Ethiopian Folktales

It is Foundተገኘ

Tigrayትግራይ · 1 min readደቂቃ ንባብ

Narratorተራኪ: Unknown

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Narrator Unknown

There was an old man and he was going to the river to wash his clothes. And on the way he met a boy.

The boy asked, “Where are you going, my father?”

The old man said, “To the river to wash my clothes.”

The boy answered, “Why don't I wash your clothes myself?”

The old man agreed and asked the boy’s name.

The boy said, “My name is Tegenew (it is found).”

The old man made an appointment to come back and fetch the washed clothes. But the boy didn’t show up. Some friends of the old man were passing and they asked him why he was sitting there.

He said, “I’m waiting for a boy who took my clothes to the river to wash.”

He asked for their help to look for him.

So they searched, calling, “It is found! Are you there?”

The old man thought they had found the clothes, so he went home.

ተገኘ

ተራኪው የማይታወቅ

በአንድ ወቅት አንድ አዛውንት ሰው ልብሳቸውን ለማጠብ ወደ ወንዝ እየወረዱ ሳለ አንድ ወንድ ልጅ በመንገዱ ላይ አገኙ፡፡

ልጁም “ወዴት እየሄዱ ነው፣ አባቴ?”  ብሎ ሲጠይቃቸው አዛውንቱም ሰው “ልብሶቼን ላጥብ ወደ ወንዙ እየሄድኩ ነው፡፡” ብለው መለሱ፡፡ በዚህ ጊዜ ልጁ “ልብሶችዎን እኔ ለምን አላጥብልዎትም?” ሲላቸው አዛውንቱ ሰው እሺ ብለው የልጁን ስም ጠየቁት፡፡

ልጁም “ስሜ ተገኘ ነው፡፡” አላቸው፡፡

አዛውንቱም ሰው ከልጁ ጋ ልብሳቸውን ተመልሰው የሚወስዱበትን ሰአት ተቃጥረው ሄዱ፡፡ ሆኖም ልጁ በቀጠሮው ሰአት አልተገኘም፡፡ የአዛውንቱ ሰው ጓደኞች አዛውንቱን ሲያይዋቸው ለምን እዚያ እንደተቀመጡ ጠየቋቸው፡፡

አዛውንቱም ሰውዬ “ልብሶቼን ሊያጥብልኝ ወደ ወንዙ ይዞ የሄደውን ልጅ እየጠበኩ ነው፡፡” አሏቸው፡፡ ሰዎቹም ልጁን ያፋልጓቸው ዘንድ እርዳታቸውን ጠየቁ፡፡

ሰዎቹም “ተገኘ! አለህ?” እያሉ ሲፈልጉ አዛውንቱ ሰው ልብሳቸው የተገኘ መስሏቸው ወደቤታቸው ሄዱ ይባላል፡፡

Check your understandingግንዛቤዎን ይፈትሹ

  1. Where was the old man going at the start of the story?

  2. Who did the old man meet on the way?

  3. What did the boy say his name was?

  4. What did the boy offer to do for the old man?

  5. What problem happened after the old man waited?

  6. What did the old man's friends call out as they searched?

For discussionለውይይት

  • Why do you think the old man believed his friends had found the clothes when they called out "It is found"? What made him misunderstand?
  • The boy's name, Tegenew, means "it is found." How did this name cause confusion in the story? What does this teach us about words having more than one meaning?
  • Do you think the old man was too trusting when he let a stranger take his clothes? What would you have done in his place?
  • What lesson or message do you think this folktale is trying to teach the people who hear it?