Ethiopian Folktales

Kulang in Prisonኩላንግ በእስር ቤት

Gambelaጋምቤላ · 2 min readደቂቃ ንባብ

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Narrated by Niall Gatch

There was a man who lived not far outside of Gambela who liked to eat a lot. He had a good wife who used to make him a lot of food. For breakfast a lot of food, for lunch a lot of food and for supper a lot of food.

But after some time he had a problem and was put into the Gambela prison.

When he was put into prison, there was very little food, so he was afraid that if he ate a little food he would become hungry. So he decided that it was better not to eat than to eat little and stimulate his stomach. So one day went by and he ate no food, a second day went by and he ate no food, the third day went by and he ate no food.

But the prison warder became worried and he called the people and he said, “If this man does not eat, he will die and that’s not good.”

They said, “Yes, but the food here is not very good. His wife makes very good food.”

So he said, “OK, I’ll call his wife. Where is she?”

They told him she was in another town.

So he looked for a telephone and he called the man’s wife and said, “Your husband is not eating so please make as much food as possible and bring it to us.”

She immediately put down the phone and collected all her food and made lots and brought it to the prison.

The man was very happy and he ate all the food and called the prison warder.

And he said, “I’ve only been here three days and the village is a long way away. How did my wife come here so quickly?”

So the warder said, “I used telephone.”

But the man didn’t know what a telephone was, and thought it was a young girl who had run all the way to the village, and fetched his wife and made the food.

So he said, “Please show me telephone. I also want to marry her if she’s so fast.”

ኩላንግ በእስር ቤት

በኒያል ጋትች የተተረከ

አንድ ከጋምቤላ አቅራቢያ የሚኖርና ብዙ ምግብ መብላት የሚወድ ሰው ነበር፡፡ ብዙ ምግብ የምታዘጋጅለት ጥሩ ሚስት ነበረችው፡፡ ለቁርስ ብዙ ምግብ፣ ለምሳ ብዙ ምግብ፣ ለእራት ብዙ ምግብ ታዘጋጅለት ነበር፡፡

ነገር ግን ከጊዜ በኋላ ችግር ስለነበረበት ወደ ጋምቤላ እስር ቤት ወረደ፡፡

ታዲያ እስር ቤት ሲገባ የነበረው ምግብ በጣም ትንሽ ስለነበረ ይርበኛል ብሎ ፈራ፡፡ ስለዚህ ትንሽ ምግብ በልቶ ጨጓራውን ከሚቀሰቅስ አለመብላትን መረጠ፡፡ አንድ ቀን አለፈ፤ ምንም ምግብ አልበላም፤ በሁለተኛውም ቀን ምንም ምግብ አልበላም፤ ሶስተኛውም ቀን ያለ ምግብ አለፈ፡፡

ነገር ግን የወህኒ ቤቱ ሃላፊ በጉዳዩ በጣም ስለተጨነቀ ሰዎቹን ጠርቶ “ይህ ሰው ካልበላ ስለሚሞት ጥሩ አይደለም፡፡” አላቸው፡፡

እነርሱም “አዎን ነገር ግን እዚህ ያለው ምግብ ጥሩ አይደለም፡፡ ሚስቱ በጣም ጥሩ ምግብ ታዘጋጅለት ነበር፡፡” አሉት፡፡

እርሱም “እንግዲያው ሚስቱን እጠራታለሁ፡፡ የት ነው ያለችው?” ብሎ ጠየቀ፡፡

እነርሱም እሷ ያለችው ሌላ ከተማ ውስጥ እንደሆነ ነገሩት፡፡ ስለዚህ ስልክ ፈልጎ የሰውየው ሚስት ጋ በመደወል “ባልሽ ምግብ እየበላ ስላልሆነ የቻልሽውን ያህል ምግብ ሠርተሽ ይዘሽ ወደኛ ነይ፡፡” አላት፡፡

እሷም ስልኩን በአስቸኳይ ዘግታ ያለውን ምግብ ሁሉ ሰብስባ ካዘጋጀች በኋላ ወደ እስር ቤቱ ይዛ ሄደች፡፡

ሰውየውም በጣም ተርቦ ስለነበር የመጣውን ምግብ ሁሉ ከበላ በኋላ የወህኒ ቤቱን ሃላፊ ጠርቶ “ከታሰርኩ ገና ሶስት ቀኔ ነው፡፡ የምኖርበት መንደር ደግሞ ከእዚህ በጣም ብዙ ይርቃል፡፡ እናም ሚስቴ እንዴት አንደዚህ ፈጥና ልትደርስ ቻለች?” ብሎ ጠየቀው፡፡

የወህኒ ቤቱም ሃላፊ “ስልክ ደውዬላት ነው፡፡” አለው፡፡

ሰውየው ግን ስልክ ምን እንደሆነ ስለማያውቅ ስልክ ማለት ወደ መንደሩ ሮጣ በመሄድና ሚስቱን ይዛ መጥታ ምግቡን የሰራችው አንዲት ወጣት ሴት ልጅ ናት ብሎ አሰበ፡፡

እናም “እባካችሁ ቴሌፎንን አሳዩኝ፡፡ እንደዚህ ፈጣን ከሆነች እኔም ላገባት እፈልጋለሁ፡፡” አለ ይባላል፡፡

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

Check your understandingግንዛቤዎን ይፈትሹ

  1. Where did the man live?

  2. Who made a lot of food for the man at home?

  3. Why did the man decide not to eat any food in prison?

  4. How many days did the man go without eating in prison?

  5. What was the prison warder worried would happen if the man did not eat?

  6. How did the prison warder reach the man's wife?

For discussionለውይይት

  • The man chose not to eat at all rather than eat a little. Do you think this was a good choice? Why or why not?
  • The prison warder cared about the man and called his wife. What does this tell us about the warder's character?
  • Why do you think the wife immediately put down the phone and rushed to make food for her husband?
  • What lesson or message do you think this story is trying to teach us?