Nyangatom Storying: Donkey, Dog, and Goat

Once upon a time, Donkey, Dog and Goat wanted to journey to go to a friend's house for a funeral. [They said:] "Let us go there and wail." 

So they set out. While they were walking on the street, they saw a taxi and got in.  

Then the taxi-boy asked them for the money. 

Donkey took out money, paid, and received his change. 

Then Dog got out his money and gave it to the taxi-boy. The taxi-boy took Dog's money and simply did not return the change. 

Goat did not have any money; anyway she did not want to pay because she did not have any. So she said (= tried) to hide at the feet of Donkey and Dog.  

When they arrived where the person had died, they got off the taxi.  

Therefore, when they go on the street nowadays, they remember this: Donkey, because he paid the money and got his change, just walks on the street without bothering. Dog, however, because he did not receive his change, barks whenever he sees a car, and runs after it. But Goat, because she did not pay anything, whenever she sees a car, she runs away.* 

Examining traditional Nyangatom stories like the one above is one means that the Nyangatom Bible translation team employs to ensure that their Bible translation uses natural Nyangatom grammatical features. For example, the Nyangatom story above concludes by focusing on each (animal) character - the donkey, dog and goat who travelled together by taxi - and this can provide a helpful point of comparison when translating similarly-structured biblical stories and/or parables (e.g., Luke 19:11-27). Please pray that the translators would have great discernment as well as consensus and involvement from church leaders in the wording and printing of the Nyangatom Bible translation.

*"Donkey, Dog and Goat," translated into English by Martin C. Schröder and James Lokuuda Kadanya, "A Brief Grammar of the Nyangatom Language" (2011), 57-58.