MuchiShona
Paivepo. (Dzepfunde!) Mumusha waMambo Nyandoro maigara musikana ainzi Chipo. Aiva nomoyo muchena, achiremekedza vakuru, uye achishanda nesimba. Mazuva ose aienda kudziva guru raiva pasi pomupfuti kunochera mvura.
Vakuru vaiyambira vana vachiti, “Dziva iro rine njuzu. Musaenda mangwanani-ngwanani, uye musarova mvura nechirongo.” Asi rimwe zuva, mvura yomumusha yakanga yapera, mai vaChipo vakamutuma mambakwedza.
Chipo paakakotamira kuchera mvura, dziva rakavhurika sokunge gonhi, uye maoko akapfava akamukweva pasi pemvura. Njuzu yakanga yamutora.
Musha wose wakachema. Asi n'anga yakati kuvabereki, “Nyararai. Kana mwana atorwa nenjuzu, vabereki havafaniri kuchema misodzi. Kana mukachema, mwana haadzoki. Kana mukatsungirira, achadzoka aine chipo chikuru.” Naizvozvo baba namai vaChipo vakatsungirira, moyo ichirwadza, asi meso asingabudisi misodzi.
Pasi pemvura, Chipo akawana nyika itsva — imba yakanaka yezvitombo zvichipenya, neminda yemirivo isingazivikanwi. Njuzu yakanga isiri chikara; yaiva mudzidzisi. Yakadzidzisa Chipo mishonga yemidzi nemakwenzi, kurapa vanorwara, kuziva mimwe mishonga inouraya neinoponesa, uye kuremekedza mweya yemvura neyesango.
Makore matatu akapfuura. Rimwe zuva, njuzu yakati kuna Chipo, “Mwanangu, wakatsungirira, uye vabereki vako vakatsungirirawo. Nguva yasvika. Dzokera kumusha, unorapa vanhu vako.”
Mangwanani akatevera, vanhu vakawana Chipo agere pamahombekombe edziva, akapfeka machira machena, akatakura tswanda izere nemidzi nemishonga. Musha wose wakapururudza. Chipo akava n'anga huru yainzwikwa munyika dzose, achirapa vanorwara asingasarudzi mupfumi kana murombo.
Uye nguva dzose paairapa, aitanga nokutenda mvura, achiti, “Chipo changu handicho changu ndoga; ndechevanhu vose.”
Ndipo pakaperera sarungano.
In English
Paivepo — once upon a time. (Dzepfunde!) In the village of Chief Nyandoro there lived a girl named Chipo. She was pure of heart, respectful to her elders, and hardworking. Every day she went to draw water at the great pool beneath the mupfuti tree.
The elders always warned the children: “That pool belongs to a njuzu — a water spirit. Do not go in the earliest morning, and never strike the water with your gourd.” But one day the household water was finished, and Chipo's mother sent her out at first light.
As Chipo bent to draw water, the pool opened like a doorway, and soft hands drew her down beneath the surface. The njuzu had taken her.
The whole village wept. But the diviner told her parents, “Be still. When a child is taken by a njuzu, the parents must not shed tears. If you weep, the child will never return. If you endure, she will come back bearing a great gift.” So Chipo's father and mother endured — hearts aching, but eyes dry.
Beneath the water, Chipo found a new world: a beautiful house of shining stones, and gardens of plants she had never known. The njuzu was no monster; she was a teacher. She taught Chipo the medicines of roots and barks, the healing of the sick, the knowledge of which remedies kill and which cure, and reverence for the spirits of water and forest.
Three years passed. Then one day the njuzu said to Chipo, “My child, you have endured, and your parents endured also. The time has come. Return to your village and heal your people.”
The next morning, the villagers found Chipo seated on the bank of the pool, dressed in white cloth, carrying a basket full of roots and medicines. The whole village ululated with joy. Chipo became a great healer whose name was known throughout the land, treating the sick without favouring rich or poor.
And whenever she healed, she began by giving thanks to the water, saying, “My gift is not mine alone; it belongs to all the people.”
And there the storyteller's tale came to its end.