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Nale nale, Oxuxwa nonhwa ova li ookaume. Ova li ve na ombili needila. Kapa li nande odila ya li i shii okutuka.
Once upon a time, Hen and
Eagle were friends. They lived
in peace with all the other birds.
None of them could fly.
Efimbo limwe, moshilongo omwe ya ondjala. Onhwa oya li ina okweenda oshinano shile i ka konge oikulya. Ohai aluka ya loloka neenghono. “Ope na ngaho okukala pe na omukalo umwe mupu wokweenda!” Onhwa osho ye lipopile.
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.
Ongula eshi va penduka va kofolokwa nawa, Xuxwa okwa li e na ondungediladilo imwe ya dengambada. Okwa ongela omalwenya aeshe oo a li a duduka keedila dookaume kavo “Natu hondjeleni omalwenya aa kombada yomalwenya etu,” osho ya lombwele ookaume kayo ya ti: “Pamwe otashi ka pupaleka ngaho okweenda kwetu.”
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.”
Onhwa oyo aike ya li i na mo ongwiya momukunda, onghee oyo ya tameka okuhondja tete. Okwe li hondjela epando lomavava liwa kuhe na vali ndele tali tuka mombada mokule lidule oxuxwa. Oxuxwa oya indila ongwiya nayo i hondjife omavava ayo, ashike oya loloka diva. Oya pungula ongwiya moshikopa ndele tai i kepata i ka longekidile ouxuxwena vayo oikulya.
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.
Eedila dikwao oda mona eshi onhwa tai tuka. Oda pula oxuxwa i di pe ongwiya, opo di lihondjele yo omavava. Diva diva ewangadjo oli yadi eedila tadi tuka nokutelaana.
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.
Odila yaxuuninwa eshi ya ka alula ongwiya, oxuxwa inai hangwa mo meumbo. Ouxuxwena ova pewa ongwiya ndee tava tameke oku i danena. Eshi va loloka okudanauka, ove i kanifila medu ndee tava i.
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.
Lwanima komatango fiku olo, onhwa oya aluka. Oya pula i kwafelwe ongwiya i pameke nawa omalwenya ayo amwe oo a yululukila molweendo laye. Oxuxwa oya konga ongwiya moshikopa. Oya tala yo kepata. Oya talaatala yo vali mehalandjadja loluumbo alishe, ashike ongwiya ine i mona.
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.
“Pe nge ashike efiku limwe alike ndi konge natango,” Oxuxwa osho ya ilikana onhwa. “Ove u dule okuninga nawa omavava ove u shiive u tuke uye kokule u ka konge vali oikulya.” “Efiku limwe alike ohandi li ku pe”. Onhwa osho a ti: “Ngeenge ongwiya oyo owa kala ino i mona, ou na ashike okukala wa pa nge po kamwe komouxuxwena voye ongofuto.”
“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.”
Onhwa eshi ya aluka mefiku la shikula ko, oya hanga oxuxwa tai hade medu ndele ongwiya inai i mona. Onhwa oya tuka neendelelo, ndee tai vakula po okaxuxwena kamwe. Oye ka humbata po ndele tali i nako. Okudja tuu kefiku olo, shimha oxuxwa ya mono onhwa ohai hovele tai hade ongwiya yovanhu medu.
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.
Shimha tuu oxuxwa ya mono omudidimbe wonhwa pedu, ohai okulondwele ouxuxwena vayo. “Fikameni mu dje moluhaela nomedu olo likukutu lihe na sha.” Vo ohava nyamukula tava ti: “Fyee katu fi omalai. Ohatu faduka po.”
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.”
