Lightning and Thunderብልጭታና መብረቅ
Omo Zoneኦሞ ዞን · 2 min readደቂቃ ንባብ
Narrated by Oesha Tushklo
A thunderstorm spirit lost his sheep and started to look for him. It was raining hard and so, looking for his sheep, the spirit of thunder came to a lizard and he asked her if she had seen his sheep.
“No, I haven’t seen him. I’ve only been here basking in the sunshine because I was cold in the rain.”
“So what do you advise me? How could I get my sheep? Who could have stolen it?”
She tells him, “Go to the woodpecker. She may tell you what she knows.”
He went to the woodpecker and asked her, “I have lost my sheep. Have you seen it?”
The woodpecker said, “I have only been doing my job here, pecking. I haven’t seen it.”
“So what shall I do now to get my sheep?” the thunder asked.
“Go to the chameleon,” the woodpecker answers. “Whenever he sees other animals he hides himself. I think it’s because he’s done something bad. He feels guilty.”
So the thunder thought, “Well, I can understand if he’s hiding because he’s stolen or poisoned my sheep.”
And so he went to the chameleon.
The moment he reached the chameleon, he called, “Come out, chameleon!” but the chameleon hid behind a tree.
The thunder went round the back of the tree to find him, but the chameleon hid himself in the forest.
The thunder found him.
“So you are the one who stole my sheep. You may have eaten him or poisoned him.”
And the thunder tore him apart.
To this day, when thunder and lightning come, there is a saying in Male, “Don’t go and stand under a tree when there is lightning, because it is looking for the chameleon in the trees who stole his sheep.”
The moral is, don’t be like people who do bad things and hide themselves.
ብልጭታና መብረቅ
በአዬሻ ቱሽክሎ የተተረከ
የነጎድጓዳማ ዝናብ መንፈስ በጉ ስለጠፋበት ፍለጋ በወጣ ጊዜ እጅግ በጣም እየዘነበ በጉን በፍለጋ ላይ ሳለ የነጎድጓዱ መንፈስ ከአንዲት እንሽላሊት ዘንድ ይደርስና የጠፋበትን በግ አይታ እንደሆነ ጠየቃት፡፡
እርሷም “አይ! አላየሁትም፡፡ በዝናቡ ምክንያት በጣም በርዶኝ ስለነበረ ፀሃይ እየሞኩ ነበር፡፡” ብላ መለሰችለት፡፡
እርሱም “ታዲያ ምን ትመክሪኛለሽ? የጠፋብኝንስ በግ እንዴት ላገኘው እችላለሁ? ማንስ ይሆን የሰረቀው?” ብሎ ጠየቃት፡፡ እንሽላሊቷም “ግንደ ቆርቁር ጋ ሄደህ እርሷ የምታውቀውን ትነግርሃለች፡፡” አለችው፡፡
ነጎድጓዱም ወደ ግንደ ቆርቁር ሄዶ “በጌ ጠፍቶብኛልና አይተሽዋል?” ብሎ ጠየቃት፡፡
ግንደ ቆርቁሯም “እኔ የተለመደ ሥራዬን እየሠራሁ፣ እየቆረቆርኩ ነበርና በግህን አላየሁትም፡፡” አለችው፡፡
እርሱም “እናስ ታዲያ የጠፋብኝን በግ እንዴት ላገኘው እችላለሁ?” አላት።
እርሷም “እስኪ ወደ እስስት ዘንድ ሂድ ። ሌሎች እንስሳትን ባየ ጊዜ የሚደበቀው አንዳች ክፉ ነገር ቢሠራ ነው። በፀፀት ምክንያት፡፡” አለችው፡፡
ነጎድጓዱም “በርግጥ የተደበቀበት ምክንያት ገብቶኛል፤በጌን ሠርቆት ወይም መርዞት መሆን አለበት፡፡” ብሎ አሰበ፡፡
ይህንንም ካለ በኋላ ወደ እስስት ዘንድ በማምራት እስስቱ ዘንድ እንደደረሰ “በል ና ውጣ ፣አንተ እስስት!” ብሎ ቢጣራም እስስቱ ከአንድ ዛፍ ስር ተደበቀ፡፡
ነጎድጓዱም እስስቱን ፍለጋ ከዛፉ ጀርባ ቢዞርም እስስቱ ግን ጫካው ውስጥ ገብቶ ተደበቀ፡፡
ሆኖም በመጨረሻ ነጎድጓዱም እስስቱን አግኝቶ “በጌን የሰረቅኸው አንተ ነሃ! በልተኸው ወይም መርዘኸው ይሆናል፡፡” ብሎ ነጎድጓዱ እስስቱን ሰነጣጠቀው፡፡
አስከዛሬም ድረስ ነጎድጓዳማ መብረቅ በመጣ ጊዜ በሽማሌዎች ዘንድ “ወደ ውጪ ወጥታችሁ ዛፍ ስር አትቁሙ፤ ምክንያቱም መብረቁ በጉን የሰረቀበትን እስስት እየፈለገ ነው፡፡” የሚል ብሂል አለ፡፡
የዚህም ተረት መልዕክት ክፉ ነገሮችን ሰርተው እንደሚደበቁ ሰዎች አትሁኑ የሚል ነው፡፡
In the original voice — hear tales from Omo Zoneኦሞ ዞን, told in an Omo Valley language. Listen ›
Check your understandingግንዛቤዎን ይፈትሹ
What did the thunderstorm spirit lose at the start of the story?
Why was the lizard basking in the sunshine?
Who did the lizard tell the thunder to go and ask next?
What did the woodpecker say she had been doing?
Why did the woodpecker think the chameleon might feel guilty?
Where did the chameleon hide first when the thunder called him?
For discussionለውይይት
- Do you think the chameleon really stole the sheep? Why or why not?
- The thunder believed the chameleon was guilty just because he hides from other animals. Is it fair to judge someone that way? What do you think?
- How do you think the thunder felt as he searched for his lost sheep? Have you ever lost something important to you?
- What lesson do you think this story is trying to teach us?