The Soothsayer and the Foxተንባዩና ቀበሮው
Oromiaኦሮሚያ · 2 min readደቂቃ ንባብ
Narrated by Zeritu Kebede
Once upon a time, there was a king who used to have a wise old counsellor who could see into the future.
When the wise man died, the king sent for his son and asked him to foretell the future. The son didn’t know anything and he was very sad.
As he was going to the king’s castle, he met a fox. And the fox said, “Listen. I can tell you about the future if you give me fifty sheep.”
The son agreed, and the fox told him, “Tell the king that the next few years are going to be years of fire and burning.”
So the son went to the king and told him this. But in fact he didn’t bring back any sheep for the fox. Instead he brought back fire and tried to burn him.
After three years, the king again sent for the boy and the boy did not know what to do until he met the fox. And the fox said, “If you bring me back fifty sheep, I will tell you about the future.”
And the boy promised that he would. And the fox told him that the next three years would be the time of war. And the boy went back to the king and he said that the time would be the time of war.
And this time again he didn’t bring the fox any sheep but instead he brought a spear and he tried to kill the fox.
After three years the king sent for the boy again and on the way he met the fox who told him that it would be a time of peace.
So the boy went and he brought back fifty sheep and it was a time of peace, so the men and the animals, the boy and the fox, also had peace between them.
ተንባዩና ቀበሮው
በዘሪቱ ከበደ
በአንድ ወቅት አንድ የወደፊቱን መናገር የሚችል ሽማግሌ አማካሪ የነበረው ንጉስ ነበር፡፡ ታዲያ አዛውንቱ ሰው ሲሞት ንጉሱ ወደ ልጁ ልኮበት ስለ ወደፊቱ እንዲተነብይ ጠየቀው፡፡ ልጁ ግን ምንም ማድረግ ስለማይችል በጣም አዘነ፡፡
ሆኖም ልጁ ወደ ንጉሱ ቤተ መንግስት እየሄደ ሳለ አንድ ቀበሮ አገኘ፡፡ ቀበሮውም ልጁን “ሃምሳ በጎች ከሰጠኸኝ ስለወደፊቱ ልነግርህ እችላለሁ፡፡” አለው፡፡
ልጁም በዚህ ከተስማማ በኋላ ቀበሮው “የሚቀጥሉት ጥቂት አመታት የእሳትና የቃጠሎ እንደሚሆኑ ለንጉሱ ንገረው፡፡” አለው፡፡
ልጁም ወደ ንጉሱ ሄዶ ይህነኑ ነገረው፡፡ ነገር ግን ቃል የገባውን በጎች ከማምጣት ይልቅ እሳት ይዞ መጥቶ ቀበሮውን ሊያቃጥለው ሞከረ፡፡
ከሶስት ዓመታት በኋላ ንጉሱ አሁንም ወደ ልጁ መልዕክት ሲልክ ልጁ ቀበሮውን እስኪያገኘው ድረስ ምን ማድረግ እንዳለበት ግራ ገባው፡፡ ነገር ግን ቀበሮው አሁንም “ሃምሳ በጎች ካመጣህልኝ ስለወደደፊቱ እነግርሃለሁ፡፡” አለው፡፡
ልጁም እንደገና ቃል ገብቶ ቀበሮው የሚቀጥሉት ሶስት አመታት የጦርነት ጊዜ እንደሚሆኑ ነገረው፡፡
በዚህም ጊዜ ለቀበሮው በጎች ከማምጣት ይልቅ ጦር ይዞ መጥቶ ቀበሮውን ሊገድለው ሞከረ፡፡
ከሶስት አመታት በኋላ ንጉሱ አሁንም ወደ ልጁ ሲልክበት ቀበሮው መንገድ ላይ አግኝቶት መጪው ጊዜ የሰላም እንደሚሆን ነገረው፡፡
በዚህ ጊዜ ልጁ ሄዶ ሃምሳ በጎችን ለቀበሮው አምጥቶለት ዘመኑም የሰላም ሆኖ ሰዎቸና እንስሳት እንዲሁም ልጁና ቀበሮው ታርቀው በሰላም አብረው መኖር ጀመሩ፡፡
In the original voice — hear tales from Oromiaኦሮሚያ, told in Afaan Oromo. Listen ›
Check your understandingግንዛቤዎን ይፈትሹ
What special skill did the king's old counsellor have?
Why was the counsellor's son very sad when the king sent for him?
What did the fox ask for in return for telling about the future?
What did the fox tell the son to say about the first few years?
Instead of bringing the fox the sheep, what did the boy bring the first time?
The second time, what did the fox say the next three years would be?
For discussionለውይይት
- The boy promised the fox fifty sheep each time but never paid. What do you think about the way the boy treated the fox? Was it fair?
- Why do you think the fox kept helping the boy, even after the boy tried to harm him before?
- How do you think the fox felt when the boy brought fire and a spear instead of the sheep he was promised? Explain your thinking.
- What lesson do you think this story is trying to teach us about keeping our promises?