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A woman with a donkey tied to her back.

ኣድጊ ዀይኑ ዝተወልደ ቈልዓ Donkey Child L'enfant-âne

Lindiwe Matshikiza

Meghan Judge

Daniel Berhane Habte

Tigrinya

Level 3

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A girl standing on a rock looking at woman in the distance.

ፈለማ ሓንቲ ንእሽቶ ቈልዓ እያ ነቲ ምስጢራዊ ቅርጺ ብርሑቕ ዝርኣየት።

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

Une petite fille fut la première à voir la forme mystérieuse au loin.

A girl standing on a rock and a pregnant woman kneeling down holding her tummy.

እቲ ቅርጺ እናቐረበ ምስመጸ፡ ሓንቲ ብጽሕቲ ወርሒ ነፍሰ-ጾር ኣደ ከምዝዀነት ርኣየት።

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

Tandis que la forme se rapprocha, la petite fille vit que c’était une femme enceinte de plusieurs mois.

A pregnant woman surrounded by women hugging her.

እታ ሓፍር ግን ድማ ቈራጽ ዝኾነት ንእሽቶ ቈልዓ ናብታ ኣደ ቀረበት፡ ከምዚ ድማ በለት። “እናተኻናኸ’ና ምሳና ክንሕዛ ኣለና፡” እቶም ምስኣ ዝነበሩ ሰባት ድማ ከምዚ ክብሉ ወሰኑ። “ንዓኣን ንውላዳን ምሳና ክንዕቅቦም ኢና።”

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.”

Timide mais brave, la petite fille se rapprocha de la femme. « Nous devons la garder avec nous, » dit le peuple de la petite fille. « Nous la garderons en sécurité, ainsi que son enfant. »

A woman in labour and other women helping her and bringing her water and blankets.

እታ’ደ ሕርሲ ተታሕዘት። “ድፍኢ!” “ኮቦርታ ኣምጹኡ!” “ማይ!” “ድፍኢኢኢኢኢኢኢኢ!!!”

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

L’enfant arriva bientôt. « Pousse ! » « Apportez des couvertures ! » « De l’eau ! » « Pouuusseeee ! »

A baby donkey.

ነቲ ህጻን ምስርኣይዎ ግና፡ ብስንባደ ኵላቶም ንድሕሪት ዘለሉ። “ኣድጊ?!”

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

Mais quand ils virent le bébé, tous firent un saut en arrière. « Un âne ?! »

A group of women arguing.

ኵሎም ክካትዑ ጀመሩ። ገሊኣቶም፡ “ኣደን ውላዳን ክንዕቅቦም ኢና’ዶ ‘ይበልናን፡ ከምኡ ድማ ኢና እንገብር።” በሉ። ካልኦት ድማ፡ “ግና ሕማቕ ዕድል ከምጽኡልና እዮም” በሉ።

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.

Tout le monde commença à se disputer. « Nous avions dit que nous garderions mère et enfant en sécurité et c’est ce que nous ferons, » dirent quelques-uns. « Mais ils vont nous porter malchance ! » dirent d’autres.

A woman holding a donkey in her arms.

ስለዚ እታ’ደ ዳግም ንብሕታ ተረፈት። ነዚ ስግንጢር ዝዀነ ቈልዓ እንታይ ከምእትገብሮ ኣስደመማ። ብዛዕባ ገዛእ ርእሳ እንታይ ከምትገብር መስተንክር ኰና።

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

Ainsi, la femme se retrouva seule encore une fois. Elle se demanda quoi faire de cet enfant embarrassant. Elle se demanda quoi faire d’elle-même.

A woman hugging a donkey.

ኣብ መወዳእታ ግና እቲ ቈልዓ ወዳ ምዃኑ ንሳ ድማ ኣዲኡ ምዃና ክትቅበሎ ኔርዋ።

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

Mais elle dut finalement accepter qu’il était son enfant et qu’elle était sa mère.

A woman with a donkey tied to her back.

ሕጂ፡ እቲ ቈልዓ ከምታ ዝነበራ፡ ንእሽተይ ግዝፉ ኔሩ እንተዝኸውን፡ ደለ ምዀነ። እቲ ኣድጊ ግና እናዓበየ እናዓበየ ኣብ ሕቘ እታ’ደ ክሕዘል ክሳብ ዘይክእል ኰነ። ብተወሳኺ፡ ዝፈተነ እንተፈተነ’ውን ከም ናይ ሰብ ጠባይ ክህልዎ ኣይከኣለን። ኣዲኡ ካብ ግዜ ናብ ግዜ ደኸመትን ተባሳጨወትን። ሓደ ሓደ ግዜ እንስሳታት ጥራይ ክሰርሕዎ ዝግበኦም ስራሕ ተስርሖ ነበረት።

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.

Maintenant, si l’enfant était resté petit, tout aurait été différent. Mais l’enfant-âne grandit et grandit jusqu’à ce qu’il ne puisse plus être porté sur le dos de sa mère. Et malgré ses plus grands efforts, il ne pouvait pas se comporter comme un être humain. Sa mère était très souvent fatiguée et frustrée. Parfois elle l’obligeait à faire du travail destiné aux animaux.

A donkey kicking a woman.

ኣድጊ ድንግርግር በሎ ቍጥዑኡ’ውን ዛየደ። እዚ ክገብር ኣይክእል እቲ ክገብር ኣይክእል። ከምዚ ክኸውን ኣይክእል ከምቲ ክኸውን ኣይክእል። ኣዝዩ ሓሪቑ፡ ክሳብ ሓደ መዓልቲ፡ ነ’ዲኡ ረጊሑ ናብ ባይታ ዘውድቓ ኰነ።

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.

La confusion et la colère s’accumulèrent à l’intérieur d’Âne. Il ne pouvait pas faire ceci et il ne pouvait pas faire cela. Il ne pouvait pas être comme ceci et il ne pouvait pas être comme cela. Il devint tellement fâché qu’un jour il botta sa mère par terre.

A donkey running away.

ኣድጊ ውርደት ተሰምዖ። ብዘለዎ ፍጥነትን ክሳብ ክበጽሖ ዝኽእል ርሕቀት ክሃድም ጀመረ።

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

Âne fut rempli de honte. Il commença à se sauver aussi vite et aussi loin qu’il pu.

A donkey sleeping.

ጕያኡ ኣብ ዘቋረጸሉ ግዜ፡ መሬት መስዩ ነበረ፡ እቲ ኣድጊ ድማ ጠፍአ። ኣብቲ ጸልማት “ሂሃ ሂሃ?” ኢሉ ሃለለ። “ሂሃ ሂሃ?” ዝብል መቓልሕ ተመልሶ። በይኑ እዩ ኔሩ። ከምዛ ኵዕሶ ዕዅልል ኢሉ ኣብ ዓሚቝን ርቡሽን ድቃስ ኣተወ።

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.

Quand il s’arrêta de courir, la nuit était tombée et Âne était perdu. « Hi han ? » il chuchota à la noirceur. « Hi han ? » retourna la noirceur en écho. Il était seul. Se lovant en petite boule, il tomba dans un sommeil profond et agité.

A man dressed in a fur coat staring down at a donkey.

ኣድጊ ምስ ተበራበረ ሓደ ዓቢ ባዕዳዊ ሰብኣይ ኣብ ልዕሊኡ ደው ኢሉ ክጥምቶ ጸንሐ። ኣብ ኣዒንቲ ናይቲ ዓቢ ሰብኣይ ምስጠመተ ብልጭልጭታ ናይ ተስፋ ክስምዖ ጀመረ።

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.

Âne se réveilla et vit un vieil homme étrange qui le regardait. Il regarda dans les yeux du vieil homme et commença à ressentir un brin d’espoir.

A man carrying a donkey.

ኣድጊ ምስቲ ዓቢ ሰብኣይ ክቕመጥ ከደ፡ ዝተፈላለዩ ሜላታት ናይ ምንባር ድማ ካብኡ ተምሃረ። ኣድጊ ሰምዐን ተምሃረን፡ እቲ ዓቢ ሰብኣይ’ውን ከምኡ። ንሓድሕዶም ተሓጋገዙ፡ ብሓባር ድማ ሰሓቑ።

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.

Âne partit vivre avec le vieil homme, qui lui montra plusieurs façons de survivre. Âne écouta et apprit, et le vieil homme aussi. Ils s’aidèrent l’un l’autre et ils rirent ensemble.

A man sitting on a donkey walking up a mountain.

ሓደ መዓልቲ፡ እቲ ዓቢ ሰብኣይ ንኣድጊ ናብ ሓደ ጫፍ ናይ ጎቦ ተሰኪምዎ ክድይብ ሓተቶ።

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

Un matin, le vieil homme demanda à Âne de le transporter jusqu’au sommet d’une montagne.

A donkey and a man sleeping on the top of a mountain surrounded by clouds. The donkey dreaming of a woman.

ኣብ ላዕሊ ኣብ መንጎ’ቲ ደበና ድቃስ ወሰዶም። ኣድጊ ኣዲኡ ከምዝሓመመትን ትጽውዖ ከምዘላን ሓለመ። ምስተበራበረ ድማ…

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

En haut, parmi les nuages, ils s’endormirent. Âne rêva que sa mère était malade et qu’elle l’appelait. Et quand il se réveilla…

A donkey sitting on the top of a mountain with the sun shining on him.

… እቲ ደበና፡ ከምኡ ድማ ዓርኩ፡ እቲ ዓቢ ሰብኣይ ድሮ ተሰዊሮም ነበሩ።

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

… les nuages avaient disparu avec son ami le vieil homme.

A donkey running.

ኣድጊ ኣብ መወዳእታ እንታይ ክገብር ከምዘለዎ ፈለጠ።

Donkey finally knew what to do.

Âne sut finalement quoi faire.

A sad-looking woman standing amongst some trees and a donkey looking at her.

ኣድጊ ነ’ዲኡ፡ ንበይና ዀይና በቲ ዝጠፍኣ ቆልዓ ክትሓዝን ረኸባ። ንሓድሕዶም ንነዊሕ እዋን ተጠማመቱ። ሽዑ ንሓድሕዶም ኣጥቢቖም ተሓቛቘፉ።

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.

Âne trouva sa mère, seule et en deuil pour son enfant perdu. Ils se regardèrent longtemps. Puis ils s’embrassèrent très fort.

A woman sitting on top of a donkey near adults and children.

እቲ ኣድጊ ዀይኑ ዝተወልደ ቈልዓን ኣዲኡን ወትሩ ብሓባር ተቐመጡ፡ ከሳንዮም ዝኽእል ብዙሕ ሜላታት’ውን ረኸቡ። ቀስ ብቐስ፡ ኣብ ዙርያኦም፡ ካልኦት ስድራቤታት ክሰፍሩ 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.

L’enfant-âne et sa mère ont grandi ensemble et ils ont trouvé plusieurs manières de coexister. Lentement, tout autour d’eux, d’autres familles ont commencé à s’installer.

Written by: Lindiwe Matshikiza

Illustrated by: Meghan Judge

Translated by: Daniel Berhane Habte

Language: Tigrinya

Level: Level 3

Source: Donkey Child from African Storybook

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እታ ደቃቕ ዘርኢ፡ ዛንታ ዋንጋሪ ማታይ ኖዚበለን እተን ሰለስተ ጸጕርታትን ደርሆን ዓረዛዘነን ናይ ሳኪማ መዝሙር ኣናንሲን ጥበብን እታ ቤተይ ገዲፈ ንከተማ ዝወጻኹላ ዕለት ደርሆን ንስርን

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