(Brabrolong Tribe, Mitchell, Nicholson, and Tambo Rivers.)
Ebing
tówund-jat
wattun
magwánnnumurunga.
Maengwarra
gwánnumurunga
Owl
stole
'possum
of eaglehawk.
Watched
eaglehawk
(The little brown owl)
multówundjun
wattun
múlnoongal.
Yirrak
neinda
bulla,
kànyuboolla
mangoot bittal.
stealing
meat
of his.
Quarrel
fellows
two,
perhaps
fight.
(as fighting with a waddy or club)
Palwadinna
daya
moóngabúllan
maggiárt-bearn
bulla.
Koonkarra
gwánnumurunga
A number
see
fellows two
wrestling
two.
Perhaps
eaglehawk
(together)
maggiart-bearn
bulla.
Kannyu
bullan
mabúndian.
Multówandjanny
ngrúnga
wrestling
two.
Perhaps
two
bite.
Stealing
hole
(together)
(tear with the beak)
wattunda
ma gwánnumurunga
nook prak a
ngrúnga
gwánnumurunga.
Ebing
turtygunny
'possum
of the eaglehawk
block up
hole
the eaglehawk.
Owl
dead
moonangrunga.
hole.
The Eaglehawk and the Owl. (By a Native of a Tribe near the Brabrolong.)
Bonay-chakka
já-anju
gwánnumurunga
wóonganto
jirra.
Gwánnumurung
Claw-flesh
foot with
eaglehawk
seeking
kangaroo.
Eaglehawk
The eaglehawk was seeking to seize a kangaroo with his talons.
The eaglehawk saw
ebing
mum
mutkwut
wongia
ngia
ngrunga.
Ebing
woonganto
blang.
owl
there
going
into
his
hole.
Owl
seeking
ring-tail 'possum.
the owl going into a hole belonging to him.
The owl was seeking a ring-tail 'possum.
Mútkwuttung
(mookun)
ebing
toondor
tanga
wanga
ngrunga.
Wully
ngat
kekán
Went into
(going into)
owl
dowu
bottom
into
hole.
How
I
can
The owl went down into the bottom of the hole.
The eaglehawk said how shall
ma nókepalla
gunna?
Tappy
quannal!
Ebing
tunkana
tang,
shut up
him?
All
right!
Owl
spoke
words,
I contrive to shut him up?
All right, I have it!
The owl said how shall
wama
ngat
jellaquan
tungoo?
Blabba
tungana.
Blabba
gwánnumurung
how
I
hole make
hence?
Away
from here.
Away
eaglehawk
I make a hole to escape hence?
He made his escape.
The eaglehawk
tungoo—wangoo
ebinga.
hence—from him
owl.
went away when the owl had escaped.
Note.—It seems that at that time the eaglehawk is supposed to have claimed all the 'possums as well as the kangaroos as his property. Hence he speaks of the hole in the tree in which lives the ring-tail 'possum as "belonging to him."
Told by one of the Tatoongolong tribe, which inhabited the strip of land between the Gippsland
Lakes and the sea.
Tatoon = Soutb, e.g., Tatoon willung = South rain, or rain from the south.
