Ethiopian Folktales

King Tewodros and the Dead Guardንጉስ ቴውድሮስና የሞተው ጠባቂ

Amharaአማራ · 1 min readደቂቃ ንባብ

Text size Share

Narrated by Worku Mersha

King Tewodros{footnote}King Tewodros II, Emperor of Ethiopia from 1855-68, was a moderniser who wished his country to learn from the West. Unfortunately relations with Britain (from whom he received no artillery) soured, and he took a number of British subjects and other westerners - who included missionaries - as hostages. This led to a British invasion (1867-8), which secured the release of the hostages. Tewodros committed suicide.{/footnote} used to say to the British missionary, “Don’t bring Bibles, bring rifles.”

So Queen Victoria sent him artillery.

So when he received the artillery, he wanted to try it out, but Patriarch{footnote}Head of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church.{/footnote} Salama advised him not to try it.

“One of the guards shall try it.”

So the guard tried it first. But the bullet came out backwards and killed the guard. So the Emperor (Tewodros) declared that all people should mourn for the dead guard because he took the place of the king.

ንጉስ ቴውድሮስና የሞተው ጠባቂ

በወርቁ መርሻ የተተረከ

ንጉስ ቴውድሮስ{footnote}ከ 1847-1860 የኢትዮጵያ ንጉስ የነበሩት አፄ ቴውድሮስ 2ኛ አገራቸው ከምእራቡ አለም ልምድ እንድትቀስም ይጥሩ የነበሩ ዘመናዊ መሪ ነበሩ፡፡ ሆኖም መሣሪያ ከከለከሏቸው እንግሊዞች ጋር ተቃቅረው ስለነበር በርካታ እንግሊዛውያንንና ሌሎች ምእራባውያንን፣ ሚሲዮናውያንን ጨምሮ አግተዋቸው ነበር፡፡ ይህም የእንግሊዛውያንን ወረራ (ከ1859-60) አስከትሎ ታጋቾቹ ተለቀው ቴውድሮስም ራሳቸውን ገደሉ፡፡{/footnote} የእንግሊዝን ሚሲዮናውያን መፅሐፍ ቅዱስ ሳይሆን ጠመንጃ አምጡልኝ ብለው ይጠይቋቸው ነበር፡፡ ስለዚህ ንግስት ቪክቶሪያ የጦር መሣሪያ በላኩላቸው ጊዜ መሣሪያውን ለመሞከር ቢፈልጉም ሊቀ ጳጳሱ{footnote}ሊቀ ጳጳስ የኢትዮጵያ ኦርቶዶክስ ቤተክርስቲያን መሪ መጠሪያ ነው፡፡{/footnote} አቡነ ሰላማ እንዳይሞክሩ ይመክሯቸዋል፡፡

ከጠባቂዎቹ አንዱ ይሞክረው ይሏቸዋል፡፡

እናም አንዱ ጠባቂ መሣሪያውን ሲሞክር ጥይቱ ወደኋላ ተስፈንጥሮ ገደለው፡፡ አፄ ቴውድሮስም ሟቹ ጠባቂ የንጉሱን ፅዋ በመቅመሱ ህዝቡ ሁሉ ያዝን ዘንድ ንጉስ አዘዙ ይባላል፡፡

In the original voice — hear tales from Amharaአማራ, told in Amharic. Listen ›

Check your understandingግንዛቤዎን ይፈትሹ

  1. Who narrated this story?

  2. What did King Tewodros tell the British missionary to bring?

  3. Who sent King Tewodros the artillery?

  4. What did Patriarch Salama advise the king?

  5. What happened when the guard tried the artillery?

  6. What did the Emperor declare after the guard died?

For discussionለውይይት

  • Why do you think King Tewodros wanted rifles instead of Bibles? What does this tell us about him?
  • Patriarch Salama warned the king not to try the artillery. Why do you think the king did not listen?
  • The Emperor said the guard 'took the place of the king.' What do you think this means, and why was it important?
  • What lesson or message do you think this story is trying to teach us?