ሓደ መዓልቲ፡ ማንቲለ በቲ ገምገም ፈለግ ይዛውን ነበረ።
One day, Rabbit was walking by the riverside.
ጕማረ’ውን ኣብኡ ነበረት፡ ትዛወርን ገለ ልሙዕ ሳዕሪ ትበልዕን።
Hippo was there too, going for a stroll and eating some nice green grass.
ጕማረ ነቲ ማንቲለ ኣብኡ ከምዝነበረ ኣይርኣየቶን’ሞ ብወዝቢ ኣብ እግሪ ማንቲለ ረገጸት። ማንቲለ ነታ ጕማረ እናወጨጨ፡ “ኣቲ ጕማረ! ኣብ እግረይ ረጊጽኪ ከምዘለኺ ክትርእዪ ኣይትኽእልን?” ክብላ ጀመረ።
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?”
ጕማረ ንማንቲለ ከምዚ ኢላ ይቕሬታ ሓተተቶ፡ “ኣይትሓዘለይ። ኣይርኣኹኻን። በጃኻ ይቕሬታ ግበረለይ!” ማንቲለ ግና ክሰምዕ ኣይከኣለን ንጕማረ ድማ፡ “ደይመደይ ኢልኪ ዝገበርክዮ እዩ! ሓደ መዓልቲ፡ ክትርእዪ ኢኺ! ዕዳኺ ክትፍደዪ ኢኺ!” ክብል ኣንጸርጸረላ።
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!”
ማንቲለ ንሓዊ ክረኽቦ ከደ፡ ከምዚ ድማ በሎ፡ “ኪድ’ሞ፡ ጕማረ ሳዕሪ ኽትበልዕ ካብቲ ማይ ምስወጸት ኣንድዳ። ረጊጻትኒ እያ!” ሓዊ ድማ፡ “ጸገም የለን፡ ማንቲለ ዓርከይ። ልክዕ ከም ዝሓተትካኒ ክገብር እየ።” ኢሉ መለሰሉ።
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.”
ዳሕራይ፡ ጕማረ ካብቲ ፈለግ ርሒቓ ሳዕሪ እናበልዐት ከላ፡ “ሸው!” ሓዊ ተባሪዑ ሃልሃል በለ። እቲ ሃልሃልታ ነቲ ናይ ጕማረ ጸጕሪ ከንድዶ ጀመረ።
Later, Hippo was eating grass far from the river when, “Whoosh!” Fire burst into flame. The flames began to burn Hippo’s hair.
ጕማረ እናኣእወየት ናብቲ ማይ ክትጐዪ ጀመረት። ኩሉ ጸጕራ በቲ ሓዊ ሓሪሩ እዩ። ጕማረ ብኽያታ ቀጸለት፡ “ጸጕረይ ብሓዊ ነዲዱ! ኩሉ ጸጕረይ ረጊፉ! እዚ ጽቡቕ ጸጕረይ!”
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!”
ናይ ጕማሪ ጸጕራ ብምንዳዱ ማንቲለ ተሓጐሰ። ክሳብ ሕጂ ድማ፡ ካብ ሓዊ ብምፍራሕ፡ ጕማረ ብፍጹም ካብ ማይ ኣርሒቓ ኣይትኸይድን እያ።
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.
