The Traditional Ecological Knowledge of the Solega A Linguistic Perspective

205

a few textual variations. Following is one of three versions of the Solega honey song
recorded in April 2009 from native speakers in three settlements:

aṇṇa:ne: ka:ḍiga na:daru neḍeyaṇṇo

aṇṇa:ne: ka:ḍiga na:daru neḍeyaṇṇo

Brother, let us go to the forest,

Brother, let us go to the forest.

aṇṇa:ne: kembare bareyalli je:na:de

aṇṇa:ne: kembare bareyalli je:na:de

Brother, there is honey at Kembare Bare ,

Brother, there is honey at Kembare Bare.

aṇṇa:ne: mu:ru moḷada muṇḍu su:ṭe

aṇṇa:ne: a:ru moḷada aṇegaḍḍi

Brother, a three- mola 1 -long muṇḍu su:ṭe,^2

Brother, a six- mola -long aṇegaḍḍi ,^3

aṇṇa:nu: ka:ḍiga na:daru neḍeyaṇṇo

aṇṇa:ne: ka:ḍiga na:daru neḍeyaṇṇo

Brother, let us go to the forest,

Brother, let us go to the forest.

aṇṇa:ne: kammuri bareyalli je:na:de

aṇṇa:ne: kammuri bareyalli je:na:de

Brother, there is honey at Kammuri Bare ,

Brother, there is honey at Kammuri Bare ,

aṇṇa:ne: no:ḍi kuiyalo: je:nanna:

aṇṇa:ne: no:ḍi kuiyalo: je:nanna:

Brother, look, let’s harvest the honey ,

Brother, look, let’s harvest the honey,

aṇṇa:ne: ka:ḍiga na:daru neḍeyaṇṇo

aṇṇa:ne: ka:ḍiga na:daru neḍeyaṇṇo

Brother, let us go to the forest,

Brother, let us go to the forest.

aṇṇa:ne: no:ḍi cuccalo: je:nanna

aṇṇa:ne: no:ḍi cuccalo: je:nanna

Brother, look, let’s poke out the honeycomb,

Brother, look, let’s poke out the honeycomb,

aṇṇa:ne: ku:guri (h)ambina kuḍima:lo:

aṇṇa:ne: ku:guri (h)ambina kuḍima:lo:

Brother, a rope made of ku:guri vine,

Brother, a rope made of ku:guri vine.

The song describes in some detail the implements used during the harvesting
process, as well as the actions performed; in places, the singer also mentions loca-
tions where a particular kind of bee is to be readily found. The place Kembare Bare
is also mentioned in other variants of this song, which indicates that this location
holds special religious and/or cultural signifi cance for the Solega:

kembare bareyalli je:na:de

ka:rana kareyo ka:raĩyya

There is honey at Kembare Bare ,

(Invocation of the God Karaĩya)

kembare bare je: nu kenje:nu

ka:rana kareyo ka:raĩyya

The bees at Kembare rock are red bees,

(Invocation of the God Karaĩya)

soppi nerake ka:ra:na O Ka:ra:na who dwells in the shade of the leaves!

Sometimes, other honey -gathering locations are mentioned, as in the following:

haddu bare je: nu adugidade

soppi nerake ka:ra:na

The bees at Haddu rock sway in the wind,

O Ka:ra:na who dwells in the shade of the leaves!

and:

a:la bareli je:na:de

na:ḍe: ni: nu:r ondu je: nu adeyaṇṇa

There are bees at A:la rock,

There are a hundred and one hives in the forest.

(^1) A measure of length, taken to be the distance between the elbow and the middle fi ngertip.
(^2) A torch used for making smoke.
(^3) An implement for cutting out honeycomb (K: pacce ).
7.4 Bee Songs