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Hale hale, engoho ni Haŋungu
byamenyanga ŋalala n’enyuni
ejindi mu dembe.
Jaholeranga ŋalala hiisi hiitu .
Once upon a time, Hen and
Eagle were friends. They lived
in peace with all the other birds.
None of them could fly.
Ehiseera hyola ng’enjala egwa
hu hyalo.
Haŋungu yaali
n’ohugenderanga ŋale nyo
ohwendula emere. Era yagaluha
nedembile. Nga Haŋungu
yiroma engoho yiti, Huli
n’ohwendula engeri enyangu
ey’ohugenda.
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.
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.”
Hu hyalo ohwo, Haŋungu
yoŋene nj’eyaali n’episyo. Kale
nj’eyeherera ohutunga. Era
ŋaweene aŋo ni yahena
yaguluha n’amabaŋa gaayo
amaŋoono ng’ereha engoho
ŋaasi n’ehituunga agaayo.
Ŋabitaŋo ehiseera hitotono
ng’engoho yidemba ohutunga.
Ng’aŋo yireha episyo hu kabada
yitiina mu fumbiro ohutegehera
abaana baayo emere.
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.
Naye enyuni ejindi jaali jiweene
Haŋungu ni yiguluha. Olw’ehyo
jasunga engoho ejasiheho
episyo joosi jetungireho
amabaŋa. Engoho nga yiganya.
Siŋabita hiseera hireeŋi
ng’enyuni joosi jetungira
amabaŋa jitagiha ohuguluha
mu bbanga.
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.
Era enyuni esembayo
niyagobosa episyo, engoho
siyaliŋo. Abaana bengoho
baŋamba episyo nga batagiiha
hweguduhisa.
Nibademba omugudulo, baleha
episyo jana mumujehe.
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.
Era enyuni esembayo
niyagobosa episyo, engoho
siyaliŋo. Abaana bengoho
baŋamba episyo nga batagiiha
hweguduhisa.
Nibademba omugudulo, baleha
episyo jana mumujehe.
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.”
Haŋungu niyaaja nibuhyeye,
yagaana engoho nehisagula hu
sagula mumujehe, episyo
netaboneha.
Haŋungu yehire ŋaasi nga
enyangula ahagoho halala.
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.
Era ohuŋwa olwo, hisi oru
Haŋungu eboneha, yagana
engoho n’esagula mumujehe
niyendula episyo.
Buli olu Haŋungu eboneha,
engoho elabula owaana bwayo,
“muŋwe muhirafu”
Era bugoboramo: “sihuli basiru,
hunadulume.”
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.”
