukul-dingkar kuwimbur yirrkan buyi-nka wunkuwingku, buyi-buyi wubul warri bana-ka bada.


<glossary> wawu-juljal ; type=noun ; domain=speech-communication <usage_example> He is at the dead person's wharf

Nyulu bada wawu-juljalandamunbu wharfmunbu


<translate> They saw that jinjajalka tree.


<translate> Wash your hands before eating!


<translate> We two, not you, saw the kulmba-kulmba gecko here.


<translate> The old people listened in the house.


<translate> You and I saw the bujabay tree there.


<translate> I saw the bujabay tree here.


<glossary> dandi ; type=adjective ; domain=physical-property <usage_example> I took the medicine and am better now


<translate> The old man said one good tree can be a whole camp's provider: its fruit and seeds are food, its inner bark makes string, its wood makes spears and digging sticks, its leaves make medicine, its dead branches make fire, and its shade and its hollow give shelter, so to know a single tree completely is already to know a large part of how to live.

Mukulungku dingkarangka balkan juku nyubun yukil nyulu bayan wubulku dayal: nyungu mayi diburr baja mayi, nyungu warrur dukurr karra bungal, nyungu juku kalka kunku-jina bungal, nyungu birra kalbal bungal, nyungu dakil wula-mabi baya bungal, nyungu wabarr dimbirr baja bayan dayal, juku nyubun bajaku binalka ngadiku wunay yala yalbay binalka.


<translate> You saw the kungkun snake there.


<translate> Is your old grandmother well and strong again now, the old man asked kindly, for she was very sick indeed in the last round moon.

Yunu babi mukul ngulkurr junkurr-baja niji? mukul-dingkar-angka janka nyajin, nyulu bambay bajaku kija murru-murru kalbay-muny.


<lexeme> mountain and river flowing from mountain


<translate> If the child's body is tired, he sleeps.

Kaki karrkay bangkarr bajaburray, nyulu warngku-wunay.


<translate> If the fish do not come to the shallows, the old man said, then we will look for other food in the country instead.

Kaki kuyu kari kaday bana bubanka, mukulungku dingkarangka balkan, ngana mayi yindu nyajil bubungu baja.


<translate> Grandfather left the grass outside.


<translate> You two see the black snake there.


<translate> The clothes, they gave to the woman.


<translate> The young man killed the vicious snake.


<translate> The baby slept in the house.


<translate> I did not eat the plant food; I ate the meat.


<translate> The old man is the grandfather of all those little children playing over there.

Mukul-dingkar nyulu kami karrkay-karrkay buban yinya wubul-mu.


<translate> I thought he was coming back.


<translate> The little girl's first dilly bag was small — granny loved it.

Maralamu balji nyubun buban — babi wawu jirray.


<translate> Give the hungry old man some of that good meat you cooked this morning.

Mukul-dingkar dakwuy-ka minya ngulkurr daji, yundu wunkuwingku wajun-muny!


<translate> The water flashed with fish.


<lexeme> The Daintree side of Rocky Point


<translate> Grandad told us a story from the old days. We listened by the fire.

Kamingka kuku balkan ngadikumuny. Ngana milka-janan bayanga.


<glossary> yalaymburr ; type=temporal ; domain=time-deixis <usage_example> I'll go before the rain comes


<translate> You two saw the mulumu dove here.


<translate> People are calling out from down there.


<translate> He saw the shooting star here.


<translate> We see the wangay vine here.


<translate> You see the newly cleared scrub here.


<translate> I quickly killed the brown snake before it could bite me on the foot.

Ngayu jinbal-da jinkalmu kunin, nganya bayka-nyjiku jina-nga.


<translate> The bones of the old kangaroo lie white and dry on the ground where the dingoes ate it long ago.

Mayarriji mukul bajibay balbal marral wuna bubu-ngu, murramu-ngka yinyay nukan-muny.


<translate> We saw the bird in the tree.


<translate> You and I see the death adder there.


<translate> We rested before going for a walk.


<glossary> binal ; type=transitive-verb ; domain=cognition-emotion <usage_example> I want to know


<translate> You two saw the kulmba-kulmba gecko here.


<translate> You and I saw the lightning here.


<translate> That old man is deaf; he does not hear the small sounds of the scrub.

Yinya mukul-dingkar milka-kari; nyulu madja-mu kuku buban kari ngaral.


<translate> The open bush country has tall grass and scattered trees where the kangaroos feed.

Duduy bubu kalbay jikan kalbay juku yindu-yindu, mayarriji nuka-nya.


<translate> The tide rose and the prawns came up the creek, and we caught them with a net in the dark night.

Yira dakan, wakal wawubaja wangkar kadan, ngana makarr-bu karrban wujurr ngumbu-ngu.


<translate> They wanted to go on; meanwhile they were no longer afraid.

Jana wawu dunga-nka, kari yinilman-kuda.


<translate> They saw the dog flea there.


<translate> The man pushed the big stone.


<translate> We two, not you, saw the karrkurr frog here.


<translate> The angry, strong dog chased the frightened little children away from the big meat by the fire.

Kaya kuli-ji, junkurr-ji, karrkay-karrkay buban yini-yini kangan minya yalbay-muny baya ngundu.


<translate> The chatterbox talks all day but does not hear the old people.

Kuku-baka wungar wubulku balkal, yamba mukul-bama kari nyajil.


<translate> The child sees the whirlwind there.


<translate> You all see the kawarr bloodwood tree here.


<translate> We all, not you, see the yarrka bee here.


<translate> The bright sun rose slowly over the far hills, and the whole wide sky turned red and gold above them.

Wungar balbal daka buban-buban jamba kala-kalbay-muny, jiri narmba yalbay kulbul-ma-n wangkar.


<translate> I saw the walmbi-walmbiji left-handed person there.


<translate> Two hunters who often shared their kills learned to read each other so well that they could hunt as a single mind, one driving the game and the other waiting, without a word passing between them.

Balbibama jambul jana yabarrka minya daji-way binalman nyubun-nyubun nyaji-way ngulkurr bajaku, jana balbin yala milka nyubun, nyubun minya wundin nyubun maku-janay, kari kuku nyubun jana ngundu dungan.


<glossary> didal ; type=transitive-verb ; domain=clothing-adornment <usage_example> I put my good clothes on


<translate> The two of them saw the jumper ant there.


<translate> You two see the bamboo stick there.


<translate> The cottontree has big flowers.


<translate> The woman bailed water from the boat.


<translate> The old man taught the boy to read the water: where the mullet feed, and the swirl where the cod turns.

Mukul-dingkarangka karrkay binal-bungan bana ngaranka: wanja kalngkan nukal, bana-jurrki wanja wara jurrkin.


<translate> You all saw the karrandal tree there.


<translate> The old man asked the boy a riddle that had no single answer: if you could ask the very first ancestor one question, and only one, what would you ask, and why that one above all the others? And the boy thought for three days, and the answer he finally gave, and the way he had wrestled with the choosing, told the old man more about the boy than any test of strength or skill ever could.

Mukulungku dingkarangka buban babajin kuku-kuda nyubun-kuku-daji-kari: kaki yundu babaji ngadiku-bama ngadiku bajaku kuku nyubun, nyubun nganga, wanyu yundu babajil, wanyurrinku yinya wubulmuny? Buban milkabu baykan kulur wungar, kuku-yukil nyulu ngadiku dayan, yala nyulu jarra-manin manilmuny, mukulungku dingkarangka balkan ngulkurr-baja bubanmuny yamba nyubun junkurr janka-yukil baja nyajilmuny.


<translate> He sees the tree kangaroo there.


<translate> The old woman said the mark of a person who has truly grown is not that they no longer feel jealousy or anger or fear, but that these feelings no longer own them: they are guests now, not masters.

Wulbumanangka balkan: bama nyulu yukil kambanmuny nyungu milbil kari nyulu ngujan dukul-wuri yinil kari milkal, yambada yinya wawu kari nyulu kujil: jana nyiku bama yindu, kari kujibama.


<translate> Tomorrow, when the sun rises, we two will walk to the far country to hunt the big grey kangaroo.

Wunkun, wungar daka-nya, ngali bubu kala-kalbay-ka jilba julmbanu yalbay balbi-nka.


<translate> You two saw the kurkunbay butcherbird there.


<translate> The grandmother taught the girl: we cut the lawyer cane in the scrub and tie the coolamon with it.

Babingka jalbu binalbungan: ngana kaku madjanga yakal, dubal kajal kakubu.


<translate> You see the murrkul tree there.


<glossary> kala-jalamal ; type=intransitive-verb ; domain=motion-travel <usage_example> He jumped over (the mud) on the rocks


<translate> You see the kurunkal mangrove there.


<translate> We two, not you, saw the karrandal tree here.


<translate> The old man made a fishing line from bark.

Mukulungku dingkarangka badur balkan dubalmuny.


<translate> You all saw the jungarr marsupial native cat there.


<translate> You all see the king parrot there.


<translate> The young man is chasing the pig.


<translate> The old woman said there are questions you must never ask aloud and questions you must never fail to ask, and the wisdom of a whole life is learning which is which: never ask a grieving person why so soon, never ask a proud person whether they failed, but always ask a departing traveller whether they have water and food, and always ask a silent child what is wrong.

Wulbumanangka balkan kuku nyubun-nyubun yundu kariku babaji kuku-mundu kuku nyubun-nyubun yundu kariku babajil-kari, wawu kalbay wubulku binalman wanyu wanya: kariku wawu-mumbu-bama babaji wanyurrinku warri, kariku wawu-junkurr-bama babaji nyulu kaka-manin, yambada yabarrka jilba-bama babaji nyulu bana mayi karrbalmuny, yabarrka karrkay dandi babaji wanyu mumbu.


<lexeme> smoke the inside of a house after the owner dies


<translate> The friend laughed at the young man.


<translate> Mother is staying in the shade with the baby.


<glossary> walngkan-damal ; type=transitive-verb ; domain=manipulation-impact <usage_example> The woman hung the clothes up on the line


<translate> We, not you, saw the kalkamuku snake here.


<translate> Who will carry the water back up from the creek today, the old woman asked the children sitting idle by the morning fire.

Wanya-ngka bana bana-jandu-muny bada-baja wundi niji? mukul-jalbu-ngku karrkay-karrkay nyajin, buri-ngka daki-daki bunda-nya.


<translate> We see the milbarkal tree here.


<translate> You two saw the karunkurr crested pigeon here.


<translate> The white ibis walks slowly through the wet mud, digging for little crabs and insects.

Birmba bana-ba jilba dunga-y, minya buban baka-l bubu-ngu.


<translate> You two see the stomach here.


<translate> We two, not you, saw the jungu-jungu white ant eggs there.


<translate> The two of them see the wuli-wuli soldier crab there.


<translate> The sand goanna runs fast on the open ground but always makes for a tree when chased, and the trick the old man taught was never to chase it toward a tree but to cut it off from the timber and turn it into the open, where a person can run it down, and this is why you must know the country and where every tree stands before the chase begins.

Jadi warri bubu-yaral yambada juku-mundu dungay wukurrinya, mukulungku dingkarangka milbin kariku juku-mundu wukurri yambada juku-muny karra yaral-mundu wandiman, wanja bama warril, yinya yundu bubu binal juku wubulku wanja janan ngadiku wukurri kadalmu.


<translate> You and I see the swamp here.


<translate> The two of them saw the jalkay salmon here.


<translate> The old people read the animals for the weather better than any sign in the sky: when the ants carry their eggs to high ground and the fish stop biting and the birds fly low and restless and the frogs begin to call in the dry gullies, the big rain is a day or two away, and a wise camp moves its gear up under good cover before it comes.

Bama mukul minya ngaral bana-wungarnka ngulkurr-baja yamba jiri-mabimuny: munjurr jana jamal wangkar-mundu jarrakulbal kuyu baykal dumbal buyi bada janka-kari marra-warril diburr-kaya badi bubu-jandu kiwaymba, bana yalbay wungar jambul baja kala-kalbay, bayan binal nyungu yamba wangkar birra bada murni-manil ngadiku kadanya.


<translate> We two, not you, see the warrabuka yam here.


<translate> That clothing is not narrow.


<translate> In the hot season the camp follows the shade and the water, the old man said: walk at dawn, rest while the sun stands high, go again when the sun falls, for the hot season never forgives the traveller who picks a fight with the high sun.

Wangariji bayan wukurril wabarr bana baja, mukulungku dingkarangka balkan: jilba muduwajuny, kalka wungar wangkar jananya, dungay baja wungar daraynya, wangarijibu kariku bawal jilba-bama, nyulu kuniway-mal wungarka wangkarka.


<translate> We hear the rattling sound there.


<translate> They saw the three-pronged spear there.


<translate> The two of them see the kalburiji bee there.


<translate> That father-in-law is there.


<translate> I saw the fish net at the sea.


<translate> It rained again in the night, soft rain.


<translate> Come back safe, she said to the sea.

Nyulu jalunbu balkan: kaday baja ngulkurrku.


<glossary> baja ; type=adverb ; domain=manner <usage_example> They hit the snake again and again with stones

jana kuljubu jarba kunin baja, kunin baja


<translate> Grandmother drinks the green-ant juice every day in order to get well again.

Babingka yangka bana nuka-l wungar wubul-a, ngulkurr-ma-nka.


<translate> He sees the mirrbangku pencil cedar tree here.


<translate> The children always used to stay down by the water while the women dug for yams in the sand.

Karrkay-karrkay bana ngundu bundanday, jalbu-ngka wukay bakal-bakal jukar-a.


<translate> You all saw the kalkamuku snake here.


<translate> I saw the karranda tree here.


<translate> At midday the sun stands high overhead, and the people rest quietly in the cool shade of the trees.

Wungar wangkar-wangkar janay, bama janka bundan juku ngungul-ba wumbul-muny.


<glossary> babaji ; type=transitive-verb ; domain=speech-communication <usage_example> I asked him, Who is he?


<translate> The old woman said the mangrove world is a garden that most inland people never learn to read, for its trees give timber that does not rot in salt water, its mud holds the crabs and the shellfish, its roots shelter the young fish, and its bark and leaves make dyes and medicines, so the coastal people held a whole body of tree-knowledge the inland people simply lacked.

Wulbumanangka balkan juku-bana-bubu nyulu bubu-mayi bama-bubu wubulku kariku ngaralmuny, nyungu juku dayal juku kari bana-mula kilban, nyungu bada kiju wurrul baja karrbal, nyungu bangkan kuyu buban wabarr-manil, nyungu warrur birra baja mula-daji kalbal baja bungal, jalun-bama karrban juku-binal yalbay bubu-bama nganga bawanmuny.


<translate> When the fruit is not yet ripe, you leave it on the tree for the sun to redden it.

Mayi kulbul-kari-nya, yundu juku-ngu bawal, wungar-bu ngala-ngala-bunga-nka.


<translate> We two, not you, saw the ngumbul snake here.


<translate> We two, not you, see the deep water here.


<translate> They see the whip snake here.


<translate> The old woman knew every kind of ground by its comitative name: the sandy ground, the stony ground, the grassy flat, the muddy edge, the ground with vines and the ground with open woodland, and she taught the children that to name a country truly is already to half-know it, for the name holds what the place has and what it gives.

Wulbumanangka bubu wubulku binal nyungu kuku-ji: bubu jukar-iji, bubu kulji-ji, jikan-ji yaral, bada-ji, bubu kalal-ji bubu ngalkal-ji baja, nyulu karrkay-karrkay milbin bubu nyubun kuku bajaku balkanka yinya buban-binal ngadiku, kuku karrbal wanya bubu karrbal wanya nyulu dayal.


<translate> We all, not you, see the rat here.


<translate> You two saw the bakay snake here.


<translate> The old people's stories belong to this country and to no other place at all.

Mukul-bama-mu kuku bubu yinya-ka, bubu yindu-ka kariku.


<translate> What is the matter with the baby? It has a cold and will not feed; its breath is bad. Bring it to the old woman; she knows the right leaves.

Wanyurrinji ngawa bambay? Nyulu ngiki-ji bambay, mayi kari nukal; nyungu wawu buyun. Ngawa mukulungku-nda wundi; nyulu binal wanya birra ngulkurr.


<translate> The old man said the whole kin-system rested finally on memory and on telling, for none of it was written and none of it could be looked up, and so a people kept its kin-web alive only by the old constantly telling the young how everyone was related, at every gathering, at every meal, on every walk, so that the ceaseless quiet naming of relations was the very act by which the web was kept from unravelling across the generations.

Mukulungku dingkarangka balkan jawun-karra wubulku janan bada bajaku milka-nga kuku-balkalba, yinya kari nyubun kunkul-manin nyubun kari nyaji-manilmuny, bama nyungu jawun-karra wunay-manil nganga mukul wungar wubulku warru-warra balkalmuny yala bama wubulku kajan, bangkarr nyubun-nyubunba, mayi nyubun-nyubunba, jilbal wungara baja, kunjal dandi bada-kari karra-nga nyulu yamba nyubun jawun-karra janga-kari karrbanmuny wungar-kadal wubulku.


<translate> You all saw the biru-biru rainbow bird there.


<translate> You saw the makirr yellow ochre here.


<translate> Give the meat to the man with a spear, not to the boy without one by the empty fire.

Minya dingkar kalka-jirr-nka daya, kari buban kalka-kari-nka baya-kari ngundu.


<translate> The two women walked out to the sandy ground where the long yams grow, dug all morning with their digging sticks, filled two dilly bags with the biggest yams, covered the holes again, and then walked slowly home in the heat of the middle of the day.

Jalbu jambul jukar bubu-mundu jilban wanja juwal kalbay jarray, muduwajungu wubulku jaba baja bakan, balji jambul juwal yalbaybu buwan, bubu-jandu baja kajan, yalada buban-buban bayan-mundu jilbanda wumbul wungar dukurr-bu.


<translate> The turtle spear point is here.


<translate> You and I saw the junbirr lizard there.


<translate> The child hurt her foot on a sharp stone, and now she cannot walk down to the water alone.

Karrkay jina kulji-bu kaka-mani, niji nyulu bana-ka bada jilba kari nyubun-nyubun.


<translate> The old woman told the same story over and over, until at last the children fell asleep.

Mukul-jalbu kuku nyubun balka-l-balka-n, karrkay-karrkay warngku wuna-nyjiku baja.


<translate> I saw the mali small bat here.


<glossary> dakandil ; type=transitive-verb ; domain=manipulation-impact <usage_example> The man dropped the child because he was angry

Dingkarangka karrkay dakandin kuli-kadanymundu


<translate> He saw the dawa-dawa magpie here.


<glossary> bada-bada ; type=locational ; domain=location-deixis <usage_example> The paper is under the table


<translate> We two, not you, see the lizard here.


<translate> The child dropped the stone on grandmother's hand.

Karrkay-ngku kulji daray-manin babi-nda mara-nga.


<glossary> jirrkalinku ; type=adverb ; domain=motion-travel <usage_example> I went through the gate


<translate> The Moreton Bay fig tree is big.


<translate> They saw the waddy club here.


<translate> Two birds sat in the tree, watching the camp.

Buyi jambul bundandan jukungu, bayan nyajilnyajinya.


<translate> When will the wet season rains come again to fill up all the dry creeks and rivers?

Wanjawanja kaba-wungar kada-y-baja, wawubaja marral wubul bana-jirr-ma-l?


<translate> The two families met at the trading ground as they did each year: they laid out their goods facing each other, the coast people showed shells and dried fish and the inland people stone and ochre and honey, they bargained slowly and fairly all afternoon, they exchanged until both sides were satisfied, they shared a big meal to seal the trade, and then they camped together one night and parted as friends at dawn.

Jawun-karra jambul daji-way-bubu nyaji-wan yala jana wungar wubulku: jana nyungu yamba nyubun-nyubun yaral daya, jalun-bama kuyu-kiway jindi baja milbin bubu-bama kulji murbuy wunba baja, jana buban-buban ngulkurr-bu daji-way kunarangkal wubulku, jana daji-wan jambulku wawu-mini-manyjiku, jana mayi yalbay daji-way daji-way kajanka, yalada jana nyubunji wunan nyubun wujurr jawun yala bawa-wan muduwajungu.


<lexeme> the Aboriginal camp at Thompson Creek


<translate> They saw the barinkan scrub bird here.


<translate> The old woman said there is a question you should ask a very old person before it is too late, and most people forget until the chance is gone: not how are you feeling or do you need anything, but tell me about your life, what do you want me to remember, what did you learn that I should know, for the old carry a whole world that dies with them unasked, and one good question can save a piece of it forever.

Wulbumanangka balkan kuku nyubun yundu babajil mukul bajaku ngadiku nyulu bada bajaku-mandanya, bama wubulku milka-wulan dukul wungar bawanya: kari wanjarr yundu wawu-manil yambada yundu yamba wawu-manil, yambada balka ngaya yundu nyungu wawu-kalbaymuny, wanyu yundu wawu-manil ngayu milkalmuny, wanyu yundu binalman ngayu binalmuny, mukul karrbal bubu nyubun nyulu jananji wulan babaji-kari, kuku nyubun yukil nyulu buban wula-manil bada bajaku.


<translate> Their camp is beside ours, on this side of the creek.

Jananga bayan ngananga karangkal, wawubaja yanyu ngundu.


<translate> The old man said the person who prepares well is halfway home before they start, but the person who sets out unready is already lost, however short the journey.

Mukulungku dingkarangka balkan: bama nyulu ngulkurr ngaranmuny yaba ngundu bayanka kariku dunganmuny, yambada bama nyulu kariku ngaran dungan nyulu kilba nyiku, kalbay buban baja.


<translate> The two of them saw the barinkan scrub bird there.


<translate> It is the mother's brother, not the father, who gives the boy his very first spear, the old man said, and who watches over the whole of his growing up.

Kalnga-ngku, kari nganjan-ngku, karrkay kalka nyubun-nya daji, mukul-dingkar balkan, nyulu nyungu yalbay-ma-nya narmba nyaji-nyaji.


<translate> Mother gave food to the child.


<translate> You and I see the roof here.


<translate> The old man said even the fallen dead tree keeps giving for many years, feeding the grubs the children love, growing the mushrooms after rain, sheltering the small creatures, softening slowly into the soil that feeds the next tree, so he taught the boys never to see a fallen tree as rubbish to be cleared but as a slow feast the country lays out across a whole generation.

Mukulungku dingkarangka balkan juku wula-mabi badanmuny nganga dayal wungar wubulku, jambun karrkay-karrkay wawu-minimuny dayal, mayi jirakal jarral bana ngadiku, minya buban wabarr-manil, buban-buban kima-manda bubu-mundu nyulu juku yindu dayal, nyulu warru-warru milbin kariku juku badanmuny nyaji yamba-mumbu janga-manilku yambada mayi buban-buban bubu buwal wungar-kadal wubulku.


<translate> I did not break the billycan.


<translate> You two see the karranda tree here.


<translate> The paperbark lay in the bag.


<translate> The old people said: help each other, and the country will look after you all.

Bama mukul balkan: mara-daji-wa, bubu-bu yundu karrbal wubulku.


<translate> You and I saw the jingajalka tree there.


<translate> The child put the billycan in the shade.

Karrkay-ngku jungkalu wabarr-ba yijarrin.


<translate> There were bird calls the old people listened for with particular care, for certain ones were said to carry news of a visitor coming, or of a death somewhere far off, and though the young might laugh, the old man would only say quietly that he had heard these things prove true too many times across a long life to dismiss them.

Buyi-kuku nyubun-nyubun bama mukul ngaran milka-yukilbu, buyi nyubun-nyubun balkan bama-yindu kadalmuny kuku jarrakulbal, yambada wula-bama kala-kalbay ngunduku, warru jana yajarrinya baja, mukulungku dingkarangka nganga balkan dandi-bu nyulu ngaran yinya yamba yukil-manda wubul-baja wawu kalbaymuny kari bawanka.


<translate> The cassowary is standing there.


<glossary> nganya kayi ; type=interjection ; domain=interjection <usage_example> Ouch! My hand


<translate> That kuji-kuji tree is here.


<translate> I climbed the tall black palm to get the ripe fruit at the top, and I brought it down for my mother.

Ngayu duwar kalbay dakan, kulbul mayi maninka, ngamunka wundin.


<glossary> dandi ; type=adjective ; domain=physical-property <usage_example> I took the medicine and am better now


<translate> We see the dukul-mukul lizard here.


<translate> We see the striped water snake here.


<translate> You all see the shellfish there.


<translate> Grandmother saw leaves on the ground.


<translate> Stay away from that bad place, for the old people say a dangerous spirit lives inside the cave.

Yinya bubu buyun-mundu wuna-y, mukul-bama balka, dubu buyun kana kulji dukurr wunay.


<translate> The old grandmother is the oldest and the wisest of all the people in the whole family.

Mukul-babi nyulu bama mukul bajaku binal bajaku, jawun-karra wubulku-ba.


<translate> The seashell headband is there.


<glossary> nyandal ; type=transitive-verb ; domain=manipulation-impact <usage_example> He chopped firewood for me


<translate> You all saw the mirrku kidney bird there.


<glossary> ngarra-yilbal ; type=transitive-verb ; domain=manipulation-impact <usage_example> The Bloomfield team beat the rest


<glossary> jindi ; type=noun ; domain=fauna-fish <usage_example> We gathered the green ants in dishes


<translate> I saw the jurriyan satin bower bird here.


<translate> You two see the ngarkay waterhen here.


<translate> The old man said a person with self-control and a person without it are tested most not in hardship but in plenty, for anyone can be careful when there is little, but only the person with real self-command stays measured and fair when the food is heaped high and the easy road lies open, so watch a person in their good times to know their true character.

Mukulungku dingkarangka balkan bama nyulu-nyulu-karrba-ji bama nyulu-nyulu-karrba-kari nyaji bajaku kari dandi-ngunduka yambada wubul-ngunduka, bama wubulku murni buban-buban janji yamba buban janay-mba, nyubun nganga bama nyulu-nyulu-karrba-ji junkurr nyulu bunda yukil kaki mayi wubul-yalbay wangkar baral yukil naka-naka wunay-mba, nyaji bama nyungu wungar yukilba binalka nyungu janka bajaku.


<lexeme> mountain and river flowing from mountain


<translate> He saw the karrmbil parakeet there.


<translate> The young man made a spear and the old man showed him how to throw it straight.

Warru-ngku kalka bungan, mukul-dingkar-angka nyunguny milban jinbal dama-nka.


<glossary> walngal ; type=transitive-verb ; domain=manipulation-impact <usage_example> Open the gate


<translate> You all saw the deep water there.


<translate> The two of them saw the bajabaja lizard here.


<translate> That satin bower bird is there.


<translate> The two of them are sitting there.


<translate> They saw the bilbil-bilbil gecko there.


<translate> The child was scolded by its own father because it had kicked the camp dog.

Karrkay nganjan nyungu-ndu murru-kanga-jin, kaya jabi-nya.


<translate> You see the jajikal screw palm here.


<translate> Those small sticks are there.


<translate> The child washed her hands and her feet in the cool clear water of the shallow creek at dawn.

Karrkay-ngku mara jina bana ngiki-ba janjin wawubaja buban-ba wunkuwingku.


<translate> You all see the ngadil hickory tree here.


<translate> The tadpoles fill the little rock pools after the rain, and later they become the frogs that call at night.

Kubu-kubu kulji-bana buban-ba wubul kaba-muny, yalada yuday-mal, wujurr-ba yirrkanka.


<translate> They saw the mud oyster here.


<glossary> junkurr-murubuku ; type=adverb ; domain=manner <usage_example> He talked earnestly


<translate> Old man, were you ever fear-with? — Every so-called fearless man is fear-with; he is only also feet-with.

Mukul dingkar, yundu yinil-ji ngadiku? Bama 'yinil-kari' nyubun-nyubun nyulu yinil-ji, nyulu jina-ji baja nganga.


<translate> He sees the wankar tree here.


<translate> The old woman said a death with witnesses and a death alone are grieved differently by those left behind, for when the family is there at the end the passing is held and honored and carried well, but a death alone in the bush leaves a wound that never fully closes, so the old people moved mountains to be present at a passing, and counted it a sacred duty never to let one of their own die unwitnessed and alone.

Wulbumanangka balkan wula bama-nyaji-ji wula nganga yindu-yindu yala wawu-mumbu-manil jana bawanmunymuny, jawun-karra ngunduku bada bajaku wula karrban yukil-bungal jarrakulbal yukil, yambada wula nganga majaji-nga bawan buyun nyulu kariku bajaku karra, bama mukul yumal murni-manin wula ngunduku jananka, karrban kuku junkurr kariku nyubun jana-muny wula bama-nyaji-kari nganga baja.


<translate> We cracked nuts all afternoon, and the shells lay in a heap by the fire.

Ngana darka dumbarrin wungar bada-nya, dumbul baya karangkal wunan wubulku.


<translate> He sees the rock python there.


<translate> We all, not you, see the blanket there.


<translate> We two, not you, saw the deep water here.


<translate> The turtle laid its eggs in the warm sand above the high-tide mark at night.

Yalnga diburr wunan jukar wumbul-a, balar wangkar-a wujurr-ba.


<translate> We saw the bamboo spear stick here.


<translate> They danced and sang all night, until the stars turned in the sky and the little ones fell asleep.

Jana wurin, wulngku badin kunarangkal wubulku, dawar wangkar murnijinya, ngawa-ngawa warngku wunanda.


<translate> The women showed the young girls how to weave the dilly bags from the strong lawyer cane.

Jalbu-ngku maral-maral balkan, ngunyin bunga-nka kaku junkurr-muny.


<translate> Bring a spear in case a pig comes.

Kalka wundi, nganganjirrka bikibiki kada-nyamunku.


<translate> We two, not you, see the barramundi here.


<translate> Father was the first to see the pig.

Nganjan-angka nyulu-ngurr bikibiki nyajin.


<glossary> mulkay-warri ; type=intransitive-verb ; domain=cognition-emotion <usage_example> I watched them playing and I felt happy

Ngayu jananiin nyajin ngujurinya, ngayu mulkay-warrin


<translate> You and I saw the barramundi there.


<translate> The old woman's last teaching about the plants was this: you did not make the country and you cannot own it, you were made by it and you belong to it, as the tree belongs to the ground it grows in, so live as the good tree lives, taking only what you need, giving shade and fruit and shelter freely, harming nothing you do not have to, and going back gently into the ground that made you when your season ends.

Wulbumanangka nyungu milbil bada mayimuny yinya: yundu kari bubu bungan yundu kariku karrbal, bubu-bu yundu bunganmuny yundu bubu-mundu karra, juku yala bubu-mundu karra nyulu ngundu jarralmuny, wuna juku yukil yala wunay, nganga wanya yundu wawu-manil manil, wabarr mayi bayan baja dayal, yamba nyubun kari mumbu-bungal yundu kari murni-manda, bubu-mundu kima nyunba yundu bunganmuny yundu wungar dumban.


<translate> They see the bandicoot there.


<translate> The black cherry tree is here.


<translate> The water snake swims through the still water of the lagoon looking for little fish.

Bakay bana janka-nga janji-l, kuyu buban warrmba-bunga-l.


<translate> You and I saw the spear barb there.


<translate> The digging stick is on the ground.


<translate> You all saw the kira-kira black ant there.


<translate> They covered the fire with sand before they left.

Jana baya nandan jukar-bu, dunga-nyjiku.


<translate> They walked from waterhole to waterhole, the way their old people showed them.

Jana jilba dungan banamuny bananga, yalaku kamba-kambangka milbin.


<translate> You two see the karraway snail here.


<translate> That crown of the head is here.


<translate> You and I saw the baringkan small bird there.


<translate> His grandfather died in the hot season.


<translate> The two old men who had been boys together sixty years before embraced each other and wept together, for they had thought never to see each other again in this life.

Mukul dingkar jambul jana karrkay nyubun ngadiku bajaku wawu wubulmuny, jana karrba-wan badi-wan, jana milkabu baykan kari nyaji-way baja wawu nyubunba.


<translate> Mother gave water to the young man with a cough.

Ngamu-ngku bana dajin warru-nda ngiki-ji-nda.


<translate> Father left liver in the shade.


<translate> The old man said the cost of every choice is the road not taken, so before you choose, walk both roads in your mind to the very end, and only then decide which regret you would rather carry.

Mukulungku dingkarangka balkan: yamba wubulku manilmu dandi jina kari maninmuny, yundu maninyjiku ngadiku, jina jambul milkanga murru bajakuka jilba, yalada nganga binal wanya milka-badil yundu wundinka wawu.


<translate> I asked my elder brother where the fat kangaroos were feeding in the long dry season.

Ngayu yaba-nda babajin, mayarriji wandul wanja nukal marral-wungar-a.


<translate> The men played while the women danced; the boys beat two boomerangs together like clap-sticks, and the old man called out the country's songs.

Dingkar-dingkar nguju, jalbu-jalbu wurin; karrkay-karrkayngku wangal jambul muru kunin, mukul-dingkarangka bubu-mu burri yirrkan.


<translate> You and I see the wankar tree there.


<translate> Big brother caught two eels.


<lexeme> The Daintree side of Rocky Point


<translate> You all saw the karrkurr frog here.


<translate> He came from the house with the tree.


<translate> He saw the balarri queenfish here.


<translate> You two saw the pumice stone there.


<translate> You two see the jirimandi coconut tree there.


<translate> You saw the ngumbi bandicoot there.


<translate> You all saw the kawarr bloodwood tree here.


<translate> You all saw the makaji onion plant there.


<translate> The two of them see the running water there.


<translate> Grandmother takes a billycan; perhaps water is there.

Babi-ngka jungkalu wundil, nguba bana yinyay.


<glossary> balnji ; type=adverb ; domain=manner <usage_example> they are camping out


<translate> The tall brolgas dance together on the open ground beside the still water at dusk.

Kulbal kalbay wubul bubu-ngu muru wuri-l, bana karangkal wungar bada-nya.


<translate> Grandmother gave mother's clothes to the child.

Babi-ngka kambi ngamu-ngu dajin karrkay-anda.


<translate> Grandmother cut the fish with a knife.


<translate> This wood splits clean; that one fights back — listen to the first blow, then choose.

Juku yanya dumbarril yukilbu, yinya bakal muku: milka-janay jurrnga ngadiku, yalada mana.


<translate> The bandicoot ran out of the long grass at dusk, and the quick dog caught it by the track.

Kulngu jikan kalbay-muny warri wujurr-ma-nya, kaya buyun-buyun manin jina ngundu.


<glossary> biwur ; type=adverb ; domain=posture-rest <usage_example> He is sitting with his hands holding his legs


<translate> The native cat crept quietly along the branch and took the sleeping bird from its nest.

Jungarr janka jilba dakil-burr, buyi warngku wuna-nya manin bayan-muny.


<translate> Auntie knows which plants are good medicine.


<translate> The ghost is not coming; it is going.


<translate> The biggest portion went to the one who had done the most work, and the same portion went to the smallest child, for the child would grow and needed it more.

Minya yalbay bajaku bamaka dungan nyulu kirraji wubul bajaku ngaranmuny, minya nyubun karrkay bubanka baja, nyulu kambanka wawu wubul-baja.


<glossary> milka ngabal ; type=transitive-verb ; domain=speech-communication <usage_example> God will give them judgement


<translate> The old man said: what is mine is yours, what is yours is the children's, and what is the children's belongs to the country — nothing belongs to one person alone.

Mukul-dingkarangka balkan: ngayku minya yununku, yunu minya karrkay-karrkayka, karrkay-karrkay-amu minya bubu-nku — nyubun bama-nka wubul kari.


<glossary> walkandu ; type=noun ; domain=speech-communication <usage_example> Don't talk in English


<translate> They saw the biru-biru rainbow bird here.


<translate> We saw the bottlebrush tree.


<translate> You and I saw the dilly bag there.


<glossary> ngakil ; type=noun ; domain=manipulation-impact <usage_example> I hid the spear in the grass


<translate> It was all finished; it had taken him.


<translate> He saw the jungka wild cherry tree here.


<lexeme> First bay south of Bloomfield River along coast


<translate> We two, not you, see the scrub goanna there.


<translate> You and I saw the karkunbay stockwhip bird there.


<translate> They saw the big spear here.


<translate> We two, not you, saw the jungka wild cherry tree here.


<translate> The Torres Strait Island pigeon is standing outside.


<translate> We all, not you, see the black-tip shark there.


<translate> The big snake lay on the warm rock in the sun, and the children did not see it.

Jarba yalbay kulji wumbulbu wunan wungara, karrkay-karrkay nyulu kariku nyajin.


<translate> They see the bush fire here.


<translate> They saw the baldy gum tree here.


<translate> We all, not you, see the mud here.


<translate> How many spears do you have? I have three: one for fish, one for war, one for the big game. Which one is the oldest? The war spear; my grandfather carried it.

Wanjarrinya kalka yundu karrbal? Ngayu kulur karrbal: nyubun kuyu-nka, nyubun kuni-nka, nyubun minya yalbay-nka. Wanya ngadiku-nyubun? Kuyan; ngayku kami wundin.


<translate> The old man asked the boy who had taken his good spear away from the camp.

Mukul-dingkar-angka warru babajin, wanyangka nyungu kalka ngulkurr bayan-muny manin.


<translate> The old woman said a taste can carry you back across forty years in a single breath: the smell of a certain root roasting, the sweetness of a particular honey, the way her own mother cooked the fish, and this is one way the dead stay with us, in the food we still cook the way they taught us, so cook the old dishes, and they are there at the fire with you.

Wulbumanangka balkan: nganja yundu nyunbanmanil wungar wubulmuny nyubun wangarnga: jarra nyubun wajulmu nganja, wunba nyubunmu jiba-wulay, ngamu nyulu-nyulu yala kuyu wajunmu, yinya nyubun yala bama wula ngananji janji, mayinga ngana yabarrka wajul yala jana milbinmu, waju mayi ngadiku, jana yinya baya ngunduka yundunji.


<translate> Another child asked: Who taught the first people how to hunt, and how to make fire, and how to read the stars?

Yindu karrkayangka babajin: Wanyangka bama ngadiku milbin balbinka, baya ngaranka, dawar nyajinka?


<translate> We all, not you, see the liver there.


<translate> You see the burnt patch of grass here.


<translate> The man put the bark in the bag.

Dingkar-angka dumbul balji-nga yijarrin.


<translate> They saw the running water there.


<translate> And so the knowledge of the plants passed from the old to the young, unbroken, longer than anyone could say.

Yalaku mayimu binal kamba-kambamuny warru-warruka dungan, kari dumbarrin, yala ngadiku bajaku bama kari balkanka.


<translate> The two of them see the barracuda here.


<translate> The old woman said the scrub is a great larder if you know it: yam below, fruit above, fish in the creek, and the scrub-hen's eggs in the mound.

Mukul-jalbu balkan: madja mayi-bubu yalbay yundu binal-ba — bambayal bada, mayi wangkar, kuyu bana-ba, jarruka-mu karrkay bubu-mabi-ba.


<translate> You two saw the bajal bower bird there.


<translate> The sweet fruit is not yet ripe on the tree; sit and wait until the hot season comes again.

Mayi juku-ba kariku kulbul; bunda-l baya ngundu wumbul-wungar kada-nya.


<translate> We see the mungka-mungka tree here.


<translate> When a person dies, the old man said, their true name is not spoken aloud for a long, long time, and they are called only by the taboo-name instead.

Bama wula-nya-muny, mukul-dingkar balkan, nyungu burri junkurr kari balka-l wumbul marri-marri, nyulu ngalba-bu nyubun burri-mani.


<glossary> milka-daray ; type=intransitive-verb ; domain=cognition-emotion <usage_example> The young man and girl did wrong in the bush

Bulu maral and warru milka-daran duduymbu


<translate> The man left the spear in the shade.


<translate> Learn the country and the country will carry you home, he said, wherever you go.

Bubu binalmaka, bububu yunu wundil bayanba, nyulu balkan, wanjaka yundu dungay.


<translate> Hold the baby — it might fall!


<lexeme> {'english': 'Yabaju kari diday-mana ngaykundu. Ngayu babarr', 'translation': "Don't say bad something bad about my younger brother to me. I'm his older sister."}


<translate> I see the mirrbangku pencil cedar tree here.


<translate> The kids found crab holes in the mud.

Karrkay-karrkayangka wurru-bulan nyajin kambal-kambalba.


<translate> The two men waded out to the reef, speared the green turtles, and came back at sunset.

Dingkar jambul dulngku-ngu dungan, yalnga daman, wungar bada-nya kadan-baja.


<translate> The two of them, walking together, followed the one fresh track deep into the thick scrub.

Bula jambul, muru jilba-nya, jina nyubun wukurri-l madja junkurr dukurr-ka.


<glossary> diburr ; type=noun ; domain=flora-plant <usage_example> Ngayu diburr manin Sisterandamun


<translate> We two, not you, see the freshwater eel here.


<translate> The morning star fades as the sun rises, and the new day comes over the wide, waking country.

Dawar wunkuwingku-mu wula wungar daka-nya, wungar jirakal kaday bubu yalbay wandi-nya.


<translate> You and I see the ngurrkul fig tree there.


<translate> The sun came up. Dad got his spear. He went out for pigs.

Wungar wandin. Nganjanangka nyungu kalka manin. Nyulu bikibikinga dungan.


<translate> I saw the walkarr goanna here.


<translate> He saw the ngumbi bandicoot here.


<translate> The old man said a good elder held the whole kin-map of the people in their memory, could tell any two people exactly how they were related even across distant camps, could settle a marriage question or a dispute by knowing the lines, and this living memory was a treasure the people could not do without, so the old ones taught the genealogies to the young with the same care they gave the law, for a people that forgets its kin-map loses its very self.

Mukulungku dingkarangka balkan mukul yukil karrbal karra-bubu-jarray bama wubulku nyungu milkanga, balkal bama jambul nyubun-nyubun yala jana kajan bayan-kiway-mundu baja, dunyu-kuku kuni-kuku bada-manil karra-jina binalbu, yinya milka wula-mabi nyulu yamba-yukil bama nyulu kari nganga janaymuny, mukul jana milbin karra-jangkar warru-warra kuku yukil yala jana dayan, bama nyulu karra-bubu-jarray bawal nyulu nyungu-nyulu bada-manil.


<glossary> milka ngabal ; type=transitive-verb ; domain=speech-communication <usage_example> I reminded you yesterday


<translate> You two saw the jumper ant here.


<glossary> wurmbu ; type=noun ; domain=body-part <usage_example> The bird is right up at the top


<translate> He cut a small hole in the tree and reached in, and his hand came out dripping with sweet honey.

Nyulu juku buban yakan, mara walan, nyungu mara kadan wunbaji jiba-wulayji.


<translate> You two see the tree snake there.


<translate> The old man put his hand on the boy's shoulder and said: now you know the weight of meat, and you will never waste it.

Mukulungku dingkarangka mara yijarrin karrkaymu bindanga, balkan: nyiku yundu binal minyamu dandi, kari yundu bawal yabarrka.


<translate> You all saw the kalburiji bee there.


<translate> Are you going to your grandfather's country? Yes, my grandfather is teaching me the sacred places, the water sources, and the boundary of our land.

Yundu nyungu kami-mu bubu-mundu dungay? Yuwu, ngayku kami nganya binal-bungal bubu yirmbal, bana-mu bubu, ngali bubu-mu kunbayn.


<translate> They saw the wuymbariji scrub tree there.


<translate> You and I see the dabway bird there.


<translate> Mother saw the child's body.


<translate> He also cut a new woomera from hard wood, so the spear would fly further and strike harder.

Nyulu mirrba jirakal yakan juku junkurrmuny, kalka kalakalbay marra-warrinka, junkurrku damanka.


<translate> The father showed his sons how to bind a spearhead: bind it tight with cane, let it dry firm, then seal the join with warm beeswax so it never slips.

Nganjangka kangkal-karra kurrajan dandi-bunga binal-bungan: karra-bu dandi-bungan, marral dandi wunan, jila wumbul-bu dandi-bungan, kariku dungay.


<translate> Little bee, show me your tree and I will leave you the biggest share.

Dabu buban, milbi ngaykunka juku yunu, ngayu bawal yununka daji yalbay bajaku.


<glossary> nulu ; type=noun ; domain=fire <usage_example> She cooked damper in the ashes


<translate> The man got the fish net at the sea.


<translate> It takes many years to learn to read the country, the old man said, and the reading never ends, for the country is always speaking.

Bubu nyajilmanka wungar wubulku manil, mukulungku dingkarangka balkan, nyajil kari dungay yabarrka, bubu balkal yabarrka.


<translate> You two see the dulmbi umbrella palm there.


<translate> Those people over there lit a big fire on the high ground at dusk.

Yinya-rriny yinyay baya yalbay bungan bubu wangkar-a wungar bada dunga-nya.


<translate> The stinging vine stands in the scrub.


<translate> You see the nyumbil coolibah tree here.


<translate> My cross-cousin and I joke and laugh together, we share everything, and we hunt as one — that is the way of cousins.

Ngayku kambanmu ngali yajarr-wan, ngali wubul daji-way, ngali nyubun balbil — yinya bangunji-mu kuku.


<translate> The two of them see the barracuda there.


<translate> The old woman said a country with a keeper and a country without one grow apart within a single lifetime, for the kept country has its tracks kept clear, its waters kept clean, its stories kept alive and its burning done in season, while the keeper-less country grows wild and choked and dangerous and slowly forgets the people just as the people forgot it.

Wulbumanangka balkan bubu kuji-bama-ji bubu kuji-bama-kari yindu-yindu janji wawu nyubun kalbay-mba, bubu kujin nyungu jina jirakal karrban, bana yukil karrban, jangkar wunay karrban baya wungar bungan, yambada bubu kuji-bama-kari jiwarrin karra-manda yinil-manda buban-buban milka-wulan bama yala bama nyulu milka-wulanmuny.


<translate> They saw the black scrub goanna.


<translate> The two sisters, who are always together, went to the creek to bathe.

Jalbu-bulal, muru-baja, wawubaja-ka dungan, julurri-ji-nka.


<translate> If a dog bites a child, tell me.

Kaki kaya-ngka karrkay baykal, nganya balka.


<translate> Put the baby inside; the wind has found its evening voice.

Ngawa yijarri kanaka: muyarbu kuku wujurrmuny nyungu manin.


<glossary> kayil ; type=transitive-verb ; domain=hunting-fishing-gathering <usage_example> The man charmed the girl


<translate> The big spider built its round web between the two trees beside the quiet path.

Malal yalbay-angka bayan warral-warral juku jambul-ba bungan, jina janka karangkal.


<glossary> kayal ; type=adjective ; domain=value-quality <usage_example> They eat raw meat


<translate> You two see the snail there.


<translate> You and I saw the wooden sword there.


<lexeme> upper reaches of the Bloomfield River


<translate> The octopus hides in a hole among the reef stones and grabs the small fish that swim past it.

Kurrija kulji-nga janku-ngu ngakijin, kuyu buban maraji-nya nyulu karrban.


<translate> I see the marsupial native cat there.


<translate> The little child kept asking its mother again and again for some more of the sweet honey.

Karrkay buban ngamu-nda babaji-l-babajin, wunba jiba-wulay baja-ka wawu.


<translate> Ahead of the walker walks his thinking; behind him walks his story — the man himself is just the join.

Jakalba jilba-bamamuny jilbal milkabu-baykal nyungu: kudamundu jilbal kuku-jangkar nyungu: bama nyulu-nyulu nyulu kaja nganga.


<translate> We saw the fish in the water.


<translate> The father's sister came from the far camp carrying gifts of food for her brother's newborn baby, the old woman said, in the old way of kin.

Bimakay bayan kala-kalbay-muny kaday mayi daji-nka nyungu yaba-mu karrkay jirakal-nka, mukul-jalbu balkan, yalaku kalbay-muny-mu.


<translate> They two see the barramundi there.


<translate> The fire did not die; it burned all night.


<translate> The old man said hardship changes a person the way fire changes wood, and it can go two ways: the same hard year that makes one person bitter and closed makes another person deep and strong, and the difference lies not in the hardship but in how the person meets it, so he taught the young that you cannot always choose what changes come upon you but you can often choose what you let them change you into.

Mukulungku dingkarangka balkan mumbu-wungar nyulu bama yindu-mal yala baya juku yindu-mal, nyulu dungay jambul-jina: wungar dandi nyubun nyulu bama nyubun wawu-kaka-mal dandi-mal nyulu bama yindu dukurr-mal junkurr-mal, yindu-yindu nyulu kari mumbu-wungara yambada yala bama nyulu yinya nyaji-way, nyulu warru milbin yundu kariku wawu-manil wanyu yindu kadan yundunka yambada yundu nganga wawu-manil wanyu yundu jana yundu yindu-bungalmuny.


<translate> The woman washed mother's shoulder.


<translate> We two (not you) saw the river there.


<translate> We see the jinjajalka tree here.


<translate> That spear thrower is there.


<translate> Granny is minding the baby while the women dig yams.

Babingka ngawa kujil, jalbu-jalbungku wukay bakal.


<translate> That long white road of stars across the sky, he said, is the smoke of the ancestors' fires, camped along the great river.

Yinya dawar jina kalbay jiri wubulku, nyulu balkan, kamba-kamba baya kubu, jana wawubaja yalbay ngundu bundanmuny.


<translate> We two, not you, see the death adder there.


<translate> The old woman carried her dilly bag full of food and her digging stick everywhere that she went.

Mukul-jalbu ngunyin mayi-jirr, juwal-jirr wundin wubulku, wanja-wanja nyulu dungan.


<translate> Many small birds flew down to the waterhole to drink in the cool of the early morning light.

Buyi-buyi buban wubul marra-warrin bada janku-ka bana nuka-nka wunkuwingku ngiki-ba.


<translate> The man put leaves on the ground.


<translate> The dog jumped over the log.


<glossary> yimbalji ; type=noun ; domain=speech-communication <usage_example> He went with a message


<translate> There is a hollow trunk in the tree.


<translate> Mother left the hook and line in the shade.


<translate> We all, not you, see the high bank there.


<translate> Make the new spear just like this old one here, straight and hard and very sharp.

Kalka bunga-l yala-ku yinya, jinbal junkurr jinbal-baja-ku.


<translate> That little boy runs just like his own father, fast and light, with his head held high.

Warru buban warri yala nyungu nganjan, jinbal buban dukul wangkar-a.


<glossary> wuyarr ; type=adjective ; domain=perception <usage_example> He can't see him well, hes too far away

Nyulu wuyarr nbajaku nyajiji, kala-kalbay bajakunda


<translate> I saw the mangkurr-mangkurr garfish here.


<translate> Their two spears are lying here; whose are these?

Bula-nga kalka jambul yaluy wunay; wanya-mba yanyu?


<translate> The women dug the sweet yams and the wild ginger roots from the soft creek bank.

Jalbu-ngka wukay jiba bangkan baja bakan, wawubaja jalkar kima-muny.


<glossary> milka ngabal ; type=transitive-verb ; domain=speech-communication <usage_example> I reminded you yesterday


<translate> We took the dog's food to camp.


<translate> Where is your mother right now, the old man asked the little lost child gently, for I have not once seen her since the early morning.

Yunu ngamu wanjabu niji? mukul-dingkar-angka karrkay buban wula-nya janka nyajin, ngayu nyungu kari nyaji wunkuwingku-muny.


<translate> They saw that wuymbariji scrub tree.


<translate> Father asked mother about liver.


<translate> A thunderstorm came from the mountain.


<translate> The sea turtle is in the water.


<translate> You all saw the dijarr freshwater perch there.


<glossary> bala ; type=adjective ; domain=physical-property <usage_example> You became skinny from not having enough food


<translate> All through the dark night the old people sleep, and the little children lie close by the warm fire.

Wujurr ngungul-ba wubulku mukul-bama warngku wuna, karrkay-karrkay buban baya wumbul ngundu wuna.


<translate> The person there is skilled.


<translate> The old man named every tree for the boy as they walked — this is bloodwood, this is oak, this is tea-tree — so the country would speak to him always.

Mukul-dingkarangka juku wubulku karrkay-nka burri jilba-nya — yinya babajaka, yinya dalban, yinya bijin — bubu nyungu-nka balka wubulku.


<translate> They see the bamboo stick here.


<translate> They see the murral tree kangaroo there.


<translate> I saw the ngurrkul fig tree here.


<translate> Grandfather saw the stingray.


<translate> I put the paperbark in the shade.


<translate> The two girls walked along the road.


<translate> The two of them see the kangaroo rat there.


<translate> You see the freshwater eel there.


<translate> You all saw the yarrka bee here.


<translate> You and I saw the birinjil centipede there.


<translate> The old woman's hands were clever, and she wove the dilly bag quickly and well.

Wulbuman-mu mara binal-baja, nyulu ngunyin bila ngulkurr bungan.


<translate> He saw the nakawarra bee here.


<translate> The old man said every animal had its own place and its own law, and a person who learned the ways of the animals learned the ways of the whole country.

Mukulungku dingkarangka balkan: minya wubulku nyungu bubu, nyungu kuku, bama nyulu minyamu yala binalmal bubu wubulmu yala binalmal.


<glossary> dalngarri ; type=noun ; domain=fire <usage_example> make the fire give light


<translate> You and I see the sea turtle there.


<translate> The woman came from the scrub with a stick.


<glossary> bubu ; type=noun ; domain=land-geography <usage_example> the clothes are dirty now


<translate> The father's sister is here.


<translate> We all, not you, see the black snake there.


<translate> The woman put liver on the ground.


<glossary> kana-baykal ; type=intransitive-verb ; domain=cognition-emotion <usage_example> I'm angry at you


<translate> A snake came into the camp. The women shouted. The old man killed it with a stick.

Jarba bayanba kadan. Jalbu-jalbu yirrkarin. Mukulungku dingkarangka jarba kunin jukubu.


<glossary> nguba ; type=adverb ; domain=grammatical-particle <usage_example> Maybe he'll go, maybe not


<translate> You two see the waterfall there.


<translate> The dog chased the possum. The possum climbed the tree.

Kayangka yawa kangan. Yawa jukungu dakan.


<translate> The old woman gave us all the sweet honey and told us the old stories.

Wulbumangka ngananka wunba jiba-wula-wula dajin, nganangan kuku ngadiku balkan.


<translate> The dingo chased the frightened wallaby down the hill and across the shallow, muddy creek.

Murramu-ngku kadar yini-yini kangan bada jamba-muny naka-naka wawubaja buyun-ka.


<glossary> kandarr ; type=noun ; domain=bodily-function <usage_example> The child finished eating, then the mother burped him

Nyulu karrkaymayi kunban ngamungku kandarrda dakay-manin


<translate> He sees the nyumbil coolibah tree here.


<glossary> ngujungu ; type=noun ; domain=manner <usage_example> I pretend/play I'm a horse


<glossary> jalngkun ; type=adjective ; domain=physical-property <usage_example> The axe is very dull; sharpen it with a file

Axe dudu bajaku; jalngkun-bunga filemundu.


<translate> You see the wooden sword here.


<glossary> yaral ; type=adjective ; domain=water <usage_example> He's not angry any more


<glossary> mambarril ; type=transitive-verb ; domain=transfer-possession <usage_example> You didn't let me go


<translate> You all saw the kalmbangarr black diver bird there.


<lexeme> Rattlesnake point - Fritz Creek


<translate> Let us go down to the water now, and then we will swim in the cool clear creek.

Yala ngana bana-ka dunga-l niji, yalada wawubaja ngiki-nga janji-l.


<glossary> jamba ; type=noun ; domain=land-geography <usage_example> Up there on the hillside


<translate> The old man kept scraping the boomerang smooth.

Mukulungku dingkarangka wangal yurrilyurrin.


<glossary> janbangaji ; type=intransitive-verb ; domain=manipulation-impact <usage_example> The car is stuck in the mud


<glossary> yungal ; type=transitive-verb ; domain=transfer-possession <usage_example> Mother sent to me the store


<translate> You and I saw the karrandal tree here.


<translate> The old man always eats the liver of the kangaroo, for it is the best meat of all.

Mukul-dingkar minya mayarriji jiba nuka-nya, yinya minya ngulkurr bajaku narmba-muny.


<translate> You all see the barracuda here.


<translate> The butterfly crossed the whole valley, thinner than a word — strength is not always heavy.

Walbul-walbul dungan bubu wubulkuburr, nyulu bala-baja kukumuny: junkurr kari yabarrka dandi.


<glossary> jikal ; type=transitive-verb ; domain=manipulation-impact <usage_example> They straighten the spear out in the fire


<translate> Don't take my good knife; leave it inside the dilly bag where I put it away.

Kari mani ngayku naybu ngulkurr! Bawa ngunyin-ba, ngayu yijarri-nya.