Ka letsatsi le leng Mmutlanyana o ne a tsamaya pela noka.
One day, Rabbit was walking by the riverside.
Kubu le yena o ne a le moo, a itsamaela butle mme a ja bojwang bo botala bo monate.
Hippo was there too, going for a stroll and eating some nice green grass.
Kubu o ne a sa tsebe hore Mmutlanyana o moo, yaba o mo hata leoto ka phoso. Mmutlanyana a qala ho omanya Kubu, “Hela wena Kubu, na ha o bone hore o nkgata leoto?”
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 a kopa tshwarelo ho Mmutlanyana, “Ke kopa tshwarelo, ha ke a o bona. Ntshwarele hle!” Empa Mmutlanyana a se ke a utlwisisa, a tswelapele ho omanya Kubu. “O entse ka boomo! O tla bona, ka tsatsi le leng, o tla patala!”
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!”
Mmutlanya a ya batla Mollo yaba o re ho yena, “tsamaya o ilo tshesa Kubu ha a tswa ka metsing ho ya ja jwang. O nkgatile!”Ho ho letho Mmutlanyana motswalle waka, ke tla phethahatsa kopo ya hao.”
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.”
Ha mmamorao ha Kubu a ntse a ja bojwang holenyana le noka, Tjhhhh! Mollo wa tuka malakabe. Malakabe a tjhesa moriri wa 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 a qala ho lla mme a mathela ka metsing. Moriri wa hae wohle o tjhesitswe ke mollo. Kubu a dula a ntse a lla, “moriri waka o tjhele mollong! Moriri waka wohle o ile! Moriri waka o motle!”
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!”
Mmutlanyana o ne a thabile hore moriri wa Kubu o ile wa tjha. Le kajeno Kubu ha a bapalle hole le metsi, ka lebaka la ho tshaba mollo.
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.
