The Tale of the Three Cookie Men - English & Igbo: Children’s Picture Book (Bilingual Version) 1679683578, 9781679683572

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THE TALE OF THE

Written and illustrated by Arielle Phoenix

AIClJICO BANYERE 111'11 NWOICE ACHICHAATO 0. BU. ARIELLE PHOENIX OERE YA

Copyright© 2019 by Cyber Phoenix LTD All rights reserved. This. book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without prior written per miss.ion of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review. First Printing, 2019 Paperback ISBN 97816 7968357 2 This book has been types.et in Kianu Light. Cyber Phoenix Books., London, United Kingdom email [email protected] www.books.cyberphoenixltd.com www.cyberphoenixltd.com Trans.lated by john Onyekachi

Once upon a time, there was an old couple who lived on a small plot of farmland, by the river.

N'otu oge, enwere otu agadi di na nwunye bi na obere ala ihe ubi, n'akuku osimiri. • • The couple had spent many years growing crops and providing their village with fruit and vegetables, freshly baked bread and fruit juices.

Di na nwunye a n9r9la Qtvtv af Q ikQ ihe ubi ma na-enye obodo ha mkpvrv osisi na akwvkwQ nri, achicha emere taa na ihe Qnvnv mkpvrv osisi.

One morning, the old lady was picking some oranges and she noticed some strangelooking fruit growing in the bush beside them. They were a deep purple colour with a very odd shape.

Otu ututu, agadi nwanyi ahv na atvtv vt Qdl) oroma ma hl) l)di mkpl)rl) osisi di iche na- eto n'ime Qhia di n'akl)kl) ha. Ha na-acha odo odo miri emi nke nwere Qdidi di iche nke ukwuu. "I didn't plant these fruit ... " Mumbled the old lady. "How odd."

"AkQghi m mkpvrv osisi ndi a ... " Ka agadi nwanyi ahv tamuru. "Nke a di iche." cautiously, she picked the plumpest of the strange-looking fruit and glared at it for a moment.

Na mkpachara anya, Q tl)tl)rl) mkpvrv kacha mma nke mkpvrv osisi ahv di egwu ma lee ya anya ntakir!. It appeared to be smiling at her.

O di ka Q na-amvmv ya Qnv Qchi.

She snit fed it and then took a bite. O situru ya n'imi ma tabiri ya. "Wow!''

"Chei!" • "This fruit is delicious!"

"Mkpvrv a di vt9!" She exclaimed as she rushed back into her house to share her findings with her husband. Ka o tiri na mkpu ka Q na-agbaghachi

n'vlQ ya ikQrQ di ya ihe ndi Q ch9pvtar a.

The old lady handed one to her husband and prompted him to take a bite. Agadi nwaanyi ahl) nyere di ya otu ma kpalie ya itabi. His face lit up. Ihu ya nwulitere. "Wow! This fruit is delicious, what is it!?" He asked. "Chei! Mkpl)rl) osisi a di l)tQ, gini ka Q bl)!?"

Ka Q jl)rl). "I don't know, they were just growing in the bush besides the oranges. We're out of sugar, but they are so sweet, I think I will make some cookies with them." She replied. "Amaghi m, ha na-eto n'ime Qhia na-akuku oroma. Anyi enweghi shuga, mana ha na-atQ l)tQ nke ukwuu, echere m na m ga-eji ha eme l)f Qdl) achjcha. 11 Ka Q zaghachiri.

'

~J

• • • M\Wlutes

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So the old lady took to the kitchen, squished the fruit up and poured it into her favourite cookie dough mixture.

Ya mere, agadi nwanyi ahv gara na usekwu, kpachara mkpvrv osisi ahl) ma Wl)nye ya na ngwak9ta achicha na-amasjkarj ya. "Yes, these will go well with some fresh ginger!" She said excitedly. 11

Ee, ndi a na l)f Qdl) ginga Qhl)rv ga-aga nke Qmal Ka o kwuru na obi l)tQ.

11

She hummed to herself as she filled the baking tray but then noticed she still had some dough left over. Q na agl)rl) on we ya egwu djka Q na-emeju ef ere achjcha man a Q

chQpl)tara na Q ka nwere ntl) Qka f Qdl)l)rl). "Oh I could make some cookie men for the children in the village, too." She thought out loud. 11

Chei apvrv m ime vf Qdl) vmv nwoke achjcha maka vmvaka bi n'ime obodo. Ka o chesjrj ike. 11

She had just enough dough left to hand mould three cookie men.

0 nwere nan! ntl) Qka f QrQ obere iji mee l)ffil) nwoke achjcha atQ. She put them in the oven for twenty minutes and went off to pick some more fruit.

O we tinye ha n'Qkl) n'ime nkeji iri-abuo wee gaa jtl)tl) mkpl)rl) ozo.

•••

When she came back inside, they were ready.

Mgbe Q batara n'ime, ha eghela. The kitchen smelt AMAZING!

Usekwu n'esi ihe JTVNANYA! She took the cookies out of the oven and placed them on the side to cool down. Q kp9pvrv achicha ahv n'QkV ma d9ba ya n'akvkv iji jl)Q oyi. The old lady turned around to do some washing up and heard the sound of the baking tray scrape against the countertop.

Agadi nwanyi ahu tvghariri jsa ihe wee nuu vda ef ere achicha ka Q na echicha n'elu ndobe. She swiftly turned to look behind her and couldn't believe her eyes ...

Ya wee tvgharja QSQSQ ka o Lee anya n'azu ya ma o nweghi ike ikweta ihe anya ya hvrv ...

"•

The three cookie men were gone!

Umu • •

nwoke achicha • ato• ahu

ef uola! • •

She called out to her husband and crossly

said. Q kpQrQ di ya ma jiri iwe kwvQ. "Did you eat the cookies!?'' "I. riri achicha ndi. ahu!?" . . "What? No. I was fast asleep'' He said. "Gini? . . Ee e. M na-ehi oke ura" . Kao. kwuru. . . "So where did they go!?'' She said, as she glanced out of the window. "Ya mere, olee ebe ha gara!?" Ka o kwvrl), ka Q na-esi na windo lepl) anya.

The cookie men were on the move!

vmv nwoke achicha atQ ahu na-aga njem! "Quick! They're getting away!" They both screamed.

"Ngwa ngwa! Ha na-ala!" Ha abvQ tiri mkpu.

The old couple chased the three cookie men across the farm but soon slowed

down. Di na nwunye agadi ahu chvrv vmv nwoke

achicha atQ ahv n'ugbo ahv ma na-eteghi anya wee jiri nwayQQ. "My knees!" The old man shouted .

"lkpere m!" Agadi nwoke ahv tiri mkpu. They couldn't keep up.

Ha enweghi ike inwete ha. They watched as the three cookie men disappeared into the distance ...

Ha lere anya ka vmv nwoke achicha atQ ahv gbatere anya ...

"That was close!" "Nke ahl) fQrQ nke nta!" Said the largest of the three cookie men. Nke kasi ukwuu n'ime l)ffil) nwoke achjcha atQ ahl) kwuru.

"I think they wanted to eat us!" "Echere m na ha chQrQ iri any!!" "To eat us?!" Said the smallest cookie man, horrified. "Iri any!?!" Nke kasj nta n'ime l)ffil) nwoke achicha atQ ahl) kwuru. "What will we do?" Said the medium cookie man. "Gini ka anyi ga-eme ?" Nke etiti n'ime l)ffil) nwoke achjcha atQ ahl) kwuru. "We will run. We will find somewhere safe to go and if we come to any danger we will run, as fast as we can!" Said the largest cookie man, confidently. "Anyi ga-agba QSQ. Anyi ga-achQ ebe di mma i ga ma Q bl)rl) na anyi abjarute n'ihe ize ndl) Q bl)la anyi ga-agba QSQ, ngwa ngwa dika anyi nwere ike!" Nke kasj ukwuu n'ime l)ffil) nwoke achjcha atQ ahl) ji obi ike k WUQ.

So off the three cookie men went. Soon, they came across a bushbaby.

Ya ka l)ml) nwoke achicha atQ ahl) wee Pl.JQ. N'oge na-adjghi any a, ha gaf ere en we Qhja. It gazed at them with its huge eyes for a moment and then scurried down the tree to greet them.

O Lere ya anya na nnukwu anya ya obere oge wee gbadaa osisi ahl) i kelee ha. "Hi, you all look tas te ... I mean friendly.

Would you like to be friends?"

"Ndewo, unu niile dika ihe na na-atQ l)tQ ... ana m ekwu dika enyj. Unu ga-achQ !bl.A ndi enyi m ?" It said as it stretched out its arms and stepped closer to the cookie men.

Ka o kwuru ka Q na-agbati aka ya ma bjarute l)ml) nwoke achjcha ahl) nso. Suddenly, the bushbaby tried to take a bite.

Ozugbo, enwe Qhja ahl) wee chQQ itabjrj. But they saw it coming and ran. As quick as they could. They didn't look back!

Mana ha hl)rl) ka Q na-abja wee gba QSQ. Ngwa ngwa ka ha nwere ike. Ha eleghachighi anya n'azut

Then they ran into a baby

elephant, who gave them a puzzled look. Mgbe ahv, ha gbab nyere nwa

enyi, onye ler

a anya mgbagwoju anya.

"Running cookie-men? Hmmm ... "

"Vmv nwoke achicha na-agba

QSQ?

Hmmm ... "

•

e

•

"r

•• He tried to suck them close to him with his trunk.

Q nwara i ji ogologo imi ya mia ha. Running against the force of the suction, they just about made it away from him.

Na-agbanahu megide ikike nke mmi mmi ahv, nani obere ihe ka ji gbanah ya.

They ran into the f orest to find a place to hide. But, little did they know, they were being stalked by a monkey.

The monkey swung down and....

t \"r a

a i

Qo 0

SWOOP! I

He missed! Q gbajQrQ!

Back, back, back ...

Azu, azu, azu ... "Keep going!" Said the medium cookie man.

"Na-aga!" Nke etiti n'ime umu ato. ahu. kwuru . . nwoke achicha . The largest cookie man was startled.

Nke kasi ukwuu n'ime l)ffil) nwoke achicha ahl) kl)jara. "Th ... Th ... There is something b-behind me ... and it is b-breathing very h-heavily!"

"En ... En ... Enwere ihe nQ n'azl) m ... ma Q na-eku ume nke ukwuu!"

''L EOPAR

.,.._.__.." AGU• OWURU!!!"

••

~

They waited and waited, until the

leopard grew bored of waiting and went away.

Ha chere ma chere, ruo mgbe ike gwvrv agv owuru ichere ma pl)Q.

The cookie men knew they could not stay in the forest forever, there were far too many dangers.

Vml:4 nwoke achicha ahl) maara na ha agaghi anQ n'ime Qhia ruo mgbe ebighi ebi, enwere Qtl)tl) ihe egwu. So they made their way over to the village.

Ha we chQQ l)ZQ banye na obodo. As they were walking it started to rain. The cookie men were more worried now than ever.

Ka ha na-aga, mmiri malitere izo. Vml:4 nwoke achicha ahl) nwere nchegbu ugbu a karia mgbe o. bula. . They couldn't out run the rain!

Ha enweghi ike igbanahl) mmiri ozuzo!

"Over here! · We will help you!'' "N'ebe a! Anyi gaenyere gi aka!" A voice shouted from nearby.

It was the village children. O obodo ahu. . bu. umuaka . . . The cookie men were wary but they were out of options. Ike agwvla vmv nwoke achicha ahv mana ha

enweghi nhQrQ QZQ. They followed the children inside.

Ha soro vmvaka ahv ba n'ime. "You will be safe." They said. "Unu ga enwe nchekwa." Ka ha kwuru. "You can come and rest up here, we have already ea ten, our stomachs are f ult, we will not harm you." "Unu nwere ike bia zuo ike ebe a, anyi

eriwori nri, af Q anyi ejupvtala, anyi agaghi emerv unu ahv."

The tired cookie men trusted the kind I I children and finally got some rest ...

~~L

I

vmv nwoke acnictla ahv ike gwvrv tukwasiri obi ebere ahu. obi ma . . . umuaka ' . mesia nwetatv ike ... I

I

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About The Author Arielle Phoenix is a mother of two, dedicated to creating a plethora of unique , fun and educational multicultural childre n' s bo oks . She began creating flash cards and writing books to help her children learn Swahili and soon noticed there was a need for multicultural and bilingual childre n 's book s. Today, she produces books in seven language pairs and plans to add even more to the list.

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