Kale, kale koo, batu nebasazibi lika. Nebasazibi kucala licalo, kuluka libyana, kapa kupanga lisebeliso za lisipi. Mulimu Nyambe kwa lihalimu na nani butali kaufela mwa lifasi. Na bubulukile hande mwa poto ya lizupa.
Long long ago people didn’t
know anything. They didn’t
know how to plant crops, or
how to weave cloth, or how to
make iron tools.
The god Nyame up in the sky
had all the wisdom of the world.
He kept it safe in a clay pot.
Zazi leliñwi, Nyambe aheza keto yakufa Anansi poto yeo ya butali. Nako kaufela Anansi anatalimelanga mwa poto yeo ya lizupa, naitutanga lika zenca. Nekutabisa luli!
One day, Nyame decided that
he would give the pot of
wisdom to Anansi.
Every time Anansi looked in the
clay pot, he learned something
new. It was so exciting!
Anansi ni lunya lwahae anahana, “Nika beya poto ye kwa halimu a kota yetelele. Mi nikaipulukela yona ninosi!” Atatulula muhala womutelele, autata kwa poto ya lizupa ni kuitama wona famba. Saakala kupahama kwa kota. Kono nekuli tata hahulu kupahama kwa kota ni poto inge imunataka fa mañwele nako kaufela.
Greedy Anansi thought, “I’ll
keep the pot safe at the top of a
tall tree. Then I can have it all
to myself!”
He spun a long thread, wound it
round the clay pot, and tied it to
his stomach.
He began to climb the tree. But
it was hard climbing the tree
with the pot bumping him in the
knees all the time.
Nako kaufela, mwana wa Anansi wa mushimani, na yemanga mwatasi a kota inge abuha. Abulela ali, “Kana hakuna kuba bunolo kupahama inge mutamezi poto kwa mukokoto nji? Anansi alika kutamela poto ya lizupa yetezi butali kwa mukokoto wahae, mi kwaba bunolo hahulu.
All the time Anansi’s young son
had been standing at the
bottom of the tree watching. He
said, “Wouldn’t it be easier to
climb if you tied the pot to your
back instead?”
Anansi tried tying the clay pot
full of wisdom to his back, and it
really was a lot easier.
Kabubebe, afita kwa halimu a kota. Kono akutumana mi anahana, “Neniswanela kuba ni butali bobufitisisa, kono fa mwanake utalifile kunifita!” Anansi a nyemiswa hahulu ki taba ye, mi a poseza poto ya lizupa fafasi kuzwelelela kwa halimu a kota.
In no time he reached the top of
the tree.
But then he stopped and
thought, “I’m supposed to be
the one with all the wisdom,
and here my son was cleverer
than me!”
Anansi was so angry about this
that he threw the clay pot down
out of the tree.
Yapwacakeha liyemba fafasi. Butali bwa abana kuya ku mutu kaufela. Mi kona monobazibezi batu kulima, kuluka libyana, kupanga lisebeliso za lisipi mane ni lika zeñwi zeo batu baziba kueza.
It smashed into pieces on the
ground. The wisdom was free
for everyone to share.
And that is how people learned
to farm, to weave cloth, to
make iron tools, and all the
other things that people know
how to do.
Ghanaian folktale
Wiehan de Jager
Christabel Songiso
SiLozi (Zambia)
Level 3
The audio for this story is currently not available.
