Ethiopian Folktales

Agenga and the Maizeአጌንጋና በቆሎው

Gambelaጋምቤላ · 1 min readደቂቃ ንባብ

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Narrated by Obothi Cham

Once upon a time, Agenga and his friend, Omet, went to Pinykew village near Gambela. When they reached the village, they were very hungry and they were accommodated in one of the family’s homes in Pinykew. When the people saw that they were very hungry, they were given fresh, uncooked corn (maize).

They said to each other, “How can we cook this fresh corn?” and Omet said, “Let me find a way to cook it.”

They had no firewood, no bushes and the trees were far away on the other side of the river. Nearby where they were resting, there was a grave with a fence all around it to protect it from the cattle. So Omet went and took some wood from the fence to roast the maize.

When the people saw him breaking the wood, they shouted, “We have found the evil eye who killed our son and now he is coming to kill his soul again because the last ceremony of his death, when we level his grave, has not yet been performed.”

So Agenga decided to save his friend, and he went and caught Omet, and they fought and fell on the ground.

The people came, and Agenga said, “Look, I brought him here and he is my mad man. Please don’t hurt him.”

So the people listened to him. At last when they were quiet, they saw how hungry they were and they allowed them to use the fence for roasting their maize.

አጌንጋና በቆሎው

በኦቦቲ ቻም የተተረከ

ከእለታት አንድ ቀን አጌንጋና ኦሜት የተባለው ጓደኛው ጋንቤላ ውስጥ ወደሚገኘው ፒኒኬው ወደተባለ መንደር አብረው ሄዱ፡፡ ከመንደሩም እንደደረሱ በጣም እርቧቸው ስለነበር ፒኒኬው ውስጥ በሚገኝ አንድ የቤተሰብ መኖሪያ ቤት ውስጥ ተስተናገዱ፡፡ ሰዎቹም በጣም መራባቸውን ባዩ ጊዜ ያልተቀቀለ በቆሎ እሸት ሰጧቸው፡፡

እነርሱም ይህን እሸት በቆሎ እንዴት ልናበስለው እንችላለን ከተባባሉ በኋላ ኦሜት “እስኪ እኔ እንዴት እንደምናበስለው መንገድ ልፈልግ፡፡” አለ፡፡

የማገዶ እንጨት አልነበራቸውም፣ ቁጥቋጦም አልነበረም፣ እንዲሁም ዛፎቹ ሁሉ ከወንዙ ባሻገር ነበሩ፡፡ ባረፉበት አካባቢ ዙሪያውን ለከብቶች መጠበቂያ አጥር የታጠረበት መቃብር ነበር፡፡ ኦሜትም በዚሁ መቃብር ስፍራ በመሄድ ከአጥሩ ላይ እንጨት በመምዘዝ ለበቆሎ ማብሰያ አመጣ፡፡

ሰዎቹም እንጨቱን እየሰበረ ባዩት ጊዜ እንዲህ እያሉ ጮሁበት “ልጃችንን የገደለውን ቡዳ አገኘነው፤ አሁን ደግሞ ነፍሱን ሊገድል በድጋሚ የመጣው በቀብሩ ስነ ስርአት ወቅት መሬቱን የመደልደሉ ስራ እስካሁን ስላልተጠናቀቀ ነው፡፡”

በዚህን ጊዜ አጌንጋ የጓደኛውን ሕይወት ለማዳን በማሰብ ኦሜትን ሄዶ ከያዘው በኋላ በመደባደብ ተያይዘው ወደቁ፡፡

ሰዎቹም በመጡ ጊዜ አጌንጋ እንዲህ አለ “ተመልከቱ እዚህ ይዤ የመጣሁት የአእምሮ በሽተኛ ሰው ነውና አትጉዱት፡፡”

ሰዎቹም ይህንኑ ሰምተው በመጨረሻ ዝም ካሉ በኋላ ሁለቱ ጓደኛማቾች እንዴት እንደተራቡ አይተው በቆሎዋቸውን ያበስሉ ዘንድ አጥሩ ላይ ያለውን እንጨት እንዲጠቀሙ ፈቀዱላቸው፡፡

In the original voice — hear tales from Gambelaጋምቤላ, told in Anuak. Listen ›

Check your understandingግንዛቤዎን ይፈትሹ

  1. Where did Agenga and his friend Omet go?

  2. How did Agenga and Omet feel when they reached the village?

  3. What food were the two friends given by the family?

  4. Why could the friends not find firewood easily?

  5. Where did Omet get wood to roast the maize?

  6. How did Agenga try to save his friend Omet?

For discussionለውይይት

  • Do you think Omet was wrong to take wood from the grave fence? Why or why not?
  • Agenga told the people that Omet was his mad man to save him. Was this a clever idea or a dishonest one? Explain what you think.
  • How do you think the family in the village felt when they saw Omet breaking the grave fence? Why?
  • What lesson can we learn from this story about helping a friend when they are in trouble?