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A wax bird flying in the sunshine.

ብስምዒ ዝተሰርሑ ቆልዑት Children of wax Les enfants de cire

Written by Southern African Folktale

Illustrated by Wiehan de Jager

Translated by Daniel Berhane Habte

Language Tigrinya

Level Level 2

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A man, a woman and three boys standing.

ሓደ እዋን፡ ሓንቲ ሕጕስቲ ስድራ ነበረት።

Once upon a time, there lived a happy family.

Il était une fois une famille bien heureuse.


Three boys doing chores and working in a field.

ንሓድሕዶም ብፍጹም ተባኢሶም ኣይፈልጡን። ኣብ ቤት ኮነ ኣብ በረኻ ንወለዶም ይሕግዝዎም ነበሩ።

They never fought with each other. They helped their parents at home and in the fields.

Ils ne se disputaient jamais. Ils aidaient leurs parents à la maison et dans les champs.


A man standing in front of a campfire holding his hand up and three boys standing next to him.

ጥቓ ሓዊ ክቐርቡ ግን ኣይፍቀደሎምን ነበረ።

But they were not allowed to go near a fire.

Mais ils n’avaient pas le droit de s’approcher d’un feu.


Half a house in daytime with the sun above it and the other half at nighttime with the moon and stars.

ኵሉ ስርሓቶም ኣብ ግዜ ምሸት የካይድዎ ነበሩ። ምኽንያቱ ብስምዒ እዮም ተሰሪሖም።

They had to do all their work during the night. Because they were made of wax!

Ils devaient faire tout leur travail pendant la nuit. Puisqu’ils étaient faits de cire !


A boy thinking about daytime.

ሓደ ካብቶም ኣወዳት ግን ብግዜ ብርሃን ጸሓይ ክወጽእ ባሃገ።

But one of the boys longed to go out in the sunlight.

Mais un des garçons désirait se promener au soleil.


A boy walking through a bright doorway and two boys covering their eyes.

ሓደ መዓልቲ ባህጉ ምሒር ሓየሎ። ኣሕዋቱ ኣጠንቀቕዎ…

One day the longing was too strong. His brothers warned him…

Un jour son désir était trop puissant. Ses frères l’avertirent…


A boy melting.

ግን እንታይ ይዓብስ! በታ መራር ጸሓይ መኺኹ።

But it was too late! He melted in the hot sun.

Mais c’était trop tard ! Il fondit au soleil brûlant.


Two sad-looking boys with their arms around each other.

እቶም ብስምዒ ዝተሰርሑ ቆልዑት ሓዎም ክመክኽ ከሎ ርእዮም ኣመና ጐሃዩ።

The wax children were so sad to see their brother melting away.

Les enfants de cire étaient si tristes de voir leur frère fondre.


Two boys shaping a lump of melted wax into a bird.

ሓደ መደብ ግን ገበሩ። ነቲ ዝመኸኸ ስምዒ ቀሪጾሞ ሓደ ዑፍ ሰርሑ።

But they made a plan. They shaped the lump of melted wax into a bird.

Mais ils firent un plan. Ils façonnèrent le morceau de cire fondue en oiseau.


A wax bird on a high mountain at sunrise.

ነቲ ዝቐረጽዎ ዑፍ ሓዎም ናብ’ቲ በሪኽ ጎቦ ወሰድዎ።

They took their bird brother up to a high mountain.

Ils apportèrent leur frère l’oiseau jusqu’au sommet d’une montagne haute.


A wax bird flying in the sunshine.

እታ ጸሓይ ምስበረቐት ድማ፡ ናብ’ቲ ናይ ወጋሕታ ብርሃን እናዘመረ ነፊሩ ከደ።

And as the sun rose, he flew away singing into the morning light.

Et lorsque le soleil se leva, il s’envola vers la lumière du matin en chantant.


Written by: Southern African Folktale
Illustrated by: Wiehan de Jager
Translated by: Daniel Berhane Habte
Language: Tigrinya
Level: Level 2
Source: Children of wax from African Storybook
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 International License.
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