by Laiqua
Löastassë parca vilwisto, yá i Aiwin hraië encë tuvë yulda, soica Corco túvë ulma ó nicë nén [sassë]. Mal i ulma nánë halla ar haryanë náha latya, epetai anahtai néves alavéla lí, i Corco lá poldë anya i nén. I penya vëo feldë i qualuvas soicienen.
Epë tenna túlë sen. Leptanes lië sarninci ar lantanes tai mina i ulma min apa enta. Ilya sarnincenen i nén oronyë nicë hallë lá fai tenna teldavë nánes faren arë yulieryan.
Cólemassë mára mahtalë finyalelvo polë va alya.
Literal English back-translation:
In a season of dry weather, when the Birds hardly could find drink, a thirsty Crow discovered a pitcher with a little water [in it]. But the pitcher was tall and had a narrow opening, therefore although he tried various ways, the Crow could not reach the water. The poor creature felt that he would die by thirst.
Then an idea came to him. He picked up several pebbles and dropped them into the pitcher one after another. By each pebble the water rose a little higher than before until finally it was close enough for his drinking.
In a hardship good use of our intellect can help us.
Notes:
“And no matter how he tried” is a kind of grammar construction that I couldn’t figure how to translate into Quenya, so I paraphrased.
min apa enta seems better to me than a calque min minnen for “one by one”.
hallë as the adverb form of halla.
© 2025, Laiqua.
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