Hunting

kupshine morisha, yuma la zraka, k-azakhva kat khina kupshina kala mala lela beshmaya morisha jalde, t-azakhva tor etvalan tor. al-do arallighu kattate etvale. al-do arallighu etva kha-dana kesa, atkha ki-mattakhvale. bar muttivalan etvalan kha kesa atkha mekhyukhva kha atkha sirekhva m-akhkha men-kamaran. kha-dana chadra grishekhva allu tiyyeva atkha. tiyyeva atkha. kupshina khazzivalan, le arekva.

Quails, in the morning, before sunrise, we used to go, when the quail does not hear any sort of sound, we used to go, we had a net, a net. On this, in the middle of it, it had handles. On this in the middle of it there was a stick, which we used to attach like this. After we had attached it, we had a stick, which we had attached, and one that we had tied here from our belt. We had drawn over it a tent, coming across like this, coming across like this. If the quail saw us, it would not flee.

ita o tor mattakhvale tammo kamay avva ki-madmivalan al-kalla al-kenyane. men-dav tor kat atkha k-odakh-va ki-taniva masalan kenyanena. shaklakhva upra b-rappakhva allu. nikha nikha t-azelva khazziva ika etten kha duka aver gano tashila. bekhzayele o tor kamayele bekhshavele ketvele. varele ga-tor. adi arpa khamshena dasta varena ga-tor. ga-tor varena, berkhatekh o keset kamayet kat muttukh manpulukh anne pyashena khut tor.

So we use to put the net there in front, and it made us resemble a buffalo, cattle. Therefore, when we made the net like this, it would think that it was, for example, cattle. We took soil and threw it on it. It (the quail) would slowly go and see where there was a place to enter to hide itself. It sees the net, which is in front, and thinks it is a thorn bush. It enters into the net. Now there are four or five, a group enters the net. They enter the net, we run and knock down the stick that we have put in front, and they remain in the net.

khut tor pyashena. lakhkha etlan kha dana torba, sirekh. ptakhukh kha-kha men-khut tor bedvakekh p-idan mattuyekh ga-daha. bedvakekh p-idan. adi khamshena, eshtena, bedvakekh mattuyekh lakhkha, pummo besyarukh. khina sharuvvekh bedvaka b-do pesla. khachcha khina barrunela yan kala mala vayela, gano tashuvvola. ina morisha jalde yuma la zraka k-azakh, vela bikhala. kala mala lela beshmaya. vela berraya, dasti daste. ina khachcha verra khina kala b-shamya, t-aza gano b-khapya, la-amsakh machkhakhla. ayya men-kupshine.

They stay in the net, which we have tied. We open it. We catch one at a time from under the net and place them in this (bag) with our hands. We catch them with our hands. Now, they are five or six, we catch them and put them here, and tie its mouth. We begin again to catch them in this way. When it gets a little lighter, or when there are sounds, it hides itself. But early in the morning, we go before sunrise, and (we find) it eating. It does not hear a sound. It is grazing in groups. But after a while, it would hear sound, and it would go and hide, and we cannot find it. That is what there is to say about quails.

heyvane khine khina, anne kervishe. kervishe k-aviva e dana. k-aziva b-tup. kervishet dmekhta khazzivala, vela dmekhta gav kriva, gav karma. ayne khazzivala. dmekhtela. b-tup ki-makhivala. ina kharta anne yale jile, tuppange spay pletlun, ki-makkemmivala, ki-rakhtava, ki-makhivala. ina e-dan akhnan kat surekhva babavatan, letva vasile raba, bi barut bi charpare tup malivala. ita letvalun raba, majburiva khadriva ika dmekhtela makhivala, chun en-kemvala, balket arkava tup rappivala, tup khina letten, tre tla dane arpa dane, zoda letlun. ina kharta kat pushange pletlun, anne yale jile makkemmivala ki-rakhtava ki-makhivala. dayet?

As for other animals, (we had) these rabbits. There used to be rabbits at that time. They used to go with a shotgun. They used to see a rabbit that was asleep, (see) that it was asleep in a fallow field or in a vineyard. They used to see their eyes. It is asleep. They shot it with a shotgun. But later the young folk (had) good guns, which came out (later). They would wake it up, it ran and they shot it. But when we were young, our fathers—there were not many means available—used to fill the gun with gunpowder, with cartridges. Now they did not have many and so they had to look for where it was asleep and shoot it, because, if it had got up, it would possibly run away, they would shoot the gun, but there is no more (cartridges) in the gun, they had no more than two, three or four. But later when bullets came out, the young lads would wake it up, it would run and they would shoot it. You understand?

ina kamta, k-oyava dmekhta, babava-tan surekhva letva ukhcha vasila. tre-dane tla-dane charpare barut zarziva, khazziva ika dmekhtela kat makhila la arkani. balket kemla, tup ruppile la ketla allo. tupu pt-aza hadara. ina kharta pushange zedlun, yale khina leva takhmune, mattuvve kosha-luyla tanakhen, tre dane, ayya la mekhyala, ayya khita gum makhivala. ina kamta letva. barut dariva charpare b-sumba atkha khashlivala.

But in the old days, it used to be asleep, our fathers, when we were young, did not have so many means. They made two or three cartridges of gunpowder. They saw where it was asleep, so they could shoot before it ran away. It was possible that if it got up and they shot the gun, it would not hit it. The gun would go off in vain. But afterwards, bullets became more abundant and the young lads were not concerned, they would load what we call a double-barrelled rifle, with two (barrels), if one did not hit it, the other one, boom, would hit it. But this did not exist before. They used to load gunpowder cartridges. They knocked it down with a ramrod.

[GK: etva khzuyre?] la, e dana akhnan ga mat-diyyan letva. khzuyre k-aziva al-turane. anne nashe kat etvalun tup, khelanta tup, t-aziva turane, makhiva khzuyra. kha-dana tre-dane khzuyre ki-mayyiva. ina kulle la, raba khachcha nashe. adiyya khina nashe rabena berreshshena.

[gk: Were there pigs?] No, at that time, there were not any in our village. There were pigs in the mountains. Those people who had a shotgun, a powerful shotgun, would go to the mountains and shoot pigs. They would shoot one or two pigs—but not everybody, only a very few people. Now, however, there are many people who go.

ita, k-aziva ordage. miyya rabeva. etva aynate, miyya ki-paltiva shakhine. kemiva, k-aziva bi anne, kha halka k-odiva atkha b-gdala. sita makhivala lakhkha. a halka b-gdala atkha t-atyava lakhkha halka kha-khcha. lakhkha dariva khette. ordak t-atyava b-lele berrayele. puzo makhyavale, ga-atkha maramta a gdala atkha halka napelva b-kdalo. la-amsava parkhava. lakhkhada sitela. dayet?

Now, they used to go (to hunt) ducks. There was a lot of water. There were springs, from which warm water would flow. They used to set off with these—they would make a ring with string like this. They would stick in a peg here. This ring of string would come to here like this, a ring this size. Here they would scatter wheat. The duck would come at night to graze. It sticks in its beak and when it raises the string, the ring would fall on its neck. It could not fly away. The peg is here. You understand?

morisha jalde pt-aziva. gashket tla arpa npilena b-shakliva mayyivalun. ordage rappiva. akhnan sure dmikhe gashket babi tla arpa ruppele, sona, ordak. k-aviva shapire trise. avva sedet ordageda atkheva. dokivale. et dana b-tup ki-makhiva, ina ga-danne sharite bush spayiva. letvalun kha kharj. men-mestet suyse tupru zarziva. sharite ki-tanivalun.

Early in the morning they would go out. You see that three or four are caught, and they take them and bring them back. They would throw down the ducks. We small children were asleep, and you would see that my father had thrown down three or four, a drake, a duck. They were fine fat ones. The hunting of ducks was like this. They used to catch them. At times they shot them with a gun, but it was better with those snares. They did not involve any expense. They made them from the hair of a horse, (from its) tail. We called them ‘snares.’

m-akhkha kha-dana sita makhiva, b-yasriva b-sita lakhkha, t-ativa aha kha-khcha yarikha lakhkha kha-khcha halka t-odivale. a dukta khette dariva. ga-puzo atkha mkheta risho ga-maramta, aha b-khalesva a-halka. khalesva, ordak peshava tama. morisha pt-aziva t-aviva arpa khamsha esra, kma dane sharite muttena tama. ayyada et-ordageva.

They inserted a peg from this end, they used to tie it to a peg, it would come to here so long and they used to make a ring this size. In this place they scattered wheat. When it put its beak in and raised its head, this would tighten the ring. It would tighten, and the duck would remain there. In the morning they would go and there would be four, five or ten, however many snares they had laid there. This is what there is to say about ducks.

[GK: sepre?] sepre k-oriva ga-mulavate, tuyna. etvalan kavate, melyukh tuyna ka-setva. bitayela tama ga-den … tuyne, ham shakhinele, ham khette bayya akhla. adi emma, tremma virena ga-da mula tanakh. etla kave. etvalan tor. tor patkhakhvale. aha b-repa k-atyava paltava. torda atkha khalsakhvale. tlay, arpi-dane, khamshi-dane peshiva ga-tor. paltakhva kha-kha rishe henna … nachlakhva rappakhva tamma. tammezzakhvalun, shurva k-odakhvalun, k-akhlakhva. kuye k-aviva. ita et nashe khashlivalun, k-odivalun kepte biyya bi garme. kepte atkha k-oyava, raba kvita basemta. sepre. ayyada et-sepre. ba raba dviken ana b-sepre.

[gk: Sparrows?] Sparrows used to come into the barns, the hay. We had windows (in the barn), we have filled it (the barn) with hay for winter. It (the sparrow) comes there into the stacks of hay, both because it is warm and also because it wants to eat wheat. Now, a hundred, two hundred, have come into the barn, let’s say. It has a window. We had a net. We opened the net. It (the sparrow) would come in a flock and go out. We tightened the net like this. Thirty, forty, fifty remained in the net. We took them out one at a time, and pulled off their heads, then put them aside. We would clean them, made them into a stew and eat them. They used to be tough. So, there were people who crushed them and made them into meatballs together with their bones. A meatball was like this, very substantial and tasty. Sparrows. That is what there is to say about sparrows. I have caught many sparrows.

tere khine, merri etten tup etvalun, nashe tup k-aziva makhiva tere. kumriyye etva, yahuye etva. ga-deshta yonay etva. ki-makhiva en-tup etvalun. ki-makhiva, ki-mayyiva, bashliva, k-akhliva. etvalan tre ganaye e-dana tup etvalun. kha ga-tla yarkhet setva, karta rabeva, tlamma-dane kervishe mekhyeva. tlamma dane kervishe mekhyeva. gelde khumyuva. mubrezzuva. kha-dana attar tanakh dukkandar ga-mdita shemmu Mikhayel etvalan. ki-labliva ka-dav kha zuyza ki-yavvivalun. zavenvalun. e-dana len-bedda, k-odivalun ka-paltuyne, ka-kdale. gelde shapireva shakhine. zavenvalun avun. av ki-yavvelvalun ka-huydaye. huydaye zonivalun. khetiva paltuyne, al-kdale k-aviva men-de-geldet kervesh. mestana k-aviva. dayet? ita anne mendyane etva ga-mata. khezyekh.

As for other birds, I have said there were some who had a gun, these people would go and shoot birds with a shotgun. There were doves, there were Jehu birds. In the fields there were pigeons. They shot them if they had a gun. They shot them, brought them back, cooked them and ate them. We had two people at that time who had a shotgun. One of them in the three months of winter, when it was very cold, had shot three hundred rabbits. He had shot three hundred rabbits. He had kept their skin and dried it. We had a pedlar, let’s say a shopkeeper, in the town, whose name was Mixayəl. They used to take them (the rabbit skins) to him and he gave them money for them. He used to buy them. Then, I don’t know, they used to make them into overcoats, into collars. Their skins were beautiful and warm. He would buy them. He would bring them to Jews. The Jews would buy them. They would sew overcoats, on the collars of which there was this rabbit skin. It was furry. You understand? So, there were such things in the village. We have seen them.

nuyne k-azakhva bi tor, nuyne. nuyne. nara m-akhkha bitayele. nara m-akhkha bitayele, a duka bumbastila, tanakh. miyya beddara al-lakhkha, bumbastila. dayet? t-atakhva, tor etvalan. nikha t-orakhva a dokakhvala bi tor. tla-dane, arpa-dane tore nashe t-orakhva tor atkha dokakhvala, mat-takhva ga-miyya. kha-mennan t-azakhva men-do-yba b-kesa kashkeshshakhva. t-atyava makhyava al-aklatan ketava. tor marmakhva rappakhvale tamma. nuyne atkha dokakhva. b-changal la, b-tor dokakhva e-danta.

As for fish, we used to go out with a net (to catch) fish. Fish. The river is coming from here. The river is coming from here and this place is a dead end, let’s say. The water comes back to here, it is a dead end. You understand? We would come, we had a net. We slowly entered (the water) and caught it (the fish) with a net. With three or four nets and people we would enter (the water) and catch it with a net, which we put in the water. One of us would go and drive the fish fromthe other side with astick.It wouldcome andhit our legs.It would know (them). We raised the net and threw it there. We caught fish like that. Not with a hook, we fished with a net at that time.

ga-naret diyyan etva tre jurre nuyne. kha-dana nuyna khvarta tanakhvala. kha-dana maret sumbulale tanakhvala, maret sumbulale chun etvala. ita kha-peslet nuyna khvarta etvalan. ay raba basemteva k-oyava, dokakh. ga-do naret diyyan anne etva. hi. ina dukane jurre jurre men-nuyne etva ina o naret diyyan tre jurre nuyne etvale. ki-dokakhva. setva dokakhva, ketaze dokakhva, k-akhlakhva nuyne. mayyakhva men-danne sure nuyne dokakhva raba. men-deshta kha dana chaluvva parmakhva men-meshavate. chaluvva atkha atkha chaluvvena, anne sure. savuni a chaluvva mattivale ga-tanuyra, kut pava. tre dane makhiva. a chaluvva kha metra ramele. kulle atkha pavane pavane etle. tandelvalun bi dani mattivale ga-tanuyra. ani b-samkiva akh-halala.

In our river there were two types of fish. One type of fish we used to call white fish. One we used to call the (fish) with a moustache, because it had a moustache. So, we had a type of white fish. This was very tasty and we used to catch them. Our river had two types of fish. We used to catch them. We caught fish in winter, we caught them in summer, and we ate them. We brought back the small fish, which we caught, many. We cut down a thorn bush in the field or the woods—a thorn bush, the thorn bushes which are like this, the small ones. My grandfather used to put the thorn bush into the oven, each branch. He used to put in two of them. The thorn bush was one metre high. In all it has many branches. He would hang them on those and put it in the oven. They became red like a tulip.

morisha kat tanuyra shirele, bar prikele kozu peshtela. mattiva kulle kalivalun. al-do chaluvva kulle bashliva, bet-paletvalun. ita darivale tamma taniva khulun. en gure atkha chalepvalun. ki-malivalun busle, nane eryane, buybar smukta. gave malivale, b-gdala yaservalun. ki-rappivalun al-eshtet tanuyra. koz etva. ani bashliva. makhderva a pata atkha nuyne gure. gave atkha malivale kulle buybar, bademjane, busle shule. yaservalun b-gdala. mattivalun ga-tanuyra, al-do ketma bashliva. ita kertope kulle atkha tre k-avedvalun, shayyivalun al-do marzet tanuyra. atkha malivale. samkiva akh-halala. paletva kha-khcha majma mattiva tamma. kertope khulun. mamlekhkhakhva, k-akhlakhva. raba basime k-aviva. kabab k-aviva.

In the morning, when the oven is lit, after it has finished, its embers remain. He would place all (the fish) and grill them. They would all cook on that thorn bush and he would take them out. Then he would serve them and say ‘Eat!’ He would split the big ones like this. He would fill them with onions, mint, basil, red pepper. He would stuff them and tie them up with a string. He put them on the bottom of the oven. There were embers. They used to cook. He turned big fish over. He stuffed them all with pepper, aubergine, onions and the like. He tied them with a string. He put them in the oven. They cooked on the ash. Now, potatoes, he used to slice them all in two and stick them in the other side of the oven. He filled it (the oven) like this. They became red like a tulip. He used to take out a tray this big and place it there: ‘Eat the potatoes!’ We would salt them and eat them. They were very tasty. They were (like) a kebab.