Kaju ‘bero na, ku Sukuri seku
Yugu saka ku gele ku toli’ba ku
kpenya ku’de kilo.
Kara konda kuliyata kine giri
kugele.
Kpenya na ŋiyoro ku kopuko de
bayi kasi ko ididiŋiini.
Once upon a time, Hen and
Eagle were friends. They lived
in peace with all the other birds.
None of them could fly.
Luŋa le’de gele, kana a’dukia
rile.
Yugu utuji pajo i galadu na
nyosu.
Lepe yite iboni ku a kanya.
“Kiko le’de laga lo woworoniki
wulewule kata!” Yugu lo kuliya.
One day, there was famine in
the land. Eagle had to walk very
far to find food. She came back
very tired.
“There must be an easier way
to travel!” said Eagle.
Ibona toto naga ana’bu, Sukuri
a yo’yurame laga a lo’bu.
Lepe apoki ipependa na kupi ti
kpenya laga worisi kasi kara
laga atatuwa kilo.
“Kuyi ripe kuwo kugele kaya
kupi kinie,” lepe na kuliya.
“’Diya yi i woworo wulewule.”
After a good night’s sleep, Hen
had a brilliant idea. She began
collecting the fallen feathers
from all their bird friends.
“Let’s sew them together on top
of our own feathers,” she said.
“Perhaps that will make it easier
to travel.”
I bileji katayu, Yugu laga ku
libira ‘du, kuwa de lepe nyelo
‘doya riba na anje.
Wuleŋa gele lepe a ŋiyoro kaŋo
ku kopuko naga a na’bu na’bu a
koloro sukuri kayu.
Sukuri tete akanya riba na.
Lepe a koloki libiralo i kabati
kiyu duga utu i koku yu ku
derakinda ŋaji kanye kilo ‘dilo.
Eagle was the only one in the
village with a needle, so she
started sewing first.
She made herself a pair of
beautiful wings and flew high
above Hen.
Hen borrowed the needle but
she soon got tired of sewing.
She left the needle on the
cupboard and went into the
kitchen to prepare food for her
children.
‘Bo ku’de kilo kpenya ameri
Yugu i ŋiyoro yu.
Kara a magu Sukuri i tikinda
nase libira lo se kukundi kopuko
kase.
Wuleŋa kpenya rodi apoki
iŋiŋiyutu i’diko yu.
But the other birds had seen
Eagle flying away. They asked
Hen to lend them the needle to
make wings for themselves too.
Soon there were birds flying all
over the sky.
Kpenyati na teyitundo libira
a’dute na, aku momorani Sukuri
i ‘baa yu.
Kuwa de ŋaji ti lepe kine
a’dumara libiralo i bironiki, kara
akoloki libiralo i sinyaki kata.
When the last bird returned the
borrowed needle, Hen was not
there. So her children took the
needle and started playing with
it.
When they got tired of the
game, they left the needle in
the sand.
Inu lu’baŋa de, Yugu ayite.
Lepe lepe a magu libira lonye lo
kuSukindi kupi laga a
kpokpoyiga kanye woro yu kile.
Sukuri aga ‘yu libira lo i koku
yu, lepe kaga’yu i ‘baa kata yu.
‘Bo libira lo aku riye.
Later that afternoon, Eagle
returned. She asked for the
needle to fix some feathers that
had loosened on her journey.
Hen looked on the cupboard.
She looked in the kitchen. She
looked in the yard. But the
needle was nowhere to be
found.
“Inga tikina luŋa gele,” Sukuri
na ma’yu mugu ku Yugu.
“Do bulo sukindo kopuko konu
kine modo ŋiyoro konu ga’yu na
nyosu yu ‘do.”
“Luŋa gele ‘du,” Yugu lo kuliya.
“Kudo aku riyo libira liyolo, do i
titikinda na ŋiro nonu naga gele
na arope.”
“Just give me a day,” Hen
begged Eagle. “Then you can
fix your wing and fly away to
get food again.”
“Just one more day,” said Eagle.
“If you can’t find the needle,
you’ll have to give me one of
your chicks as payment.”
Loŋa lo bo lo kuyeŋundi, lepe a
ku momorani Sukuri kunu
kokodu kaana i sinyaki kata yu
‘bo libira lo ‘bayi.
Kuwa de Yugu asurunda kani i
tore na Sukuri gele na kini
duga’do ‘dokoro lepe.
Ŋiyu ilu luŋa de tojo i tinade,
kuYugu lo poonda, lepe
momorani Sukuri kunu kokodu
kaana isinyaki kata yu.
When Eagle came the next day,
she found Hen scratching in the
sand, but no needle.
So Eagle flew down very fast
and caught one of the chicks.
She carried it away.
Forever after that, whenever
Eagle appears, she finds Hen
scratching in the sand for the
needle.
Ku kodudo na kopukoni na Yugu
na ‘duu, Sukuri tepijo torila
kanye kine, “Yoŋeta ‘beri kaŋo i
kaa naga renjele na ku a natiyo
kaŋo.”
Duga kara rugo adi, “Yi ani
gbo’da mamalini. Yi wowoke.”
As the shadow of Eagle’s wing
falls on the ground, Hen warns
her chicks. “Get out of the bare
and dry land.”
And they respond:
“We are not fools. We will run.”
Written by: Ann Nduku
Illustrated by: Wiehan de Jager
Translated by: Jonathan Aloro Nyaga, Aga Khan Foundation
