The Poor Man and the Gold Ringድሃው ሰውና የወርቅ ቀለበቱ
Gurage Zoneጉራጌ ዞን · 3 min readደቂቃ ንባብ
Narrated by Captain Dejene Washaka
Once there was a poor boy, who worked and earned a little money.
Once he saw a dog being beaten and he asked, “Why did you beat him?”
They answered, “Because he stole our meat.”
“Please give me the dog,” he said to them, and giving them a little money, he took him home.
On another day he saw a man beating a cat. The poor boy asked him why he did that.
“Because she ate my chicken,” he answered.
“Please give me the cat,” he said, and he took her home.
One day he met a beautiful woman crying.
“Please save me. The hyena is following me to eat me.”
(A devil can enter a person and the hyena is the one who knows – and is symbol for the buda, who can ride the hyena.)
So he saved her.
She was the daughter of a devil disguised as a woman. So she wanted to reward the poor boy, and she asked him to go with her to her home.
While they were walking she threw him into the sea and they sank down deep into the sea.
On the way to meet her father under the sea she said, “When my father says, ‘How are you?’ don’t say, ‘Thanks to God, I am fine,’ since he doesn’t like the name of God. Just say ‘Yes,’ and you will be rewarded.”
So when he was greeting her father he did as she told him and said, “Yes, yes,” and didn’t mention the name of God. She told her father how he had saved her from the hyena (who eats devil people).
“Please give him a gold ring – Atli (name of ring).”
So he gave him a gold ring. Atli is magical, and when addressed, can do anything. The girl told him this.
“Always keep it with you,” she advised.
“Right then,” he said, “Atli, take me home,” and he was at home.
“Atli, give me food,” and he brought various types of food.
One day, he told his mother he wanted to marry the king’s daughter.
“How can you do that?” she wondered.
“Never mind. You’ll see.”
As was the custom, the mother went to the entrance of the palace and shouted, “Your daughter for my son, your majesty, your daughter for my son.”
“What are you saying?”
“My son wants to marry your daughter. Please give her hand in marriage to him.”
“Can he fulfil what I ask him to do? Can you bring gold to my palace, and make it into golden clothes?”
The mother went to her son and told him the king’s orders.
“I can do that,” he vowed.
“Atli,” he said, “Take a golden dress for the princess,” and Atli did so.
So he married the king’s daughter.
One day a beggar came to the poor man’s house and begged for food.
“In the name of God, give me food,” he pleaded.
The beggar saw the ring on the finger of the princess. Her husband had given it to the princess and told her to keep it, but the beggar stole it from her and took it away, and right there he said, “Take me home,” and the ring took him to the bottom of the river and the poor man became poor again.
Ending
Biya waret bahe kerach
Good sleep for me and fleas for you.
(This means, may all the fleas jump on you instead of me.)
ድሃው ሰውና የወርቅ ቀለበቱ
በካፒቴን ደጀኔ ዋሻካ የተተረከ
በአንድ ወቅት ከሚሰራው ስራ በሚያገኘው ጥቂት ገንዘብ የሚኖር አንድ ምስኪን ልጅ ነበረ፡፡ ታዲያ አንድ ቀን አንድ ሰው ውሻውን ሲደበድብ አይቶ ልጁ “ለምንድነው የምትደበድበው?” ብሎ ሲጠይቀው ሰውየውም “ሥጋ ሰርቆብን ነው፡፡” አለው፡፡
ልጁም “እባክህ ውሻውን ለእኔ ስጠኝ፡፡” ብሎ ለሰውየው ትንሽ ገንዘብ ሰጥቶት ውሻውን ወደቤቱ ይዞት ሄደ፡፡
በሌላ ቀን ደግሞ አንድ ሰው ድመት ሲገርፍ አይቶ ድመቷን ለምን እንደሚገርፋት ሲጠይቀው ሰውየውም “ጫጩቴን በልታብኝ ነው፡፡” አለው፡፡
ከዚያም ልጁ “እባክህ ድመቷን እኔ ልውሰዳት፡፡” ብሎ ወደቤቱ ይዟት ሄደ፡፡
ከእለታት አንድ ቀን ደግሞ አንዲት ቆንጆ ሴት ስታለቅስ ያገኛታል፡፡ እርሷም “እባክህ አድነኝ፡፡ ጅብ ሊበላኝ እየተከታተለኝ ነው፡፡” አለችው፡፡ (ሰይጣን በሰው ላይ ሲሰፍር የሚያውቀው ጅብ ሲሆን ሰውየውም የቡዳ ተምሳሌት ስለሆነ ጁቡን ሊጋልበው ይችላል፡፡) ለማንኛውም ልጁ ሴትየዋን አዳናት፡፡ ሆኖም ሴትየዋ በሴት የተመሰለች የሰይጣን ልጅ ነበረች፡፡ ስለዚህ የልጁን ውለታ ለመክፈል በመፈለግ አብሯት ወደቤቷ እንዲሄድ ጠየቀችው፡፡
በመንገዳቸውም ላይ በድንገት ልጁን ወደ ባህር ውስጥ ወርውራው አብረው ወደባህሩ ጥልቅ ወረዱ፡፡
ከባህሩ ሥር አባቷን ሊያገኙት እየሄዱ ልጁን “አባቴ ‘እንደምነህ?’ ሲልህ ‘እግዚአብሔር ይመስገን፤ ደህና ነኝ‘ አትበል፡፡ ምክንያቱም የእግዚአብሔርን ሥም ስለማይወድ ‘አዎ’ ብቻ ካልከው ትሸለማለህ፡፡” አለችው፡፡
እናም ለአባትየው ሰላምታ ሲሰጠው ልጅቷ እንደመከረችው በማድረግ “አዎ፣ አዎ” ብቻ በማለት ሲመልስ የእግዚአብሔርን ስም ግን አልጠራም ነበር፡፡ ልጅቷም ምስኪኑ ልጅ እንዴት ህይወቷን ከጅቦች እንዳተረፈላት ለአባቷ ነገረችው፡፡ “እባክህ የወርቅ ቀለበት - አጥሊ ስጠው፡፡” ብላ ለመነችው፡፡
ይልጅቷም አባት ለምስኪኑ ልጅ የወርቅ ቀለበቱን ሰጠው፡፡ አጥሊ የአስማት ቀለበት ሲሆን ሲጠየቅ የተፈለገውን ነገር ሁሉ ማድረግ እንደሚችል ለልጁ ነገረችው፡፡
“ሁልጊዜ ከራስህ እንዳትለየው፡፡” ብላ መከረችው፡፡
እሱም “መልካም እንግዲህ፡፡ አጥሊ፣ አሁን ወደቤቴ ውሰደኝ፡፡” ሲለው ወዲያው ልጁ ወደቤቱ ገባ፡፡
“አጥሊ፣ ምግብ ስጠኝ፡፡” ሲለው የተለያየ ምግብ አቀረበለት፡፡ በእንደዚህ ዓይነት እየኖረ ከእለታት አንድ ቀን ለእናቱ የንጉሱን ልጅ ማግባት እንደሚፈልግ ነገራት፡፡
እናትየውም “ይህንን ማድረግ እንዴት ይቻልሃል?” ብላ ጠየቀችው፡፡
“ግዴለሽም፣ ታያለሽ!” ሲላት እናትየውም በባህሉ መሰረት ወደ ቤተ መንግስቱ ደጃፍ ሄዳ “ንጉስ ሆይ! እባክዎ ልጅዎን ለልጄ!” እያለች ትጮህ ጀመር፡፡
“ምንድነው የምትይው?”
“ልጄ ሴት ልጅዎን ሊያገባ ይፈልጋልና እባክዎ ልጅዎን ለልጄ ይዳሩለት፡፡” ብላ ተማፀነች፡፡
ንጉሱም “እኔ የምጠይቀውን ነገር ሁሉ ማሟላት ይችላል? ወደ ቤተ መንግስቴም ወርቅ አምጥታችሁ ወደ ልብስነት ልትቀይሩት ትችላላችሁ?” አላት፡፡
እናትየውም ወደ ልጇ ተመልሳ የንጉሱን ትዕዛዝ ነገረችው፡፡ ልጁም “ይህንን ማድረግ እችላለሁ፡፡” ብሎ ቃል ገባ፡፡ ከዚያም የወርቅ ቀለበቱን “አጥሊ ሆይ! እባክህ ለልዕልቷ የወርቅ ልብስ ውሰድላት፡፡” ሲለው አጥሊም የተባለውን አደረገ፡፡
በዚህ ሁኔታ ምስኪኑ ልጅ የንጉሱን ልጅ አግብቶ መኖር ጀመረ፡፡ ታዲያ አንድ ቀን አንድ የኔቢጤ ወደ ምስኪኑ ሰው ቤት መጥቶ ምግብ እንዲሰጡት “ስለ እግዚአብሔር ምግብ ስጡኝ፡፡” እያለ ሲለምን በልእልቲቱ ጣት ላይ የወርቁን ቀለበት አየው፡፡ ባሏ ቀለበቱን ለሚስቱ ሰጥቷት በጥንቃቄ እንድትይዘው ነግሯት ነበር፡፡ ነገር ግን የኔቢጤው ቀለበቱን ከጣቷ ላይ ሰርቆ በመውሰድ ወዲያው “እቤቴ ውሰደኝ፡፡” ብሎ ሲያዘው ቀለበቱም ሰውየውን ወደ ባህሩ ወለል ይዞት ሄዶ እንደገና ደሃ ሆነ፡፡
መጨረሻ
ቢያ ዋሬት ባሄ ኬራች
ለእኔ መልካም እንቅልፍ ለአንተ ቁንጫ!
(ይህ ማለት ቁንጮቹ በሙሉ በእኔ ላይ ሳይሆን በአንተ ላይ ይስፈሩ ማለት ነው፡፡)
In the original voice — hear tales from Gurage Zoneጉራጌ ዞን, told in Gurage. Listen ›
Check your understandingግንዛቤዎን ይፈትሹ
How did the poor boy get his money at the start of the story?
Why were the people beating the dog?
Why was the man beating the cat?
What did the crying woman say was following her?
What happened while the boy and the woman were walking to her home?
What did the woman tell the boy NOT to say to her father?
For discussionለውይይት
- The poor boy was kind to the dog and the cat even though he had only a little money. Why do you think he helped them?
- The woman warned the boy not to say the name of God to her father. Why do you think she wanted to protect him?
- The boy saved the woman, but then she threw him into the sea. How do you think he felt when this happened?
- What do you think this story is trying to teach us about kindness and about trusting strangers?