Ethiopian Folktales

The Hyena, the Fox and the Monkey 2ጅብ፣ ቀበሮና ጦጣ 2

Tigrayትግራይ · 1 min readደቂቃ ንባብ

Narratorተራኪ: Unknown

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Narrator Unknown

The hyena, the fox and the monkey were living together and one day they kidnapped four cows from one of the houses in the village. They took one each and one remained.

“What shall we do with the fourth?”

They discussed it.

“They said, “Let the oldest one take the fourth.”

So they agreed and they asked the hyena, “When were you born?”

He said, “Last year and before last year.”

The monkey answered, “I was born when the sky and the earth were made.”

The fox says, “That’s right. I remember. I heard a grey-haired man was born and I attended the ceremony and I had wheat porridge, cakes with butter and berberi{footnote}Very hot Ethiopian red pepper.{/footnote} in his gellop.” ( A ceremony of clothes washing after seven days after birth.)

“So who is the oldest?”

The fox.

So she took the fourth cow.

ጅብ፣ ቀበሮና ጦጣ 2

ተራኪው የማይታወቅ

ጅብ፣ ቀበሮና ጦጣ አብረው ይኖሩ ነበር፡፡ ታዲያ ከእለታት አንድ ቀን አራት ላሞችን በመንደሩ ካለው አንድ ቤት ሰረቁ፡፡ እያንዳንዳቸው አንድ፣ አንድ ላም ከተካፈሉ በኋላ “አራተኛዋን ላም እንዴት እናድርጋት” ብለው ተወያዩባት፡፡

ከዚያም “አራተኛዋን ከሁላችንም በእድሜ አንጋፋ የሆነው ይውሰዳት፡፡” አሉ፡፡

በዚህም ከተስማሙ በኋላ ጅቡን “መች ነው የተወለድከው?” ብለው ሲጠይቁት “አምናና ካቻምና፡፡” አላቸው፡፡

ጦጣውም “እኔ የተወለድኩት ሰማይና ምድር ሲፈጠሩ ነው፡፡” አለ፡፡ ቀበሮዋም “ትክክል ነው፡፡ አስታውሳለሁ፡፡ አንድ ሽበታም ሰው መወለዱን ሰምቼ በድግሱ ላይ ተሳትፌ የስንዴ ገንፎ፣ ኬክ በቅቤና በርበሬ{footnote}በርበሬ በጣም የሚያቃጥል የኢትዮጵያ ቅመም ነው፡፡{/footnote} በጌሎፑ ላይ በልቻለሁ፡፡” አለች፡፡ (ጌሎፕ ልጅ ከተወለደ ከሰባተኛው ቀን በኋላ የሚደረግ የልብስ አጠባ ስርአት ነው፡፡)

“እና አንጋፋው ማነው?”

ቀበሮዋ፡፡

እናም እርሷ አራተኛዋን ላም ወሰደች፡፡

Check your understandingግንዛቤዎን ይፈትሹ

  1. What did the hyena, the fox and the monkey kidnap from a house in the village?

  2. How many of the kidnapped animals were left over after they each took one?

  3. How did they decide who should get the fourth cow?

  4. What did the monkey say about when he was born?

  5. What did the fox say she ate at the ceremony she remembered?

  6. Who was decided to be the oldest and took the fourth cow?

For discussionለውይይት

  • The fox got the fourth cow by telling a clever story instead of being truly the oldest. Do you think this was fair? Why or why not?
  • Why do you think the three animals chose 'the oldest one' as the way to decide who gets the extra cow?
  • The fox claimed she remembered a ceremony from when a grey-haired man was born. What does this story tell us about being clever with words?
  • If you were one of the animals, how would you have shared the four cows fairly? Explain your idea.