Nako yemu, Nasikuku ni Mbande neli balikani. Nebapila mwa kozo ni linyunywani zemu kaufela. Nekusina yana kona ku fufa.
Once upon a time, Hen and
Eagle were friends. They lived
in peace with all the other birds.
None of them could fly.
Zazi lelimu, nekunani tala mwa naha. Mbande neinani kuya kwahule kuli iyofumana sico. Neikutile inge ikatezi hahulu. “Kuswanela kuba ni mukwa obunolo wa kuzamaya!” Mbande yabulela.
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.
Asekufitile busihu bwakulobala hande, Nasikuku aba ni muhupulo omunde. Akala kunopa mafufa a linyunywani za balikani kaufela. “Alualukeleni fa halimu a mafufa aluna,” abulela. “Mwendi lukakona kuzamya kabunolo.”
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.”
Mbande neliyona feela inosi yenenani ndonga mwahae, konakuli nekalezi kuluka. Naitukezi mafufa amabeli amande mi ya fufa mwahalimu. Nasikuku akalima ndonga kono hanyinyani feela akatala kuluka. Asiya ndonga fa kabati ni kuya mwa liapehelo kuyo apehela bana bahae lico.
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.
Kono linyunywani zemu neliboni Mbande haifufa. Sebakupa Nasikuku kubakalima kwa ndonga kuli baitukele mafufa nibona. Onafo sekuba ni linyunywani zene fufa mwa mbyumbyulu kaufela.
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.
Nyunywani ya mafelelezo aneikutisa ndonga, Nasikuku nasiyo. Cwale bana bahae bashimba ndonga nikukala kubapala niyona. Hase bakatezi kubapala papali, basiya ndonga mwa mushabati.
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.
Musihali o, Mbande akuta. Akupa kwa ndonga kulukisa mafufa ahae anasinyehezi mwa musipili. Nasikuku abata fa kabati. Abata mwa liapehelo mane ni mwa lapa. Kono ndonga neisa fumanehi.
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.
“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.”
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.
Muluti wa Mbande usabonahala feela fafasi, Nasikuku ufanga mamela kwa tuciyociyo twahae. “Amuzwe mwa patelo mokusina sesing’wi,” mi twa alaba: “Alulianganu, luka mata.”
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.”
Ann Nduku
Wiehan de Jager
Christabel Songiso, Akombelwa Muyangana
SiLozi (Zambia)
Level 3
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