Ganya and the Hyenaጋንያና ጅቡ

Gambelaጋምቤላ · 1 min readደቂቃ ንባብ

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Narrated by Niall Gatch

Ganya and his son went into the forest to hunt, but they didn’t find any game and became very hungry. From morning till night they hunted and hunted without success, but at last they killed a hyena. Unfortunately the Nuers do not eat the hyena.

They said to each other, “What shall we do? If we don’t eat the hyena, we’ll die, but if we do, we’ll break our custom.”

They thought for a while and Ganya said, “Yes, I’ve got the answer. First let’s cut off the hyena’s head and throw it away.”

So they did.

He looked at the hyena and thought again.

“Now cut off the legs and throw them away,” he said.

So they did.

“Now cut off the tail,” said Ganya.

So they did.

Then Ganya said, “OK, now it’s a buck. Let’s skin it and cook it and eat it now.”

So it is the story.

ጋንያና ጅቡ

በኒያል ጋትች የተተረከ

ጋንያና ልጁ ለአደን ወደ ጫካው ቢሄዱም ምንም የሚያድኑት ስላጡ በጣም ራባቸው፡፡ ከጠዋት እስከ ማታ ቢያድኑ ቢያድኑ ምንም አጥተው በመጨረሻ አንድ ጅብ ገደሉ፡፡ ሆኖም ኑዌሮች ጅብ አይበሉም፡፡

እርስ በእርስም “ምን እናድርግ? ጅቡን ካልበላን እንሞታለን ከበላነው ደግሞ ባህላችንን እናጎድፋለን፡፡” ተባባሉ፡፡

ትንሽ ካሰቡም በኋላ ጋንያ “አዎ! መልሱን አግኝቸዋለሁ፡፡ መጀመሪያ የጅቡን ጭንቅላት ቆርጠን እንጣለው፡፡” አለ፡፡

እንደዚያም አደረጉ፡፡

ከዚያም ጅቡን እያየ እንደገና አሰበና “አሁን ደግሞ እግሮቹን ቆርጠን እንጣል፡፡” አለ፡፡

እግሮቹንም ቆርጠው ጣሉ፡፡

“አሁን ደግሞ ጭራውን እንቁረጥ፡፡” አለ ጋንያ፡፡ ጭራውንም ቆርጠው ጣሉ፡፡

ከዚያም ጋንያ “እንግዲህ አሁን ድኩላ ስለሆነ ቆዳውን እንግፈፈውና አብስለን እንብላው፡፡” አለ፡፡ ታሪኩም ይኸው ነው፡፡

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

Check your understandingግንዛቤዎን ይፈትሹ

Why did Ganya and his son go into the forest?
How long did they hunt?
What animal did they finally kill?
Why was eating the hyena a problem for them?
What was the FIRST part Ganya told his son to cut off and throw away?
After cutting off the head, legs and tail, what did Ganya say the animal now was?

For discussionለውይይት

Do you think Ganya really turned the hyena into a buck, or did he just trick himself and his son? Explain your thinking.
Was it right for Ganya to find a way around his people's custom because he was so hungry? Why or why not?
Why do you think customs and rules about food are important to a group of people?
What lesson or message do you think this story is trying to teach us?