The Coward and his Wifeፈሪው ሰውና ሚስቱ
Kafa Zoneከፋ ዞን · 2 min readደቂቃ ንባብ
Narrated by Worku Woldemariam
A husband and wife lived together. He was a coward and she was tricky. She had a lover. She wanted her lover to come to her house and she had a plan.
“Bandits have come to our village,” she said to her husband. “They are killing people around here.”
“What bandits?”
As she said this, the lover comes and bangs on the door, shouting, “Open the door!”
“So one is coming as I feared! Hide yourself!” she tells him.
The man hides in the next room (guarda – side room in hut).
The lover enters the house and says, “This house smells of men. Are there men here?"
“There is no man. I am all alone,” she says.
She brings food and they eat together.
“Water for my feet! Wash them.”
She does what he orders.
“Get me a bed. Come, let’s sleep.”
“All right.”
And they sleep.
She is pretending to take orders in fear.
At midnight the husband makes a rustling noise in his hiding place.
“Are you trying to get me killed here? Is there a man in the house?”
“Oh no sir. I’m all alone in this cottage. It’s only a calf in the guarda.”
So the husband says, “Moo! Moo!” like a calf.
The lover was happy to make a fool of the husband. In the morning he got up and had a good breakfast with butter, as is typical of lovers and he went out.
“Why did you make that noise?” she says to her husband when the bandit goes. “He would have killed us for the noise you made.”
“Oh, I, your husband, I simply pretended to be a calf and what’s the matter with that? I did the right thing for your sake.” (He knows the truth but pretends.)
ፈሪው ሰውና ሚስቱ
በወርቁ ወልደማሪያም የተተረከ
አንድ ፈሪ ባልና ተንኮለኛ ሚስቱ አብረው ይኖሩ ነበር፡፡ ሚስቱ ውሽማ ነበራትና ውሽማዋ ወደቤቷ እንዲመጣ ስለፈለገች አንድ ዘዴ ቀየሰች፡፡
ባሏንም “ሽፍቶች ወደዚህ መንደር መጥተው ሰው እየገደሉ ነው፡፡” አለችው፡፡
“የምን ሽፍቶች?”
በዚህ ጊዜ ውሽማዋ መጥቶ “በሩን ክፈቺ!” እያለ በሩን ይደበድብ ጀመር፡፡
ሚስትየውም “ይኸው! ሽፍታው መጣ! በል ተደበቅ!” ስትለው ባልየው ወደጓዳ ገብቶ ተደበቀ፡፡ ውሽማውም ገብቶ “ይህ ቤት ወንድ፣ ወንድ ይሸታል፡፡ እዚህ ቤት ውስጥ ወንድ አለ?” ብሎ ጠየቀ፡፡
ሚስትየውም “ማንም ወንድ የለም፡፡ ብቻዬን ነኝ፡፡” አለችው፡፡
ከዚያም ምግብ አቅርባ አብረው ከበሉ በኋላ ሽፍታው “ለእግሬ ውሃ አምጥተሸ እጠቢኝ!” ብሎ አዘዛት፡፡
እርሷም የተባለችውን አደረገች፡፡
ከዚያም “አልጋ አዘጋጂልኝና መጥተሸ አብረን እንተኛ!” ብሎ አዘዛት ሚስትየውም “እሺ” ብላ አብረው ተኙ፡፡
እሷም አውቃ ትዕዛዝ እየተቀበለች በማስመሰል ከቆየች በኋላ እኩለ ሌሊት ሲሆን ባልየው ከተደበቀበት ቦታ ማንኮሻኮሽ ይጀምራል፡፡
በዚህ ጊዜ ውሽማው “እዚህ ልታስገድይኝ ነው እንዴ? እዚህ ቤት ወንድ አለ?” ብሎ ሲጮህባት “ኧረ ጌታዬ የለም፡፡ እኔ በዚህ ጎጆ ውስጥ ብቻዬን ነው የምኖረው፡፡ ጥጃዋ ናት ከጓዳ የምታንኮሻኩሸው፡፡” አለችው፡፡
ባልየውም ልክ እንደ ጥጃ “ሙ-----!ሙ-----!” እያለ መጮህ ጀመረ፡፡
ውሽማውም ባልየውን በማሞኘቱ ተደሰተ፡፡ በማግስቱ ጠዋት ተነስቶ ጥሩ ቁርስ በቅቤ (ልክ ፍቅረኞች እንደሚያደርጉት) ከበላ በኋላ ተነስቶ ሄደ፡፡
ሚስትየውም ሽፍታው ከሄደ በኋላ “ያንን ድምፅ ለምንድነው ያሰማኸው? ሊገድለን ይችል ነበር እኮ!” አለችው፡፡ እሱም “አሃ! እኔ ያንቺ ባል! አውቄ እኮ ነው እንደ ጥጃ የሆንኩት፡፡ ታዲያ ይህ ምን ችግር አለው? ለአንቺ ስል እኮ ነው ይህን ያደረኩት፡፡” (እውነቱን ቢያውቀውም እንዳልገባው ሆኖ አሳለፈ፡፡)
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Check your understandingግንዛቤዎን ይፈትሹ
What kind of person was the husband?
Why did the wife say bandits had come to the village?
Where did the husband hide?
When the lover asked if there was a man in the house, what did the wife say?
What did the wife say the noise in the side room was?
What sound did the husband make to pretend he was a calf?
For discussionለውይይት
- The husband heard everything but pretended to be a calf instead of standing up to the lover. What does this show about his character?
- The wife was called 'tricky.' Do you think her plan was clever, unkind, or both? Explain why.
- How do you think the husband felt while he was hiding and pretending to moo like a calf? Would you have done the same?
- What lesson or warning do you think this folktale is trying to teach the people who hear it?