Not far from where Mansfield now is, there lived a mi-anggu wiik wiik, all alone in the baa bap bul.

She was mi-anggu, and used to yagut and marrma wiybo wiylak and boorniy who yalbilum away from yilam.

In one of the Gulinj yilam some warrit away from her there was a very burndap wiybo wiylak, so burndap that he was yumaagu yadabiling. Since yumaagu liked him he thought that he would be safe anywhere, so he went from one yilam to another by himself. When he got there bak would Wumindjika him and wongga him pieces of walert to dhanga. But one garrimiin he yagal, and no one knew where he was, until they mang mang the mi-anggu wiik wiik who was always gunga bunbunarik.

In their wurrbun the Gulinj went to Bundjil, the Maaman, and they asked him to durnmin the wiybo wiylak to them.

Bundjil was very murrup for them and told Gawarn, the Spiny Ant-eater, to go and durnmin him. So Gawarn daamborro down under the mi-anggu wiik wiik’s yilam and found the wiylak, who was not  nortgana, but very bandu. And Bundjil said to the Gulinj, ‘You must not let wiybo wiylak yalbilum away from the yilam’. Then he told the bubup, ‘Let that be a lesson to you’. He went back to his yilam, which was in the woora woora.

Told by Aunty Lee Healy (Patterson-Edmonds)

Further Information

Taungurung word list

baa bap bul bush
bak people
bandu frightened
bia stole
boorniy girl
bubup child
bunbunarik children
Bundjil Eagle, creator
burndap nice
daamborro burrowed
dhanga eat
durnmin bring back, restore
garrimiin day
Gawarn Spiny ant-eater
Gulinj Kulin
gunga taking
Maaman Father (Bundjil)
mang mang remember
marrma keep
mi-anggu hideous, wicked
murrup sorry
nortgana hurt
walert possum
warrit distant, distance
wiik wiik old woman
wiybo little
wiylak boy
wongga give
woora woora sky
Wumindjika welcome
wurrbun sadness
yadabiling favourite, darling
yagal disappeared
yagut find
yalbilum wandered, wander
yilam camp
yumaagu everyone

The sounds of Taungurung

a as in but
aa as in cart
o as in hot
u as in put
i as in bit
oor as in core
iy as in eye
e as in bed
ii as in sleep
ng as in sing
nj as in new
dj as in gem