The Bear and the Womanድቡና ሴትየዋ
Omo Zoneኦሞ ዞን · 2 min readደቂቃ ንባብ
Narrated by Abdisa Labe
Once upon a time the bear and humans were friends and they lived together. The woman was hungry and prepared some porridge. She left it in the house. While she was going to the river to fetch water she met the bear on the way.
She said to him, “I’m very hungry. I have only a little porridge, just enough for myself, and please don’t take a bite from it. I need it all myself. I beseech you.”
So she pleaded.
So she went on her way to the river. The bear ate all the porridge and when she returned she found him taking the last bite.
“So you are eating my porridge?”
She was angry.
“Yes, I was hungry too.”
She hit him hard on the head with a stick.
The bear ran away, frightened, and he tripped over a rope which was tying a donkey to a tree and the rope snapped. The donkey ran away in terror because the rope was snapped. He crashed into a beehive and all the bees flew out. The bees stung the chicken and the chicken flapped its wings and there were some cereals on a mat in front of the chief’s house and the cereals were scattered all over the ground.
The chief’s wife was very angry. The dog was barking and when she heard the dog she came out and saw what happened and was very angry.
The chief’s wife asked the chicken, “Why did you scatter the cereals that were put on a mat to dry in the sun?”
“It’s not my fault. It was the bees who came and strung me and I was in pain and shocked. It’s not my fault.”
She asked the bees.
“It’s not our fault. The donkey came and kicked our beehive and the honey was all scattered and we flew and stung the chicken. It’s the donkey’s fault.”
She asked the donkey.
He said, “I’m not the one. The bear came after me, to eat me, I ran away in fright. It’s his fault.”
The cause was the woman’s house and the chief ruled on that day that the bear and the woman should be separated and should not live together and should never be friends again.
From that day on, the bear lives alone in the forest, and that was when he began to eat human beings whenever he can catch one.
ድቡና ሴትየዋ
በአብዲሳ ላቤ የተተረከ
በአንድ ወቅት ድቦችና ሰዎች ጓደኞች ስለነበሩ አብረው ይኖሩ ነበር፡፡ ታዲያ አንዲት ሴት ርቧት ነበርና ገንፎ አዘጋጅታ እቤቷ ውስጥ አስቀምጣ ውሃ ለማምጣት ወደ ወንዝ ስትወርድ መንገዷ ላይ አንድ ድብ ታገኛለች፡፡ ድቡንም “በጣም ርቦኛል፡፡ ሆኖም ያዘጋጀሁት ገንፎ ለእኔ ብቻ የሚበቃና ትንሽ ስለሆነ እባክህ ቤት ስትደርስ ከላዩ ላይ እንዳትጎርስ፡፡ ሁሉንም እፈልገዋለሁና እንዳትነካብኝ እማፀንሃለሁ፡፡” አለችው፡፡
በዚህ ዓይነት ለምናው ወደ ወንዙ መንገዷን ቀጠለች፡፡ ድቡ ግን ቤት እንደደረሰ ሁሉንም ገንፎ በልቶ ሴትየዋ ወደቤት ስትመለስ የመጨረሻዋን ጉርሻ ሲጎርስ ደረሰች፡፡
“ገንፎዬን እየበላህ ነው ማለት ነው?” ብላ በንዴት ስትጠይቀው
“አዎ፣ እኔም ርቦኝ ነበር፡፡” አላት፡፡ በዚህ ጊዜ በዱላ አናቱ ላይ በጣም መታችው፡፡ ድቡም ደንግጦ ሲሸሽ አንድ አህያ ከዛፍ ጋር የታሰረበት ገመድ ስለጠለፈው ገመዱ ተበጠሰ፡፡ አህያውም ገመዱ ሲበጠስ ደንግጦ ሲሸሽ ከንቦች ቀፎ ጋር ስለተጋጨ ንቦቹ በሙሉ ከቀፎው ወጥተው በመብረር ዶሮውን ሲነድፉት ዶሮው ክንፎቹን ሲያራግብ ከአገረ ገዢው ደጃፍ ተሰጥቶ የነበረው እህል ተበትኖ መሬቱን ሞላው፡፡
የአገረ ገዢው ሚስት በሁኔታው በጣም ተናደደች፡፡ ውሻው ይጮህ ስለነበረ ምን እንደሆነ ለማየት ስትወጣ የሆነውን ሁሉ ተመለክታ በጣም ስለተናደደች ዶሮውን “እንዲደርቅልኝ ብዬ ያሰጣሁትን እህል ለምንደነው የበታተንከው?” ብላ ጠየቀችው፡፡
ዶሮውም “ጥፋቱ የእኔ አይደለም፡፡ ንቦቹ መጥተው ሲነድፉኝ በህመምና በድንጋጤ ክንፎቼን ሳራግፍ ነው፡፡ የእኔ ጥፋት አይደለም፡፡” አለ፡፡
ከዚያም ሚስትየው ንቦቹን ስትጠይቃቸው እነርሱም “የእኛ ጥፋት አይደለም፡፡ አህያው መጥቶ ቀፎአችንን ሲረግጠው ማሩ በሙሉ ስለተበተነ ዶሮውን ነደፍነው፡፡ ስለዚህ የአህያው ጥፋት ነው፡፡” አሉ፡፡
አህያውንም ስትጠይቀው እርሱም “እኔ አይደለሁም፤ ድቡ ሊበላኝ ሲያሳድደኝ በድንጋጤ ስሮጥ ነው፡፡ የእኔ ጥፋት አይደለም፡፡” አለ፡፡
ምክንያቱ የሴትየዋ ቤት መሆኑ ስለተደረሰበት አገረ ገዢው ከዚያን ጊዜ በኋላ ሴትየዋና ድቡ እንዲለያዩ፣ አብረው እንዳይኖሩና ጓደኛ መሆን እንደማይችሉ ፈረደ፡፡
ከዚያ እለት ጀምሮ ድቡ ብቻውን ጫካ ውስጥ መኖር ጀመረ፡፡ ሰዎችንም በያዛቸው ጊዜ ይበላቸው ጀመር፡፡
In the original voice — hear tales from Omo Zoneኦሞ ዞን, told in an Omo Valley language. Listen ›
Check your understandingግንዛቤዎን ይፈትሹ
At the beginning of the story, what were the bear and humans like?
What food did the woman prepare and leave in the house?
Where was the woman going when she met the bear on the way?
What did the bear do while the woman was away?
What did the woman do when she was angry at the bear?
Why did the donkey run away in terror?
For discussionለውይይት
- The woman begged the bear not to eat her porridge, but he ate it all. Do you think the bear did something wrong? Why or why not?
- The bear said, 'I was hungry too.' How do you feel about his answer? Was hunger a good reason for what he did?
- One small action by the bear caused many things to go wrong, one after another. What does this story teach us about how our actions can affect others?
- If you were the woman, what would you have done when you found the bear eating your porridge? Why?