Ethiopian Folktales

The Hyena who Looked upየሚያንጋጥጠው ጅብ

Gambelaጋምቤላ · 1 min readደቂቃ ንባብ

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Narrated by Okok Ojulo

Once upon a time the men of the village went hunting. They killed some wild animals and established a camping place where they could dry the meat so they could take it home. Birds flew over the camp in a flock. These birds flew overhead, following the smell of the meat which was being smoked.

A hyena saw the birds and followed them, knowing they would lead him to food. But he was only looking up at the birds and the smoke and he blundered right into the camp and up to the fire and stuck his foot right in the dish. When he noticed that his leg was being burned, everyone stood up and the hyena fell down and they all laughed at it and it ran away without being hurt.

A moral – look where you’re going. Be careful. Look in front in case you’re eaten by something.

የሚያንጋጥጠው ጅብ

በኦኮክ አጁሎ የተተረከ

በአንድ ወቅት የአንድ መንደር ወንዶች ወደ አደን ሄዱ፡፡ የዱር እንስሳትም ገድለው ወደቤት ይዘው የሚሄዱትን ሥጋ የሚደብቁበት ቦታ አዘጋጁ፡፡ አሞራዎችም በስፍራው ላይ እያንዣበቡ በቡድን ያልፉ ጀመር፡፡ በጭስ እየደረቀ ያለውንም ስጋ ጠረን እየተከተሉ ያንዣብቡ ጀመር፡፡

አንድ ጅብ የአሞራዎቹን አቅጣጫ በመመልከት ሥጋ ወዳለበት ቦታ እንደሚወስዱት ስለሚያውቅ ተከተላቸው፡፡ ነገር ግን ወደ አሞራዎቹ እያንጋጠጠና ጭሱን እየተከተለ ሲሄድ በድንገት ከሥፍራው ደርሶ እሳቱ አጠገብ በመጋጨት አንድ እግሩ ድስቱ ውስጥ ገባበት፡፡

እግሩም እየተቃጠለ መሆኑ ሲሰማው ሁሉም ብድግ ብለው ሲያዩት ጅቡ ደንግጦ ስለወደቀ ሰው ሁሉ ስቆበት ሌላ ጉዳት ሳይደርስበት ሮጦ ሄደ፡፡

የዚህ ተረት መልዕክት የምንሄድበትን እናስተውል፤ በጥንቃቄም እንጓዝ፤ አውሬ እንዳይበላንም ፊታችንን እንመልከት የሚል ነው፡፡

In the original voice — hear tales from Gambelaጋምቤላ, told in Anuak. Listen ›

Check your understandingግንዛቤዎን ይፈትሹ

  1. Why did the men of the village go out at the start of the story?

  2. What did the men do with the meat at their camping place?

  3. Why did the birds fly over the camp?

  4. Why did the hyena follow the birds?

  5. What happened when the hyena walked into the camp?

  6. What did the people do when the hyena fell down?

For discussionለውይይት

  • The story says the hyena was hurt by the fire but ran away without being badly harmed. Do you think he learned his lesson? Why or why not?
  • The moral of the story is 'look where you're going.' Can you think of a time when it is important to look in front of you instead of up or away?
  • Why do you think the hyena did not notice the camp until his foot was already burning?
  • The people laughed at the hyena. How do you think the hyena felt, and how might you feel if something like this happened to you?