Once upon a time, Hen and
Eagle were friends. They lived
in peace with all the other birds.
None of them could fly.
Nuko amapfa aza gutera. Biba ngombwa ko Agaca kajya gushaka amahaho kure cyane. Kagaruka karushye, katagangaye. Gatangira gutekereza niba nta nzira ya bugufi kandi yoroshye kajya kanyuramo.
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.
Ijoro rimwe agaca n’inkoko biza gusinzira umukondorajosi. Bukeye bwaho inkoko igira igitekerezo. Nuko ikusanya amoya yagendaga atakara mu gihe izindi nyoni zabaga zigendagenda. Ibwira agaca iti, “Reka aya moya tuyunge ku yacyu. Wenda byadufasha kujya tugenda mu buryo butworoheye.”
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.”
Agaca ni ko konyine kari gafite urushinge mu mudugudu. Bityo ni ko katangiye kunga ya moya ku yako. Nuko gakora amababa abiri, karaguruka kagera mu kirere kure. Inkoko iza gutira rwa rushinge ariko iza kunanirwa itararangiza kudoda. Maze ishyira rwa urushinge ku kabati. Ijya mu gikoni gutegura amafunguro y’abana bayo.
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.
Izindi nyoni zari zabonye agaca kaguruka mu kirere. Nuko zisaba inkoko kuziha rwa rushinge rw’agaca ngo na zo zikorere amababa. Mu kanya gato nazo zitangira kuguruka.
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.
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.
Ku gicamunsi, Agaca kaza gutirura rwa rushinge kugira ngo gatunganye amoya yari yahungabanye igihe kagurukaga. Inkoko irushakira ku kabati, mu gikoni, no mu mu mbuga ariko irarubura.
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.
Nuko ibwira agaca iti, “Mbabarira nzakomeze ndushakishe ejo.” Agaca karabyemera. Ariko karayihanangiriza kati, “Nutarubona ejo uzampa umwe mu bana bawe ho ubwishyu.”
“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.”
Bukeye bwaho agaca karaza. Gasanga inkoko iri kuraha mu musenyi ariko urushinge yarubuze. Nuko agaca kaza kihuta gafata umwe mu bana b’inkoko karamutwara. Kuva icyo gihe, agaca iyo kaje, gasanga inkoko iri kuraha mu musenyi ishakish arwa rushinge.
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.
Inkoko iyo ibonye igicucu cy’amababa y’agaca, iburira abana bayo ivuga iti, “Mujye kwihisha.” Abana bayo na bo bati, “Twakumvise kare. Reka tuyabangire ingata.”
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
Sylvestre Ntabajyana
Kinyarwanda
Level 3
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