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The children’s rhyme about the coronavirus Is There Something in the Air? (Che cos’è che in aria vola?), written by Roberto Piumini, one of Italy’s most beloved children’s authors, has been translated into Sesotho by Motsamai Lesoetsa.
Motsamai Paul Lesoetsa is a freelance translator and a contract lecturer at UNISA. His fields of expertise are linguistics, translation, proofreading and editing in Sesotho to English and from English to Sesotho. He is a SATI member and enjoys sharing and collaborating with his fellow SATI members. He has translated and proofread for ST Communications, which is based in Cape Town. He has proofread for Shooter & Shuter, based in KwaZulu-Natal. He has translated and proofread Examination Question Papers for the University of South Africa.
Na ho na le ho hong moyeng?
Ba ntshitse sekolo: hobaneng ha ba entse hoo?
Ke kotsi efe e lokelwang ho hlokomelwa?
Motswalle wa ka, ha re be le moqoqonyana.
Kokwanahloko e entseng batho ba swenye ke Khorona.
Ha se Morena leha lebitso la yona le bolela “moqhaka”
Ka hona o ka botsa: Ntho ena ke eng?
Mohlorisi eo re sa mmoneng.
Ke eo e monyenyane haholo eo
tshepo ya ho mmontsha nna le
wena e ka ba ka maekroskoupu o
moholo o babatsehang.
Mofuta wa tjhefu o phaphallang
hohle mme o bakang mathata
hohle, e sekgukgu, e masene mme
fumanwe e phatlaletse kapele
sebele ho tloha mona ho ya mane.
E nyenyana haholo mme e
bobebe empa e kotsi sebele
ruri hobane e tlisa ntwa ruri ho
kena ka hare ho nna le wena.
Empa ke ntwa eo nna le
wena le motho e mong le mong re ka e
hlolang hobane ho na le dintho
tseo re tla di etsang ho thibela
bosoro boo ho kena.
Sa pele, hopola hore ha o mima o e
tshware kapele sephakeng sa hao ho
thibela ho nama ha bolwetse hore e
se ke ya re ntsha kot
Ha o tswa, ha o kgutlile netefatsa
hore o potlakela hanghang ho
hlatswa matsoho a hao tlhaselong
eo, e seng kajeno feela empa kamehla.
Sebedisa metsi a mangata, sesepa le tlhokomelo,
Mme o tsokotse le ho phumula matsoho a hao hantle haholo.
Ka tsela eo o tla etsa hore e felle moo
e leng tlase dikgwerekgwereng mme e se ho wena!
Ha Mme le Ntate ba kena ka monyako
etsa bonnete ba hore ka bobedi ba etsa jwalo,
ebe jwale o hoeletsa “Botle”, “O
sebeditse hantle”, “Hape”
Ho e etsa e be monate, jwaleka ha eka ke papadi.
Mme o tlose menwana ya hao sefahlehong.
Se ke wa ama molomo wa hao kapa mahlo
kapa nko, ho hlokomela mohlala o mong le o mong,
hobane moo o amang teng ke moo e yang.
Ha o feta ba bang, ha o kopana le bona
boloka sebaka mahareng a moo ba emeng.
O ka bososela mme o tsoke letsoho hoba dumedisa.
Ha ho hlokehe ho tshwarana ka matsoho.
Dihaka le memeto? Ha re se ke ra ba fa tsona,
Empa ke bakeng sa hona jwale feela,
Ha lemenemene lena, le lenyenyana le
nyonyehang le sa le teng ho kgukguna haufi.
Ba bang ba rwala bommampokisi seterateng
Empa ha ba aparela Mardi Gras kapa ho qhekella- kapa ho tshwara kappa
batshwaruwa ba batlwang ke molao.
Mmapokisi oo wa setswalle ke wa ho kgohlela
Hoba ha ba apesa difahleho tsa bona
E thibela ho fofa ha Khorona
Le ho phatlalla hohle ho tloha tulong ho ya ho e nngwe
Empa leha senokwane se se se tla le
ho lokoloha ho senya, lematsa le ho
lelera o tseba leano la ka la ho se ntsha?
Ke a dula ke ikenya ka tlung!
Ke leano le bohlale, motswalle
wa ka, jwaleka ha re se re ye
sekolong. Ho fihlela kotsi ya
kokwanahloko ena fedile
“Dula hae!” e lokela hoba
molao wa rona wa kgauta.
Empa metswalle le ba lelapa, ya hao le ya ka?
Bohle ba malapeng le bona, ba
bolokehile ba iketlile, mme re ka
hokahana le bona marangrang, ka tsela
eo bat la dula ba haufi.
Mme ha o batla ho bontsha hore o a ba hopola
Ho na le tsela eo ba ka tsebang seo.
Ha ho hlokahale hore o ba hake kapa a ba ake:
ka lefatshe la mantswe o ka o ka ho bontsha.
Mantswe a teng, mantswe ke peo,
ke dimpho tseo re nang le tsona ka bongata
mme ha di le ntle ke tsohle tseo re di hlokang,
ha re arohane, ho hodisa lerato la rona.
Ha nna le wena le motho e mong le e mong
re ka lemoha, tlhokomelo le lerato di re susumetse
kapele mmoho re tla be re hlotse
ntwa ya rona kgahlano le kokwanahloko ena e kotsi.
Ha re se e hlotse mmoho
Mohlomong e mong le mong o tla bona
hore re ka ithuta ho etsa dintho betere,
lefatshe a bohlajana bakeng sa hao le nna.
