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Ka letsatsi lengwe Mmutla o ne
a tsamaya fa thoko ga noka.
One day, Rabbit was walking by the riverside.
Kubu le ena o ne a le koo, a
itsamaela fela ebile a ijela
bojang jo botala bo bo monate.
Hippo was there too, going for a stroll and eating some nice green grass.
Kubu o ne a sa lemoge gore
Mmutla o teng fao mme a gata
leoto la gagwe ka phoso.
Mmutla o ne a goa mme a
simoloa go omanya Kubu,
“Wena Kubu! Ga o bone gore o
gata leoto la me?”
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?”
Kubu o ne a kopa maitshwarelo
mo go Mmutla, “Intshwarele
tsala ya me. Ke ne ke sa go
bone. Ka kopo tlhe
intshwarele!”
Mmutla o ne a sa batle go
reetsa mme a tswelela ka go
omanya Kubu, O dirile se ka
bomo! Ka letsatsi lengwe, o tlile
go bona! O tlile go duela!”
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!”
Jaanong mmutla a ya go batla Molelo mme a re, “Tsamaya o ye go fisa Kubu fa a
tswa mo metsing a ya go fula bojang. O nkgatile leoto!”
“Ga gona bothata, Mmutla tsala ya me. Ke tla dira se o se kopang,” ga araba
Molelo.
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.”
Fa Kubu a ntse a fula bojang
kgakajana le metsi, o ne a utlwa
“shuuuu!” Molelo o ne a ntsha
malakabe a gagwe mme a
simolola go fisa moriri wa ga
Kubu otlhe.
Later, Hippo was eating grass far from the river when, “Whoosh!” Fire burst into flame. The flames began to burn Hippo’s hair.
Kubu o ne a tshimolola go lela
mme a tabogela kwa metsing.
Moriri wa gagwe otlhe o ne o
fisitswe ke molelo.
Kubu o ne a tswelela go lela,
“Moriri wa ka o fisitswe ke
molelo! O fisitse moriri wa ka
otlhe! Moriri wa ka otlhe o ile!
Moriri wa ka o montle! Moriri wa
ka o montle!”
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!”
Ke ka moo Kubu a sa tsamaeleng kgakala le metsi ka ntlha ya fa a tshaba gore o
tla fisiwa ke molelo.
Mmutla o ne a itumetse thata fa Kubu a fisitwe ke molelo, a goa a re, “Ke mo
tshwere!”
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.
