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لِمَاذَا لاَ تَمْلِكُ أَفْرَاسُ اَلْنَّهْرِ شَعْراً
Why hippos have no hair
limaːðaː laː tamallaka ʔafraːs aːlnahr @شعراً
فِي أَحَدِ اَلْأَيَّامِ، كَانَ أَرْنَبٌ يَمْشِي بِاْلْقُرْبِ مِنْ حَافَةِ النَّهْرِ.
One day, Rabbit was walking by the riverside.
fiː ʔaħħada aːlʔajjaːm kaːna @أرنبٌ jamʃiː biaːlqurb min @حافة aːlnahr
كَانَ هُنَاكَ أَيْضًا فَرَسُ نَهْرٍ جَاءَتْ في نُزْهَةٍ، وَكَانَتْ تَأْكُلُ بَعْضَ العُشْبِ الأَخْضَرِ اللَّذِيذِ.
Hippo was there too, going for a stroll and eating some nice green grass.
kaːna hunaːka @أيضًا faras @نهرٍ @جاءت fiː @نزهةٍ @وكانت taʔakkala baʕdˤ aːlʕuʃb aːlʔaxdˤar aːllaðiːð
لَمْ تَكُنْ اَلْفَرَسُ تَعْرِفُ بِوُجُودِ اَلأَرْنَبِ فَدَاسَتْ بِطَريقِ اَلْخَطَأَ عَلى قَدَمِهِ.
صَرَخَ الأرْنَبُ بِوَجْهِ فَرَسِ اَلْنَّهْر، “أَنْتِ يَا فَرَسَ اَلْنَّهْرِ! أَلاَ تَرَيْنَ أَنَّكِ دُسْتِ عَلَى قَدَمِي؟”
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?”
lam takinn aːlfaras taʕarrafa biwudʒuːd aːlʔarnab @فداست bitˤriːq aːlxatˤaʔ ʕalaː @قدمه
sˤaraxa aːlʔarnab biwadʒh faras aːlnahr ʔanta jaː faras aːlnahr ʔallaː tariːn ʔannaka dast ʕalaː qadameɪ
اِعْتَذَرَتْ فَرَسُ اَلْنَّهْرِ، وَقَالَتْ، “أَنَا آسِفةٌ يَا صَدِيقِي، فَأَنَا لَمْ أَرَكَ … أَرْجُوكَ سَامِحْنِي”.
لَكِنَّ الأَرْنَبَ لَمْ يَسْمَعْ كَلاَمَهَا وَصَرَخَ بِهَا، “أَنْتِ قَصَدْتِ هَذَا وَسَتَدْفَعِينَ اَلثَّمَنَ”!
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!”
@اعتذرت faras aːlnahr @وقالت ʔanaː @آسفةٌ jaː sˤiddiːqiː @فأنا lam ʔarikk @أرجوك @سامحني
lakunna aːlʔarnab lam jasmaʕ @كلامها wasˤaraxa bihaː ʔanta @قصدت haːðaː @وستدفعين aːlθaman
ذَهَبَ اَلأَرْنَبُ ليَبْحَثَ عَنِ النّار وَقَالَ، “اِذْهَبِي وَاَحْرِقِي فَرَسَ اَلْنًّهْرِ عِنْدَمَا تَأْتِ إِلَى المَاءِ لِتَأْكُلَ اَلْعُشْبَ لِأَنَّهَا دَاسَتْ عَلَيَّ”. أَجَابَتْهُ النَّارُ، “سَأَفْعَلُ مَا طَلَبتَ مِنِّي يَا صَدِيقِي”.
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.”
ðahaba aːlʔarnab liːabħaθ ʕan aːlnaːr waqaːla @اذهبي @واحرقي faras @النًهر ʕindamaː taʔt ʔilaː aːlmaːʔ litaʔakkul aːlʕuʃb liʔannahaː @داست ʕalajja @أجابته aːlnaːr saʔafʕal maː @طلبت muniːa jaː sˤiddiːqiː
وَبَعْدَ ذَلِكَ بَيْنَمَا كَانَتْ فَرَسُ اَلنَّهْرِ تَأْكُلُ اَلْعُشْبَ، اِنْدَلَعَتِ النِّيرَانُ وَبَدَأَتْ بِحَرْقِ شَعْرِ فَرَسِ اَلنَّهْرِ.
Later, Hippo was eating grass far from the river when, “Whoosh!” Fire burst into flame. The flames began to burn Hippo’s hair.
wabaʕda ðaːlika beɪnamaː @كانت faras aːlnahr taʔakkala aːlʕuʃb @اندلعت aːlniːraːn @وبدأت biħarq ʃaʕara faras aːlnahr
بَدَأَتْ فَرَسُ النَّهْرِ بِالبُكَاءِ ثُمَّ رَكَضَتْ إِلَى اَلْمَاءِ. لَقَدْ أَحْرَقَتْ اَلنَّارُ كُلَّ شَعْرهَا.
ظَلَّت فَرَسُ اَلنَّهْرِ تَبْكِي، “لَقَدْ اِحْتَرَقَ كُلُّ شَعْري بِالنَّارِ، لَقَدْ أَحْرَقْتِ كُلَّ شَعْري ذَهَبَ كُلُّ شَعْرِي! شَعْرِي اَلجَمِيلُ، شَعْرِي اَلْجَميلُ”!
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!”
@بدأت faras aːlnahr biaːlbikaːʔ θumma @ركضت ʔilaː aːlmaːʔ laqad @أحرقت aːlnaːr kul @شعرها
@ظلت faras aːlnahr tabkiː laqad iħtaraqa kul ʃiʕrijj biaːlnaːr laqad @أحرقت kul ʃiʕrijj ðahaba kul ʃiʕrijj ʃiʕrijj aːldʒamiːl ʃiʕrijj aːldʒamiːl
فَرِحَ الأَرْنَبُ أَنَّ شَعْرَ فَرَسِ النَّهْرِ قَدْ احْتَرَقَ.
وَحَتَّى يَوْمِنَا هَذَا، وَخَوْفًا مِنَ النَّارِ، لاَ تَبْتَعِدُ فَرَسُ النَّهْرِ عَنِ المَاءِ أَبَدًا.
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.
fariħa aːlʔarnab ʔan ʃaʕara faras aːlnahr qad iħtaraqa
@وحتى @يومنا haːðaː @وخوفًا min aːlnaːr laː tabtaʕid faras aːlnahr ʕan aːlmaːʔ @أبدًا
Written by: Basilio Gimo, David Ker
Illustrated by: Carol Liddiment
Translated by: Heba Tesheh, Maaouia Haj Mabrouk
Read by: Mashael Muhanna
