The Dog and the Donkey that Brayedውሻውና የሚያናፋው አህያ
Amharaአማራ · 2 min readደቂቃ ንባብ
Narrated by Magabi Enyew Gessesse
The donkey and the dog were living together.
The donkey said to the dog, “They put everything on my back. Heavy things. And they don’t even let me eat what I carry for them on my back. And you, dog, you guard the house day and night and they give you nothing except a few bones. Why don’t we run from our wicked masters and go and live with another master?”
So they went off.
They reached a forest with very green grass and water. The donkey ate and drank, while the dog slept.
After eating that she said, “Let me bray once in this lovely forest.”
“No, I’m afraid. Please don’t. I can’t protect you from danger.”
“But I can’t resist it.”
And she brayed. The hyena heard her from very far away and he was wondering from where the braying came.
For the second time she ate grass and said, “Let me bray.”
“The first bray was to notify the hyena that you are here," said the dog. "The second one will be to get him here. So don’t.”
“I can’t, I can’t, my stomach is full, so I must bray, or I can’t be happy.”
“All right. Go ahead.”
So she brayed for the second time.
The hyena came.
“So you are here! You shouldn’t be here.”
He killed her. The hyena ate as much as he could, then he saw the dog lying there.
“How about you? What are you doing here?”
He told him what they had planned and how they had run away from their masters.
“What's your job?”
“To look after my master’s cows.”
“So now,” the hyena says, “Why did you come?”
“He mistreated me, he doesn’t give me enough food. So I discussed it with the donkey. We thought a good master might take us, so we came this way.”
“So look after the rest of the meat while I am away.”
When the hyena roamed around and came back, he gave him what he had kept for him, but the heart wasn’t there.
“Where is the heart?”
“Oh sir, she has no{footnote}Traditionally, the heart is thought to be the seat of a person's intelligence.{/footnote} heart! Since she was born she didn’t have a heart, she was so weak and foolish. If she had had a heart, she wouldn’t have brayed.”
ውሻውና የሚያናፋው አህያ
በመጋቢ እንየው ገሠሠ
በአንድ ወቅት አህያና ውሻ አብረው ይኖሩ ነበር፡፡
ታዲያ አንድ ቀን አህያው ውሻውን እንዲህ አለው፡፡ “ሁሉንም ነገር ይጭኑብኛል፡፡ ከባድ ዕቃዎችን ጭምር ሲጭኑኝ የተሸከምኩላቸውን ጭነት እንኳን አያስበሉኝም፡፡ አንተም ብትሆን ቤታቸውን ሌት ተቀን እየጠበክ ከጥቂት አጥንቶች በስተቀር ምንም አይሰጡህም፡፡ ታዲያ ለምድነው ከዚህ ክፉ ጌታችን ጠፍተን ከሌላ ጌታ ዘንድ የማንኖረው?” እናም ተያይዘው ጠፉ፡፡
በመንገዳቸውም ላይ ለምለም ሣርና ውሃ አገኙ፡፡ ውሻው ተኝቶ ሣለ አህያው መብላትና መጠጣት ጀመረ፡፡
አህያው ከጠገበ በኋላ ውሻውን “በዚህ ደስ የሚል ጫካ ውስጥ እባክህ አንድ ጊዜ ላናፋ፡፡” ብሎ አማከረው፡፡
“እባክህ እኔ ፈርቻለሁ፤ አትጩህ፡፡ እኔም ከአደጋ አላድንህም፡፡”
“እባክህ አልቻልኩም”
ከዚያም አህያው ማናፋት ጀመረ፡፡ ጅብም ድምፁን ከሩቅ ሰምቶ የድምፁን አቅጣጫ ያፈላልግ ጀመር፡፡
አህያው አሁንም ሣሩን ጋጥ ጋጥ አድርጎ “እባክህ ልጩህ” አለ፡፡
“የመጀመሪያው ጩኸትህ ያለህበትን ለጅቡ ይጠቁማል እንደገና ከጮህክ ጅቡ ያገኘናልና እባክህ ይቅርብህ፡፡”
“አልችልም፣ አልችልም ሆዴ በጣም ስለጠገበ ማናፋት አለብኝ አለበለዚያ ደስተኛ አልሆንም፡፡” ሲለው ውሻውም “እንግዲያው ግፋበት፡፡” አለው እናም አህያው ለሁለተኛ ጊዜ ሲያናፋ ጅቡ መጥቶ “እዚህ ነው እንዴ ያለኽው? እዚህ መገኘት የለብህም፡፡” ብሎት አህያውን ገደለው፡፡
ጅቡም የቻለውን ያህል ከበላ በኋላ የተኛውን ውሻ አይቶ “አንተስ? ምን እያደረግክ ነው?” አለው፡፡
ውሻውም ስለጉዟቸውና ከጌታቸው ጠፍተው እየሄዱ መሆኑን ለጅቡ ነገረው፡፡
ጅቡም “ያንተ ሥራ ምንድነው?” አለው፡፡
“የጌታዬን ላሞች መጠበቅ፡፡”
“ታዲያ አሁን ምን ልታደርግ መጣህ?” አለው ጅቡ፡፡
“ጌታዬ ያንገላታኛል፤ በቂ ምግብም አይሰጠኝም፡፡ ስለዚህ ከአህያው ጋር ተመካክረን ጥሩ ጌታ እናገኛለን ብለን ወደዚህ መጣን፡፡” አለው፡፡
ጅቡም “እንግዲያው የቀረውን ሥጋ ጠብቅልኝ፡፡” ብሎ ዞር ዞር ብሎ ሲመለስ ውሻው የጠበቀውን ሥጋ አስረከበው፡፡ የአህያው ልብ ግን አልነበረም፡፡
“ልቡ የታለ?” ብሎ ጅቡ ቢጠይቅ ውሻው “ጌታዬ ሆይ አህያው፣ ልብ የለውም{footnote}በተለምዶ ልብ የብልህነት መገኛ ነው ተብሎ ይታመናል፡፡{/footnote}፡፡ ከተወለደ ጀምሮ ልብ ኖሮት አያውቅም፡፡ ጅልና ደካማ ነበር፡፡ ልብ ቢኖረውማ ባላናፋ ነበር፡፡” አለው ይባላል፡፡
In the original voice — hear tales from Amharaአማራ, told in Amharic. Listen ›
Check your understandingግንዛቤዎን ይፈትሹ
Which two animals decided to run away together?
Why did the donkey want to leave their masters?
What did the masters give the dog for guarding the house?
What was the forest like where the donkey and dog stopped?
What did the dog warn would happen if the donkey brayed a second time?
What happened to the donkey after she brayed the second time?
For discussionለውይይት
- The dog warned the donkey not to bray, but she did it anyway. What do you think this teaches us about listening to good advice?
- The donkey said she could not be happy unless she brayed. Was her braying worth what happened to her? Explain your thinking.
- How do you think the dog felt when the hyena turned to him after the donkey was killed? What might happen next?
- The donkey and dog left their old masters because they felt treated unfairly. Do you think running away was a good choice for them? Why or why not?