Ni umwana muto w’umukobwa waboneye kure ishusho itazwi.
It was a little girl who first saw the mysterious shape in the distance.
Uko ishusho yagendaga yegera, yabonye ko yari umugore utwite ukuriwe.
As the shape moved closer, she saw that it was a heavily pregnant woman.
Umunyamasoni ariko utinyutse, umukobwa yagiye hafi y’umugore. “Tugomba kumugubimisha natwe,” abantu bumukobwa myto baravuga. “Turamugubisha amahoro we n’umwana we.”
Shy but brave, the little girl moved nearer to the woman.
“We must keep her with us,” the little girl’s people decided. “We’ll keep her and her child safe.”
But when they saw the baby, everyone jumped back in shock.
“A donkey?!”
Buri umwe yatangiye kuvuga. “Twavuze ko turibugumishe umubyeyi n’umwana amahoro, kandi ni ibyo turi bukore,” bamwe baravuze. “Ariko bazatuzanira imigisha mibi!” abandi baravuga.
Everyone began to argue.
“We said we would keep mother and child safe, and that’s what we’ll do,” said some.
“But they will bring us bad luck!” said others.
And so the woman found herself alone again.
She wondered what to do with this awkward child.
She wondered what to do with herself.
Ariko nyuma yaje kwemera ko ari uwe name akaba ari nyina we.
But finally she had to accept that he was her child and she was his mother.
Ubu, imo umwana aba yaragumye uko yari, uruti ruto, buri kimwe gishobora kuba gitandukanye. Ariko umwana w’indogobe yarakuze arakura kugeza atagikwirwa mu umugongo wa nyina. Kandi numb yagerageza gute, ntiyashoboraga kwitwara nk’ikiremwa muntu. Nyina we yabaga akenshi ananiwe anahangayitse. Rimwe na rimwe yamukoreshaga imirimo igenewe inyamaswa.
Now, if the child had stayed that same, small size, everything might have been different. But the donkey child grew and grew until he could no longer fit on his mother’s back.
And no matter how hard he tried, he could not behave like a human being. His mother was often tired and frustrated. Sometimes she made him do work meant for animals.
Impagarara n’uburakare bwakuriye mu indogobe. Ntiyashoboraga gukora bimwe na bimwe. Nyiyashoboraga kuba iki cyangwa kiriya. Yararagaye, umunsi umwe, yakubise nyina hasi.
Confusion and anger built up inside Donkey. He couldn’t do this and he couldn’t do that. He couldn’t be like this and he couldn’t be like that.
He became so angry that, one day, he kicked his mother to the ground.
By the time he stopped running, it was night, and Donkey was lost.
“Hee haw?” he whispered to the darkness.
“Hee Haw?” it echoed back. He was alone.
Curling himself into a tight ball, he fell into a deep and troubled sleep.
Indogobe yarabyutse isanga umugabo itazi ayihagaze hejuru ayireba. Yarebye mu amaso ye itandira kunva amashashari y’amizero.
Donkey woke up to find a strange old man staring down at him. He looked into the old man’s eyes and started to feel a twinkle of hope.
Donkey went to stay with the old man, who taught him many different ways to survive.
Donkey listened and learned, and so did the old man. They helped each other, and they laughed together.
Igitondo kimwe, wamugabo ukuze yabajije Indogobe kumwikorera ku agasongero ku umusozi.
One morning, the old man asked Donkey to carry him to the top of a mountain.
Donkey found his mother, alone and mourning her lost child. They stared at each other for a long time.
And then hugged each other very hard.
Umwana w’indogobe na nyina we barakuranye hamwe bana bono uburyo bwo kubana uruhande k’urundi. Buhoro, iruhande rwabo, indi miryango yatangiye kuhatura.
The donkey child and his mother have grown together and found many ways of living side by side.
Slowly, all around them, other families have started to settle.
Lindiwe Matshikiza
Meghan Judge
Patrick Munyurangabo
Kinyarwanda
Level 3
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