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Nan tan lontan, yon poul ak yon èg te zanmi. Yo te viv anpè ak tout lòt zwazo yo. Men, yo pa te kapab vole.
Once upon a time, Hen and
Eagle were friends. They lived
in peace with all the other birds.
None of them could fly.
Yon jou, peyi a te nan grangou. Eg lan te blije mache byen lwen pou’l jwenn manje. Lè li tounen li te bouke anpil”. Li di tèt li: « Fòke mwen jwenn yon lòt jan pou’m vwayaje!”.
One day, there was famine in
the land. Eagle had to walk very
far to find food. She came back
very tired.
“There must be an easier way
to travel!” said Eagle.
Apre yon bon nwit dòmi, poul la leve ak yon bèl lide. Li rasanble tout plim zanmi zwazo yo ki te tonbe atè : “Annou koud tout ansanm sou nou… petèt na kapab vwayaje pi fasil.”
After a good night’s sleep, Hen
had a brilliant idea. She began
collecting the fallen feathers
from all their bird friends.
“Let’s sew them together on top
of our own feathers,” she said.
“Perhaps that will make it easier
to travel.”
Eg lan te sèl ki te gen zegwi, se konsa li kòmanse koud an premye. Li fè de bèl zèl pou tèt li enpi li vole byen wo sou poul la. Poul la prete zegwi a men li vin fatige koud. Li depoze zegwi a nan yon bol enpi lale nan kizin nan pou’l fè manje pou pitit li yo.
Eagle was the only one in the
village with a needle, so she
started sewing first.
She made herself a pair of
beautiful wings and flew high
above Hen.
Hen borrowed the needle but
she soon got tired of sewing.
She left the needle on the
cupboard and went into the
kitchen to prepare food for her
children.
Lòt zwazo yo te wè Eg tap vole byen wo. Yo mande poul la si yo te ka prete zegwi a tou pou yo fè zèl pou tèt yo. Se konsa tout zwazo kòmanse vole nan syèl la.
But the other birds had seen
Eagle flying away. They asked
Hen to lend them the needle to
make wings for themselves too.
Soon there were birds flying all
over the sky.
Lè dènye zwazo a remèt zegwi la, Poul lan pate la. Timoun yo pran zegwi a, yo kòmanse jwe ak li. Lè yo bouke yo kite’l sou sab la.
When the last bird returned the
borrowed needle, Hen was not
there. So her children took the
needle and started playing with
it.
When they got tired of the
game, they left the needle in
the sand.
Pita nan apremidi, Eg la tounen. Li mande kote zegwi la pou’l ranje kèk plim ki te dekole nan vwayaj li. Poul la gade nan bol la, li gade nan kizin nan, li gade nan lakou a men li pa janm jwenn zegwi a.
Later that afternoon, Eagle
returned. She asked for the
needle to fix some feathers that
had loosened on her journey.
Hen looked on the cupboard.
She looked in the kitchen. She
looked in the yard. But the
needle was nowhere to be
found.
“Tanpri ban mwen yon lòt jou ankò” poul la mande. “Apre sa a, wap kapab ranje zèl ou pou’w ale chache manje ankò.” “Map ba ou yon grenn jou sèlman” Eg la reponn. “Si ou pa ka jwenn zegwi a ou pral blije ban mwen yonn nan ti poul ou yo kòm pèman.”
“Just give me a day,” Hen
begged Eagle. “Then you can
fix your wing and fly away to
get food again.”
“Just one more day,” said Eagle.
“If you can’t find the needle,
you’ll have to give me one of
your chicks as payment.”
Lè Eg la vini nan lòt jou ki vini, li jwenn Poul la ap grate sab la men zegwi pate la. Se konsa ke Eg lan vole byen ba pou li pran yonn nan ti poul yo. Li pati avèk ti poul lan. Depi jou sa a, chak fwa Eg parèt li wè poul lan af fouye sab lan pou’l chache zegwi a.
When Eagle came the next day,
she found Hen scratching in the
sand, but no needle.
So Eagle flew down very fast
and caught one of the chicks.
She carried it away.
Forever after that, whenever
Eagle appears, she finds Hen
scratching in the sand for the
needle.
Lè poul lan wè lombraj zèl Eg la ap tonbe li kouri pran timoun li yo “soti sou teren vid sa a” Timoun yo reponn: “Nou konnen! N’ap kouri.”
As the shadow of Eagle’s wing
falls on the ground, Hen warns
her chicks. “Get out of the bare
and dry land.”
And they respond:
“We are not fools. We will run.”
Written by: Ann Nduku
Illustrated by: Wiehan de Jager
Translated by: ACE Haiti-University of Notre Dame USA
