Kudala-dala abantu babengazi nto. Babengakwazi ukulima izityalo, ukuluka amalaphu, okanye ukwenza izixhobo zentsimbi. Uthixo uNyame owayesemazulwini wayenabo bonke ubulumko behlabathi. Wayebugcina ngokukhuselekileyo embizeni yodongwe.
Long long ago people didn’t
know anything. They didn’t
know how to plant crops, or
how to weave cloth, or how to
make iron tools.
The god Nyame up in the sky
had all the wisdom of the world.
He kept it safe in a clay pot.
Ngenye imini, uNyame wagqiba kwelokuba anike uAnansi imbiza yobulumko. Rhoqo xa uAnansi ejonga ngaphakathi embizeni yodongwe, wayefunda into entsha. Yayivuyisa kakhulu loo nto!
One day, Nyame decided that
he would give the pot of
wisdom to Anansi.
Every time Anansi looked in the
clay pot, he learned something
new. It was so exciting!
UAnansi onengcinga zomona wacinga wathi, “Ndiza kuyigcina imbiza ikhuselekile phezulu emthini omde. Emva koko ndiza kuba nayo yonke le nto ndedwa!”
Wajija umsonto omde, wawujikeleza imbiza yodongwe, waza wayibophelela esiswini sakhe. Waqalisa ukunyuka emthini. Kodwa kwakunzima ukunyuka emthini kuba imbiza yayisoloko imbetha emadolweni.
Greedy Anansi thought, “I’ll
keep the pot safe at the top of a
tall tree. Then I can have it all
to myself!”
He spun a long thread, wound it
round the clay pot, and tied it to
his stomach.
He began to climb the tree. But
it was hard climbing the tree
with the pot bumping him in the
knees all the time.
Ngalo lonke elo xesha, unyana omncinci kaAnansi wayemi emazantsi emthini ebukele. Wathi, “Bekungayi kuba lula na ukunyuka ukuba ubunokuyibophelela imbiza emqolo wakho?”
UAnansi wazama ukubophelela imbiza yodongwe eyayizele bubulumko emqolo wakhe, yaye ngokwenene kwaba lula kakhulu ukunyuka.
All the time Anansi’s young son
had been standing at the
bottom of the tree watching. He
said, “Wouldn’t it be easier to
climb if you tied the pot to your
back instead?”
Anansi tried tying the clay pot
full of wisdom to his back, and it
really was a lot easier.
Kungekudala wafika encotsheni yomthi. Kodwa emva koko wema waza wacinga wathi, “Bekufanele ukuba ndim onebubulumko bonke, kodwa nanku unyana wam ekrelekrele kunam!”
UAnansi wacaphuka kakhulu ngenxa yoku kangangokuba wayiphosa imbiza yodongwe phantsi emthini.
In no time he reached the top of
the tree.
But then he stopped and
thought, “I’m supposed to be
the one with all the wisdom,
and here my son was cleverer
than me!”
Anansi was so angry about this
that he threw the clay pot down
out of the tree.
Yaphuka yaba ziziqwengana xa ibetha phantsi. Ubulumko baba bukhululekile ukuba wonke umntu abelane ngabo. Yiloo ndlela abantu abafunda ngayo ukulima, ukuluka amalaphu, ukwenza izixhobo zentsimbi, kunye nazo zonke ezinye izinto abantu abazaziyo ukuzenza.
It smashed into pieces on the
ground. The wisdom was free
for everyone to share.
And that is how people learned
to farm, to weave cloth, to
make iron tools, and all the
other things that people know
how to do.
