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A rabbit jumping by the riverside.

ጉማሬዎች ለምን ጸጉር እንደሌላቸው Why hippos have no hair Pourquoi les hippopotames n'ont pas de poils

Written by Basilio Gimo, David Ker

Illustrated by Carol Liddiment

Translated by Mezemir Girma

Read by Abenezer Chane

Language Amharic

Level Level 2

Narrate full story

Reading speed

Autoplay story


A rabbit walking by a riverside.

አንድ ቀን ጥንቸል በወንዝ ዳር እየሄደች ነበር።

One day, Rabbit was walking by the riverside.

Un jour, Lapin marchait le long de la rivière.


A hippo eating grass by a riverside.

ጉማሬም እዚያው ነበር። እየተንሸራሸረና ጥሩ ለምለም ሳር እየበላ ነበር።

Hippo was there too, going for a stroll and eating some nice green grass.

Hippo était là aussi pour se promener et manger de la bonne herbe verte.


A hippo stepping on a rabbit's foot.

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?”

Hippo ne voyait pas que Lapin se trouvait là et elle piétina le pied de Lapin. Lapin cria et hurla « Hippo ! Tu vois pas que tu me piétines le pied ? »


A rabbit holding its injured foot looking up at a hippo.

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!”

Hippo s’excusa à Lapin : « Je suis si désolé, mon ami. Je ne te voyais pas. Pardonne-moi, s’il-te-plaît ! » Mais Lapin n’écoutait pas et cria à Hippo : « Tu l’as fait exprès ! Un jour, tu verras ! Tu paieras pour ça ! »


A rabbit jumping next to fire.

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.”

Puis Lapin partit chercher Feu et lui dit : « Va brûler Hippo quand elle sort de l’eau pour manger l’herbe. Elle m’a piétiné le pied ! » Feu répondit : « Pas de souci, Lapin, mon ami. Je ferai ce que tu as demandé. »


A hippo running away from fire.

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.

Plus tard, Hippo mangeait l’herbe loin de la rivière lorsque soudain « ZOUM ! » Feu s’enflamma. Les flammes commencèrent à brûler les poils de Hippo.


A hippo crying in the river.

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!”

Hippo se mit à pleurer et se réfugia dans l’eau. Le feu avait brûlé tous ses cheveux. Hippo continua à pleurer : « Mes poils ont brûlé. Tu as brûlé tous mes poils ! Mes poils ont disparu ! Mes si beaux poils ! »


A rabbit jumping by the riverside.

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.

Lapin était content que les poils de Hippo soient brulés. Et jusqu’à ce jour, de crainte du feu, les hippopotames ne s’éloignent jamais de l’eau.


Written by: Basilio Gimo, David Ker
Illustrated by: Carol Liddiment
Translated by: Mezemir Girma
Read by: Abenezer Chane
Language: Amharic
Level: Level 2
Source: Why hippos have no hair from African Storybook
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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 International License.
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