Irisleabhar na Gaedhilge/Imleabhar 5/Uimhir 5/Micheál na Buile

by Peadar Ua Laoghaire

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Irisleabhar na Gaedhilge, Imleabhar V, Uimh. 5 by Peadar Ua Laoghaire Micheál na Buile

Anecdota from Irish Mss. XII→

[ 77 ]

CORK IRISH.

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[ 77 ] MIĊEÁL NA BUILE.	[ 78 ] Translation. MAD MICK.
[ 77 ]C. A Ṁiċíl, airiú, cár ġaḃais ċuġainn no cár ċaiṫis an aimsir le corruiġeaċt agus fiċe bliaḋain?	[ 78 ]C. Michael, aroo, where did you come from to us, or where did you spend the time during more than twenty years?
[ 77 ]M. Ḃiḋeas i nGleann na nGealt, a Ċáit.	[ 78 ]M. I have been in Glen na ngealt, Kate.
[ 77 ]C. Agus cad a ċuir a ḃaile ṫu?	[ 78 ]C. And what sent you home?
[ 77 ]M. An t-uaigneas, ṁaise.	[ 78 ]M. The loneliness, then.
[ 77 ]C. An ḃfuil an áit sin a ḃfad ó ḃaile?	[ 78 ]C. Is that place far away?
[ 77 ]M. Ḃíḋeas ag siuḃlóid ar feaḋ seaċtṁaine sul ar ṡroiseas é, agus tá seaċtṁain agus breis ó d’ḟágas é.	[ 78 ]M. I was travelling for a week: before I reached it, and there is a week and more since I left it.
[ 77 ]C. Cad é an saġas baill é, a Ṁiċíl?	[ 78 ]C. What sort of a place is it, Michael?
[ 78 ]M. Tá, ball greannṁar. Gleann fada, uaigneaċ fiaḋain, cnuic ṁóra, árda ar gaċ taoḃ ḋe, sroṫán fíor-uisge ag riṫ tré n-a lár, biolar ag fás ar ḃruaċ an tsroṫáin sin, agus liaċt daoine buile bailiġṫe ar gaċ taoḃ de’n tsroṫán ag iṫe an ḃiolair agus ag ól an uisge.	[ 78 ]M. A very queer place, then, it is. A long, lonely wide glen, big high mountains on each side of it, a stream of water running through the middle of it, cresses growing on the bank of that stream, and a number of mad people gathered at both sides of the stream eating the cresses and drinking the water.
[ 78 ]C. Ṁaise, Dia linn, a Ṁiċíl, naċ suaraċ an biaḋ é!	[ 78 ]C. Wisha, God help us, Michael, is it not a scanty food?
[ 78 ]M. Ní ċuirfeaḋ sé masmus ar ḋuine, geallaim ḋuit.	[ 78 ]M. It would not surfeit a person, I promise you.
[ 78 ]C. Cionnus ċaiṫis an aimsir ann, a Ṁiċíl?	[ 78 ]C. How did you spend the time there, Michael?
[ 78 ]M. Nuair ṡroiseas an áit, ḃí tuirse agus ocras orm, agus an ċéad duine a ḃuail umam, do iarras air rud éigin le n-iṫe ṫaḃairt dam. Níor rinn sé aċt féaċaint orm agus a ċeann do ċromaḋ arís. An méid díoḃ a ḃí am’ ċoṁgar, ṫógadar a gcinn agus d’ḟeuċadar orm, agus ann soin ċromadar arís, agus níor ċuireadar a ṫuilleaḋ suime ionnam. ’Nuair ná fuaras freagra níor laḃras a ṫuilleaḋ aċt imṫeaċt ag iṫe an ḃiolair leó. Cúpla lá ’n-a ḋiaiḋ sin ḃíomair ag iṫe agus ag ól, agus gan focal as beul aoinne’, agus cad do seolfaiḋe fá’n ngleann isteaċ aċt bó agus í ag dul i múġa? ’Nuair ḟeuċ sí ’na tímċeall agus ċonnairc sí an fiaḋantas go léir, do ċuir sí an ḃúirṫeaċ aiste ba ṫruaiġṁéiliġe dár airiġ mo ḋá ċluais riaṁ. Ṗreabamair suas agus d’ḟeucamair uirrṫe. ’Nuair ḃí an ḃúirṫeaċ críoċnuiġṫe aice agus an macalla d’éis í ḟreagairt seaċt n-uaire ó’n sliaḃ, d’iompuiḋ sí ar a sálaiḃ agus ċuir sí an talaṁ dí ċoṁ geur a’s ḃí sé ’na cosaiḃ. Ċrom gaċ aoinne’ arís agus níor ḃíoḋg glór duine ná beiṫig ann go ceann seaċt mbliaḋan ó’n lá soin. Ann soin do ṫóg seanduine beag, a ḃí ann le fada, a ċeann. “Airíġim géim bó,” ar seisean. D’ḟeuċ gaċ aoinne’ air, agus níor laḃair duine.	[ 78 ]M. When I reached the place I was tired and hungry, and the first person I met, I asked him for something to eat. He merely looked at me and bent his head again. Those of them who were near me raised their heads and looked at me, and then they bent down their heads again and took no more notice of me. As I did not get an answer, I did not speak any more, but went eating the [ 79 ]cresses along with them. A couple of days after that, we were eating and drinking, and not a word out of anyone’s mouth, when what should be directed into the glen but a cow, and she going astray. When she looked around her and saw all the wildness, she uttered the most awful lowing my two ears ever heard. We all sprang up and looked at her. When she had finished her lowing, and when the echo had answered her seven times from the mountain, she turned on her heels and ran away as far as it was in her legs. Every person bent down again, and the voice of man or beast did not awake in the place for seven years from that day. Then a little old man who had been long there raised his head. “I hear the lowing of a cow,” said he. Everyone looked at him, and nobody spoke.
[ 78 ]D’imṫiġ seaċt mbliaḋna eile sul a ḃfuair sé sin freagra. Fé ḋeireaḋ d’osgail garsún a ḃeul agus duḃairt, “Cá’r airíġis í?”	[ 79 ]Seven years now passed before that man got a rejoinder. At last a little boy opened his mouth, and said, “Where did you hear her?”
[ 78 ]D’ḟeuc gaċ aoinne’ ar an ngarsún agus níor ḃog aoinne’ a ḃeul féin.	[ 79 ]Everyone looked at the boy, and no one loosened his own mouth.
[ 78 ]I gceann seaċt mbliaḋan eile do ṫóg fear mór liaṫ suas a ċeann, agus d’ḟeuċ sé go feargaċ ar an gceud duine a ḃris ar an gciúnas. Ann soin d’ḟéuċ sé go feargaċ ar an ngarsún, agus a ḃfad anonn dó, is é rud aduḃairt sé: “Tá an gleann boḋar agaiḃ!”	[ 79 ]After seven years a big grey man raised up his head and looked angrily at the first person who broke the silence. Then he looked angrily at the boy. Then after a long pause the thing he said was—“The glen is bothered with ye?”
[ 78 ]C. Agus cad a rinnis ann soin, a Ṁiċíl?	[ 79 ]C. And what did you do then, Michael?
[ 78 ]M. Ṫáinig uaigneas orm. Ṫugas seaċt mbliaḋna ag feiṫeaṁ le caint an ḟir ḃig léiṫ. Ḃiḋeas ar feaḋ seaċt mbliaḋan ag braṫ ar ċeist an ġarsúin o ḋuine éigin. Ann soin ’nuair ċeapas go ndéarfaḋ an fear mór rud éigin fóġanta, isé rud a rinn sé stop do ċur leis an gcaint ar fad.	[ 79 ]M. Loneliness came on me. I had spent seven years waiting for the utterance of the little grey man. Then I was for seven years waiting to hear from somebody the boy’s question. Then when I expected that the big man would say something good, what he did was to put a stop altogether to the conversation.
[ 78 ]C. Am ḋáiġ, níor ḃ’iongnaḋ ḋó soin. Is agaiḃ a ḃí an gleó. Ċuireaḃair teinneas cinn ar an ḃfear mboċt.	[ 79 ]C. On my word it was no wonder for him to do so. It was ye that had the noisy conversation. Ye gave the poor man a headache.
[ 78 ]M. Ṫáinig uaigneas orm-sa ann soin agus ṫánag a ḃaile.	[ 79 ]M. I got lonesome then and came home.

[ 79 ]

Notes.

Airiú: there is no English word for this interjection. Irish people who speak English have made an equivalent for it “yerra.”

Corruiġeaċt=excess, in the sense in which the English word “odd” is used: Corruiġeaċt ⁊ fiċe púnt = twenty pounds odd, twenty pounds and something over which is less than a pound. [Corraḋ is the corresponding Ulster word: corraḋ ⁊ fiċe bliaḋain is Englished “odds and twenty years.—J. H. L.]

Gleann na ngealt=the Valley of the Lunatics [about eight miles from Tralee.—J. H. L.]

Sroisim, I reach, future sroisfead, infinitive sroisint; quite common in conversation. I do not find it in any dictionary. [In other places the form sroiċim, infin., sroċtain, is used. The word was formerly roiċim, roċtain. See Trí Bior-Ghaoiṫe an Bháir.]

Breis, more, differs from corruiġeaċt in being collective: breis ⁊ bliaḋain, a period exceeding a year; corruiġeaċt ⁊ bliaḋain, a year and some days or months. breis points to quantity, corruiġeaċt to number.

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