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Traditions of the Tinguian: a Study in Philippine Folk-Lore — Page 13

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One tale informs us of a girl who is left alone to guard the rice field and is promptly killed by the _alzado;_ [9] another states that "all the tattooed Igorot are enemies" (pp. 43, 155, 161).

Un racconto ci parla di una ragazza che viene lasciata sola a custodire il campo di riso e viene prontamente uccisa dall'_alzado;_ [9] un altro afferma che "tutti gli Igorot tatuati sono nemici" (pp. 43, 155, 161).

Revenge for the loss of relations or townspeople is a potent cause of hostile raids; old feuds may be revived by taunts; but the chief incentive appears to be the desire for renown, to be known as "a man who goes to fight in the enemies' towns" (pp. 90, 59).

La vendetta per la perdita di parenti o compaesani è una potente causa di incursioni ostili; le vecchie faide possono essere ravvivate dagli insulti; ma l'incentivo principale sembra essere il desiderio di gloria, di essere conosciuto come "un uomo che va a combattere nelle città nemiche" (pp. 90, 59).

Warriors sometimes go in parties, sometimes alone, but generally in couples (p. 67).

I guerrieri a volte vanno in gruppi, a volte da soli, ma generalmente in coppia (p. 67).

At times they lie in ambush and kill young girls who go for water, or old men and women who pass their hiding place (p. 97).

A volte tendono imboscate e uccidono giovani ragazze che vanno a prendere l'acqua, o anziani uomini e donne che passano davanti al loro nascondiglio (p. 97).

Again they go out boldly, armed with shield, spear, and headaxe; they strike their shields as they go and announce their presence to the enemy (p. 103).

Altre volte escono con audacia, armati di scudo, lancia e ascia da testa; battono i loro scudi mentre avanzano e annunciano la loro presenza al nemico (p. 103).

In five of the tales the heroes challenge their opponents and then refuse to be the first to use their weapons.

In cinque dei racconti gli eroi sfidano i loro avversari e poi si rifiutano di essere i primi a usare le loro armi.

It is only when their foes have tried in vain to injure them that they enter the conflict.

È solo quando i loro nemici hanno tentato invano di ferirli che entrano nel conflitto.

In such cases whole towns are wiped out of existence and a great number of heads and a quantity of jars and other booty is sent back to the towns of the victors (p. 104).

In questi casi interi villaggi vengono annientati e un gran numero di teste e una quantità di giare e altro bottino vengono rimandati ai villaggi dei vincitori (p. 104).

Peace is restored in one instance by the payment of a number of valuable jars (p. 91).

La pace viene ristabilita in un caso mediante il pagamento di un certo numero di preziose giare (p. 91).

Vocabulary

racconto
A short story or tale
ci
Us, to us, or reflexive/locative particle
parla
Speaks or talks (third person singular)
ragazza
A girl or young woman
viene
Comes; also used to form passive constructions
lasciata
Left alone or abandoned (past participle, feminine)
sola
Alone, by herself (feminine adjective)
custodire
To guard, watch over, or protect something
campo
A field, camp, or open area of land
riso
Rice (the grain); also can mean laughter
prontamente
Promptly, quickly, without delay
uccisa
Killed (past participle, feminine singular)
altro
Another, other, different one
afferma
States, affirms, or asserts (third person singular)
tutti
All, everyone, every one of them
tatuati
Tattooed (past participle, masculine plural)
nemici
Enemies, foes (masculine plural noun)
vendetta
Revenge, vengeance taken for a wrong suffered
perdita
Loss, especially of people or things
parenti
Relatives, family members (plural noun)
compaesani
Fellow villagers or people from the same town
potente
Powerful, strong, influential (adjective)
causa
Cause, reason, or motive for something
incursioni
Raids, incursions, hostile attacks (plural noun)
ostili
Hostile, unfriendly, aggressive (plural adjective)
vecchie
Old, ancient (feminine plural adjective)
faide
Feuds, long-standing conflicts between groups
possono
Can, are able to (third person plural of 'potere')
essere
To be (infinitive of the verb 'to be')
ravvivate
Revived, rekindled, brought back to life
insulti
Insults, offensive remarks (masculine plural noun)
incentivo
Incentive, motivation, driving reason
principale
Main, principal, most important (adjective)
sembra
Seems, appears to be (third person singular)
desiderio
Desire, wish, longing for something
gloria
Glory, fame, honor earned through deeds
conosciuto
Known, recognized, familiar (past participle)
uomo
Man, adult male person
va
Goes (third person singular of 'andare')
combattere
To fight, to do battle against enemies
città
City, town (invariable feminine noun)
nemiche
Enemy (feminine plural adjective modifying cities)
guerrieri
Warriors, fighters, men trained for combat
volte
Times, occasions (as in 'sometimes')
vanno
Go (third person plural of 'andare')
gruppi
Groups, clusters of people or things
soli
Alone, by themselves (masculine plural adjective)
generalmente
Generally, usually, as a rule
coppia
A pair, couple, or duo of people
tendono
Tend to, incline toward (third person plural)
imboscate
Ambushes, surprise attacks from concealed positions
uccidono
Kill, slay (third person plural present tense)
giovani
Young people, youth (plural adjective or noun)
ragazze
Girls, young women (feminine plural noun)
prendere
To take, grab, or fetch something
acqua
Water (feminine singular noun)
anziani
Elderly people, the aged (masculine plural noun)
uomini
Men, adult males (masculine plural noun)
donne
Women, adult females (feminine plural noun)
passano
Pass by, go past (third person plural)
davanti
In front of, before (adverb or preposition)
loro
Their, theirs, or them (pronoun or adjective)
nascondiglio
Hiding place, hideout, place of concealment
Altre
Others, other ones (feminine plural pronoun)
escono
Go out, come out (third person plural of 'uscire')
audacia
Boldness, audacity, daring courage
armati
Armed, carrying weapons (masculine plural adjective)
scudo
Shield used as a defensive weapon in battle
lancia
Spear or lance used as a weapon
ascia
Axe, a chopping weapon or tool
testa
Head (anatomical); also a severed head as trophy
battono
Beat, strike (third person plural present tense)
scudi
Shields (masculine plural noun)
mentre
While, whereas (temporal conjunction)
avanzano
Advance, move forward (third person plural)
annunciano
Announce, declare (third person plural present)
presenza
Presence, being present in a place
nemico
Enemy, foe (masculine singular noun)
cinque
Five (cardinal number)
racconti
Stories, tales (masculine plural noun)
eroi
Heroes, heroic figures (masculine plural noun)
sfidano
Challenge, defy (third person plural present)
avversari
Adversaries, opponents, rivals (masculine plural)
poi
Then, afterward, later (temporal adverb)
rifiutano
Refuse, decline to do something (third person plural)
primi
First ones (masculine plural ordinal adjective)
usare
To use, to make use of something
armi
Weapons, arms (feminine plural noun)
solo
Only, just, alone (adverb or adjective)
quando
When (temporal conjunction or adverb)
tentato
Tried, attempted (past participle of 'tentare')
invano
In vain, without success or result
ferirli
To wound them (infinitive with clitic pronoun)
entrano
Enter, go into (third person plural present)
conflitto
Conflict, struggle, armed confrontation
questi
These (masculine plural demonstrative pronoun)
casi
Cases, situations, instances (masculine plural)
interi
Entire, whole (masculine plural adjective)
villaggi
Villages, small rural settlements (masculine plural)
vengono
Are (passive auxiliary); come (third person plural)
annientati
Annihilated, completely destroyed (past participle plural)
gran
Great, large (shortened form of 'grande')
numero
Number, quantity (masculine singular noun)
teste
Heads (feminine plural noun, here as trophies)
quantità
Quantity, amount, large number of things
giare
Jars, large ceramic vessels (feminine plural noun)
bottino
Booty, loot, spoils taken from the enemy
rimandati
Sent back, returned (past participle, masculine plural)
vincitori
Victors, winners (masculine plural noun)
pace
Peace, absence of conflict or war
ristabilita
Restored, reestablished (past participle, feminine)
caso
Case, situation, instance (masculine singular noun)
mediante
By means of, through (formal preposition)
pagamento
Payment, the act of paying something owed
certo
Certain, a certain amount of (adjective)
preziose
Precious, valuable (feminine plural adjective)
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