ANNAI INAKA' SI CHONG AS SIMONA

Santa Cruz, Hagåtña
1901

Humånao si Chong para i gima' che'lu-ña as Dolores

(Chong went to her sister Dolores' house)

sa' para u fan lupok hånom gi tipo' na eståba guihe.

(to fetch water from the well that was there.)

Gigon måtto gue’ gi as Dolores, ha li'e' na eståba si Simona,

(When she got to Dolores', she saw that Simona was there,)

na man lulupok hånom lokkue’.

(fetching water as well.)

Ilek-ña si Simona gi as Chong, "Maolek sa' esta hit umali'e'."

(Simona said to Chong, "Good because we already see each other.")

Man oppe si Chong, "Ya håfa?"

(Chong answered, "And what?")

Ilek-ña si Simona, "Esta hao maleffa håfa hu sangåne hao gi halacha?"

(Simona said, "You already forgot what I told you a few days ago?")

"Hekkua'," ilek-ña si Chong. "Gaige ha' yo' guine på'go pot para bai fan lupok. Tåya' mås."

("I don't know," Chong said. "I am here only to fetch water. Nothing else.")

Lalålo' si Simona ya gotpe ha fåom si Chong ya ma tututhon i dos umagalute.

(Simona became angry and suddenly attacked Chong and the two began to fight.)

"Hu puno' hao, hu puno' hao!" sige de umessalao si Simona.

("I'll kill you, I'll kill you!" Simona kept shouting.)

Dångkulo-ña si Simona ya ha palopo si Chong ya ha ke ñukut gue' 

(Simona was bigger and got on top of Chong and tried to strangle her)

ya despues ha åkka' i kannai Chong.

(and afterward bit Chong's arm.)

Pot i buruka, guaha siha na besino manhuyong ya ma sepåra i dos palao'an 

(Due to the noise, there were some neighbors who came out and separated the two women)

annai ma li'e' na mumumu.

(when they saw them fighting.)

Despues, ma kotte si Simona ya ma pongle gue' gi kalaboso para trenta dias. 

(Later, Simona was taken to court and was put in jail for thirty days.)

I Señot Hues ha otden lokkue' si Simona para u apåse i mediko nu i gåston 

(The judge also ordered Simona to pay the doctor the cost)

i ma åmten i chetnudan Chong ni tinaka’ dies dias para u mågong.

(of treating Chong's wound which took ten days to heal.)

Lao håfa gi magåhet i tutuhon-ña i inadisguston-ñiha i dos? 

(But what was really the start of the trouble with these two?)

Ti ha sångan i dokumenton i kotte. 

(The court documents don't say.)

Lao debe de u guaha rason håfa na umachatli'e' i dos.

(But there must be a reason why they hated each other.)

NOTES

Tupo'. Water well. Many homes in Hagåtña did have wells right on the property since Spanish times. That was their source of drinking and cooking water. Although there was a river flowing through Hagåtña closer to the shore, the city residents didn't drink that water. That water was used for laundry and other purposes. Even the well water was deemed unsuitable by the Americans, who then started piping in water from other sources (like Matan Hånom or Agaña Springs). Water from the city wells was usually brackish.

Simona and Chong. The story is from an actual court case. Although most court cases involved extensive questioning getting to the bottom of a story, this one oddly did not. It never asked why there was bad blood between these two women in the first place or, at least, it wasn't recorded.