Collected by: Don Sybertz,  

With special thanks to Rev Joe Healey  (African proverbs,Sayings and stories)

Waliho ngosha, akatojiwa na Ise. Aliyo walatantongilwe  unke. Akahadikijiwa Nuse, wiyumilija kwikala nang’hwe unkima ng’weji ngima.  Aho gwashila ung’weji uja kujudima ng’ombe  ha  ng’wabho bhuko wiza watungaga maswa.

Aho wiza lulu unke uhaya kung’wanukula  kanigo kenako. Ung’wila,  “Lekaga  kunanukula,  shilimo shikolo shitale.”   “Shikolo ki?”  “Ilimo mbuki  yane.”  Maswa aya gukatulwa  ha lugutu.

Aho wandya kushema,  unkima  nang’hwe uhaya,  “Nilole mbuki iyo yaluhayiwagwa.” Aho wadima maswa, alole ishilimo umugati,  ungosha walushemaga  wiponya  inhunda  ya mabhele ulila ng’hungu, “Wadima ha mbuki yane.”  Wandya lulu kuntula unke.  Ngosha uneka  unke, ushoka ku ng’wawe. Yubhiza lulu mbuki yabhulaga kaya.

Kiswahili: Kisa Kilichovunja Nyumba

Alikuwepo kijana mmoja aliozeshwa na baba yake. Lakini hakumpenda mke wake kwa vile alilazimishwa. Alivumilia kuishi na mke wake kwa muda wa mwezi mmoja. Lakini ulipomalizika muda huo, alikwenda kuchunga ng’ombe wa mkwewe.

Aliporudi kutoka huko, alifunga mzigo wa nyasi. Alipowasili nao pale nyumbani, mkewe alitaka kumpokea mzigo ule. Lakini alikataliwa, “Acha kunipokea kwani kuna kitu ndani.”  “Kuna kitu gani ndani?” mkewe aliuliza.

“Kuna mana.” Nyasi zile zikawekwa kando ya kizizi. Alipoanza kukamua, mwanamke naye akasema, “Ngoja niangalie mana ambayo imo ndani ya nyasi hizi.”

Alipoushika mzigo ili aangalie kilichomo ndani, mume aliyekuwa anakamua, chombo cha maziwa alikitupa, akalia kwa sauti kubwa na kusema, “Umeshika mana yangu.”  Hapo akaanza kumpiga mke wake na kumrudisha nyumbani kwa wazazi wake. Hicho ndicho kisa kilichovunja mji.

ENGLISH: AN INCIDENT THAT BROKE THE MARRIAGE

There was a young man whose father married him a wife. But he did not love his wife because he was married by force. He endured living with his wife for a month. But thereafter, he went to take care of his father-in-law’s cattle.

When he came back from there, he came with a load of grasses. When he arrived at his house, his wife wanted to  receive the load. But the husband rejected, “Do notcarryit  because there is something valuable inside.” “What is it that is inside?” His wife asked.

“There is manna.” Then that tuft of grasses was put near the cowshed. The husband was busy milking a cow.The woman wanted to use that opportunity and she said, “Let me look at the manna that is in this grass.”

When she was trying to do that, the man who was holding a milking container threw it and loudly shouted, “You are touching my manna.” He immediately began to beat his wife and that became the justification for sending his wifeback to her parents. That is the incident that broke the marriage.