It was a little girl who first saw the mysterious shape in the distance.
Ilyo icinjelengwe cafikile mupepi, amwene ukuti ni namayo uwali sana pabukulu.
As the shape moved closer, she saw that it was a heavily pregnant woman.
Nensoni shakwe, umukashana umunono alikosela na ukupalama mupepi na namayo. “Tufwile twamusunga pamo naifwe, “umukashana umunono uwatemenwe ukwikala na bantu ali ipeleshe. “Tulemusunga bwino na umwana wakwe.”
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.”
Panonofye umwana ali munshila. “Sunka!” “Leta amalangeti!” “Amenshi!” “Suunkaa!!!”
The child was soon on its way.
“Push!”
“Bring blankets!”
“Water!”
“Puuuuussssshhh!!!”
Nomba ilyo bamwene umwana, bonse balitolokela kunuma mu kusunguka. “Punda?”
But when they saw the baby, everyone jumped back in shock.
“A donkey?!”
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.
Efyo nomba namayo aisangile eka nakabili. Taishibe ifyakucita na icinjelengwe ca mwana. Taishibe ifyakucita umwine.
And so the woman found herself alone again.
She wondered what to do with this awkward child.
She wondered what to do with herself.
Panuma alisuminafye ukuti ali mwana wakwe elyo nao ali ninyina.
But finally she had to accept that he was her child and she was his mother.
Nomba, ngacakuti umwana talekula, alifye umunono, fyonse nga fyalipusana. Lelo umwana wa punda alikulile sana icakuti aleka ukukumana mu numa yaba nyina. Elyo nangu eshe shani, ificitwa fyakwe tafyali fya buntu. Inshita yonse ba nyina balifye abanaka na icifukushi. Limo limo balemupela incito sha nama.
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.
Punda alifye awa lubana elyo atampile ukumfwa na icifukushi. Teti acite icili conse. Teti abe ifili fyonse. Ali fulilwe sana icakuti, ubushiku bumo, alipantile ba nyina bapona na panshi.
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.
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.
Punda aile mu kwikala na shikulu bantu, uwa mufundile inshila sha kwikalilamo ishingi. Punda alyumfwile na ukusambilila, cimo cine na shikulu bantu. Baleyafwana na ukusekela pamo.
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.
Ubushiku bumo, shikulu bantu aipwishe punda ukumusenda pamulu wa lupili.
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 wa donkey na banyina bali kulila pamo elyo balisanga inshila ishingi ishakwikala pamo. Panono panono, bonse ababashinguluka, balupwa bambi balitampa ukwikala bwino.
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.
