Ethiopian Folktales

The Greedy Dogስስታሙ ውሻ

Omo Zoneኦሞ ዞን · 1 min readደቂቃ ንባብ

Text size Share

Narrated by Zarke Goite

The dog went to a funeral service of an old well-known dog. She saw a big piece of meat and grabbed it and went out.

“I must eat this good meat with my child,” she said, and went fast to reach home safely with the meat.

As she was going home she was about to pass a pond. She looked into it and saw the reflection of the meat she had in her mouth. It looked bigger than the one she was carrying. She wanted to take the bigger one which she saw, so she opened her mouth and let go of the meat she was holding. When the meat fell into the water it was gone. She was still trying to catch the one that she had seen.

And so she went home crying in regret because she had lost what she had.

ስስታሙ ውሻ

በዛርኬ ጎይቴ የተተረከ

አንዲት ውሻ በአንድ ወቅት ወደ አንድ ታዋቂና ያረጀ ውሻ የቀብር ስነ ስርአት ላይ ተገኝታ ያየችውን ትልቅ የስጋ ጉማጅ መንትፋ በመውጣት “ይህንን ጥሩ ስጋ ከልጄ ጋር ነው መብላት ያለብኝ፡፡” በማለት በፍጥነት ስጋውን ይዛ በሰላም ወደቤቷ ለማድረስ ሮጠች፡፡ ሆኖም ከቤቷ አቅራቢያ ካለው አንድ ኩሬ ዘንድ ደርሳ ልትሻገር ስትል አቆልቁላ ስትመለከት በአፏ የያዘችውን ስጋ ምስል ውሃው ውስጥ ተመለከተች፡፡ ስጋውም በአፏ ውስጥ ከያዘችው ስጋ ገዝፎ ስለታያት ውሃው ውስጥ ያየችውን ትልቅ ስጋ ለመውሰድ በመፈለግ አፏን ስትከፍት ይዛው የነበረው ስጋ ውሃው ውስጥ ወድቆ ጠፋ፡፡ ሆኖም ውሻዋ አሁንም ውሃው ውስጥ ያየችውን ስጋ ለመያዝ ብትሞክርም ስላልቻለች በፀፀት እያለቀሰች የያዘችውን ስጋ አጥታ ወደቤቷ ተመለሰች፡፡

In the original voice — hear tales from Omo Zoneኦሞ ዞን, told in an Omo Valley language. Listen ›

Check your understandingግንዛቤዎን ይፈትሹ

  1. Where did the dog go at the beginning of the story?

  2. What did the dog grab and take with her?

  3. Who did the dog want to eat the meat with?

  4. What did the dog see when she looked into the pond?

  5. Why did the dog open her mouth and let go of her meat?

  6. What happened to the meat when it fell into the water?

For discussionለውይይት

  • The reflection looked bigger than the real meat, but it was not real. What does this teach us about wanting more than what we already have?
  • How do you think the dog felt when she went home crying? Have you ever lost something because you wanted more?
  • Why do you think the dog believed the meat in the water was bigger? What was the dog's mistake?
  • What lesson can we learn from this story about being greedy? What could the dog have done differently?