Matsiku amakedzana, anthu sanali kudziwa ciriconse. Sanadziwe kubzala mbeu, mwina kusoka zovala, mwina kupanga zitsulo zansimbi. Nyame mulungu wakumwamba anali ndi nzelu pa zonse zamdziko lapansi. Nzeluzi anazisungira 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 iriyonse Anansi akayangana mumbiyapoto, anaphunziramo cinthu cina catsopano. Cinali cokondweretsa kwambiri!
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, “Ndizasungira bwino mbiya pamwamba pa mtengo wautali. Motero uzakhala wanga ndekha. !” Anatenga nthambo yaitali, nakumangirira mbiya ndikuimangirira pamimba pake. Anayamba kukwera mtengo. Koma cinali cobvuta kukwera cifukwa mbiyapoto 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 imirire kuonerera pansi pacimtengo. Iye anati, “Kodi sicizakhala capafupi kukwera mtengo ngati mwamangirira mbiya kumusana?” Anansi anayesa kumangirira mbiya yodzala ndi nzelu kumusana ndipo iye anakwera 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 ndiyenera kukhala ndi nzelu zonse, koma apa mwana wanga ndiye anali ndi nzelu kupambanira ine!” Anansi anakalipa kwambiri paizi motero 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 zinafaritsidwa kwa munthu aliyense. Ndiye mwamene anthu anaphunzirira 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.
