PIE: *Méd^hu n̥d^hg^whitóm  ‘Honey Everlasting’

*g^wénh₂ h₁est. sáh₂ h₃réḱs pótnih₂.

There once was a woman, who was the wife of the king.

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məd^héu̯ei̯ su̯áh₂deu̯ei̯ ḱléu̯os n̥d^hg^whitóm tósi̯ah₂ai̯ h₁est.

She was famous across the land for her sweet honey.

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*di̯éu̯s, h₂ŕ̥tḱosi̯o u̯éi̯dos,  méd^hu h₃odi̯ed nú dṓm h₁ei̯d nú tód ĝeĝou̯se.

The Sky God, in the form of a bear, smelled the honey and went to her house and tasted it.

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g^wénh₂ h₂ŕ̥tḱom derḱt nú sáh₂ memone: “tósmei̯ méd^huh₁ h₃ók^wih₁ h₁stó.”

The woman saw the bear and thought: “He has sweet eyes.”

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sah₂ h₂ŕ̥tḱōi̯ h₂usí dérēu̯ méd^hu d^heh₁t.

She put some honey onto a tree for the bear at dawn.

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matstós h₃rḗḱs dṓm h₁ei̯d, h₂ŕ̥tḱosi̯o nasí, dn̥ǵ^hu̯áh₂i, h₁éh₁si méd^hu derḱt, nú mn̥i̯eto.

The drunken king went to the house, saw honey on the bear’s nose, tongue, and mouth, and was furious.

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pl̥h₁úh₁ d^huh₂móh₁ páh₂u̯r̥ d^heh₁t, ápo-k^we h₂ŕ̥tḱos h₁ei̯d.

He built a fire that made lots of smoke, and the bear went away.

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matstós h₃rḗḱs né derḱt, méĝh₂onts-u̯e h₁óg^whis g^wemd nú h₃réĝnīm selh₁t.

The drunken king did not notice, but a large snake came and abducted the queen.

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ápo h₂ŕ̥tḱos g^wemd nú h₁óg^whim g^whend. só tósi̯ah₂s dṓm h₃réĝnīm b^héred.

The bear returned and killed the snake, and he carried the queen to her house.

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pótnih₂ tósi̯ah₂s ḱḗr h₂ŕ̥tḱōi̯ doh₃t,

The queen gave her heart to the bear,

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nú h₂ŕ̥tḱos di̯éu̯s b^huh₂t!

and the bear revealed himself to be the Sky God!

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Story by Erica Mattingly

Translation by the 2014 University of Kentucky Indo-European Linguistics class

Pictures by Brenna Reinhart Byrd