Ethiopian Folktales

God and Manአምላክና ሰው

Gambelaጋምቤላ · 2 min readደቂቃ ንባብ

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Narrated buy Rhamsey Schwoll

From the creation, God was very near to the people. He used to talk with them all the time. So many different people, having different ideas, having different wishes, were always complaining.

Usually, when the sun rises, someone says, “Please, God, the morning sleep is very, very nice. Let the sun wait a little bit. Let it not arise now.”

God would say, “Yes, you are right. I will delay it a little bit.”

In another way, someone who needed the sun in one way or another, said, “Please, why did you delay the sun? Why doesn’t the sun rise?”

So then God would bring the sun up.

During the day, someone might be walking during the hot sun, and she would say, “Please, God, I’m very, very tired because of the heat. The sun is too hot. Let is set.”

God would let it set right away.

Another one, on a journey, going to a far distance, before he could reach his destination, he would complain also, “Dear God, why do you let the sun set? Raise it up a little bit until I reach my destination.”

The sun will rise up once more until that person reaches there.

So God was very much disturbed because of these many complaints. One says one thing, God listens to him. Another says another thing, God listens to him. So God was confused because of many complaints brought to him by different men.

And then the fox, being very clever, said, “God, if you are near to the people, you will always be disturbed because you are listening to them all the time. Stay away. Never listen. Only give them indirectly every time. You are not a human being. You are God in your place. Never listen to these people’s different complaints. Stay far away from us, and only give us some blessing one way or another. So your creation is your creation and you should not be disturbed.”

So the sun remains as it is.

Setting and rising.

አምላክና ሰው

በራምሴ ሽዎል የተተረከ

ከስነ ፍጥረት ጀምሮ ፈጣሪ ለሰዎች ቅርብ ነበር፡፡ ሁልጊዜም ያነጋግራቸው ነበር፡፡ በጣም ብዙ አይነት ሰዎች ብዙ የተለያዩ ሃሳብ ያላቸውና የተለያዩ ምኞት ያላቸው ሰዎች ሁልጊዜ ያጉረመረሙ ነበር፡፡

ብዙውን ጊዜ ፀሃይ ስትወጣ አንዱ ሰው “አምላክ ሆይ እባክህ የጠዋቱ እንቅልፍ በጣም ጣፋጭ ስለሆነ ጸሃይዋ አሁን ሳይሆን ትንሽ ቆይታ ትውጣ፡፡” ይላል፡፡

አምላክም “እውነትህን ነው፡፡ እንግዲያው ትንሽ አቆያታለሁ፡፡” ይላል፡፡ በሌላ በኩል ፀሃይዋን በአንድም ሆነ በሌላ ምክንያት የፈለጋት ሰው ደግሞ “እባክህ ለምንድነው ፀሃይዋን ያዘገየሀት? ፀሃይዋ ለምንድነው የማትወጣው?” ይላል፡፡

ከዚያም ፈጣሪ ፀሃይዋን ያወጣታል፡፡

በቀን ደግሞ በሞቃት ፀሃይ ውስጥ የሚሄድ ሰው “አምላኬ ሆይ እባክህ በሙቀቱ ምክንያት በጣም ስለደከመኝና ፀሃይዋም በጣም ስለምታቃጥል ትጥለቅ” ይላል፡፡

አምላክም ወዲያው ፀሀይዋ እንድትጠልቅ ያደርጋል፡፡

ሌላኛው ሰው ደግሞ ወደ ሩቅ ቦታ እየተጓዘ ሳለ ከሥፍራው ከመድረሱ በፊት እሱም “አምላኬ ሆይ ፀሀይዋ ለምን እንድትጠልቅ አደረክ? ከምሄድበት ሥፍራ እስክደርስ ድረስ ትንሽ ከፍ አድርጋት፡፡” እያለ ያላዝናል፡፡
ፀሃይዋም ያ ሰው ካሰበው ሥፍራ እስኪደርስ ትንሽ ከፍ ብላ ትቆያለች፡፡

በዚህ ሁኔታ ማንገራገሩ በጣም ስለበዛ አምላክ በጣም ተቸገረ፡፡ አንዱ አንድ ነገር ሲል አምላክ ይሰማዋል፤ ሌላው ሌላ ነገር ሲል አምላክ ይሰማዋል፡፡ ስለዚህ ከብዙ ሰዎች በሚመጣ የተለያየ ጥያቄ ፈጣሪ ግራ ገባው፡፡

በዚህ ጊዜ ብልጡ ቀበሮ “ፈጣሪ ሆይ ለሰዎች ቅርብ እስከሆንክ ድረስ ሁልጊዜም ስለምታዳምጣቸው ሁሌም ትረበሻለህ፡፡ ከሰዎች ራቅ፡፡ አትስማቸውም፡፡ ሁልጊዜም በተዘዋዋሪ መንገድ ስጣቸው፡፡ አንተ የሰው ፍጡር አይደለህም፡፡ አንተ በሥፍራህ አምላክ ነህና የእነዚህን ሰዎች ልዩ ልዩ ችግሮች አትስማ፡፡ ከእኛ ርቀህ ሂድና በአንድ ወይም በሌላ መልኩ ብቻ ባርከን፡፡ ፍጥረታትህ የአንተ ፍጥረታት ስለሆኑ አንተ መረበሽ የለብህም፡፡” አለው፡፡

ከዚህም በኋላ ፀሃይ በነበረችበት ቀጠለች፤እየወጣችና እየገባች፡፡

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

Check your understandingግንዛቤዎን ይፈትሹ

  1. At the beginning of the story, how close was God to the people?

  2. Why did one person ask God to let the sun wait in the morning?

  3. What did the tired person walking in the hot sun ask God to do?

  4. Why did the traveller on a journey ask God to raise the sun up again?

  5. How did God respond when someone asked him to delay the sun?

  6. How did God feel because of all the many complaints?

For discussionለውይይት

  • The people in the story all wanted different things from the sun. Why is it so hard to make everyone happy at the same time?
  • God listened to every single person and tried to please them all. Do you think this was a good idea? Why or why not?
  • If you could talk to God like the people in the story, what would you ask for? Would your wish trouble other people?
  • What lesson do you think this folktale is trying to teach us about always complaining and asking for things?