Bainhira Simbegwire nia mama mate, nia triste loos. Simbegwire nia papa halo di’ak buat hotu ne’ebé nia bele hodi tau-matan ba nia oan-feto. Neneik, sira aprende atu sente kontente fila-fali la hó Simbegwire nia mama. Dadeer-dadeer sira tuur no ko’alia kona-ba loron tuir mai. Kalan kalan sira prepara han kalan hamutuk. Hafóin sira fase bikan fó’er sira, Simbegwire nia papa ajuda nia ho nia TPC.
When Simbegwire’s mother died,
she was very sad. Simbegwire’s
father did his best to take care of
his daughter. Slowly, they learned
to feel happy again, without
Simbegwire’s mother.
Every morning they sat and talked
about the day ahead. Every evening
they made dinner together. After
they washed the dishes,
Simbegwire’s father helped her with
homework.
Loron ida, Simbegwire nia papa fila uma tarde lahanesan baibain. “O iha ne’ebé ha’u nia oan?” nia bolu. Simbegwire hamriik metin bainhira nia haree nia papa ka’er feto seluk nia liman. “Hau hakarak o atu hasoru ema espesiaál ida, ha’u nia oan. Ne’e Anita,” nia ko’alia ho hamnasa.
One day, Simbegwire’s father came
home later than usual. “Where are
you my child?” he called.
Simbegwire ran to her father. She
stopped still when she saw that he
was holding a woman’s hand. “I
want you to meet someone special,
my child. This is Anita,” he said
smiling.
“Ola Simbegwire, o nia papa konta buat barak ba ha’u kona-ba Ó,” Anita dehan. Maibé nia la hamnasa ka ka’er Simbegwire nia liman. Simbegwire nia papa kontente no sente animadu. Nia ko’alia kona-ba sira nain tolu atu hela hamutuk, no oinsá sira nia moris sei sai di’ak. “Ha’u nia oan, ha’u espera o sei aseita Anita nu’udar o nia inan” nia dehan.
“Hello Simbegwire, your father told
me a lot about you,” said Anita. But
she did not smile or take the girl’s
hand.
Simbegwire’s father was happy and
excited. He talked about the three
of them living together, and how
good their life would be. “My child, I
hope you will accept Anita as your
mother,” he said.
Simbegwire nia moris muda. Nia la iha ona tempu atu tuur ho ninia papa iha dadeer. Anita fó servisu barak tebes ba nia ne’ebé halo nia sai kolen tebes atu kompleta ninia TPC iha kalan. Nia ba kedas toba depois de han kalan. Ninia konfórtu mak lensol ne’ebe nia ama fó ba nia. Simbegwire nia papa la nota katak ninia oan feto la kontente.
Simbegwire’s life changed. She no
longer had time to sit with her
father in the mornings. Anita gave
her so many household chores that
she was too tired to do her school
work in the evenings. She went
straight to bed after dinner.
Her only comfort was the colourful
blanket her mother gave her.
Simbegwire’s father did not seem to
notice that his daughter was
unhappy.
Depois de fulan balun, Simbegwire nia papa fó-hatene ba sira katak nia sei ba dook husi uma iha tempu hirak nia laran. “Ha’u tenke halo viajen ba ha’u nia servisu,” nia dehan. “maibé ha’u hatene katak imi sei tau-matan ba malu.” Simbegwire ninia oin sai triste, maibé nia papa la nota. Anita la dehan buat ida. Nia mos la kontente.
After a few months, Simbegwire’s
father told them that he would be
away from home for a while. “I have
to travel for my job,” he said. “But I
know you will look after each other.”
Simbegwire’s face fell, but her
father did not notice. Anita did not
say anything. She was not happy
either.
Situasaun sai aat liu tan ba Simbegwire. Se nia la remata ninia servisu uma, ka nia lamenta, Anita baku nia. No iha han kalan, Anita han kuaze hahán sira hotu tiha, husik hela hahán restu balun ba Simbegwire. Kalan kalan Simbegwire tanis to’o toba, hako’ak ninia ama nia lensol.
Things got worse for Simbegwire. If
she didn’t finish her chores, or she
complained, Anita hit her. And at
dinner, the woman ate most of the
food, leaving Simbegwire with only
a few scraps.
Each night Simbegwire cried herself
to sleep, hugging her mother’s
blanket.
Dadeer ida, Simbegwire sai tarde husi kama. “O labarik feto baruk-teen!” Anita hakilar. Nia rasta Simbegwire sai husi kama laran. Lensol importante ne’e belit iha pregu ida, no lees fahe ba rua.
One morning, Simbegwire was late
getting out of bed. “You lazy girl!”
Anita shouted. She pulled
Simbegwire out of bed. The
precious blanket caught on a nail,
and tore in two.
Simbegwire sai triste tebes. Nia deside atu halai dook husi uma. Nia foti lensol rohan ninia mama nian, rai hahán balun, no husik hela uma. Nia la’o tuir estrada ne’ebé nia papa la’o ba antes.
Simbegwire was very upset. She
decided to run away from home.
She took the pieces of her mother’s
blanket, packed some food, and left
the house. She followed the road
her father had taken.
Bainhira kalan to’o, nia sa’e ba ai-hun aas ida besik mota ki’ik-oan ida no halo kama ida ba nia aan iha ai-sanak sira leet. Bainhira nia ba toba, nia kanta: “Maama, maama, maama, o husik hela ha’u. O husik hela ha’u no la fila mai. Apa la hadomi ha’u ona. Ama, bainhira mak o fila mai? O husik hela ha’u.”
When it came to evening, she
climbed a tall tree near a stream
and made a bed for herself in the
branches.
As she went to sleep, she sang:
“Maama, maama, maama, you left
me.
You left me and never came back.
Father doesn’t love me anymore.
Mother, when are you coming back?
You left me.”
Dadeersaan tuir mai, Simbegwire kanta kansaun ne’e dala ida tan. Bainhira feto sira mai fase sira nia ropa iha mota ki’ik ne’e, sira rona kansaun triste ida mai husi ai-hun aas ne’e. Sira hanoin se karik ne’e anin huu kona ai-tahan sira, no sira kontinua ho sira nia servisu. Maibé feto ida husi sira rona ho atensaun ba kansaun ne’e.
The next morning, Simbegwire sang
the song again. When the women
came to wash their clothes at the
stream, they heard the sad song
coming from the tall tree.
They thought it was only the wind
rustling the leaves, and carried on
with their work. But one of the
women listened very carefully to
the song.
Feto ne’e hateke sa’e ba ai leten. Bainhira nia haree labarik feto ne’e no lensol koloridu nia rohan, nia tanis “Simbegwire, ha’u nia maun nia oan-feto!” Feto sira seluk para fase ropa no ajuda Simbegwire atu tuun husi ai-hun ne’e. Ninia tia hakohak labarik feto ki’ik ne’e no koko atu fó konfórtu ba nia.
This woman looked up into the tree.
When she saw the girl and the
pieces of colourful blanket, she
cried, “Simbegwire, my brother’s
child!”
The other women stopped washing
and helped Simbegwire to climb
down from the tree. Her aunt
hugged the little girl and tried to
comfort her.
Simbegwire ninia tia lori labarik feto ne’e ba ninia uma rasik. Nia fó ba Simbegwire ai-han manas no hatoba nia iha kama ho ninia mama nia lensol. Iha kalan ne’e, Simbegwire tanis bainhira nia toba. Maibé sira hanesan tanis aliviu nian. Nia hatene katak ninia tia sei tau matan ba nia.
Simbegwire’s aunt took the child to
her own house. She gave
Simbegwire warm food, and tucked
her in bed with her mother’s
blanket.
That night, Simbegwire cried as she
went to sleep. But they were tears
of relief. She knew her aunt would
look after her.
Bainhira Simbegwire nia papa fila ba uma, nia haree Simbegwire ninia kuartu mamuk. “Saida mak akontese Anita?” nia husu ho fuan todan. Señora ne’e esplika katak Simbegwire halai sai tiha husi uma. “Ha’u hakarak atu nia respeita ha’u,” nia dehan. “maibé karik ha’u to’os demais.” Simbegwire nia papa husik tiha uma ne’e no ba iha diresaun mota ki’ik ne’e nian. Nia kontinua ba ninia alin feto nia suku atu husu karik nia haree ona Simbegwire.
When Simbegwire’s father returned
home, he found her room empty.
“What happened, Anita?” he asked
with a heavy heart. The woman
explained that Simbegwire had run
away. “I wanted her to respect me,”
she said. “But perhaps I was too
strict.”
Simbegwire’s father left the house
and went in the direction of the
stream. He continued to his sister’s
village to find out if she had seen
Simbegwire.
Simbegwire halimar hela ho ninia primu sira bainhira nia haree nia papa husi dook. Nia ta’uk karik nia papa sei hirus, ho nune’e nia halai tama uma laran atu subar. Maibé nia papa ba tuir nia no dehan “Simbegwire, o hetan ona inan perfeitu ida ba o nia aan. Ida ne’ebé hadomi o no komprende o. Hau orgullu ho o no hadomi o. “Sira konkorda katak Simbegwire sei hela ho ninia tia tuir tempu ne’ebé de’it nia hakarak.
Simbegwire was playing with her
cousins when she saw her father
from far away. She was scared he
might be angry, so she ran inside
the house to hide.
But her father went to her and said,
“Simbegwire, you have found a
perfect mother for yourself. One
who loves you and understands
you. I am proud of you and I love
you.”
They agreed that Simbegwire would
stay with her aunt as long as she
wanted to.
Ninia papa vizita nia lor-loron. Eventualmente, nia mai ho Anita. Nia lolo liman atu kaer Simbegwire nia liman.” Ha’u husu deskulpa oan, ha’u sala,” nia tanis. “O sei fó ha’u tempu atu koko tan dala ida?” Simbegwire haree ba nia papa no nia oin ne’ebé preukupadu. Hafoin nia hakat neneik ba oin no tau nia liman haleu Anita.
Her father visited her every day.
Eventually, he came with Anita. She
reached out for Simbegwire’s hand.
“I’m so sorry little one, I was
wrong,” she cried. “Will you let me
try again?”
Simbegwire looked at her father
and his worried face. Then she
stepped forward slowly and put her
arms around Anita.
Semana tuir mai, Anita konvida Simbegwire ho nia primu sira no ninia tia, ba uma atu han hamutuk. Festa di’ak ida! Anita prepara hotu Simbegwire ninia hahán favoritu sira, no ema hotu-hotu han to’o sira bosu. Depois labarik sira halimar no ema boot sira ko’alia. Simbegwire sente kontente no barani. Nia deside katak, sedu, sedu liu, nia sei fila uma atu hela ho nia papa no ninia inan madrasta.
The next week, Anita invited
Simbegwire, with her cousins and
aunt, to the house for a meal. What
a feast! Anita prepared all of
Simbegwire’s favourite foods, and
everyone ate until they were full.
Then the children played while the
adults talked.
Simbegwire felt happy and brave.
She decided that soon, very soon,
she would return home to live with
her father and her stepmother.
Written by: Rukia Nantale
Illustrated by: Benjamin Mitchley
Translated by: Aurelio da Costa
Read by: Aurelio da Costa, Vitalina dos Santos, Criscencia R. Da Costa Viana
