Myron Eells’s hymn book (Part 5 “Whiskey” [B])
Song #5 from Myron Eells’s little book, “Hymns in the Chinook Jargon Language“, 2nd (expanded!) edition (Portland, OR: David Steel, 1889):
(Here’s a link to all installments in this mini-series.)
There are two different songs called “Whiskey” on the same page.
Sometimes you eat the bar, and sometimes the bar eats you
(image credit: “The True Cost of Wasting Money on Getting Wasted”, HuffPost)
Here’s the second one, set to a famous kids’ tune, the Alphabet Song.
I’ll provide a translation of what the lyrics are saying:
WHISKEY.
No. 5 Tune, “A, B, C,” etc.
1. Spose nesika muckamuck whiskey,
spos nsayka mə́kʰmək wíski,
‘If we drink booze,’
Whiskey muckamuck nesika dolla.
wíski mə́kʰmək nsayka dála.
‘Booze drinks up our money.’
Spose nesika muckamuck whiskey,
Whiskey muckamuck nesika dolla.
Repeat twice.
Spose nesika muckamuck whiskey
Whiskey muckamuck nesika dolla.2. Spose nesika muckamuck whiskey,
Whiskey muckamuck nesika iktas.
wíski mə́kʰmək nsayka íkta-s.
‘Booze drinks up our stuff.’
Repeat as above.3. Spose nesika muckamuck whiskey,
Whiskey muckamuck nesika wind.
wíski mə́kʰmək nsayka wín.
‘Booze drinks up our breath.’4. Spose nesika muckamuck whiskey,
Whiskey muckamuck nesika tumtum.
wíski mə́kʰmək nsayka tə́mtəm.
‘Booze drinks up our hearts.’
Now, Eells’s own translation of the above:
TRANSLATION.
1. If we drink whisky,
Whiskey will eat up our money.2. If we drink whiskey,
Whiskey will eat up our things, i.e. clothes especially.3. If we drink whiskey,
Whiskey will eat up our lives.4. If we drink whiskey,
Whiskey will eat up our souls.
The grammar here is perfectly okay, as usual for Eells.
The personification of booze as an animate subject of active verbs is unconventional for the language — not a strategy that we can make much use of in ordinary conversation.
