Ki Lasabata mi Rico u ya ni bom’a he kwatolopo. U tabela kuya kwatolopo. Kwatolopo kwa tabisa. Ku na ni lika zeñata ze bonwa.
It’s Saturday and Rico is going to town with his mother. He likes going to town. Town is exciting! There are lots of things to see.
Rico u lamatela kwalizoho la bom’a he. Minyololo ya batu ba sweli kuno fita.
Rico holds his mother’s hand very tightly. Streams of people are passing by.
Ku na ni libaka za malekisezo fo ba sweli kulekiseza za kubeta ze nde hahulu.
There are stalls selling beautiful handmade crafts.
Litutwa ze nyinyani ze betilwe falikota. Maongolo ni mikolozwani ze pangilwe famawaya ni bufaha bobubasizwe. Likabisa ze pangilwe fabikapana bya mai a limpye.
There are small giraffes carved out of wood, chameleons and lizards made out of wire and coloured beads, and jewellery made from ostrich egg shell.
Cwale a li utwa! Linzwi le linde la ‘Grace ya Makaza’. A yema kuteeleza. Li zwelela ka kai?
Then he hears it! Someone is whistling the sweet melody of ‘Amazing Grace.’ He stops to listen. Where is it coming from?
“Na li kuba mutu ni sa utwi mutu ya pyopyola mulola hande cwalo,” a ikupula.
“I’ve never heard anyone whistle so beautifully before,” he thinks to himself.
A pumahanya mwahal’a batu. Mi cwale a mu bona! Muuna. Muña linzwi le lipyopyola muloli. Batu ba sweli kubeya muwayawaya mwalikapanyana fapil’a muuna yo. Kono … ku na ni se sifosahalile …
He makes his way through the people. Then he sees the man who is whistling. People are putting coins into a small tin in front of him. But … something is wrong …
Muuna ya pyopyola muloli ha talimi batu. Ha talimi masheleñi. Ha ku na sa talima. U babatela muwayawaya mwalikapa ni kuubeya mwapokoto ya hae.
The whistling man is not looking at the people. He is not looking at the money. He is not looking at anything. He’s searching for the coins in the tin and putting them into his pocket.
Rico u lubukela muuna ya pyopyola, “Mwendi ki sibofu.” Rico a li kuba mutu a sa boni sibofu. U ikutwa kuba ni sabo. A lamatela kwandelesi ya bom’a he ni kushobota, “Ima, kana ki kuli mutu yani ki sibofu nji?”
Rico stares at the whistling man and thinks, “Maybe he’s blind.” Rico has never seen a blind person before. He feels scared. He grabs his mother’s dress and asks softly, “Mommy, is that man blind?”
Ba mu swala kwalizoho, “Eeni,” ba alaba. “Eeni, ki sibofu. Talima, u na ni kakota ka kasweu. Buñata bwa batu ba libofu ba shimba kakota ka kasweu. U sebelisa kakota kao kuutwa misima ni lika ze ñwi ze kona kumutibela mwanzila.”
She takes his hand. “Yes,” she answers, “yes, he’s blind. Look, he has a white stick. Many blind people carry a white stick. He uses this stick to feel for holes and other obstacles.”
“Mi cwale u tile cwañi kwatolopo? U fumani cwañi nzila ye taha kwanu mwahal’a batu ba kaufela?” Rico a buza.
“But how did he come to town? How did he find his way through all the people?” Rico asks.
Bom’a he ba mu bulelela, “Mwendi u na ni mutu ya mu tusanga kufumana nzila. Lu biza mutu ya cwalo kuli ki mutwaleti.”
His mother tells him, “Maybe he has someone who helps him to find his way around. We call that person a guide.”
Bazamaya kuliba kwazuupaki. Maboni a zamaisa limotikala a cinca kuba butala, limotikala za yema kuzamaya mi ba mahutu ba sila mukwakwa.
They walk to the zoopark. The traffic lights change to green, the cars stop and the pedestrians cross the street.
“Talima liboni le litala. Ha li supeza butala lwa kona kubona kuli ha ku na kozi lwa kona kusila mukwakwa. Mwamanaha a mañwi ku na ni mulumo o ciana,” ba mu bulelela. “Kanako yeo mutu wa sibofu ha utwa kuciana wa ziba kuli ha ku na kozi u kona kusila mukwakwa.”
“Look at the green light. When it is green we can see it is safe to cross the road. In some countries there is also a beeping sound,” Rico’s mother says. “When blind people hear the beeping, they know it is safe to cross the road.”
Ba ina mwalwanda lo lutala mwazuupaki ni kubuha batu ha ba nze ba fita. “Batu ba libofu ba na ni linja za batwaleti. Linja ze li lutilwe kutwaleta malen’a zona. Kono, linja ze cwalo li tula hahulu-hulu. Ku na ni linja za batwaleti ze likani mwaNamibia.”
They sit on the green grass of the zoopark and watch the people walking by. “Some blind people have a guide dog,” his mother says. “These dogs are trained to guide their owner, but they are very expensive. There are very few guide dogs in Namibia.”
“Ha koni kubuha wayalesi ya mazimumwangala,” Rico a bulela. “U kona kuutwa wayalesi ya mazimumwangala ni wayalesi feela,” bom’a he Rico ba mu bulelela. “Batu ba libofu ba kona kuutwa hande lika kufita batu ba bakona kubona.”
“The blind man can’t watch TV,” Rico says. “He can hear the TV and radio,” Rico’s mother tells him. “Blind people can often hear things much better than people who can see.”
“Kono ha koni kubala libuka kapa mitende,” ku bulela Rico. “Ku na ni libuka ze ñozwi kaBuleilu. Mwasibaka sa kuñola manzwi kaenge ku na ni tudoti to tulumbile to tubupa litaku. Ki mufuta wa sisupo.”
“But he can’t read books or newspapers,” says Rico. “There are books written in Braille. Instead of words printed with ink, there are raised dots which make letters. It’s like a code.”
“U kona kubala cwañi haiba ha koni kubona?” “U bala kamazoho a hae. U utwa butunu bobulundumani kaminwana ya hae, mane inge mo bonela litaku kameeto a hao.”
“How can he read if he can’t see?” “He reads with his hands. He feels the raised dots with his fingers, just like you see the letters with your eyes.”
Rico a komoka hahulu kuhupula kuli batu ba libofu ba kona kueza lika kaufela; lika ze cwale kakupota-pota mwatolopo, ze cwale kakupyopyola lipina kamiloli, ze cwale kakubala.
Rico is amazed to think that people who are blind can do everyday things; things like walking around in town, like whistling songs, like reading.
Bom’a he ba mu bulelela, “Shutano feela mwahal’a hao ni mutu ya shwile meeto ki kuli wena u kona kubona mi haneili sibofu yena ha koni kubona.” “Ni kona kubona, kono ha ni koni kupyopyola muloli o munde inge muuna wa sibofu yani,” Rico a menya.
His mother tells him, “The only difference between you and a blind person is that you can see and a blind person can’t see.” “I can see, but I can’t whistle as beautifully as that blind man,” Rico smiles.
Written by: Magda Swartz
Illustrated by: Petrus Amuthenu
Translated by: Raphael Mbala
Read by: Chrispin Musweu, Margaret Wamuwi Sililo
Language: siLozi
Level: Level 4
Source: The whistling man from African Storybook
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.