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E ne e le mosetsana yo o boneng pele sebopego se se sa tlwaelesegang mo sekgaleng.
It was a little girl who first saw the mysterious shape in the distance.
Fa sebopego se ntse se utamela, a bona e le mosadi yo o goletsweng.
As the shape moved closer, she saw that it was a heavily pregnant woman.
Mosetsana a ya gaufi le mosadi a ntse a tlhabiwa ke ditlhong mme a le pelokgale. “Re tshwanetse go mo mmaya fa le rona” e le batho ba mosetsana ba dumalana. “Re tla sireletsa mme yo le ngwaga wa gagwe.”
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.”
Losea lo ne lo le mo tseleng go ka belegwa. “Kgorometsa!” “Tlisang dikobo!” “Metsi” “Kgoromeeetsa!!!
The child was soon on its way.
“Push!”
“Bring blankets!”
“Water!”
“Puuuuussssshhh!!!”
Fa ba bona losea ke fa ba tlolela botlhe kwa morago ka kgakgamalo. “Tonki?!”
But when they saw the baby, everyone jumped back in shock.
“A donkey?!”
Batho botlhe ba simolola go omana. “Re rile re tla sireletsa mme le losea la gagwe e bile ke se re tla se dirang,” ga bua bangwe. “Mme gone ba tla re tlisetsa bomadimabe!” ga bua ba bangwe.
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.
Ke fa jaanong mosadi a ipona a le nosi gape. A ipotsa gore o tlile go dira eng ka ngwana wa gagwe yo o makatsang. O ne a ipotsa gore o tlile go dira eng ka botshelo jwa gagwe.
And so the woman found herself alone again.
She wondered what to do with this awkward child.
She wondered what to do with herself.
Mme bofelelong a tshwanela ke go amogela gore losea ke la gagwe le gore ke ene mmalona.
But finally she had to accept that he was her child and she was his mother.
Fa ngwana nkabe a ntse fela jalo, a le monnye, sengwe le sengwe se ka bo se siame. Mme ngwana wa setshwano sa tonki a gola a bo a gola go fitlhela mmagwe a seka a kgona go mmelega mo mokwatleng. Le fa a ne a leka thata jang, o ne a sa kgone go itshola jaaka motho. Mmagwe o ne a tlhola a lapile ebile a tenegile. Ka dinako dingwe, o ne a mo dirisa tiro e e tshwanetseng diphologolo.
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.
Tonki a tlala tlhakatlhakano mme sekgopi sa gola mo go ene. O ne a sa kgone go dira se kapa se. O ne a sa kgone go nna jaana kgotsa jalo. O ne a kgotswa thata gore ka letsatsi lengwe, a ragela mmagwe fa fatshe.
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.
Tonki o ne a tlhabiwa ke ditlong. A simolola go tabogela kgakala thata ka lobelo lo a neng a lo kgona.
Donkey was filled with shame. He started to run away as far and fast as he could.
Ka nako fa a khutla go taboga, go ne go le bosigo mme Tonki a iphitlhela a timetse. “Uuu Uuu?” a sebela lefifi. “Uuu Uuu?” lefifi la mo sebela le lona. O ne a le esi. A ikgara mo sedikong se se tiileng mme a wela mo borokong jo bo tseneletseng jo bo sa iketlang.
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.
Tonki a tsoga go fitlhela monna yo o sa tlwaelesegang a mo lebeletse. A lebelela mo matlhong a monna mme a simolola go utlwa tshepo e se kae.
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.
Tonki o ile a ya go nna le monnamogolo yo o neng a mo ruta mekgwa e e farologaneng ya go tshela. Tonki o ne a reeditse le gona a ithutile fela jaaka le ene monnamogolo. Ba ne ba thusana e bile ba tshega mmogo.
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.
Mo mosong mongwe, monnamogolo a kopa Tonki go mo isa kwa godimo ga thaba.
One morning, the old man asked Donkey to carry him to the top of a mountain.
Kwa godimo ga thaba magareng ga maru ba thulamela. Tonki o lorile mmagwe a bobola e bile a mmitsa. Fa a kubuga …
High up amongst the clouds they fell asleep.
Donkey dreamed that his mother was sick and calling to him.
And when he woke up…
… maru a ne a nyeletse mmogo le tsala ya gagwe ya monnamogolo.
… the clouds had disappeared along with his friend, the old man.
Tonki o ne a itse gore a dire eng.
Donkey finally knew what to do.
Tonki o ne a fitlhela mmagwe a le esi gape a hutsafaletse ngwana wa gagwe yo o timetseng. Ba lebana lebaka le le leele. Morago ba tlamparelana thata.
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.
Ngwana Tonki le mmagwe ba godile mmogo jalo ba bone mekgwa e e farologaneng ya go tshela ba bapile. Ka bonya, mo tikologong ya bona, malwapa a ne a simolola go nna mmogo.
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.
