The Lion's Songየአንበሳው ዘፈን

Gambelaጋምቤላ · 1 min readደቂቃ ንባብ

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Narrated by Alami Akwur

Once there was a girl living with her grandmother. One day, youngsters from her village went to another village to play, but her grandmother said, "First pound the grain and cook the food, and then go."

When the other youngsters left, she did everything for her grandmother.

When she had finished cooking, her grandmother said, "Now eat, or you will be hungry on the way."

So she ate, but everyone had gone. Then, when she was walking towards the village, she met a lion on the path. She sang this song so that the lion would not eat her.

"Lion, when you eat me, eat only my back,
Leaving my front behind for Alang's sons.
Alang's sons are playing the drum.
Oguta Nyimaro is one of them.
He cannot play the drum, so he did not go out to play.
He will be eaten by the lion today.
Go and eat him instead of me."

The lion said, "Yes, I will eat you later on."

Then the lion followed her and she repeated the song until they were near the village. And her husband, with a group of friends, heard her voice and he came up ready, and speared the lion with his spear.

When the lion fell, it said, "Please, spear me again."

He replied, "Why? If you had eaten my wife, would you have eaten her again?"

The meaning of the girl's song is: eat my back, not my front, so that my husband will recognise my face.

የአንበሳው ዘፈን

በአላሚ አክውር የተተረከ

አንዲት ከሴት አያቷ ጋር የምትኖር ልጃገረድ ነበረች፡፡ ታዲያ አንድ ቀን የመንደሯ ወጣቶች ወደ ሌላ መንደር ለመጫወት ሲሄዱ የእርሷ አያት “እህሉን ፈጭተሸ ከጋገርሽ በኋላ ነው የምትሄጂው፡፡” አሏት፡፡

ሌሎች ወጣቶች ሲሄዱ እርሷ ለአያቷ ሁሉንም ሥራ ሠራችላቸው፡፡ ማብሰሉን ስትጨርስም አያቷ “አሁን ምግብ ብዪ፤ ካለበለዚያ መንገድ ላይ ይርብሻል፡፡” አሏት፡፡

እናም በላች ነገር ግን ሁሉም ጥለዋት ሄደዋል፡፡ ከዚያም ብቻዋን ወደ መንደሩ እየሄደች ሳለ መንገዷ ላይ አንድ አንበሳ አገኘች፡፡ አንበሳውም እንዳይበላት የሚከተለውን ዘፈን ዘፈነችለት፡፡

“አንበሳ ሆይ፣ ስትበላኝ ኋላዬን ብቻ ብላ
ፊት ለፊቴን ለኦላንግ ልጆች ተውላቸው
የኦላንግ ልጆች ከበሮ እየመቱ ነው
አጉታ ንዲማሩም ከእርሱ አንዱ ነው
ከበሮ መምታት ስለማይችል ወደ ጨዋታው አልሄደም
ዛሬ በአንበሳው ይበላል”

አንበሳውም “አዎን አንቺን በኋላ እበላሻለሁ፡፡” አላት፡፡ ከዚያም አንበሳው እየተከታተላት እርሷ እየዘፈነችለት ከመንደሩ አጠገብ ደረሱ፡፡

ፍቅረኛዋም ከጓደኞቹ ጋር በመሆን ድምጿን ስለሰማ ተዘጋጅቶ በመምጣት አንበሳውን በጦር ወጋው፡፡

አንበሳውም ሲወድቅ እንዲህ አለ “እባክህ እንደገና ውጋኝ?” ፍቅረኛዋም “ለምን? ፍቅረኛዬን በልተሃት ቢሆን ኖሮ እንደገና ትበላት ነበር?” አለው፡፡

የልጅቷ ዘፈን ትርጉም “ከኋላዬ ብላኝ ከፊቴ ሳይሆን ፍቅረኛዬ ፊቴን አይቶ ይለየኝ ዘንድ” ማለት ነው፡፡

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

Check your understandingግንዛቤዎን ይፈትሹ

Who did the girl live with at the start of the story?
What did the grandmother tell the girl to do before going to play?
Why was the girl walking alone on the path?
What animal did the girl meet on the path?
Why did the girl sing the song to the lion?
Who heard the girl's voice and came to spear the lion?

For discussionለውይይት

The girl was clever and used a song to protect herself from the lion. What other clever things could a person do if they met danger on a path?
When the lion fell, it asked to be speared again, and the husband refused. What do you think the husband meant by his answer about his wife?
The girl obeyed her grandmother even though it meant everyone else left without her. Do you think she made a good choice? Why or why not?
In her song, the girl asked the lion to eat someone else instead of her. What do you think about trying to save yourself by sending danger to another person?