Matsiku amakedzana, anthu sanali kudziwa ciliconse. Sanadziwe kubzala mbeu, mwina kusoka zovala, mwina kupanga zitsulo zansimbi. Nyame mulungu wakumwamba anali ndi nzelu pa zonse zamdziko lapansi. Nzeluzi anazisungila bwino mu mbiya.
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.
Tsiku lina, Nyame anaganiza kupatsa Anansi mbiya ya nzelu. Nthawi iliyonse Anansi akayangana mumbiya, anaphunzilamo cinthu cina catsopano. Cinali cokondweletsa kwambili!
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 waumbombo anaganiza, “Ndizaisunga bwino mbiya pamwamba pa mtengo wautali. Motelo izakhala yanga ndekha!” Anatenga nthambo yaitali, yakumangilila mbiya ndikuimangilila pamimba pake. Anayamba kukwela mtengo. Koma cinali cobvuta kukwela cifukwa mbiya inali kumugunda kumyendo nthawi yonse.
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.
Pamene zonsezi zinali kucitika, mwana mwamuna mung’ono wa Anansi anali imilile kuonelela pansi pacimtengo. Iye anati, “Kodi sicizakhala capafupi kukwela mtengo ngati mwamangilila mbiya kumusana?” Anansi anayesa kumangilila mbiya yodzala ndi nzelu kumusana ndipo iye anakwela mtengo mosabvutika.
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.
Posacedwa konse anafike pamwamba pa mtengo. Koma iye anaima naganiza, “Ine ndiyenela kukhala ndi nzelu zonse, koma apa mwana wanga ndiye anali ndi nzelu kupambanila ine!” Anansi anakalipa kwambili paizi motelo anataya mbiya ya nzelu pansi kucoka mucimtengo.
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.
Mbiya inaphwanyika mtizidutswa itafika pansi. Pamenepo nzelu zinafalitsidwa kwa munthu aliyense. Ndiye mwamene anthu anaphunzilila kulima, kusoka zovala, kupanga zitsulo za nsimba ndi zinthu zina zimene anthu adziwa kucita.
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.
