Hover over Guaraní morphemes written in purple to see their syntactic function.

Audio for Story #12:

There was an old treasure hunter, called Mr. Leokadio.

Existía un viejo buscador de tesoro, el señor llamado Leokádio.

One day he came to my place and said to me:

Un dia vino junto a mí y me dijo:

“Let’s go, I will show you something that I found with my friend, Vito”

“Vamos, un poquito te voy a mostrar algo que había sacado con mi compadre, Vito.”

And I got ready in the afternoon and we went to his friend’s house.

Y me preparé a la tarde y fuimos a la casa de su compadre.

Mr. Vito came out to receive us, and we just chatted,

Salió a recibirnos el Señor Vito, y hablábamos nomás [charlamos],

...and Leokadio already asked what they had done with the things they had dug out.

...y Leokádio ya le pregunta qué habían hecho de las cosas que habían sacado ellos.

“I threw it all out because my wife did not like it.”

"Tiré todo porque a mi esposa no le gusto:"

“Throw me out all those trinkets, which you had lifted on the end of the beam.” [Vito’s wife ‘quoted’]

Tirame todo esa tontería, que habías alzado en lo alto de la cocina [en la punta de la tijera del techo]

“It scares me, she told me one day.”

“Me da miedo, me dijo un día.”

And at the moment Vito’s wife came out and Leokadio asked her, in front of me:

Y en ese mismo momento salió la esposa de Vito y Leokadio le preguntó, delante mío [en mi presencia]:

"And why are you afraid of the thing that we dug out?"

"¿Y porque le tienes miedo a lo que habíamos extraído [desenterrado]?"

"And he brought the thing they had dug out and he tied a piece of cloth and he raised up high on the ceiling beam."

--Y el trajó [lo desenterrado] [y] ató en un trapo y alzó allá en lo alto de la tijera [del techo].

And if there is a lot of wind, that thing tied with the cloth moves [back and forth] and at night it also moves.

Y si hay mucho viento, se mueve [de un lado a otro] lo que está atado por el trapo, y por la noche se mueve-focus también.

And whatever time you get up and you look at it, it is moving (back and forth).

Y la hora que te levantas y miras por él, se está moviendo.

And whether it rains or not, it is still moving.

Si llueve o si escampa [el bulto] no se queda.

And those were the [former] bones that he had dug out from under the ground, it turns out, searching for the treasure.

Y esos [eran] los huesos [former bones] que habían sacado ellos de debajo de la tierra, había sido que, buscando lo enterrado [=tesoro].

And given that the wife was already afraid of the tied up bones, Mr. Vito threw them out in a reedbed.

Y así como la esposa ya estaba atemorizada de los restos de huesos atados, el señor Victor tiró en un cañaveral.

He did not throw them in the cemetery because he suspected that it had not been baptized.

No tiró en el cementerio porque desconfía de él que no fue bautizado.

That it has something, it does.

De tener algo lo tiene/Dentro hay lo que hay.

Then when I left Mr.Victor's house to go back to my house, Mr. Locadio went out with me.

Después al salir yo de la casa del Senor Victor para ir de vuelta a mi casa, el señor Locadio salió conmigo.

"When we had gone a stretch from there," he said to me.

"Cuando salimos de ahí un trecho," me dijo.

"Let’s go to my house to have you listen to some of my music."

--Vamos un poco a mi casa para hacerte escuchar mi música.

"What type [of music] is your music?"

--Que clase es tu música –le dije.

“And let’s go for you get to know."

--Y vamos para que sepas.

"And then I came with him to his house. We were there."

"Y después vine con él a su casa. Estábamos [ahí]."

Then he tells me: “At eleven o’clock the music that I want to make you listen to will begin."

Y después me avisa: “Cuando sean las once va a empezar la música que te quiero hacer escuchar.”

Then we drank mate; for sometime we drank mate and talked (for a long time).

Y después tomamos mate; durante un tiempo largo tomamos mate y conversamos (por mucho tiempo).

Then we stopped drinking mate,

Después sí que nos dejamos del mate,

...and we didn’t have dinner; we were waiting for the music.

...y no cenamos, estábamos esperando la música.

And finally, it was suddenly eleven o’clock. We got up and he took me where there was a funerary urn,

Y a las cansadas, finalmente llegó las once. Nos levantamos y me llevó donde estaba un cajón,

It turns out that it was what he had taken out with friend Victor [narrator discovers]: it was full of former Christian bones.

Había sido eso era lo que había sacado con su compadre Vito estaba llenito de huesos de cristianos.

Then we slowly got closer to the place.

Después nos acercamos lentamente a la planta [al lugar].

I listened well and heard ‘chii!’, it says in one place.

Presté bien oído y oí “chĩi!”, decía en un lugar.

And then in the other corner of the urn “chii!”, it said again.

Y luego en la otra esquina del cajón “chĩi!” decía de nuevo.

The ones saying “chĩi!” here and there began to echo one another, here, there, and in between.

Empezó a corresponderse los que decían “chĩi!” aca, “chĩi!” allá, en el medio.

Each time lots more and more were buzzing all together in that way.

Cada vez más y más avispas que iban zumbando juntas así.

It seemed that those were the ones that wanted so much to get out.

Parecía esas [not visible] que demasiado querían salir.

There were those that buzzed low-pitch, those that buzzed medium-pitch, those that buzzed high-pitch, there were all types.

Hay de las que zumbaban finito, otras mediano, otras [que zumbaban] agudo –de toda clase había.

It appears that there were very many of the wasps that were partying inside the big urn.

Parecía que eran muchas las avispas que farreaban dentro del cajón grande.

It was much after that one afternoon I was going to the funeral of an angel,

Desde ese tiempo lejano una tarde me iba al entierro de un angelito,

..and Mr. Leokadio came out with me - we think that he lives badly, with a wrinkled face - and he said:

...y salió el señor Leokadio junto a mí –creemos que ese vive mal, con la cara arrugada--, y me dijo:

"We said long ago that when the time comes to sell my house, I should offer it to you first."

"Dijimos hace tiempo, que a la hora de vender mi casa, a vos te tenía que ofrecer primero."

"Yes, it was that way then."

--Sí, así fué.

"And how are you?"

"Y como estás?"

"I am sick and my sister wants to take me to her house to take care of me."

"Estoy enfermo y mi hermana quiere llevarme a su casa para cuidarme."

"I will come to your place to talk," he said to him.

--Voy a venir junto a vos ahora para conversar –le dijo.

And then I went back again to his house and he told me all that had happened.

Y después fui otra vez a su casa y me contó todo lo que le había pasado.

It is said that, to start with, they had taken out with his friend that urn that he had shown me, full of Christian bones.

Se dice que, para comenzar, habían sacado con su compadre, había sido que, ese cajón que me había mostrado, muy lleno de huesos humanos.

They split [the bones] in two.

Se repartieron [esos huesos] por la mitad.

Vito took half to his house, and Mr. Leokádio also [took] the other half to his house, with the [funeral] urn.

Vito llevó a su casa la mitad, y el señor Leokadio la otra mitad llevó también a su casa, con el cajón.

It is said that he had [the bones] a long time in his house, and the wasps buzzed inside the urn each evening.

Se dice que tuvo mucho tiempo en su casa [los huesos], y estaban dentro del cajón las avispas que zumbaban a las once, cada noche.

And one night it is said that the wasps were no longer buzzing, and then, like the next day, the big urn, the container of what had been bones, was no longer there.

Y una noche se dice que no zumbaron las avispas y después como al día siguiente no amaneció el gran cajón, recipiente que fueron de los huesos.

He looked for [it] for a long time and then he stopped looking.

Mucho tiempo buscó y después dejó [de buscar].

And one Saturday, it is said, his friend came to his place,

:Y un sábado, se dice que, vino junto a él su compadre,

...and he told him that he frequently sees something that lightens up on a mount of earth.

...y le contó que ve siempre en un montículo de tierra lo que se enciende (=llamas de fuego).

And they both went to have their cards thrown,

Se fueron los para hacer echar la prueba [=las cartas],

...and it came out for both: you can go dig together.

...y le salió a los dos: pueden ir juntos a cavar.

It is said they went to explore and under a dry thorn they found what they found.

Se fueron para sondear [explorar] y debajo de una espina seca encontraron lo que encontraron.

And they dug taking turns.

Se pusieron por turno y cavaron.

When they dug and dug, they did not find anything.

Cavaron y cavaron más y no encontraron nada.

And then it is said Leokádio smelled something that smelled bad.

Y después se dice que en el pozo olió Leokadio lo que olía mal.

It is said that at that point he got more persistent.

Ahí, se dice que se puso más persistente él.

And his friend was taking out the earth with a sheave.

Y su compadre estaba sacando la tierra con la roldana.

And then attempted again, and they found something hard again, the container.

Sondearon otra vez y encontraron devuelta lo duro, el cántaro.

And then, it is said, finally, about around eleven meters,

Y después, se dice que, a las cansadas, a unos once metros por ahí,

Leokádio visualizes one biggest container, in the well.

Visualiza Leokádio un enorme cántaro, en el pozo.

And it is said that he moved the container and told his friend to raise [the container].

Y se dice que movió él [el cántaro] y le dijo a su compañero para que le alze (el cántaro).

And he was coming up with the container in his hand,

Y venía subiendo el cántaro en su mano,

...and, it is said, that when he came out he threw out the container.

y al salir, dice que, tiró el cántaro afuera.

And at that point one day came a very big lightning towards the earth

Y en ese eso le vino un enorme relámpago desde hacia la tierra.

They remained completely in the dark, [the lightning] threw Leokádio backwards,

Se quedaron totalmente en la oscuridad, [el rayo] le echó [a Leokadio] de espalda,

And he hit his neck on the rim of the bucket.

...y se dice que se golpeó la nuca por el borde del balde.

And the container broke in the darkness, inside the earth.

Y el cántaro se quebró en la oscuridad, dentro de la tierra.

And it is said that thereof, Vito did not know what he should do and he took his friend to his house,

Y se dice que de ahí Vito no supo que tenía que hacer y le llevó a su compadre a su casa,

...and there he forgot about the broken container.

...y se olvidó allí del cántaro roto.

It turns out that it was not for Leokádio, and he very much wanted to take it out.

No era, había sido, para Leokádio, y él demasiado quería sacarlo.

That happened on Saturday evening.

Eso pasó el sábado a la noche.

And that Sunday morning, it is said, an old card player was passing through around there.

Y ese domingo a la mañana, se dice que, iba pasando por ahí un viejo jugador de naipes.

It is said that he saw a big well and he got close to look at it.

Vio, se dice que, el gran pozo y se acercó para mirar allí.

It is said that he saw that on the border there were many horse bones, around four, that were long, very long.

Vio, se dice que, en el borde había mucho de huesos de caballo –cuatro por ahí --, que eran largos, muy largos.

It is said that he [the card player] grabbed one and went towards the store where they play cards.

Se dice que agarró él [el jugador de naipes] uno y se fue donde juega el truco, hacía el boliche.

It is said that his peers in the store laughed at him.

Todos, se dice que, se rieron de él sus amigos en el almacén.

And two were playing cards.

Y estaban dos jugando a las cartas.

And, "Come, we will play cards, come, we will play cards!" one (of them) said to him.

Y “Vení pués vamos a jugar, vení vamos a jugar!”, le dijo uno de ellos.

And he went to play.

Y él se fue a jugar.

And he put down on the table his horse bone.

Y bajo encima de la mesa su hueso del caballo.

Then he lost each game, and he ended with no money.

Después perdió cada juego, y ya se quedó sin plata.

He no longer knew what to play for. And:

Ya no sabía por qué cosa jugar. Y:

"Let’s play for this horse bone," he said to his friend,

--Vamos a jugar por este mi hueso de caballo –le dijo a su amigo--,

If we are going to bet on this, then we can keep playing.

Si vamos a jugar por éste vamos a seguir jugando.

"Let’s play," the other [guy] said to him.

--Vamos a jugar – le dijo el otro.

"How many games?"

- Cuantos juegos?

"And as many as [I] win."

--Y tanto como gane.

And the guy started to lose and lose.

Y el muchacho se puso a perder, a perder.

And when he was about to lose, he gathered [the cards] again.

Y como cuando ya estaba por [a punto de] perder todo, junta otra vez.

And they were tied, and it was already afternoon, and they were hungry.

Y se empataron ellos, y ya era de tarde, ya tuvieron hambre ellos.

Then when they stopped [playing] cards.

Cuando entonces cesaron [escamparon] de la baraja.

"Your horse bones are useful only to throw them away," they told him.

“Los huesos de tu caballo para tirar solamente sirven”, le dijeron ellos.

He finished the game, he grabbed his horse’s bone,

Terminó el juego, agarró su hueso de caballo,

...and went to his house, or his boss’ house, supposedly.

...y se fue a su casa –o sea en la casa de su patrón.

He actually lives in his boss’ house, it turns out.

él vive en la casa de su patrón luego, había sido.

He arrived, it is said, at the house, and he threw [the bone] in a corner of the kitchen,

Llegó, se dice que, a la casa, y al tirar [el hueso] en una esquina de la cocina,

...he heard ‘mbrim!, the horse’s bone’s sound.

...escuchó “mbrim!”, el sonido del hueso de su caballo.

He was frightened, he went to bring a machete, he scratched with it and found [something] shining:

Se asustó, se fue a traer un machete, raspó con él y encontró que brillaba;

It was all gold, it turns out, the horse’s bone!

Era todo oro, había sido, el hueso del caballo!

And there, it is said, the boss also came to see and asked him where he had found it [the horse’s bone]:

Y ahí, se dice que, el patrón vino también a ver y le preguntó dónde había encontrado [el hueso]:

"Four I found on the border [edge] of the well," the guy told him.

--Cuatro encontré en el borde de un pozo –le dijo el muchacho.

"Go fast to bring us all that you left!" his boss said to him.

--Vete rápido a traernos todo eso que dejaste! –le dijo su patrón.

And when he went back to bring it all back,

Y cuando se fue de vuelta para traer todo,

...he no longer found anything, not even one horse’s bone.

...ya no encontró ningún hueso del caballo.