The Monkey and the Leopardጦጣና ነብር
Omo Zoneኦሞ ዞን · 2 min readደቂቃ ንባብ
Narrated by Metekia Libri
The monkey gave birth to a child in a tree and the leopard gave birth beneath the tree. As they started growing, both children played, the monkey in the tree and the leopard on the ground.
The leopard’s child called the monkey’s child and said, “Why can’t you come down here and play with me?”
“All right.”
So she came down from the tree and they played together like friends. The monkey’s child climbed the tree to her mother when dusk fell.
The monkey’s mother asked, “Where have you been?”
“A beautiful child like me asked me to come down from the tree and I played with her.”
And the leopard’s child was asked by her mother, “How did you pass your day?”
“A beautiful child lives up the tree and we played together. We had a nice time. She had white hair on her forehead.”
“Now where is she?” asks the leopard mother. “You say she’s gone home.”
“She went home to her mother,” replied the leopard child.
“Didn’t she tell you that she would come again?”
“Yes. In fact, she’s coming tomorrow and we’ll play together like today.”
“Well, didn’t you know that you were born by nature to live on her, to eat her? When she comes tomorrow, play some jokes with her, then bite her neck.”
“All right, mother. I will eat her tomorrow.”
The mother monkey said to her child, “Why did you go there and play with her? Is it not because they are enemies and they will kill you that I went to the trouble to give birth to you in a tree? I warn you, don’t ever go to her again. If she insists that you come down and play with her, tell her that you have been advised by your mother just like she has been advised by her mother.”
And on the morrow the leopard child invited the monkey child and she said what her mother had told her.
So she was saved.
ጦጣና ነብር
በመተኪያ ሊብሪ የተተረከ
አንዲት ጦጣ ልጇን ዛፍ ላይ ስትወልድ አንዲት ነብር ደግሞ ከዛፉ ስር ወለደች፡፡ ልጆቹም እያደጉ ሲሄዱ የጦጣዋ ልጅ ዛፍ ላይ ሆና የነብሯ ልጅ ደግሞ መሬት ሆነው መጨዋወት ጀመሩ፡፡
ታዲያ አንድ ቀን የነብሯ ልጅ የጦጣዋን ልጅ ለምን ከዛፉ ላይ ወርደሽ አብረሺኝ አትጫወቺም?” ብላ ስትጠራት ጦጣዋም “እሺ” ብላ ከዛፉ ላይ በመውረድ ሁለቱ ልጆች እንደ ጓደኛ አብረው መጫወት ጀመሩ፡፡ ቀኑ በመሸም ጊዜ የጦጣዋ ልጅ ወደ እናቷ ተመልሳ ዛፍ ላይ ወጣች፡፡
የጦጣዋም እናት ልጇን “የት ነበርሽ?” ብላ ስትጠይቃት ልጅቷ “አንዲት እንደእኔ ቆንጆ ልጅ ከዛፉ እንድወርድ ጠርታኝ ከእርሷ ጋር ስጫወት ዋልኩ፡፡” ብላ መለሰችላት፡፡
በተመሳሳይ ሁኔታ የነብሯም ልጅ በእናቷ “ቀንሽን እንዴት አሳለፍሽ?” ተብላ ስትጠየቅ “አንዲት ቆንጆ ልጅ ከዛፉ ላይ ትኖራለችና ከራሷ ላይ ነጭ ፀጉር አላት፡፡” ብላ መለሰች፡፡ የነብሯም እናት “አሁን ታዲያ የት አለች? ወደቤት ሄደች ነው ያልሺኝ?” አለቻት፡፡
ልጅቷም “አዎ፣ አሁን ወደ እናቷ ተመልሳ ሄዳለች፡፡” ስትል መለሰች፡፡ ከዚያም እናቲቱ ነብር “ተመልሳ እንደምትመጣ አልነገረችሽም?” ብላ ጠየቀቻት፡፡
“አዎ! ነገ በርግጠኝነት ተመልሳ ትመጣለች፤ ልክ እንደዛሬው ስንጫወት እንውላለን፡፡”
“ለመሆኑ አንቺ የተፈጠርሺው እሷን እየበላሽ እንድትኖሪ መሆኑን አታውቂም?” ካለቻት በኋላ “ነገ ተመልሳ ስትመጣ ጥቂት ቀልዶችን ንገሪያትና ከዚያ በኋላ አንገቷ ላይ ንከሻት፡፡” አለቻት፡፡
የነብሯም ልጅ “እሺ እናቴ! ነገ ጦጣዋን እበላታለሁ፡፡” አለቻት፡፡
የጦጣዋም እናት ልጇን “ለምንድነው እዚያ ሄደሽ ከነብሯ ልጅ ጋር የተጫወትሽው? አንቺን ዛፍ ላይ ወጥቼ እንድወልድሽ የተገደድኩት እነርሱ የእኛ ጠላቶች ስለሆኑና ስለሚገድሉን አይደለም? ከዚህ በኋላ በፍፁም ወደእርሷ ተመልሰሽ እንዳትሄጂ! ነገር ግን ወርደሽ ካልተጫወትን ብላ ከወተወተችሽ እርሷን እናቷ እንደመከረቻት ሁሉ ያንቺም እናት እንደመከረችሽ ንገሪያት፡፡” አለቻት፡፡
በማግስቱም የነብሯ ልጅ የጦጣዋን ልጅ ስትጠራት የጦጣዋ ልጅ እናቷ የነገረቻትን ነገር ነገረቻት፡፡ በዚህ ዓይነት ህይወቷ ተረፈ፡፡
In the original voice — hear tales from Omo Zoneኦሞ ዞን, told in an Omo Valley language. Listen ›
Check your understandingግንዛቤዎን ይፈትሹ
Where did the monkey give birth to her child?
Where did the leopard give birth to her child?
Who first asked the other child to come down and play?
What special feature did the leopard's child say the monkey's child had?
When did the monkey's child climb back up to her mother?
What did the leopard mother tell her child to do when the monkey's child came the next day?
For discussionለውይይት
- The leopard mother told her child that she was 'born by nature' to eat the monkey. Do you think the leopard child should listen to her mother? Why or why not?
- The two children became friends before they knew they were supposed to be enemies. What does this tell us about friendship?
- How do you think the monkey's mother felt when she heard about the new 'beautiful child'? What might she warn her own child about?
- What lesson do you think this story is trying to teach us about danger and trusting others?