Ethiopian Folktales

Omot and Guur – The Two Brothersኦሞትና ጉዑር፤ ሁለቱ ወንድማማቾች

Gambelaጋምቤላ · 1 min readደቂቃ ንባብ

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Narrated by Opiew Amwong

Once there were two brothers living together called Omot and Guur. Omot had a wife, but Guur didn’t. It was harvest time and Omot was watching over his sorghum from his watching platform, where he used to sit to scare away the birds, while Guur sat nearby and watched his own fields. Omot’s wife brought some food for both of them and put it under the platform.

When Omot looked down, he thought there was only enough food for himself, but he came down near it and he saw that it was enough for the two of them. He was tired of going up and down from the platform, so he started eating without his brother.

He thought, “I will finish all the food, and my brother will not know that my wife brought it for us.”

But he could not finish the porridge. It was too much.

So he called his brother and said, “I ate without calling you. Now eat your share.”

But he felt ashamed.

That evening, when it grew dark, they went home together, and Omot said to Guur, “I will give you money to marry a wife.”

When they arrived home, he gave his brother some money to marry a wife so that she would bring food for him, and he and his brother would always eat together.

He said, “Ask me for anything you want and I’ll give it to you.”

The moral is that if two people live together, they need to have their own property, and if someone has nothing, they need to be helped and supported. The one who has, must give to the one who has nothing.

ኦሞትና ጉዑር፤ ሁለቱ ወንድማማቾች

በኦፒው አምዎንግ የተተረከ

በአንድ ወቅት ኦሞትና ጉዑር የተባሉ ወንድማማቾች አብረው ይኖሩ ነበር፡፡ ኦሞት ሚስት ሲኖረው ጉዑር ግን የለውም ነበር፡፡ ወቅቱም የአዝመራ ወቅት ስለነበረ ኦሞት ሰብሉን ከወፎች የሚጠብቅበት ማማ ላይ ሆኖ ገብሱን እየጠበቀ ሳለ ጉዑር ደግሞ ባካባቢው ሆኖ ማሳውን ይመለከት ነበር፡፡ የኦሞትም ሚስት ለሁለቱም የሚሆን ምግብ ይዛ በመምጣት ከማማው ስር አስቀመጠችላቸው፡፡

ኦሞት ቁልቁል ሲመለከት ምግቡ ከእርሱ የሚተርፍ ባይመስለውም ከማማው ላይ ወርዶ በተመለከተ ጊዜ ምግቡ ለሁለቱም እንደሚበቃ አየ፡፡ ከማማው ላይ መውጣትና መውረድ ስለሰለቸውም እዚያው እማማው ስር ቁጭ ብሎ ለወንድሙ ሳይነግረው መብላት ጀመረ፡፡

እንዲህ ብሎም አሰበ “ምግቡን ሁሉ በልቼ ስለምጨርሰው ወንድሜም ሚስቴ ምግብ እንዳመጣችልን አያውቅም፡፡”

ነገር ግን ገንፎው በጣም ብዙ ስለነበር በልቶ መጨረስ አቃተው፡፡

ስለዚህ ወንድሙን ጠርቶ “ሳልጠራህ በላሁ፡፡ አሁን ፋንታህን ብላ፡፡” አለው፡፡

ሆኖም በሁኔታው በጣም አፈረ፡፡

የዚያን እለት ምሽት ከጨለመ በኋላ አብረው ወደቤት ሲመለሱ ኦሞት ጉዑርን እንዲህ አለው “ሚስት ታገባ ዘንድ ገንዘብ እሰጥሃለሁ፡፡”

እቤትም እንደደረሱ ለወንድሙ ሚስት ያገባ ዘንድ ገንዘብ ሰጠው፡፡ አዲሲቱም ሚስት ምግብ እያመጣችላቸው ሁልጊዜ አብረው ይመገቡ ጀመር፡፡

እሱም “ምንም ነገር ብትጠይቀኝ እሰጥሃለሁ፡፡” አለው፡፡

የዚህ ተረት መልዕክትም ሁለት ሰዎች አብረው ከኖሩ የየራሳቸው ንብረት ሊኖራቸው ይገባል፡፡ ነገር ግን አንደኛቸው ምንም ከሌለው እርስ በእርስ መተጋገዝና መረዳዳት ይኖርባቸዋል፡፡ ያለው ለሌለው በመስጠት ሊረዳው ይገባል የሚል ነው፡፡

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

Check your understandingግንዛቤዎን ይፈትሹ

  1. What were the names of the two brothers in the story?

  2. Which brother had a wife at the start of the story?

  3. What crop was Omot watching over from his platform?

  4. Why did Omot sit on the watching platform?

  5. Why did Omot start eating the food without his brother?

  6. What did Omot give his brother so he could marry a wife?

For discussionለውይይት

  • How do you think Omot felt when he ate the food without his brother, and why did he feel that way?
  • Why do you think Omot decided to give his brother money to marry a wife?
  • What do you think the story is trying to teach us about living and sharing with others?
  • If you were Guur, how would you feel when your brother called you to eat your share? Explain your answer.