Transcript

(Do lean sí ar an) (...) é go dtáini' sé go doras an leasa. Agus nuair a tháini' sé[1] go doras an leasa do bhí sé imithe isteach go dtí an lios. Agus do dhún doras an leasa ina coinne. Do bhí sí ina seasamh taobh amuigh ' dhoras an leasa ansin agus do bhí sí ag éisteacht agus (ní raibh a fhios aici ar thalamh) (...) cad a dhéanfadh sí. Bhí a cuid olainne imithe uaithe agus lín. D'airigh sí an gleo istigh. Agus an bualadh agus an (...). Na mná a bhí istigh insa lios, do bhíodar ag bualadh an fhir a thug an obair ar fad chucu. Agus ní raibh a fhios aige cad a dhéanfadh sé. "Éistigí, a mhná," a dúirt sé. "Agus ná fuil a fhios agaibh go maith gur libh féin an méid abhrais athá anso. Gach uile shórt pioc de. Mar is (lú) a fhios ag 'Cúl le hAbhras' gur Billie Touras é m'ainmse." D'fhan mar sin. "Tá fios agam anois," a dúirt sí leastaobhmuigh, agus í ina seasamh taobh amuigh ' dhoras an leasa, "caidéarbh é a ainm."

( Then ) d'imigh sí léithe abhaile ansin. Agus d'fhan mar sin go dtáinig seachtain ón oíche sin aríst (uirthi). Agus nuair a tháinig seachtain ón oíche sin aríst uirthi ins an am céanna dh'oíche do d'imigh sí agus do shuigh sí síos ar a cathaoir. Agus d'fhan sí mar sin nó go dtáinig an fear chuici aríst, agus an t-ualach mór air. Gach uile shórt snáithe dá chuid olainne agus lín sníofa, cardáilte, fite agus é i gcóir chuig an táilliúra. Do leag sé gach snáithe dhe anuas ar an urlár ansin chuici. Agus do thóg sí a ceann suas agus d'fhéach sí air. Agus do dhein sí scairt gháire. "Muise, céad míle fáilte reomhat," a dúirt sí, "a Bhillie Touras, i t'ainm agus id shloinne!"

Do d'iompaigh Billie Touras ar an urlár agus a d'iompaigh sé amach arís, agus é go feargach ag imeacht leis ar n-ais. Agus is dócha nuair a ghaibh sé ar n-ais go dtí an lios aríst nach bhfuil fios cén bualadh do fuair sé nuair ná raibh olann ná líon ná pá ag dul ar n-ais aige. D'imigh sé leis ansin aríst (' dtáinig ansin).

**********

Aon. Dó. Trí. Ceathair. Cúig. Sé. Seacht. Hocht. Naoi. Deich. Haon ndéag. Dó dhéag. Trí déag. Ceathair déag. Cúig déag. Sé déag. Seacht déag. Hocht déag. Naoi déag. Fiche. Haon. Dó. Trí. Ceathair. Cúig. Sé. Seacht. Hocht. Naoi. Deich. Haon ndéag. Dó dhéag. Trí déag. Ceathair déag. Cúig déag. Sé déag. Seacht déag. Hocht déag. Naoi déag. Fichead. Haon fichead. Dó fichead. Trí fichead. Ceathair fichead. Cúig fichead. Sé fichead. Seacht fichead. Hocht fichead. Naoi fichead. Deich fichead. Dathad. Deich is dathad. Trí fichid. Deich is trí fichid. Cheithre fichid. Deich ar cheithre fichid. Céad.

Translation

She followed (...) him until he came to the door of the fort. And when [s]he came to the door of the fort he had gone into the fort. And the door of the fort closed in front of her. She was standing outside the door of the fort then and she was listening and she did not know (...) what she would do. Her wool was gone from her and her flax. She heard noise inside. And knocking and (...). The women who were inside the fort were hitting the man who had brought all the work to them. And he did not know what to do. "Listen, women," he said. "And don't ye know well that all the yarn here is your own. Every single pick of it. Because it is little that 'She Who Has Abandoned Her Yarn' knows that my name is Billie Touras." It stayed like that. "Now I know," she said outside, as she stood outside the door of the fort, "what his name [i]s."

(Then) she went off home then. And she stayed like that until a week after that night came upon her. And when a week after that night came upon her again at the same time of the night she went and she sat down on her chair. And she stayed like that until the man came to her again, with the great load on him. Every bit of thread of her wool and flax spun, carded, woven and ready for the tailor. He put every thread of it down on the floor to her. And she lifted her head and she looked at him. And she burst out laughing. "Well, a hundred thousand welcomes to you," she said, "Billie Touras, by name and by surname!"

Billie Touras turned on the floor and went out again, and angrily went off back. And I suppose that when he returned to the fort no one knows the beating he got when he returned without wool or flax or pay. He went off then again (...).

**********

One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six. Seven. Eight. Nine. Ten. Eleven. Twelve. Thirteen. Fourteen. Fifteen. Sixteen. Seventeen. Eighteen. Nineteen. Twenty. One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six. Seven. Eight. Nine. Ten. Eleven. Twelve. Thirteen. Fourteen. Fifteen. Sixteen. Seventeen. Eighteen. Nineteen. Twenty. One and twenty. Two and twenty. Three and twenty. Four and twenty. Five and twenty. Six and twenty. Seven and twenty. Eight and twenty. Nine and twenty. Ten and twenty. Forty. Ten and forty. Three score. Ten and three score. Four score. Ten and four score. One Hundred.

Footnotes

Commentary

Parts one and two of this story combine to form a version of an international folktale, ATU 500 The name of the supernatural helper. The tale is well known throughout Europe, Asia and parts of Africa. See Hans Jorg Uther, The types of international folktales: a classification and bibliography (3 vols, Helsinki, 2004). It is often referred to in popular culture as Rumplestiltskin, with the name stemming from a German version of the tale that appeared as KHM 55 Rumpelstilzchen, in the Grimm Brothers' Kinder und Hausmärchen 1 (Göttingen, 1812). The story is well known in Ireland, particularly in Munster and Connacht, with several versions also having been recorded in Ulster and Leinster. See Seán Ó Súilleabháin and Rieder Th. Christiansen, The types of the Irish folktale (Helsinki, 1968). It contains a number of international folk motifs, including N475 Secret name overheard by eavesdropper, H521 Test: guessing unknown propounder’s name and D2183 Magic spinning. See Stith Thompson, Motif-index of folk literature (rev. and enlarged ed., 6 vols, Bloomington, Ind., 1955-8). A version of this story was published under the title 'Billy Teabhras' in Séamus Ó Duilearga, Leabhar Stiofáin Uí Ealaoire (Dublin, 1981), 92-4.

**********

The second item on this track, a recitation of numbers, was recorded primarily for phonetic purposes. It is one of 30 such items in the Doegen collection.