አንድ ቀን ጥንቸል በወንዝ ዳር እየሄደች ነበር።
One day, Rabbit was walking by the riverside.
ጉማሬም እዚያው ነበር። እየተንሸራሸረና ጥሩ ለምለም ሳር እየበላ ነበር።
Hippo was there too, going for a stroll and eating some nice green grass.
ጉማሬ ጥንቸልን አላያትም ነበርና ድንገት እግሯን ረገጣት። ጥንቸልም በጉማሬ ላይ መጮህ ጀመረች። ‹‹አንተ ጉማሬ! እግሬ ላይ እንደቆምክበት አይታይህም?››
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?”
ጉማሬም ጥንቸልን ይቅርታ እንድታደርግለት ጠየቃት። ‹‹ይቅርታ። አላየሁሽም እኮ። እባክሽ ማሪኝ!›› አላት። ጥንቸል ግን አልሰማም ብላ ጮኸችበት። ‹‹አውቀህ ነው ያደረከው! አንድ ቀን አሳይሃለሁ! ዋጋህን ታገኛለህ!›› አለችው።
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!”
ጥንቸል እሳትን ፈልጋ ሄደችና ስታገኛት ‹‹ሂጂ፣ ጉማሬ ከውኃ ውስጥ ሳር ሊግጥ ሲወጣ አቃጥዪው። እግሬን አይረግጠኝ መሰለሽ!›› አለቻት። እሳትም ‹‹ችግር የለም ጥንቸል ወዳጄ። ያልሽኝን እፈጽምልሻለሁ›› አለቻት
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.”
በኋላም ጉማሬ ከወንዙ ርቃ ሳር ስትግጥ ‹‹ውሽ!›› ብላ እሳት ከተፍ አለችባት። ነበልባሉ የጉማሬን ጸጉር ያቃጥለው ጀመር።
Later, Hippo was eating grass far from the river when, “Whoosh!” Fire burst into flame. The flames began to burn Hippo’s hair.
ጉማሬ እየጮኸ ወደ ውኃ ሮጠ። ጸጉሩ በሙሉ በእሳት ተቃጠለ። ጉማሬ ማልቀስ ቀጠለ። ‹‹ጸጉሬን እሳት አቃጠለብኝ! ጸጉሬ በሙሉ አለቀ! ቆንጆ ጸጉሬን!››
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!”
ጥንቸል የጉማሬ ጸጉር በመቃጠሉ ተደሰተች። እና እስካሁን እሳትን ፍራቻ ጉማሬ ከውኃ ርቆ አይሄድም።
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.
