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A rabbit jumping by the riverside.

ንጕማረታት ጸጕሪ ኣልቦ ዝገበሮም ምኽንያት 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 Daniel Berhane Habte

Language Tigrinya

Level Level 2

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A rabbit walking by a riverside.

ሓደ መዓልቲ፡ ማንቲለ በቲ ገምገም ፈለግ ይዛውን ነበረ።

One day, Rabbit was walking by the riverside.

Un jour, Lapin marchait le long de la rivière.


A hippo eating grass by a riverside.

ጕማረ’ውን ኣብኡ ነበረት፡ ትዛወርን ገለ ልሙዕ ሳዕሪ ትበልዕን።

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.

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?”

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.

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!”

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.

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.”

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.

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.

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.

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!”

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.

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.

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: Daniel Berhane Habte
Language: Tigrinya
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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