Download PDF
Back to stories list

አህያ ሆኖ የተወለደው ልጅ Donkey Child Mtoto Punda

Written by Lindiwe Matshikiza

Illustrated by Meghan Judge

Translated by Dawit Girma

Read by Abenezer Chane

Language Amharic

Level Level 3

Narrate full story

Reading speed

Autoplay story


አንዲት ህጻን ልጅ አንድ የሆነ አስገራሚ ቅርጽ ከርቀት ተመለከተች።

It was a little girl who first saw the mysterious shape in the distance.

Ilikuwa ni msichana mdogo aliyekuwa wa kwanza kuona umbo la ajabu kwa mbali.


ያ ቅርጽ እየቀረበ ሲመጣ ድርስ እርጉዝ ሴት መሆኗን ህጻኗ ተረዳች።

As the shape moved closer, she saw that it was a heavily pregnant woman.

Kadiri umbo lilipokaribia, aliona kwamba lilikuwa ni mwanamke mwenye ujauzito mkubwa.


ዓይንአፋር ግን ደግሞ ጎበዝ የሆነችው ይህች ህጻን እርጉዟን ሴትዮ ተጠጋቻት። ‹‹ይህችን ሴት ከእኛ ጋር ማኖር አለብን›› በማለት የህጻኗ ቤተ ዘመዶች ወሰኑ። ‹‹እሷን ከእኛ ጋር እናኖራታለን፤ ልጇንም አንንከባከባለን።››

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.”

Kwa upole na ujasiri, msichana alimsogelea mwanamke yule. “Lazima tumhifadhi,” watu wa msichana yule walisema. “Tutawaweka yeye na mtoto wake salama.”


ወዲያው ምጥ ጀመራት። ‹‹ግፊ!›› ‹‹ብርድ ልብስ አምጡ!›› ‹‹ውሃ!›› ‹‹ግፊፊፊፊፊፊ!!!››

The child was soon on its way. “Push!” “Bring blankets!” “Water!” “Puuuuussssshhh!!!”

Mtoto alikuwa njiani kuzaliwa si muda mrefu. “Sukuma!” “Leteni mablanketi!” “Maji!” “Suuukuuumaaaa!!!”


ነገር ግን ህጻኑን ሲያዩ ሁሉም በድንጋጤ ወደኋላ አፈገፈጉ። ‹‹አህያ?!››

But when they saw the baby, everyone jumped back in shock. “A donkey?!”

Lakini walipomwona mtoto, wote waliruka kwa mshtuko. “Punda?!”


ሁሉም መከራከር ያዘ። ‹‹እናትና ልጇን እንንከባከባለን ብለን ቃል ገብተን ነበር፤ አሁንም ቢሆን ማድረግ ያለብን እሱን ነው።›› ሲሉ አንዳንዶቹ፤ ሌሎቹ ደግሞ ‹‹ግን መጥፎ እድል ሊያመጡብን ይችላሉ›› አሉ።

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.

Wakaanza kubishana. “Tulisema tutawaweka mama na mtoto salama, na hivyo ndivyo tutakavyofanya,” baadhi wakasema. “Lakini watatuletea mkosi!” wengine wakadai.


በመሆኑም ሴትዮዋ እንደገና ብቸኝነት ተሰማት። ሴትዮዋ ግራ ተጋባች፤ ይህንን ያልተጠበቀ ፍጡር ምን እንደምታደርገው ጨነቃት። ምን ማድረግ እንዳለባት አላወቀችም፣ በጣም ተወዛገበች።

And so the woman found herself alone again. She wondered what to do with this awkward child. She wondered what to do with herself.

Kwa hiyo mwanamke yule alijikuta yuko peke yake kwa mara nyingine tena. Akajiuliza atafanya nini na mtoto huyo wa ajabu. Akajiuliza atafanya nini na yeye mwenyewe.


በስተመጨረሻም ፍጡሩ ልጇ መሆኑንና እሷም እናቱ መሆኗን አምና ተቀበለች።

But finally she had to accept that he was her child and she was his mother.

Lakini hatimaye alikubali kwamba huyo ni mwanaye na yeye ni mama yake.


አሁን ነገሮች ሁሉ አስቸጋሪ እየሆኑ መጥተዋል። ልጁ እንደተወለደ ባለው የአካል መጠን በዚያው ቢቀጥል ልዩ ነገር ነው የሚሆነው። ሲያድግም ለናትየዋ ለመንከባከብ፣ ለማዘል ይቸግራታል። የሆነ ሆኖ ህጻኑ አህያ ለእናትየዋ በጀርባዋ ማዘል እስኪያቅታት ድረስ እያደገ መጣ። እናም ልጁ የጣረውን ያህል ቢጥር ልክ እንደሰው ያለ ባህርይ ሊኖረው አልተቻለውም። እናትየዋም እየደከማት እየፈራችም መጣች። አንዳንዴ እንስሳት እንደሚሰሩት ያለ ስራ እንዲሰራ ታደርገዋለች።

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.

Endapo mtoto huyo angebaki kuwa vilevile, na umbo dogo, labda kila kitu kingekuwa tofauti. Lakini mtoto Punda aliendelea kukua na kukua mpaka hakuweza kutoshea tena mgongoni mwa mama yake. Pamoja na kujaribu kwa bidii, hakuweza kuwa na tabia za kibinadamu. Mara nyingi mama yake alichoka na kuvunjika moyo. Wakati mwingine alimlazimisha kufanya kazi walizostahili wanyama.


አህያው በውስጡ ግራ መጋባትና ብስጭት እያየለበት መጣ። ይህንና ያንን ማድረግ ላይኖርበት ይችላል፤ እንደዚህ መምሰል እንደዛም መምሰል አይኖርበትም። በዚህ መወዛገብ ውስጥ ሆኖ ይናደዳል፤ አንድ ቀን እናቱን በርግጫ መታትና ከመሬት ጋር አጋጫት።

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.

Kuchanganyikiwa na hasira vilianza kujengeka ndani mwa Punda. Alishindwa kufanya hivi wala vile. Alishindwa kuwa hivi wala vile. Alipatwa na hasira sana kiasi kwamba, siku moja, alimpiga teke mama yake mpaka akaanguka chini.


አህያው በጣም ሃፍረት ተሰማው። ከዚያ ሮጠ። የሚችለውን ያህል ፈጥኖ በጣም ሩቅ ወደሆነ ቦታ ፈረጠጠ።

Donkey was filled with shame. He started to run away as far and fast as he could.

Punda alijawa na aibu. Akaanza kukimbilia mbali kwa haraka kadiri awezavyo.


መሮጡን ሲያቆም መሽቶ ነበር፣ በዚህም አጋጣሚ አህያው ጠፋ። ‹‹ሃ ሂሃ ሂሃ›› አህያው ጨለማው ውስጥ አስካካ። ‹‹ሃ ሂሃ ሂሃ›› ይላል ደግሞ። ግን የገደል ማሚቶው ብቻ ያስተጋባል። ብቻውን ሆነ። ከባድ የድካም ስሜት እንደተጫነው ጥቅልል ብሎ ተኛ።

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.

Wakati aliposimama, ilikuwa ni usiku, na alikuwa amepotea. “Hii hoo?” alinong’ona gizani. “Hii hoo?” giza likatoa mwangwi. Alikuwa mwenyewe. Alijikunyata katika umbo dogo, akalala fofofo usingizi wa mang’amung’amu.


አህያው ሲነቃ እንግዳ ሽማግሌ ሰውዬ አፍጥጦ ሲያየው አገኘ። ሽማግሌውን ዓይን ዓይኑን እያየ የተስፋ ጭላንጭል ተሰማው።

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 aliamka na kumkuta mzee mmoja wa ajabu akimtazama. Akamwangalia mzee yule machoni na akaanza kuhisi ishara ya matumaini.


አህያው እንዴት መኖር እንደሚገባው የተለያዩ ዘዴዎችን ካስተማረው ከሽማግሌው ሰውዬ ጋር ለመቆዬት አብሮ ሄደ። አህያው በደንብ ያዳምጣል። ትምህርት ይወስዳል። ሽማግሌው ሰውዬም እንደዚያው። እርስበርሳቸው ይረዳዳሉ፤ ይሳሳቃሉም።

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.

Punda alienda kuishi na mzee yule, na mzee alimfundisha mbinu nyingi za kuishi. Punda alisikiliza na kujifunza, na mzee vivyo hivyo pia. Walisaidiana na kucheka pamoja.


አንድ ቀን ማለዳ ሽማግሌው ሰውዬ አህያውን ተሸክመህ ወደ ተራራ ጫፍ አውጣኝ ሲል ጠየቀው።

One morning, the old man asked Donkey to carry him to the top of a mountain.

Asubuhi moja, mzee alimwomba Punda ambebe hadi kwenye kilele cha mlima.


ተራራው ጫፍ ላይ በደመናው መሃል እንቅልፍ ወሰዳቸው። አህያው በህልሙ እናቱን እንዳመማትና ስትጠራው አየ። እንደነቃ….

High up amongst the clouds they fell asleep. Donkey dreamed that his mother was sick and calling to him. And when he woke up…

Walipofika juu kwenye mawingu, walipatwa na usingizi. Punda akaota kuwa mama yake alikuwa mgonjwa na alimhitaji. Na alipoamka…


… ደመናው ጠፍቷል፣ ከጓደኛው ከሽማግሌው ሰውዬ ጋር።

… the clouds had disappeared along with his friend, the old man.

…mawingu yalikuwa yametoweka pamoja na rafiki yake, yule mzee.


አህያ በስተመጨረሻም ምን ማድረግ እንዳለበት አወቀ።

Donkey finally knew what to do.

Hatimaye, Punda alijua alichotakiwa kufanya.


አህያው እናቱን ብቻዋን ሆና በጠፋው ልጇ እያዘነች አገኛት። ለረጂም ጊዜ ፍጥጥ ብለው ተያዩ። ከዚያም ጥብቅብቅ ብለው ተቃቀፉ።

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.

Punda alimkuta mama yake akiwa peke yake huku akimwomboleza mwanaye aliyepotea. Wakaangaliana kwa muda mrefu. Na kisha wakakumbatiana kwa hisia.


ትንሹ አህያና እናቱ አብረው መኖርና ማደግ ጀመሩ። ህይወታቸውን አብረው ማስቀጠል የሚችሉባቸውን በርካታ መንገዶችም አሰቡ። ቀስ በቀስ ሌሎች ሰዎችና ቤተዘመዶች ተረጋግተው ህይወታቸውን መግፋት ጀመሩ።

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.

Mtoto Punda na mama yake wamekuwa kitu kimoja na kuishi kwa ushirikiano. Taratibu, familia nyingine zimeanza kuhamia na kuishi miongoni mwao.


Written by: Lindiwe Matshikiza
Illustrated by: Meghan Judge
Translated by: Dawit Girma
Read by: Abenezer Chane
Language: Amharic
Level: Level 3
Source: Donkey Child from African Storybook
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Options
Back to stories list Download PDF