The Hyena and the Lionጅብና አንበሳ
Omo Zoneኦሞ ዞን · 2 min readደቂቃ ንባብ
Narrated by Iyasu Origo
Nine hyenas and a lion went hunting and caught ten cows and bulls. The lion said, “I will have nine and you will have one.”
They said, “How? We are nine. Is it fair that we have only one and you have nine?”
“Yes,” the lion said, “I am one and when I get nine that makes ten. You are nine and when you get one that also makes ten.”
The hyenas were afraid to challenge him when they saw his fiery eyes and they went to their father and told him how he gave them one and took nine and the reason, according to the lion, was that you are nine and I am one and it makes ten, and vice versa.
The father of the hyenas was very angry.
“Why does he do that? It isn’t right. I will go to him with the one cow that he gave and take her to him and demand that you deserve nine.”
So off he went with his children. But on the way the children told him that he could not convince the lion.
“He was very strong, and he wouldn’t let us have the nine cows although we demand them.”
“I’ll show you,” the father boasted.
After walking for some time he asked them, “What is this little hill we are heading for?”
They said, “It’s not a hill. It’s the lion.”
Then they went some distance.
“Look, now we have reached grassland.”
“No, it’s not grassland. It’s the lion’s mane.”
Then, after some distance, he said, “Now we are coming to a ball of fire.”
“No, it’s not a ball of fire. It’s the lion’s eyes.”
When he met the lion, the lion roared and said, “Where are you going?”
“Well, I have come to give you this cow. You deserve to have ten cows.”
And all of them went back in disgrace and the lion was happy and felt his strength all the more.
ጅብና አንበሳ
በእያሱ ኦሪጎ የተተረከ
ዘጠኝ ጅቦችና አንድ አንበሳ አደን ወጥተው አስር ላሞችና በሬዎችን አድነው ያዙ፡፡ አንበሳውም “እኔ ዘጠኙን ወስጄ እናንተ አንዱን ትወስዳላችሁ፡፡” ሲላቸው ጅቦቹም “ይህ እንዴት ይሆናል? እኛ ዘጠኝ ሆነን ሳለ አንተ ዘጠኙን ወስደህ ለእኛ አንድ መስጠትህ ሚዛናዊ ነውን?” አሉት፡፡
አንበሳውም “አዎ እኔ አንድ ነኝ፡፡ ዘጠኙን ስወስድ አስር እንሆናለን፡፡ እናንተም ዘጠኝ ናችሁ፡፡ አንዷን ላም ስትጨምሩ አስር ትሆናላችሁ፡፡” አላቸው፡፡
ጅቦቹም የአንበሳውን አስፈሪ አይኖች በተመለከቱ ጊዜ ስለፈሩት ወደ አባታቸው በመሄድ አንበሳው ለእነርሱ አንድ ሰጥቷቸው ለራሱ ዘጠኝ እንደወሰደና ይኸውም አንበሳው እኛ ዘጠኝ በመሆናችንና እርሱ ግን አንድ በመሆኑ ክፍፍሉ በዚህ ዓይነት መደረጉ ሚዛናዊ እንደሆነ በማመኑ ነው አሉት፡፡ የጅቦቹም አባት በሁኔታው በጣም ተናዶ “እንዴት እንደዚህ ያደርጋል? ይህ ትክክል አይደለም፡፡ እንዲያውም የሰጣችሁን አንዲት ላም ወደ እርሱ ዘንድ ይዤ ሄጄ ዘጠኝ ሊሰጣችሁ እንደሚገባ እነግረዋለሁ፡፡” ብሎ ልጆቹንም አስከትሎ ወደ አንበሳው ዘንድ አመሩ፡፡ ነገር ግን በመንገዳቸው ላይ የጅቡ ልጆች አባታቸው አንበሳውን ሊያሳምነው እንደማይችል ይጎተጉቱት ጀመር፡፡ “አንበሳው በጣም ጠንካራ በመሆኑ ዘጠኙን ላሞች እንዲሰጠን ብንጠይቀውም ሊሰጠን ፈቃደኛ አልሆነም፡፡” አሉት፡፡
አባታቸውም “እኔ አሳያችኋለሁ፡፡” ብሎ በመኩራራት ተናገረ፡፡ አብረውም ጥቂት ከተጓዙ በኋላ አባታቸው ልጆቹን “ይህች ፊት ለፊታችን ያለችው ትንሽ ጉብታ ምንድናት?” ብሎ ሲጠይቃቸው እነርሱም “ጉብታ ሳትሆን አንበሳው እኮ ነው፡፡” አሉት፡፡ ከዚያም ጥቂት ከተጓዙ በኋላ አባታቸው “አሁን የሳር ምድር አጠገብ ደርሰናል፡፡” ሲላቸው ልጆቹም “የሳር ምድር ሳይሆን የአንበሳው ጎፈሬ ነው፡፡” አሉት፡፡ አሁንም ጥቂት ከተራመዱ በኋላ አባታቸው “አሁን ወደ እሳት ኳሶች እየተቃረብን ነው፡፡” ሲላቸው እነርሱም “የእሳት ኳሶች ሳይሆኑ የአንበሳው አይኖች ናቸው፡፡” አሉት፡፡
አባትየው ጅብ አንበሳው አጠገብ በደረሰ ጊዜ አንበሳው “ወዴት እየሄድክ ነው?” ብሎ አጓራበት፡፡ በዚህ ጊዜ አባትየው ጅብ “ይህችን ላም ልሰጥህ ነው የመጣሁት፡፡ አንተ አስር ላሞች ሊደርሱህ ይገባል፡፡” ብሎት ጅቦቹ ያመጧትን ላም አስረክበው ወደ መጡበት በሃፍረት ሲመለሱ አንበሳው በፊናው ደስ ብሎት ኃያልነቱን በይበልጥ አረጋገጠ፡፡
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Check your understandingግንዛቤዎን ይፈትሹ
How many hyenas went hunting with the lion?
How many cows and bulls did they catch in total?
How many of the animals did the lion want to keep for himself?
Why were the hyenas afraid to argue with the lion?
How did the hyenas' father feel when he heard what the lion did?
When the father saw the lion from far away, what did he think it was?
For discussionለውይይት
- The lion said that one and nine both make ten, so the share was fair. Do you think this was a fair way to divide the animals? Why or why not?
- The father of the hyenas boasted that he could change the lion's mind. What do you think will happen when he meets the lion? Why?
- The children warned their father that the lion was very strong, but he did not listen. What does this tell us about the father?
- When the father saw the lion's body, he thought it was a hill and grassland. How do you think he felt as he got closer and understood the truth?