Thread by @VascoDaGappah

THINGS FALL APART, or ZVOSE ZVOONDOMOKA, a translation project by me, yours truly, with the first three paragraphs in Shona, and the original in English.

Enjoy, and feel feel to suggest richer words!

@ignatiusmabasa @TinoChinyoka @tinsmush @matigary

Mbiri yaOkonkwo yaipfuurira kune matunhu pfumbamwe ose ichidarikira. Akawana mbiri iyi neumazvikokota hwake.

Achiri jaya chairo remakore gumi nemasere, akaunza mukurumbira mukuru kune dunhu rake paakariga rimwe jinda rainzi Amalinze.

Mumakwikwi etsiva, Amalinze yaiva nyanzvi yaive isati yambokundwa kwemakore manomwe, kubva kuUmuofia kusvika kuMbaino.

Vaimuti Kiti sezita rake remanemererwa nokuti vaiti musana wake waisabata pasi.

Ndiro jinda rakarakashwa naOkonkwo mumakwikwi ainzi neharahwa dzeko aiva asati amboonekwa kubva mazuva manomwe nesiku nomwe dzakakakarisana muvambi wedunhu ravo nerimwe shavi resango.

Ngoma dzakarohwa, hwamanda dzikarira, avo vaiona vachingozvibata ura. Amalinze aiva mazvikokota chaiye asi Okonkwo aimunzvenga achiita kuyerera sehove iri mudziva.

Tsinga dzese netsandanyama dzakabuda, kubva mumaoko kusvika muzvidya, zvekuti vanhu vakafunga kuti machinda aya achatovhunika mbabvu.

Zvakazopera pakuti Okonkwo ndiye akariga Kiti.

Okonkwo was well known throughout the nine villages and even beyond. His fame rested on solid personal achievements. As a young man of eighteen he had brought honor to his village by throwing Amalinze the Cat.

Amalinze was the great wrestler who for seven years was unbeaten, from Umuofia to Mbaino. He was called the Cat because his back would never touch the earth.

It was this man that Okonkwo threw in a fight which the old men agreed was one of the fiercest since the founder of their town engaged a spirit of the wild for seven days and seven nights.

The drums beat and the flutes sang and the spectators held their breath. Amalinze was a wily craftsman, but Okonkwo was as slippery as a fish in water.

Every nerve and every muscle stood out on their arms, on their backs and their thighs, and one almost heard them stretching to breaking point.

In the end, Okonkwo threw the Cat.