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.
Bwe bwakya ku makya Wankoko
yali afunye ekirowoozo ekirungi.
Yatandika okukuηηaanya
ebyoya by’ebinyonyi ebyali
byafa edda. Wankoko n’agamba
nti, “Tutunge ebyoya bino
tubigatte ku byaffe. Oboolyawo
kiyinza okutwanguyiza nga
tutambula.”
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.”
Ku kyalo ekyo kyonna,
Wakamunye ye yekka eyalina
empiso era ye yasooka
okutunga.
Teyalwa n’abuuka ng’alina
ebiwaawaatiro ebirungi ddala
era n’alaba nga Wankoko
amulese wansi ddala. Wankoko
yatuuka n’akoowa okutunga.
Yateeka empiso ku kabada
n’agenda mu ffumbiro
okufumbira abaana be emmere.
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.
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.
Ekinnyonyi ekyasembayo
okutuunga bwe kyakomyawo
empiso, Wankoko teyaliiwo.
Abaana ba Wankoko ne batwala
empiso ne batandika
okugizannyisa. Bwe baakoowa
okugizannyisa ne bagireka mu
musenyu.
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.
Ku olwo emisana Wakamunye
yakomawo ewaka. Yabuuza
empiso ye gy’eri asobole
okutunga ebyoya ebyali bitadde
ng’ali ku lugendo lwe. Wankoko
yanoonya ku kabada, mu
ffumbiro, mu luggya naye nga
empiso terabikako.
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.
Wankoko ne yeegayirira
Wakamunye nti, “Mpaayo
olunaku lumu bwe luti
nginoonye awo olyoke ate
oddemu obuuke onone
emmere.” Wakamunye
n’amugamba nti, “Nkuwadde
olunaku lumu lwokka. Empiso
bw’otoogirabea nga
onsasulamu omu ku baana bo.”
“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.”
Wakamunye bwe yakomawo
enkeera, n’asanga Wankoko
ng’atakula mu musenyu
okunoonya empiso naye nga
tagiraba.
Wakamunye kye yava akka
wansi n’ayoolawo akaaana ka
Wankoko kamu n’akatwala.
N’okuva olwo Wakamunye buli
lw’ajja, asanga Wankoko atakula
okunoonya empiso.
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.
Wankoko buli lw’alaba ku
kisiikirize ky’ekiwaawaatiro kya
Wakamunye ng’alabula abaana
be ng’abugamba nti, “Muve
mangu mu kyangaala mugende
mkweke.” Nabwo nga buddamu
nti, “Naffe tetuli basiru, ka
tudduke.”
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.”
