Ethiopian Folktales

Agenga Tricks the Kingአጌንጋ ንጉሱን አታለላቸው

Gambelaጋምቤላ · 1 min readደቂቃ ንባብ

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Narrated by Obothi Cham

Agenga had been staying with kings. One day, he went to where the people had assembled and he put his shoes on the grass roof of the shelter where the king would sit. When the king came, he sat down without realising. When everyone was sitting and conversing, Agenga sat near the king and he tried to reach his shoes, but he couldn’t because they were too far away. He was too afraid to stand up, so he knelt up and reached for them.

The king was looking at him and at last he asked him, “What’s the problem, Agenga?”

He said, “I was trying to reach my shoes, but they are too far away, above your head.”

The king got up and took the shoes down and gave them to Agenga. But he didn’t understand the trick.

And Agenga said, “Look, you have been telling me that the king cannot be given orders, but I succeeded in giving him orders.

This man was disturbed during the Derg and he was sent to Cuba and became mad there.{footnote}It is not clear to whom this sentence refers. The Derg (or Dergue) was the communist military regime that, under Mengistu Haile Mariam, ruled Ethiopia 1974-1991. Cuba supported the regime.{/footnote}

አጌንጋ ንጉሱን አታለላቸው

በኦቦቲ ቻም የተተረከ

አጌንጋ ከንጉሶች ዘንድ ይኖር ነበር፡፡ ከእለታት አንድ ቀን ታዲያ አጌንጋ ሰዎቹ ሁሉ ወደተሰባሰቡበት ስፍራ በመሄድ ጫማውን አውልቆ ንጉሱ በተቀመጡበት መጠለያ የሣር ጣሪያ ላይ አኖረው፡፡ ንጉሱም በመጣ ጊዜ ይህንን ሳያስተውል ቁጭ አለ፡፡ ሰው ሁሉ ቁጭ ብሎ እየተነጋገረ ሳለ አጌንጋ ከንጉሱ አጠገብ በመቀመጥ ጫማዎቹን ለማውረድ ቢሞክርም ስለራቁት አልቻለም፡፡ ለመነሳት ስላፈረም በጉልበቱ በመንበርከክ ጫማዎቹን ለማውረድ ሞከረ፡፡

ንጉሱ ይህንን ባየ ጊዜ እንዲህ ብሎ ጠየቀው “ምን ተቸግረህ ነው አጌንጋ?”

አጌንጋም “ጫማዎቼን ማውረድ ብፈልግም ከእርስዎ አናት ላይ ሆነው ስለራቁኝ ነው፡፡” አለ፡፡

ንጉሱም በመነሳት ጫማዎቹን አውርዶ ለአጌንጋ ሰጠው፡፡ የአጌንጋን ተንኮል ግን አላስተዋለም ነበር፡፡

አጌንጋም እንዲህ አለ “ተመልከቱ ንጉስ አይታዘዝም ብላችሁ ስትነግሩኝ ነበር፡፡ ነገር ግን እኔ ንጉሱን ለማዘዝ ችያለሁ፡፡”

ይህም ሰው በደርግ የስልጣን ዘመን ወቅት በጣም ይቸገር የነበረና በመጨረሻም ወደ ኩባ ተልኮ እዛው አብዶ የቀረ ሰው ነው፡፡{footnote}ይህ አርፍተ ነገር ስለማን እንደተፃፈ ግልፅ አይደለም፡፡ ደርግ በመንግስቱ ሐይለማርያም መሪነት ኢትዮጵያን ከ 1967-1983 የገዛ ኮሚውኒስታዊ ወታደራዊ አገዛዝ ነው፡፡ ኩባም  ይህንን መንግስት ትረዳ ነበር፡፡{/footnote}

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Check your understandingግንዛቤዎን ይፈትሹ

  1. Where did Agenga put his shoes?

  2. Where had Agenga been staying before this story?

  3. Why couldn't Agenga reach his shoes at first?

  4. Because Agenga was too afraid to stand up, what did he do to reach the shoes?

  5. What question did the king ask Agenga?

  6. What did the king do after Agenga said his shoes were above the king's head?

For discussionለውይይት

  • Agenga said the king cannot be given orders, but he found a clever way to make the king do something. What do you think of his trick? Was it clever, or was it wrong?
  • The king did not understand the trick. How do you think the king might have felt if he had understood what Agenga did?
  • What does this story tell us about Agenga's character? Use details from the story to explain your answer.
  • Why do you think Agenga wanted to prove that he could give the king orders? What might this say about power and cleverness?