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Adapted English Translation by Andrea & Terry Hazzard

A Traditional Tale: Origins of the Banana

BJ :Okay.   My name is Bia.  I'm a [woman] from Ailinglaplap and Arno.  My lineage is Ijjidrikdrik (specific clan name) and [indistinct].  My father is from Lobar En (a place in Ailinglaplap) and my mother is [also] from Lobar En.  My father is [from the lineage of] Ijjidrikdrik.

Interviewer: Anything else?

BJ :That's all.

Interviewer: Okay, as you know, we have stories [from the past].  Can you go ahead and tell us a little bit about [some of these] stories.  Are there any stories that you know about and want to share with us?

BJ :Okay, there is one story about Lonar (name of a place) that I know.  This is a story about Jolikwor (name of a person).  He and his older sisters lived apart from each other.  One of the sisters lived in Lijiri (name of a place), which is at the north end of the island.  Another one lived at the south end of the island, [in] Male En (name of a place). 

BJ (continues):  [Jolikwor lived apart from his sisters; a few month or a year had passed.] There was a boil on [Jolikwor's] leg [that had been there for a few months].  And he always told his daughters, “If I ever die . . .” [Note: Sentence not completed because BJ pauses to give information about the origin of the two daughters.] 

BJ (clarifies):  At one point in time, the boil was [so large] that is ruptured.  From this boil, two daughters were born. 

BJ (continues):  And Jolikwor said to his daughters, “If I die someday, bury me at the front of the house.  I have two sisters who lived in the north end of the island [Note: This information slightly contradicts what BJ said earlier (that only one sister lived at the north end of the island)].  If I die bury me in front of [our] house and wait to see if anything happens where you bury me.  Wait until everything is settled, then see what appears from my grave site.  And so, [the daughters] listened to what their father said [and they kept watching and listening to see if anything appeared from the grave site].  Some time had passed, and every morning they ran and looked at their father's grave site.  But nothing was [different].  Even more time had passed, and they went again and looked at the grave site.  And still there was no change.  Then one day, they found something growing on the grave.  [Puzzled,] they [then went home], waited, [slept], and woke up the next day.  They went back again to check [the grave site].  The object kept growing bigger and bigger on their father's grave.  And when it spouted, it was a banana tree.  And so they kept observing the tree and its changes, which was what their father had wanted them to do.  A lot of time [had now] passed, and when they went back to check [the banana tree] again, it was much bigger.  They continued to sleep and wake – for days and months – [and] they kept an eye on the banana tree that was growing.  When they went to check the banana plant for the final time . . . [Note: BJ interrupts to story to clarify the characteristics of the banana plant.]

BJ (asks):  Do you know when the banana bears fruit; there are the things that are hanging from the banana tree . . .

Interviewer: What is that called?

BJ : Banana.  The fruit.  That's how we came to call [this type of banana tree] jolikwor (a Marshallese term for a specific type of banana).  The name of this kind of banana is jolikwor. 

BJ (returns to telling the story):  [The daughters] kept watching the tree grow and grow everyday.  They went to check how much more the plant had grown each day.  [T]hey kept returning [to the plant to check it often].  By this time, the banana tree had grown to its fullest height and bananas were hanging.

Interviewer: You could see them.

BJ (confirms):  You could see them. 

BJ (continues):  The girls asked themselves, “What are these things hanging?”  And so they looked and then went back and forth [between their daily activities and examining the tree].  Time passed and now [the banana tree] was humungous.  They kept watching it.  And after a while, [the bananas] ripened.  It was time to cut the fruit from the tree.  Their father had told them, “When the color [of the banana] differs from what it was when it first appeared, then cut it and give it to your aunties who live at the north end of the island.”  And so the daughters cut [the banana] and tied [the bunch] with a rope so that they could carry it.  They walked along [the reef on] the oceanside of the island and headed north.  And so they traveled and until they reached Male En.  Then, they turned towards the houses and walked onto the island.  The old ladies [who were Jolikwor's  sisters] were going about their daily chores; they didn't know the girls were their brother's daughters.  The brother had lived in the south part of the island and had never mentioned that he had had daughters [to his sisters].  As soon as the old women saw the daughters, they started arguing. One of them said, “Those girls will be our food.”  But the other old women said, “No, they will be ours to keep [as daughters].”  The first woman argued, “No, [let them be] our food.”  The other one retorted, “No, let's keep them [as daughters].”   In the end, the older of the two women won the argument, and they girls were to be eaten.  The old women took the girls and put them in an elevated thatch house [and tied their wrists].  They took the bananas from the girls and hung them outside.  And then they began to plan how they would cook the girls.  The old women went off to gather firewood, while continuing to discuss how they would bake the girls [outside in a pit], which was [the method of cooking] the older sister insisted upon.  So, after they had gathered all the firewood, they started the fire.  One of the women sharpened the ax, while the other prepared the firewood.  They dug a pit and started the fire.  And then, they added rocks [on top].

BJ (continues):  Now the two daughters – one of them started to sing.  She started to sing because . . . [incomplete sentence].  The daughters are singing and crying [at the same time].  They are singing a song which [goes like this], “My father, my father, why did you trick us to come here, only to end up in an oven.  My father, my father, Jolikwor.“  The old women didn't listen to the song.  One woman was busy preparing the fire and the other was sharpening an ax.  One of the women couldn't wait to eat the girls.  [Note: BJ sings the song again.]

BJ (continues):  One of women said to the other, “Wait! Do you hear [what is being sung]?  The other responds, “Ah, never mind, let's just continue with what we are doing!  Don't you see that it's nothing [worth paying attention to].  Let's just keep cooking since we are hungry.”   Again, one of the girls began to sing again while the other one cried; she knew they were going to die.  The first girl continued to sing [Note: BJ sings again].  

BJ (continues):  One of the women said to the other, “My sister, you should really listen to this song.”  The other sister replies, “Okay, let's listen to it together.”  The song starts again [BJ sings once again].  The old women sprung up [from where they were sitting] and started running [towards the girls].  They reached the girls and asked, “What is the name of your father?”  The first girl responded, “Our father's name is Jolikwor.”  The old women asked, “You two came from where?”  The girls responded, “From Lijiri.”  The old women said, “Oh, that's where our older brother is living.”  The girl explains, “[Our father] said that when he passed away . . . Do you see that thing we brought?  That's what grew on his grave site.  We were born from a boil on his leg. [That's how] we were born.  The old women hugged the girls and started crying.  While crying, they went and put out the fire.  And then, after that was done, they then tried to dull the ax they had sharpened.  They then went to cut the banana bundle down.  [By this time, the bananas had ripened.]

BJ (continues):  They all went and prepared a meal [that included the bananas].  The old women continued on with their daily chores.  They gave the younger girls food, who received it happily.  [T]he old women said, “Don't eat and just throw away your leftovers of the banana.  A spirit will come and take the two of you away and we won't have any [magical] power.  Just gather the leftovers and put them over here inside the house.  [Offended by what the women had said], one of the girls threw the peel of the banana outside; the other girl did not do this.

BJ (emphasizes):  The first girl disregarded what the women had instructed them to do. 

BJ (continues by describing the scene):  There went the food; flying out the door.  All of a sudden the old women saw that there were black clouds coming.  The women turned to the girls, “What did you two do?  Why is the sky changing?  It's different [from what it was before]?  Did you throw your leftovers outside?”  The girls lied, “We didn't.”  All of a sudden, a spirit from the sky fell upon them . . . 

BJ (comments):  Maybe it came from above the clouds.

BJ (continues):  The spirit fell upon them, and [the old women] said, “Hmm, we don't have time to take back what you two have done because the spirit is here.”  They continued, “It's certain now; our power is gone.”  [The spirit] snatched one of the girls and took her to another spirit who was located in a faraway place.  And they stayed [there].  The other sister remained with the [old women] at Lonar.  This sister [at Lonar] had a child, as did the first sister who was in the far away islands, who was [now] living with the Iroij of Ralik island chain. [Note:  This suggests that the sister and Iroij were now a couple, although BJ does not use the more commonly used Marshallese to indicate this type of relationship].  And so, the sister [at Lonar] took her baby to go swimming in the lagoon.  The mother of the child was swimming around and dove under the water, and when she came up, the baby was gone.

BJ (asks herself aloud):  What was the gender of the baby?  Boy? Oh, it was a boy. 

BJ (continues):  The other sister had a baby girl.  The baby [boy] floated away and came ashore on the lagoon side of the Iroij's place [in the far away island].  It had rained a little.  The Iroij said “Go and check my daughter's harbor because I don't know why the sky has turned dark.”  So, [the servants] went towards the lagoon to check.  It was a boy.  The Iroij said “Bring [the child] because [he's] related to my daughter.  [Both the baby boy and the girl] grew up.  The children . . . Oh, the boy was doing something.  [Note:  Although not stated, it appears that they boy is now a teenager.]

 BJ (asks the interviewer):  What is the game where you go this? [Note:  She is flicking her wrist as though throwing Frisbee.]  Frisbee?

Interviewer: Frisbee.

BJ :Yes, frisbee.  The frisbee [thrown by the boy] hit the Queen in the eye.  The Iroij asked the Queen [when he later saw her], “What happened to your eye?”  The Queen had been trying to hide the fact that the boy had hit her in the eye [with a frisbee].  [The chief] said bring everything [and everybody related to this incident] so I can see [who might have been involved].  They checked the boy's hands and saw a cut on his hand.  And the chief said, “I'm going to chop you [into pieces]” to the boy.  The people made a feast to celebrate the fact that the chief would chop up the boy for the incident regarding the queen.  The boy came and sharpened his . . .

BJ (asks herself aloud):  What is the name of that thing?  [Note:  There is a long pause.] Oh, his spear.

BJ (clarifies): These are just stories people tell in the past.  These were the ways . . . [incomplete sentence].   

BJ (returns to the story):  The boy tried to find ways to run away.  But, he could only escape from a certain location on the reef.  He began working on his spear and practiced by running (towards the north) and throwing it multiple times. He would pick up the spear and continued to head north [toward spot where he could escape].  He picked up the spear, again and again, and . . .

BJ (asks herself):  What is the name of the island?  [It's] Tobomar and that area. 

BJ (continues):  He then made a string to hang fish [that he hoped to catch].  He made his string and flew north.  He flew like an airplane.

Interviewer: He flew in the air?

BJ :He flew towards the north, yes.  He made his string.  And remember that frisbee?  He had it with him. . .

Interviewer (interrupts):  What about the string?  He made it for what?

BJ (continues and completes her priorsentence):   . . .the string that he made.  He kept flying northwards, taking on the form of a bird.  He took the string and made a bird and went inside of it.  He kept flying until he reached Lonar.  He saw a boat anchored at the pass near Lomjalele.  He swiftly dove and landed on the boat.  [When the people on the boat] saw him, they thought it a bird.  But, he was inside.

Interviewer: Inside the boat?

BJ :No, [the boy was] inside the bird. 

Interviewer: Oh.

BJ :The queen and the chief . . . the queen . . . they were sailing [along] the oceanside of the island.  The chief dove into the water to look for fish for the queen. . . She was craving a certain kind of fish from the ocean.  [As soon as the canoe reached the intended spot], the boat started to rock.  Some kind of animal shook the boat.  The boat continued to move towards the north.  That place, you know . . .

BJ (asks herself out loud):  What is the name of it?

Interviewer: Is the island in the shape of a boat?

BJ :No, the coral is there but the boat went near Lonar and those islands [near it] and went ashore.  The boat went ashore, and they [Note: It is not clear who this pronoun refers to] killed the queen and the boy at. . . 

BJ (asks herself):  What is the name of that place? Lejoi. 

Interviewer (repeats):  Lejoi.

BJ :That is where they [the queen and the boy] were killed.

Interviewer: Where is the chief?  What happened to him?  He drowned?

BJ :He was lost on the coral.  That's where he died.

Interviewer: He drowned?  He fell on the coral and died?

BJ :Yes, he dove . . . they . . . the queen [and the boy] waited for the servant to pull up the anchor to . . .

Interviewer: Release?

BJ (completes her prior sentence):  . . . .release it.  The bird began to move in a back and forth pattern [Note:  This motion could be a reference to the behavior of birds when they want to mate.]  At this time, the queen wanted to take the boy who was inside the bird.  She saw him and wanted him [for herself] because he was handsome.

Interviewer: She saw the boy and wanted him [because he was handsome]?

BJ :Yes, she eagerly wanted him because he was handsome . . . and then they went [ashore] and that's where they were killed.

BJ :And that is why there are other stories like this over there [in Ailinglaplap and those islands].  You see that house where Jolikwor [lived] - it's a place where there are plenty of banana [trees] growing.

Interviewer: Is it a garden?

BJ :[There are] big banana trees [everywhere].  The soil is perfect for growing bananas.  This is one story [that I know].

Interviewer: Go ahead and end the story.  What do you say [in Marshallese] when you end a story?

BJ :Jidim non, jidim jedu [Note:  This idiomatic expression means ‘And that's the end of our story'].

Interviewer (repeats):  And that's the end of our story. [Note:  BJ smiles.]

Interviewer: Are there any other stories . . . Can we go back to the beginning?  Am I correct in saying that this is the same story about Jolikwor – from the beginning [up until what you ended with]?  One of the girls married the chief?  The boy . . . The girls who married the king . . . [unclear].

BJ :Yes, because they didn't listen to the old women who told them not to throw their banana peel [and leftovers] outside.  They kept throwing things outside.  A spirit came down and took one of the girls and went away with her. . .

Interviewer: To be his wife?  And the other girl?

BJ :The other girl stayed behind and married another chief.

Interviewer: Which [girl] became the mother of the boy?

BJ (clarifies):  The younger girl went to the outermost islands.  The older girl stayed [on the island where the old women were].  And her son went and this is where he injured the queen's face.  The chief tried to kill him and he ran away.

Interviewer (confirms):  The son of the older girl.

BJ :[Yes], the older girl was the mother.

Interviewer: [The boy] was the one who went and injured the queen's face – his mother is the older sister?

BJ :Yes

Interviewer: And was that the boy who was the bird?  Or, who was the bird?   The boy inside the bird?

BJ :The boy who was inside the bird – who made the string – who was flying north . . .

Interviewer: The queen . . . the mother . . . came to like the boy, at the time when the anchor was released?  [Note:  Interviewer uses the term ‘mother' in the sentence.  It appears that she is asking if the queen is the mother of the boy; however, this is inconsistent with the information previously stated.  It is possible that in this case the Marshallese word jinen, which usually refers to ‘his/her mother'should be interpreted as ‘his/her aunt'.]

BJ :His mother?  Yes, his mother saw him [and] liked him.  She desired him.  The boy raised the anchor, and the boat floated away [with the wind].   The boy, he knew it was his mother.  They ran away and sailed away together because . . . [incomplete sentence].

Interviewer: It's like the story of the canoe race of Jabro and his mother?

BJ :Yes.  Jabro . . .

Interviewer: Jabro and his mother.  As I've heard stories . . . [incomplete sentence].  Our customs in the past, the chief tries to keep the [royal] blood within the family.  They don't want to let go [of their lineage]; they try to marry within the family.

BJ :Yes.

Interviewer: Is there any additional information or any more stories you want to tell [us]?

BJ :Well, there is one other story I know of, that is from the same place, Lonar.  [There was a] demon, who ate.  . . [incomplete].  Let me see.  .  . Ah, [there was a] woman at the Ene Re en who had twelve children.  And, you know, the youngest daughter?   The people said she was crazy because she had two [sets of] legs, arms, eyes.  .  .  The demon [who was in the form of a woman] lived alone at Lonar, but the [this] other woman lived at Ene Re. 

BJ (explains):  The distance between the two islands was like from this island [Majuro] to Ejit [North of Majuro]. 

BJ (continues):  The demon woke up every morning and thought about how she could take the children of the other woman from that other island [and bring them to her island].

Interviewer: From the other island. 

BJ :Very early in the morning, [the demon woman] woke up and made fires throughout the island - from one end to the other.  Then she sailed [to the other woman's island] and said, “Give me one of your daughters because my island has so many fish.  I can't handle [catching all those fish], [and] the other women on the island can't handle [the task] either.  Just give me one of your daughters.”  [Note: The fires were likely set to give the impression that there were women on the island cooking plenty of fish.]

BJ (comments):  This was because the other woman had twelve children. 

BJ (continues):  And so, the woman gave the demon [one] daughter saying, “Take the second youngest girl.”  [The demon went on to say], “Give her to me so we can work on [catching] the fish at the island.  There's plenty of fish at the island.  Give me her so she can help with the fish.”  And so [the demon nad the daughter] sailed towards the island [of the demon].  Before they reach the island, the canoe was brought up and held to about 45 degrees while sailing, and the [demon] said “Move about, move about [to balance the boat as they were getting closer to the shore].”  As soon as the girl was busy moving about, the demon ate her and kept her head.  She ate her whole body and took her head and hung it.  She slept and waited again for 3 days before she set sail again.  Again, she took her canoe and sailed.  But before that, she set fires again.  .  . [incomplete sentence]. 

BJ (to interviewer):  If you go to Lonar . . . Have you been to Lonar?

Interviewer: Lonar?

BJ :To the oceanside part of Lonar – [on the farthest side of the island].

Interviewer: Lonar, Arno.

BJ :Yes, to the farthest side of the island - [to the oceanside].

Interviewer: I visited there once, but I really don't know the name of the area.

BJ :You know if you look at one of the rocks on the lagoon side of the island, it is blackened because it was one of the woman's oven rocks which [was used to make] the fires [on the island]; this was the island which she said had so many fish.  But the truth was that she was planning to eat . . . [incomplete sentence]. 

Interviewer (interrupts):   The other woman's daughters.

BJ (completes her prior sentence): .  .  . the other woman's daughters.  She was a demon, from the other island.  Every day, [the demon visited the other woman].  On every third day, the demon took a daughter [back to island with her].  She continued to take each of the daughters [one by one] over the course of a year.  Every three weeks, the demon would go again and bring a daughter.  She continued to take the daughters one by one.  [Finally], the other [mother of the daughters] said, “I'm running out of daughters, [and] there's a lot of work to do.  I, too, have a lot of work here.”  [The demon replied,] “Your work [is understandable], but do you smell that horrible smell?”  It was a horrible smell of the [remains of the] daughters that she [had eaten].  “Don't you smell that bad smell?  Give me one of your daughters so I can go and . . . So she can help me.  The help of the other women over on the island is not enough.  Maybe if all your daughters come and help, afterwards, we'll bring over all the fish from there.  One of them can make smoked fish, another can cook [some fish], and another can joob at (a specific Marshallese way to prepare fish), others can make salted fish.”  [The demon] continued to say, “Some can make dried fish.”  She continued to explain [the various ways] they could prepare all the fish, but the fact of the matter was that she was.  .  . [incomplete sentence].

Interviewer: Eating daughters.

BJ :Eating the daughters.  In the end, it was the youngest daughter, the one with the two [sets of] legs [who survived].  And so, the [mother of the daughters] cried while telling the [demon] woman, “This is my last daughter.  Please return all of [my daughters] when they're done helping [with the fish], because [I have no one to] watch over me, and because this is my youngest daughter.”  So [the demon and daughter] sailed away.  [Once again], the canoe was raised up to 45 degrees while sailing.  [The demon] said [to the girl], “Move about, move about.”  The girl kept moving about on the canoe until she reached the outrigger of the canoe.  She reached the outrigger and held on to it tightly.  The canoe reached the shore.  When [the daughter] looked to the shore, the heads of [her sisters] were hanging from everywhere - on a pandanus tree, on a breadfruit tree, on plants growing near the beach, on Noni trees, and on so many other plants.

Interviewer (comments):  The demon had hung them.

BJ :It had eaten them and hung them up.  As soon the canoe reached the shore, it overturned.  While the demon was uprighting her canoe, the girl ran towards the land and took off running along the oceanside.  The demon went after her but couldn't find her.  When the demon went to check the oceanside, the girl was running on the reef, and the demon ran after the girl.  She ran further until she reached the island where her mother was, and told her mother, “Mother, all my older sisters are gone, the [demon] woman has eaten them all.”  And so all the people gathered on Ene En Island.

BJ (comments):  The island is not that big, it's got a good size.  [Indistinct]. 

BJ (continues the story):  The people and the demon fought a long time before the demon lost the battle.  But it didn't really matter, because all of the woman's daughters were dead. 

Interviewer: All are dead, except the girl.  .  . [Incomplete sentence]

BJ (completes her prior sentence): .  .  . the girl who [they] thought was crazy because she had two noses [BJ laughs].  I mean, she had two [sets of] holes in her nose, two [sets of] eyes . . . [incomplete sentence].  All the other girls . . . [incomplete sentence]. 

BJ (concludes):  These are some of the stories that I know about.  There is another story, but I don't really know too much about it.  [I]t's a story also about [another] twelve girls; [two of whom] were Likonnat, Likajro.  [The story of these girls is about] the well water [located] at the Lonar En. 

Interviewer: The well water at the . . . [incomplete sentence].  What was it?

BJ :Looj, Looj.

Interviewer: At Looj.

BJ :Yes.  That is another story, but I don't really know [much] about it.  I don't remember the story [very well].

Interviewer: One of the older men at Arno, who we spoke with, told us that story.  But he didn't seem to know much about it.  The old man is married and is from Ebon.

BJ :Yes, I know [for sure] that people from those places know these stories better because they used to tell me those stories; those were my grandfathers.  Do you know [an old man] by the name of Kalok?

Interviewer: I don't really know who that was.

BJ :Anyway, those were the old men [I'm referring to].  They used to tell stories - stories about Lijore.  Stories like Jolikwor.  I slept and woke up . . . [incomplete].  They would put me to sleep and sing songs to me and tell me stories.

Interviewer: The Lijore story - is that the story about the girls?

BJ :Eh?

Interviewer: The Lijore . . . [incomplete sentence].  What is that [story]? Was that the story about . . . [incomplete sentence].

BJ :It was about the daughters of Jolikwor.

Interviewer: What was the name of the demon? Oh, [I see] Lijore.

BJ :Yes, that's it.  Lijore.  [Indistinct]. Jolikwor's older sisters, who lived at the western part of the island,
at Male En. 

BJ (asks the Interviewer):  If you go [there], ask anyone, “Where is the house at the Male En?” 

BJ (continues):  Also, there are many other stories from there, but I know only a little about them.  Not [too] much. 

Interviewer: Do you did know about the story of the giant? About the foot?  Whose foot is that? Is it that of Letao's or the giant's?  At the end of the island?

BJ :End of where?

Interviewer: End of Arno.  [At] the farthest end of the island. 

BJ :Arno, Arno?  There is also a Letao [story from] there.  But it [takes place] at Tinak. 

Interviewer: Does it take place near the coral by the lagoon?

BJ :The coral [by the lagoon] where?

Interviewer: I'm not sure myself; I'm a little confused about that.

BJ :You know, [Letao] was going from these islands toward a place called Le Ereak.  There were some canoes that were chasing after him, and he pushed something, which blocked the passage [way between two islands so that those chasing him could not get through].  [Note:  It is not clear what kind of object Letao used]. Nowadays, you cannot . . . [incomplete sentence].  When you sail and reach the shores of Malel, you [have to] go by truck; otherwise, you have to go [around] the pass in order to land ashore . . .

Interviewer: Go [around] the pass?

BJ :Yes, because Letao had prevented the canoes from coming through.  He ran all the way to Tinak, and then lay down, [and] he hid himself.  Today when you go there, you'll see that the well water looks like the shape of a person.  It's got hands, legs . . .

Interviewer: It is a well.

BJ :Yes, it is such a good well.  We wash [clothes] there and bathe there. We still use it until now.

Interviewer: That's one thing we didn't see there.

 BJ :I don't really [know the story]. So, that's another story of Letao that I don't fully know about.  When someone tells me [to tell that story], I say, “Oh, I don't know that particular Letao story.” [Another story from this area] is the story of the girls who went and stirred up the well [when they used the water for bathing].  [Today,] there is evidence of [the girls' use] of the well.  They [used to go] and bathe in the well which belonged to them.  While bathing, the girls caught [one of their sisters named] Likonnat and tore her apart [so that they could use pieces of her to] scrub [themselves] with.  [Likonnat] was the most beautiful girl among them all.  People say that there were also twelve of them; they were also twelve [sisters].  I have heard people tell [this story], but I don't really know much about it. 

Interviewer: Oh, there was a story I heard about three girls.  But there were twelve?  Is that right?

BJ :Yes, twelve.  Likonnat, Utilomar, Likajdro . . . [incomplete sentence].

Interviewer: So they're the names of the plants?

BJ :Yes.  Every time the girls went [to bathe], they stirred up the well.  I don't know who [now] owns the well; that's why I don't really know much [about the story]. 

BJ (continues to tell the story of the girls):  So they bathed and [disturbed] the well water [so much] that when Letao tried to bathe, it was too murky [and the water had too much sediment in it] to take a bath. Okay, that's another story, but I don't know much about it.

Interviewer: Okay, that's good.  I do believe we have recorded all the stories that you know about [and have shared].  I hope that we can take these stories and use them and translate them meaningfully into English.  This project . . . As we know, according to our custom, we don't share [our stories] because we think that they are taboo.  But in today's teenagers' world, we believe that if you don't share these stories, then how can we know about them, and share them with others?  [I think] that you know that life today is different, and our job is to preserve your stories so that others may learn them.  Is there anything else you want to end our [talk] with?  Any last words that you would like to add?  Anything [at all]?

BJ :Well, that's all I know, but thank you for coming.  I've never experienced this kind of situation before [Note: Being interviewed].  The truth is that I usually tell my stories to the children.  I used to tell my stories in the past, but mostly I told stories about demons and the like.  These are usually the kinds of stories people tell in the past.  An old lady by the name of Litoba taught me how to tell [these kinds of] stories.

Interviewer: [Is she also] from Arno?

BJ :She was an old lady from Ailinglaplap, and she knew how to tell stories very well.   She could tell stories.  If I were to listen to her tonight, I wouldn't be bored listening to [her] stories.  Also, my mother used to tell stories; [she was] the wife of my father. 

Interviewer: And so where is this old lady now?

BJ :She passed away.  This old lady - my father had brought her home, and they started seeing each other.   My father passed away first a few years ago, and I moved to this island [and have lived here] ever since.

Interviewer: So you've been here long time.

BJ :When I first came here, my son was in high school.  [Then] he graduated, and he went to college for three years.  Then he stopped going.  He planned to go to school in the United States; he filled in some papers.  But now, I don't really know.  

[Note: The interview stops here].