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27th translation contest: "Stories about nature" » English to Southern Sotho / Sesotho » Entry by Ntha


Source text in English

Translation by Ntha (#33296)

We live in one of the tiny apartments in a multi-storeyed building complex that provides shelter to a number of middle-class families. But, the members of the family Felis Domestica who have taken a fancy to our complex might very well outnumber the members of Homo Sapiens. Because these quadrupeds with retractable claws, who can boast of their country cousins- Lions, Tigers, Lynxes, and Ocelots fear no one in our vicinity. The increasing feline population possessing nine lives up their claws bothers everyone but provides comic relief to many.

These cats in our avenue have their own strict demarcations about territory. The ground floor, first and second-floor mousers keep to their floors except for hungry forays into the kitchens across the lines of control. The terrace is exclusively reserved for the young ones and occasionally used by the aristocrats from the erstwhile Siam for body lickings and sunbaths. Some of the tomcats find cozy corners for a purring sleep in places where there isn’t room to swing a cat in, such as the watchman’s cabin, where they might have found the poor fellow catnapping. God has gifted these cats with two voice boxes one for purring and another for meowing and a few of the feline sopranos in our locality keep all the residents awake with their nocturnal orchestras on special occasions.

Some of the residents who wish to be clean as a cat in pattens get irritated when these grey cats mess up their things. The hawks among the residents strongly feel that these cats should be driven out with a cat o’nine tails. But the doves are undecided waiting to see which way the cat jumps. Well, we don’t know who will be called to bell the cat!
Re lula ho e 'ngoe ea lifolete tse nyane moahong o mekato-kato o fanang ka bolulo ho malapa a 'maloa a moruo o mahareng. Empa, litho tsa lelapa Felis Domestica tse khahliloeng ke moaho oa rona li ka nna tsa feta hole palo ea litho tsa Homo Sapiens. Hobane tsena tse maoto a mane le manala a hulehang, tse ka ithorisang ka bo-motsoal'a tsona - Litau, Linkoe, Litsetse, le Likatse tse hlaha, ha li tšabe motho mang kapa mang tikolohong ea rona. Lenane le ntseng le hola la sechabana sa likatse ka maphelo a tsona a robong se luba batho bohle le ha ho ba bangata e le liqabolane.

Likatse tsena tsa seterata sa rona li na le meeli ea tsona e thata ho tšoaea sebaka. Litsomi tsa litali tsa mokato o ka tlase, oa pele le oa bobeli li lula mekatong ea tsona, ntle le ha tlala e patisitse li kenella ka kichineng ka nqane ho mela ea taolo. Foranta ke bakeng sa likatse-katse feela le ho sebelisoa, ka linako tse ling, ke bahlomphehi ba Siam ea khale ho nyeka 'mele le ho ora letsatsi. Tse ling tsa likatse tse hlaha li fumana likh'ona tse pholileng ha monate bakeng sa boroko bo khatholosang libakeng tse petetsaneng joalo ka ntloana ea molebeli, moo ba neng ba kanna ba fumana motho oa batho a ntse a otsela. Molimo o file likatse tsena mabokose a mabeli a lentsoe; le leng bakeng sa ho rora le leng bakeng sa ho nyaola 'me likatse tse 'maloa tsa ha rona ha li fe baahi bohle boroko ka libini tsa tsona tsa bosiu ka matsatsi a khethehileng.

Ba bang ba baahi ba lakatsang tlhoeko e tsoileng matsoho ba ea lekeha ha likatse tsena tse putsoa li senya lintho tsa bona. Ba mabifi har'a baahi ba na le maikutlo a tebileng a hore likatse tsena li lokela ho lelekoa ka phafa ea katse. Empa ba bonolo ba ea tsila-tsila ba emetse ho bona hore na qeto e tla ba e fe. Le ha ho le joalo, ha re tsebe hore na ke mang ea tla bitsoa ho tla ts'oara tau ka litlena!


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