Ka letsatsi le lengwe, Mmutla o be o sepela ka thoko ga noka.
One day, Rabbit was walking by the riverside.
Kubu le yona e be e le gona, e sepelasepela gomme e ja bjang bjo botala bjo bose.
Hippo was there too, going for a stroll and eating some nice green grass.
Kubu ga se ya bona gore mmutla o gona gomme ya gata leoto la mmutla ka phoso.
Mmutla wa thoma go goeletsa kubu “Kubu ga o bone gore o gata leoto la ka?”
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?”
Kubu ya kgopela tshwarelo go mmutla, “Ke maswabi kudu. Ke be ke sa go bone. ke gopela o ntshwarele!” Eupsa Mmutla ga se wa nyaka go theeletsa gomme wa kgadimotsa kubu “O dirile seo ka boomo! ka letsatsi le lengwe, o tlo lefa! o tla bona.
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!”
Mmutla wa ya go nyaka mollo gomme wa re “tsamaya o yo fisa kubu ge e etswa ka meetsing go ja bjang. O nkgatile!” Mollo wa araba, “a gone bothatha, Mmutla mogwera waka. Ke tla dira se o se kgopetsego.”
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.”
Ka morago, kubu e be eja bjang kgole le noka ge, “whoosh!” mollo wa tuka ka bogale. Dikgabo tsa mollo tsa thoma go fisa boya bja kubu.
Later, Hippo was eating grass far from the river when, “Whoosh!” Fire burst into flame. The flames began to burn Hippo’s hair.
Kubu e ile ya thoma go lla gomme ya kitimela ka meetsing. Boya bja gagwe ka moka bo be bo fisitswe ke mollo. Kubu ile ya tswela pele e lla, “boya bja ka boswile ka gare ga mollo! Boya bja ka ka moka bo ile! Boya bjaka bo bobotse.
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!”
Mmutla o be o thabetse gore boya bja kubu boswile. Gomme go fihla le lehono, ka lebaka la go tshaba mollo Kubu ga e sa ya kgole le meetse.
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.
