Comment
Recorded from
Vasilij Shalugin
in 1990. The folk etymology relates the name Charchaxan to the meaning 'curved, pock-marked'. However, although the stem
charqE- 'curved' is present in Tundra Yukaghir, it has not been clearly attested in the modern Kolyma Yukaghir.
Translation
(19-1) A long time ago lived Charchaxan.
(19-2) He had a wife and she had a child
(19-3) Living in this way Charchaxan was the biggest shaman.
(19-4) It was a time when there were many shamans.
(19-5) So he lived.
(19-6) He roamed on a boat in summer and on a dog sledge in winter. They lived roaming.
(19-7) One day Charchaxan was shamanizing all the time.
(19-8) When the shaman shamanized, his wife asked him about it. Later he told her: "I saw that and that."
(19-9) His wife understood some of it.
(19-10) That woman understood the language of the ravens.
(19-11) If she asked him soon afterwards, he used to tell her what he had done.
(19-12) One day they roamed away from their place. He said: "Let's roam on the big road," and so they went.
(19-13) So they came to the place where they were going. They had had the silver spoons, but saw that only the spoon case was left.
(19-14) And hose silver spoons had either been left behind, or had been lost on the road, perhaps.
(19-15) He sent his child.
(19-16) He sent his best child to see if they were lying on the road.
(19-17) To find them the child walked on the recently frozen ice. When he was walking on the ice, the ice broke, he fell and died.
(19-18) His wife mourned over him. In her mourning she asked what had happened to him and where he had disappeared. And she said: "Why were you shamanizing all the time?
(19-19) Why didn't you see what happened?"
(19-20) Charchaxan didn't answer.
(19-21) He was pretending that he was crying.
(19-22) One day a raven came flying past.
(19-23) The woman asked it: "What happened to my child?
(19-24) He could have grown up to be an adult. What happened to him?"
(19-25) Then the raven answered: "It happened because he was defeated.
(19-26) Your husband is a shaman. He fought against two shamans and they defeated your husband. When they started defeating him, he gave them his child instead of himself.
(19-27) With this he escaped and was rescued."
(19-28) That's how it went.
(19-29) That woman wanted to beat Charchaxan very much saying: "Why did you do that?"
(19-30) Then Charchaxan said: "How do you know I did it?"
(19-31) He said: "Who told you?"
(19-32) The woman said: "The raven told me why you did it."
(19-33) The shaman didn't know she could speak to ravens. She used to look at the road, watch and ask.
(19-34) At the time when she was little and didn't speak, any child who didn't speak was fed with raven's eggs.
(19-35) That's why they understood the language of the ravens when they wanted to speak it.
(19-36) Now there are people like that who live in the forest.
(19-37) They say that some people can understand it.
(19-38) It is like this here.
(19-39) This is the end.