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Kungani imvubu ingena tinwele Why hippos have no hair

Basilio Gimo, David Ker

Carol Liddiment

Trust magagula, Mighty mhlanga

Swati

Level 2

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Ngalelinye lilanga Logwaja beka hamba ngale eceleni kwemfula.

One day, Rabbit was walking by the riverside.

Nemvubu beyikhona nayo, beyitihambela nje itiyalukela, idlana netjani lobuluhlata lobumnandzi.

Hippo was there too, going for a stroll and eating some nice green grass.

Imvubu ayizange ibone kwekutsi logwaja ukhona naye,ngeliphutsa imvubu yanyatsela linyawo lalogwaja. Logwaja wamemeta watsi, “Wena Mvubu! Awuboni kwekutsi uyangenyatsela?”

Hippo didn’t see that Rabbit was there and she accidentally stepped on Rabbit’s foot. Rabbit started screaming at Hippo, “You Hippo! Can’t you see that you’re stepping on my foot?”

Yaticolisela iMvubu. ”Ngiyacolisa mngani wami. Angizange ngikubone. Ngicela ungicolele!” Logwaja akalalelanga watsetsisa iMvubu,”Wente ngemabomu! Ngaleliye lilanga utowubona! Utakubhadalela lokwentile.”

Hippo apologised to Rabbit, “I’m so sorry. I didn’t see you. Please forgive me!” But Rabbit wouldn’t listen and he shouted at Hippo, “You did that on purpose! Someday, you’ll see! You’re going to pay!”

Wasuka Logwaja wafuna umlilo wawutfola watsi, “Hamba uyoshisa Mvubu uma aphuma kuyodla tjani. Unginyatselile!” Umlilo waphendvula watsi, “Akunakinga Logwaja mgani wami.ngitokwenta njalo.”

Rabbit went to find Fire and said, “Go, burn Hippo when she comes out of the water to eat grass. She stepped on me!” Fire answered, “No problem, Rabbit, my friend. I’ll do just what you ask.”

Kwatsi ngelikadze, Mvubu bekadla tjani kudze lena emfuleni “bhu” umlilo wavutsa waba lilangabi, lilangabi lashisa tinwele temvubu.

Later, Hippo was eating grass far from the river when, “Whoosh!” Fire burst into flame. The flames began to burn Hippo’s hair.

Imvubu yacala yakhala yagijimela emantini. iMvubu yachubeka yakhala, “Tinwele tami tishiswe ngumlilo! Tonkhe, tinwele tami tonkhe tihambile! Tinwele tami letinhle!”

Hippo started to cry and ran for the water. All her hair was burned off by the fire. Hippo kept crying, “My hair has burned in the fire! My hair is all gone! My beautiful hair!”

Yingako imvubu ingahambeli kudze nemanti, kungenca yekwesabela kushiswa ngumlilo.Logwaja wajabula makabona imvubu isha, atsi,”Ngimtfolile”

Rabbit was happy that Hippo’s hair was burned. And to this day, for fear of fire, the hippo never goes far from the water.

Written by: Basilio Gimo, David Ker

Illustrated by: Carol Liddiment

Translated by: Trust magagula, Mighty mhlanga

Language: Swati

Level: Level 2

Source: Why hippos have no hair from African Storybook

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 International License.

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