MuchiShona
Paivepo. (Dzepfunde!) Mune mumwe musha maiva nevasikana vakawanda vakanaka, avo vaizvikudza nokuda kworunako rwavo. Pakati pavo paiva nomusikana muduku ainzi Rudo, asina mbiri yorunako, asi aiva nomoyo munyoro kupfuura vose.
Rimwe zuva, patsime pomusha pakasvika mupfimbi asingazivikanwi — murume aiva namaronda eganda muviri wose, akapfeka mamvemve, achinhuwa. Vanhu vaimuti Chinyamapezi. Akakumbira mvura yokunwa kuvasikana vaiva patsime.
Vasikana vakanaka vakaseka vachimusema. “Suduruka! Usasvibisa tsime redu!” vakadaidzira, vachimukandira ivhu. Mumwe nomumwe akaramba kumupa mvura, vachiseka maronda ake.
Rudo paakasvika patsime akawana murume uya agere pasi, aneta, ane nyota. Akamupa mvura muchirongo chake chitsva, akamugezesa maronda nemvura inodziya, akamupa chingwa chake chomasikati, ndokuti, “Sekuru, garai pano pamumvuri. Zuva riri kupisa.”
Madekwana iwayo, kwakanzwikwa hosho nengoma. Chinyamapezi akamira pakati pomusha, akakanda mamvemve ake pasi — uye pakarepo maronda akapera, mamvemve akava nguo dzoumambo. Akanga ari Muchinda Tendai, mwanakomana waMambo mukuru, uyo akanga apfeka chinyamapezi kuti aone tsika dzechokwadi dzevanhu.
“Runako rwechiso runopera,” akadaro muchinda nezwi guru, “asi runako rwomoyo harupfuuri. Ndauya kuzotsvaka mukadzi ano moyo, kwete uso.” Akatambanudza ruoko kuna Rudo pamberi pomusha wose.
Vasikana vaya vakanga vaseka vakanyara, vakavanda kumashure kwevanhu. Rudo akaroorwa nomuchinda, muchato mukuru ukaitwa, mombe dzikaurayiwa, uye musha wose ukadya ukaguta.
Uye kubvira zuva iroro, vabereki vomusha uyo vaidzidzisa vana vavo vachiti: “Musatonga munhu nezvakapfekwa kana neganda rake. Moyo ndiwo munhu.”
Ndipo pakaperera sarungano.
In English
Paivepo — once upon a time. (Dzepfunde!) In a certain village there lived many beautiful girls who prided themselves greatly on their beauty. Among them was one young girl called Rudo — not famed for her looks, but gentler of heart than all the rest.
One day there arrived at the village well a stranger — a man whose skin was covered in sores, dressed in rags, and foul to smell. The people called him Chinyamapezi — “the leprous one.” He begged the girls at the well for a drink of water.
The beautiful girls laughed and recoiled in disgust. “Get away! Do not dirty our well!” they shouted, throwing dust at him. One after another they refused him water, mocking his sores.
When Rudo came to the well, she found the man sitting on the ground, weary and thirsty. She gave him water from her own new gourd, bathed his sores with warm water, gave him her midday bread, and said, “Grandfather, sit here in the shade. The sun is fierce today.”
That evening, the sound of rattles and drums filled the air. Chinyamapezi stood in the centre of the village and cast his rags to the ground — and in that instant the sores vanished, and the rags became royal robes. He was Prince Tendai, son of the great Chief, who had worn the guise of a leper to discover the true character of the people.
“The beauty of a face fades,” declared the prince in a great voice, “but the beauty of a heart endures. I came seeking a wife with a true heart, not a fine face.” And before the whole village, he stretched out his hand to Rudo.
The girls who had mocked him burned with shame and hid themselves behind the crowd. Rudo married the prince; a great wedding was held, cattle were slaughtered, and the whole village ate and was satisfied.
And from that day, the parents of that village taught their children, saying: “Never judge a person by their clothing or their skin. The heart is the person.”
And there the storyteller's tale came to its end.