King Tewodros and the Thiefአፄ ቴውድሮስና ሌባው
Amharaአማራ · 1 min readደቂቃ ንባብ
Narrated by Worku Mersha
During the period of King Tewodros{footnote}King Tewodros II (or Theodore II) was Emperor of Ethiopia from 1855 to 1868.{/footnote} there were many thieves who used to steal cows and domestic animals.
And the inhabitants went to His Majesty and said, “Thieves are increasing in numbers and we are suffering very much from them.”
So King Tewodros made this proclamation: “You don’t have to worry about it. Whenever you see a thief stealing something, tell him to stop and wait, in the name of the Lord Tewodros.”
One day, a thief was about to steal cows and sheep from someone’s home and the owner woke up while the thief was there.
The owner said, “Stop and wait, by the name of the Lord Tewodros!”
So the thief stopped and waited, respecting the proclamation. However, the owner threw a spear and it went into his back and the thief was severely wounded. After treatment he was completely cured.
Later on he went to His Majesty and complained, “You see, Your Majesty, all wild animals and humans are governed by your proclamation, but I was just stopped by the householder calling, ‘Stop and wait, by the name of Tewodros!’ Despite my respect for your proclamation, the owner took his spear and wounded me. Otherwise I would have escaped.”
The king called all the family members of the spear thrower, and he sentenced him to be an exile and a beggar, and he divided the property among the wife and children, and the thief.
አፄ ቴውድሮስና ሌባው
በወርቁ መርሻ የተተረከ
በአጼ ቴውድሮስ{footnote}ንጉስ ቴውድሮስ 2ተኛ ከ1847-1860 ድረስ የኢትዮጵያ ንጉስ ነበሩ፡፡{/footnote} ዘመነ መንግስት ላሞችንና የቤት እንስሳትን የሚሰርቁ ብዙ ሌቦች ነበሩ፡፡
ነዋሪዎቹም ወደ ጃንሆይ ሄደው “ሌቦች በቁጥር እየጨመሩና በጣም እያሰቃዩን ነው፡፡” ብለው አቤት አሉ፡፡
ስለዚህ ንጉስ ቴውድሮስም የሚከተለውን አዋጅ አስነገሩ “በዚህ ምንም ሃሳብ አይግባችሁ፡፡ ሌባ ሲሰርቅ ባያችሁ ጊዜም በንጉስ ቴውድሮስ ይዘንሃል! ቁም! በሉት፡፡”
ታዲያ አንድ ቀን አንድ ሌባ ከአንድ ሰው ቤት ገብቶ ላሞችና በጎችን ሊሰርቅ ሲል ባለቤቱ ከእንቅልፉ ነቅቶ ይደርስበታል፡፡
ባለቤትየውም “በንጉስ ቴውድሮስ ይዤሃለው! ቁም!” ሲለው ሌባለውም አዋጁን በማክበር ቆሞ ጠበቀ፡፡ ነገር ግን ባለቤቱ ጦር ወርውሮበት ስለነበር ጦሩም ከወገቡ ላይ ተሰክቶ ሌባውን ክፉኛ ቢያቆስለውም ህክምና ተደርጎለት ሙሉ ለሙሉ ዳነ፡፡
በኋላ ሌባው ወደ ጃንሆይ ሄዶ “አዩ ጃንሆይ! አራዊትና ሰዎች ሁሉ በእርሶ አዋጅ ስለሚገዙ አንድ ሰው ‘ቁም! በንጉስ ቴውድሮስ ይዤሃለው’ ሲለኝ እኔም አዋጁን አክብሬ ብቆምም ሰውየው ጦር ወርውሮ አቆሰለኝ፡፡ ማምለጥ እችል ነበር፡፡” ብሎ ክስ አቀረበ፡፡
ንጉሱም የጦር ወርዋሪውን ቤተሰብ በሙሉ ጠርተው ሰውየው ካገር እንዲባረርና ለማኝ ሆኖ እንዲኖር ከፈረዱ በኋላ ንብረቱንም ሁሉ ለሚስቱ፣ ለልጆቹና ለሌባው አከፋፈሉ ይባላል፡፡
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Check your understandingግንዛቤዎን ይፈትሹ
Who told King Tewodros that thieves were increasing and causing them to suffer?
What did King Tewodros tell people to say when they saw a thief stealing?
What animals was the thief about to steal from someone's home?
Why did the thief stop instead of running away?
What did the owner do after the thief stopped and waited?
What happened to the thief's wound after treatment?
For discussionለውይይት
- Do you think it was fair that the thief was wounded after he obeyed the king's order? Why or why not?
- If you were King Tewodros, what would you say or do when the thief came to complain? Explain your answer.
- What does this story teach us about following rules and about honesty? Share your thoughts.
- The thief said he could have escaped but chose to obey. What does this tell us about his character? Do you feel sorry for him?