Ethiopian Folktales

The Hyena, the Fox and the Monkeyጅብ፣ቀበሮና ጦጣ

Somaliaሶማሌ · 1 min readደቂቃ ንባብ

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Narrated by Yusuf Adem Mandre

In the old days the hyena and the fox lived together. One day they quarrelled, so they went to the monkey and asked her to judge the quarrel.

“The fox has called me a thief,” said the hyena.

The fox tried to give the monkey a present to bribe her.

The monkey said, “Before you start presenting your cases, you have to have someone to pay bail for you.”

The hyena said, “I want my guarantor to be the fox,” and the fox said he wanted the hyena.

So the monkey looked at them thoughtfully and said, “You are both wrong because since you have chosen each other to be guarantor I see no reason to judge you. You have pretended that you fought over something when in fact there’s no quarrel between you. If it was another judge presiding over this case, he would have charged you a lot of money for your foolishness. But because I am a close friend of you both, I will only charge you five birr{footnote}Birr is the main unit of currency in Ethiopia.{/footnote} each.”

ጅብ፣ቀበሮና ጦጣ

በዩሱፍ አደም ማንደሬ የተተረከ

በድሮ ጊዜ ጅብና ቀበሮ አብረው ይኖሩ ነበር፡፡ ታዲያ ከእለታት አንድ ቀን ተጣልተው ወደ ጦጣ በመሄድ ጦጣዋ ፍርድ እንድትሰጣቸው ጠየቋት፡፡

ጅቡም “ቀበሮው ሌባ ብሎ ሰድቦኛል፡፡” ብሎ ክሱን አቀረበ፡፡ ቀበሮውም ጦጣዋን በስጦታ ሊደልላት ሞከረ፡፡ ጦጣዋም “ክሳችሁን ከማቅረባችሁ በፊት የዋስ ክፍያ የሚከፍልላችሁን መፈለግ አለባችሁ፡፡” አለችው፡፡

ጅቡም “ተያዤ ቀበሮው እንዲሆን እፈልጋለሁ፡፡” ሲል ቀበሮውም ተያዡ ጅቡ እንዲሆን መፈለጉን ተናገረ፡፡ ጦጣዋም በአንክሮ ከተመለከተቻቸው በኋላ “ሁለታችሁም ተሳስታችኋል፡፡ እርስ በርሳችሁ ተያዥ ስለሆናችሁ የእናንተን ጉዳይ የምፈርድበት ምንም ምክንያት የለኝም፡፡ በሁለታችሁ መካከል ጠብ ሳይኖር እንደተጣላችሁ አስመስላችሁ ነውና የመጣችሁት ይህንን ጉዳይ የሚመለከተው ሌላ ዳኛ ቢሆን ኖሮ ለሞኝነታችሁ ብዙ ገንዘብ ይቀጣችሁ ነበር፡፡ ነገር ግን እኔ የሁለታችሁም የቅርብ ጓደኛ በመሆኔ እያንዳንዳችሁን አምስት አምስት ብር{footnote}ብር በኢትዮጵያ ዋና የመገበያያ ገንዘብ ነው፡፡{/footnote} ብቻ እቀጣችኋለሁ፡፡” አለቻቸው፡፡

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Check your understandingግንዛቤዎን ይፈትሹ

  1. In the old days, who lived together at the start of the story?

  2. Why did the hyena and the fox go to the monkey?

  3. What did the hyena say the fox had called him?

  4. What did the fox try to do to the monkey?

  5. Whom did the hyena choose to be his guarantor?

  6. How much money did the monkey charge each of them?

For discussionለውይይት

  • The monkey said the hyena and the fox were not really fighting at all. What in the story made her believe this? Do you agree with her?
  • The fox tried to give the monkey a present before the case began. Why do you think this was wrong? What should he have done instead?
  • The monkey said another judge would have charged them a lot of money for their foolishness. What lesson do you think the hyena and the fox learned that day?
  • If you were the monkey, would you have charged the two friends any money at all? Explain why or why not.