Ethiopian Folktales

The Foolish Farmerሞኙ ገበሬ

Amharaአማራ · 2 min readደቂቃ ንባብ

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Narrated by Kassa Alamrew

Once there was a farmer who used to go to his land carrying his lunch with him. He usually ate his lunch at twelve. While he is eating his lunch he never undoes the yoke of his oxen. He used to divide his lunch in two and put some in one place and some in another. He took one swallow, continued ploughing his land, took another bite from the other end of the furrow and so ate without resting.

While he was doing this a bird of prey came and took one of his dishes, and started eating the lunch, while squawking.

The farmer cursed the bird and said, “You might think you have upset me, but you haven’t. I know it’s a great feast for you to have such a delicious lunch while your friends are suffering in the desert.”

Therefore, from this time on, he was called Godehegn – that is, you have hurt me.

The same farmer, after having done a huge ploughing during rainy season, went back to his house. His wife was waiting for him, having prepared a very delicious supper and a fire to sit beside.

So he started eating the supper, sitting beside the fire.

There was a noise from outside, and some of his neighbours came into his house and said, “Your oxen have come into my fields!”

So he said he would go out to collect the oxen.

But his wife said, “Leave it to me. I’ll do it.”

Everyone followed his wife.

He took off his shorts and started enjoying the fire.

From a distance a cat saw his penis and the cat thought his penis was a rat. She jumped over and bit it. As he screamed the cat started to drag him away. He screamed and screamed.

In the meantime his wife arrived and saw the situation. At once she took a big stick and she beat the cat in the middle of her back, the cat was killed and the man released.

ሞኙ ገበሬ

በካሣ አላምረው የተተረከ

በአንድ ወቅት ምሳውን እየያዘ ወደ እርሻ ቦታው ይሄድ የነበረ ገበሬ ነበር፡፡ ምሳውንም ሁልጊዜ በስድስት ሰዓት ይበላ ነበር፡፡ ታዲያ ምሳውን በሚበላ ጊዜ በሬዎቹን በፍፁም አይፈታም ነበር፡፡ ምሳውንም ለሁለት ከፍሎ ግማሹን አንድ ቦታ ግማሹን ደግሞ ሌላ ቦታ ያስቀምጥ ነበር፡፡ አንድ ጉርሻ ከአንድ መዳረሻ ይጎርስና ሌላውን ከሌላው መዳረሻ እየጎረሰ ያለእረፍት እየበላ ያርስ ነበር፡፡

እንደዚህም እያደረገ ሳለ አንድ አሞራ መጥቶ አንዱን የምሳ እቃ ወስዶ እየጮኸ ምሳውን ይበላበት ጀመር፡፡

ገበሬውም አሞራውን እየረገመ እንዲህ አለው፡፡ “የጎዳኸኝ መስሎህ ይሆናል፡፡ በእርግጥ ጓደኞችህ በበረሃ ሲሰቃዩ አንተ ይህንን የመሰለ ጣፋጭ ምግብ ማግኘትህ ትልቅ ዕድል ነው፡፡”

በዚህም ምክንያት ገበሬው “ጎዳኸኝ” እየተባለ ይጠራ ጀመር፡፡

ታዲያ ይኸው ገበሬ ከዕለታት አንድ ቀን በክረምት ብዙ ሲያርስ ውሎ ወደቤቱ ይመለሳል፡፡ ሚስቱም በጣም ጥሩ እራት አብስላና የሚሞቀው እሳት አያይዣ ትጠብቀው ነበር፡፡

እሱም እሳቱ አጠገብ ቁጭ ብሎ እራቱን መብላት ጀመረ፡፡ ከደጅ “ከብቶችህ ማሳዬ ውስጥ ገቡ!”

የሚል የጎረቤት ጩኸት ሰምቶ በሬዎቹን ሊያስገባ እንደሚወጣ ሲናገር ሚስቱ “እሱን ለእኔ ተወው፡፡ እኔ አስገባቸዋለሁ፡፡” አለችው፡፡

ይህንን ብላ ሚስቱ ስትወጣ ሰው ሁሉ ተከተላት፡፡ ታዲያ እሱ ቁምጣውን አውልቆ እሳቱን መሞቅ ጀመረ፡፡ በዚህ ጊዜ ከሩቅ ብልቱን ያየች ድመት አይጥ መስሏት ዘላ ነከሰችው፡፡ ድመቷም የሰውየውን ጩኸት ስትሰማ መጎተቷን ቀጠለች፡፡ እሱም ጩኸቱን አላቆመም፡፡

ይህ በእንዲህ እንዳለ ሚስቱ ወደቤት ስትመለስ ሁኔታውን አይታ በፍጥነት ትልቅ ዱላ አንስታ የድመቷን መሃል ወገብ ብትላት ድመቷ ሞተች፤ ሰውየውም ተረፈ፡፡

In the original voice — hear tales from Amharaአማራ, told in Amharic. Listen ›

Check your understandingግንዛቤዎን ይፈትሹ

  1. What did the farmer carry with him to his land?

  2. At what time did the farmer usually eat his lunch?

  3. What did the farmer do with his oxen while he ate his lunch?

  4. What animal came and took one of the farmer's dishes?

  5. What new name was the farmer given, meaning 'you have hurt me'?

  6. When the neighbours said the oxen had come into their fields, who went to collect them?

For discussionለውይይት

  • Why do you think the farmer never stopped to rest while he ate and ploughed? What does this tell us about him?
  • The farmer told the bird, 'You might think you have upset me, but you haven't.' Do you think he was really not upset? Explain your answer.
  • At the end of the story, the wife says, 'Leave it to me. I'll do it.' Why do you think she offered to go instead of her husband?
  • What lesson or message do you think this story is trying to teach? Share your own ideas.