The Story of Guper the Foolish Troll

A note on phonetics.

e = schwa
U = unrounded u
O = unrounded o

There is no distinction between long and short vowels -- pronounce all
vowels as long.

t, d, s, z, r, and l are all palatal.  r and l are frequently vocalic;
when in doubt, pronounce them so -- (thus it's safer to pronounce, say,
tro as two syllables)

c is an unvoiced velar fricative.  C is the voiced velar fricative.

q, Q indicate unvoiced and voiced glotal stops, respectively.

h, H, glottal fricative

x, X, glottal approximate

ng nasal approximate

There.  Now, without further ado, the Tale of Guper the Foolish Troll,
from my web page http://www.angelfire.com/il/conlang

The Story of gUpr the Foolish Troll
                      as told by hakr, Loremaster of HOkqar tribe

I met hakr on the plains of Rak-laman, and managed to hold him off long
enough to scream out "segame!" (I speak!) He stopped trying to eat me and
we struck up a conversation, the result being that he took me back to his
hOlkr; I was not certain whether to eat or be eaten.

There, a number of children began calling me names -- a common enough game
among trolls, almost as common as riddles.  However, while I recognized
almost all the insults and returned them as was polite, the cubs got the
best of me by calling me "gUpr!".  I asked hakr what a "gUpr" was, and
that was enough to launch The Story of gUpr the Foolish Troll:



gUpr qr quqa.  qopakOx qr ecomtr.  ecom tem quqa.

Guper, I'll call him "he", wanted to mate a human, I'll call the human
"her."

prkOtOx tem ku sogrOx tem meke meCO.

She smelled sickly sweet, so that she'd probably taste like an apple!
[hooting laughter]

ge hetekOx tem ku cemetOx tem Ce-tek meCO, ku qoprkOx tem qrtr.

But he acted like a bird, so that he made bird-noises, so that she would
want to mate him.

emHa qopakma ecoma emHa hetekma ge Qekare guX omangHutr.

When humans want to mate they act like birds, but I don't know why.
[hooting laughter]

pekamatOx qr qetr.  qetr quqa megange trle ecom meCO.  qetr quqa sangre
trle Qugtr o qetr quqa zedake trletr podu teko du ku pekenge trle ecom
meCO o qetr quqa tem trle pUx.

And he decided this.  This is, "I will become like a human."  This is "I
will dress in weeds" and this is "I will rub myself with bird shit so that
I smell like a human" and this is "She will be mine!"  [chuckles]

gUpr kehehuxr, QekarOx guX qetr.  qe quqa podakma ecoma mekU meCO, guX
podu teko meCO.

Foolish Guper!  He didn't know that this:  This is humans smell like
apples, not like birdshit!

ge sangrOx qr Qugtr o zedakOx qrtr podu teko du.  teHa mrakOx temtr hOlkrC
ecoma qatl.

But he put on weeds and he rubbed himself with birdshit.  Then he sought
her among the tribes of men.

Qekarma guX ecoma qetr.  qe quqa ge pode podu teko ge pode mekU.
pekamatma ecoma qetr.  qetr quqa gUpr ecom.

Humans did not know this.  This is either the smell of birdshit or the
smell of apples.  They decided this.  This is Guper (was) human.

QorakOx qr temtr.  segamOx qr qetr.  qetr quqa qotmakOx tem trle zr.

He found her.  He said this: this is "mate with me!"

segamOx tem qetr.  qetr quqa hukOx qr mekumtr pekemtr trme ho o qutrake
trme qr zr.

She said this.  This is "Give me somethiing good to eat, and I will mate
with you."

segamOx qr qetr.  qetr quqa huqake trle tem ho grmtr o qotmakOx tem trle
zr.

He said this.  This is "I will give you a deer to eat, and you will mate
with me."

segamOx tem qetr.  qetr quqa hukOx qr mekumtr engpekemtr trme ho o qutrake
trme qr zr.

She said this.  This is "give me something better to eat, and I will mate
with you."

segamOx qr qetr.  qetr quqa huqake trle tem ho ecomtr o qotmakOx tem trle
zr.

He said this.  This is "I will give you a human to eat, and you will mate
with me."

segamOx tem qetr.  qetr quqa hukOx qr mekumtr tOpekemtr trme ho o qutrake
trme qr zr.

She said this.  This is "give me the best thing to eat, and I will mate
with you."

segamOx qr qetr.  qetr quqa huqake trle tem ho Qupukahatr ku qotmakOx tem
trle zr.

He said this.  This is "What do I give you so that you will mate with me?"

segamOx tem qetr.  qetr quqa hukOx qr trme ho zekamatr o qutrake trme qr
zr.

She said this.  This is "give me your hands to eat, and I will mate with
you."

teHa huqakOx gUpr gum zekamatr tem ho, ge qutrakOx guX qr zr ku huqakOx
gUpr gum tOzematr tem ho, ge qutrakOx guX qr zr.

Then Guper gave her his very hands to eat, but she would not mate with
him, so he gave her his very feet to eat.

teHa topak mrkUmOx qr guX o pekUmax mrkUmOx qr guX.  teHa moqOgOx tem qrtr
ze quqa guX tem ecom.  quqa TrQal tem zedakang mekU du o sangrom Qugr.

Then he could not flee nor could he fight.  Then she ate him greedily,
because she was not human.  She was a troll, covered in apples and wearing
weeds!