Fina'kuentos #1: Hokkok i Salape'-na

Pa'go' matutuhun i mas ya-hu na mes guini giya Guahan, Mes Chamoru.

March is Chamorro month in Guam, and although people make plenty of good arguments that say that every month should be Chamorro month, it is still nonetheless nice to have a month where everyone on Guam, regardless of their race or feelings of racism, has to celebrate Chamorros and Chamorro culture. It's nice to see businesses get all "Chamorro-ed" out in terms of their decorations, their activities. It's nice to see every DOE teacher incorporate Chamorro something into their class work, even if some of them find the most ridiculous or silly ways of doing so.

I'm thinking of how to celebrate Chamorro month on my blog this year. I'm considering that every other day or so, I'll be posting a different Chamorro saying pat fina'kuentos. These are fragments of Chamorro wisdom, that I've occassionally written about before on this blog. They are slowly over time being lost, as the Chamorro language becomes less and less spoken. They provide some interesting insights into the cosmology of Chamorros, their history, their culture. You can see the ways the effects of colonization have affect their philosophy, but also the way they have endured and still survived.

As I've written about before I'm trying to instill the wisdom of some of these sayings into my children, ko'lo'lo'na i hagga'-hu Sumahi. They are things that you, even if you don't speak Chamorro, that you can use as well. They can be a simple, sometimes silly, sometimes profound way of introducing yourself into either the language or the consciousness of Chamorros.

For today the the fina'kuentos I wanted to share is "Hokkok i salape'-na."

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Para este na fina'kuentos, guaha dos kumekeilek-na.

Fine'nina i mas "literal." "Hokkok i salape'-na" sina kumekeilek-na, na esta tumaya' i salape' i taotao. Taya' salape' gi i bangko, pat buente taya' gi i betsa-na. Sina humokkok para maseha hafa na rason, lao taya'ya' ha'. Gi minagahet, este na kumekeilek-na ti mismo fina'kuentos, este "kuentos" ha', sa' parehu este yan i mismo palabras.

Lao i mina'dos na sina na kumekeilek-na magahet na fina'kuentos. Sina un alok na hokkok i salape'-na un taotao anggen mumagio' gui' gi un lugat ni' ti mismo i katre-na pat sagan maigo'-na.

Annai hu hassuyi este na fina'kuentos ha na'hahasso yu' put un biaheru ni' humahanao gi un sen annakko' na chalan yan un mas annakko' na hinanao. Este na fina'estoria, ti mismo i nina'fanhuyong-na este na fina'kuentos, lao este i hinasso-ku put Guiya.

Taiga'chong este na taotao gi este na karera, lao ha petsigi mo'na. Manodda' gui' hotet gi i kanton chalan, lao annai humalom gui', ma sangani gui' na ti nahong i salape'-na, pues ti sina ma attkiluyi gui' ni' kuatto. Este na biaheru payon gui' nu este na klasin malatrata, ya ti nina'bubu. Ha dingu i hotet ya humanao gui' mo'na gi i kalang taifinakpo' na hinanao. Gi i mamokkakkat-na, gumof matuhok gui', ya taya' fanliheng'an gi oriya-na. Mata'chong gui' gi i kanton chalan, ya mumaigo' gui' kontra un trongko.

Un otro na biaheru ha faloffani i fine'nina na taotao. Inina i mamaigo' na biaheru ni' i mina'lak pulan. I ti mamaigo' na biaheru ha yengyong didide' i ilu-na, ya ilek-na, "ai adai, hokkok i salape'-na."

Sigun Si Joaquin yan Si Manuel Borja gi i lepblon-niha "Estreyas Marianas: Chamorro," ha eksplika i fina'kuentos taiguini:

"Put hemplo, i patgon ha nanangga Si nana-na gi sala ya gi duranten i ninangga-na mumaigo' gi ta'chong-na, pues sina ta alok put i patgon, "Ai sa' hokkok i salappe'-na."

Pues, anggen manli'e' hao taotao ni' mamaigo' gi i siya-na gi duranten i klas. Sina un sangani i otro na estudiante na "hokkok i salape'-na." Anggen manli'e' hao taotao ni' mamaigo' gi halom i kareta-na, sina un sangan na "hokkok i salape'-na." Anggen gaige un taotao gi i gima'-na, ni' ti ya-mu, ya ga'o-mu na sumasaga' gui' (yan mamaigo' gui') mohon gi un otro na lugat, sina un alok lokkue' na "hokkok i salape'-mu."