The Treesዛፎቹ

Amharaአማራ · 1 min readደቂቃ ንባብ

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Narrated by Chilot Amara

Once all the trees in the world gathered together and started discussing their problems.

Among them one said, “Our biggest problem is deforestation. And this practice is always carried out by the so-called axe. Now we must look for a way to get rid of our enemy, the axe.”

And many debated this idea, saying, “It is the axe who always causes us to suffer so much. It cuts us, prepares us for fire and makes furniture…..what not. And we have to do something to get rid of this enemy.”

A eucalyptus{footnote}The eucalyptus tree was introduced to Ethiopia from Australia at the end of the nineteenth century. Its quick growth, and suitability for firewood and building material meant it spread through much of Ethiopia.{/footnote} tree raised its hand and said, “I don’t think our enemy is really the axe.”

Every other tree shouted, “Oh! Oh! What do you mean? If it’s not the axes, who is it?”

Finally the eucalyptus tree went on, “Look! I’m telling you from my heart, our enemy is not the axe. It’s us, ourselves. If we could grow straight without bending, every axe would lose a handle, so we could save ourselves from being cut.{footnote}The axe used in Ethiopia is made from a piece of wood naturally bent over. The axe head is inserted into the shorter end of the wood.{/footnote}

So, from now on, we need to grow straight without bending, so that every axe will lose a handle.”

All the other trees clapped.

ዛፎቹ

በችሎት አማረ የተተረከ

ከዕለታት አንድ ቀን በዓለም ዙሪያ ያሉ ዛፎች ተሰባስበው ስለ ችግሮቻቸው ይወያዩ ነበር፡፡

ከመሃከላቸውም አንዱ እንዲህ አለ “የእኛ ትልቁ ችግር የደን መመንጠር ነው፡፡ ይህም ድርጊት የሚፈፅምብን መጥረቢያ{footnote}በኢትዮጵያ የመጥረቢያ ዛቢያ የሚሰራው ከተጣመመ እንጨት ነው፡፡ የመጥረቢያው አናት በተቆለመመው በኩል ይሰካል፡፡{/footnote} በተባለ መሣሪያ ነው፡፡ ስለዚህ ጠላታችን የሆነውን መጥረቢያን ማጥፋት አለብን፡፡”

ብዙዎቹም በዚህ ሃሳብ ዙሪያ አስተያየት በመስጠት መጥረቢያ ነው የሁልጊዜ የስቃያችን ምንጭ ይቆርጠንና ቢያሻው ለማገዶ አሊያም ለቤት ዕቃ መሥሪያ፤ እረ ምኑ ቅጡ! ስለዚህ አንድ መላ ፈልገን ይህንን ጠላታችንን ማጥፋት አለብን፡፡ ብለው መከሩ፡፡

አንድ ባህር ዛፍም{footnote}ከ1881-1985 ድረስ ኢትዮጵያን የገዙት አፄ ምኒሊክ ወደ 19ኛው ክፍለ ዘመን መጨረሻ ላይ ባህርዛፍን ከአውስትራሊያ ወደ ኢትዮጵያ አስገቡ፡፡ ፈጥኖ ማደጉ፣ ለማገዶነትና ለግንባታ አመቺ መሆኑ በኢትዮጵያ ውስጥ በስፋት እንዲዳረስ አድርጎታል፡፡{/footnote} እጁን አውጥቶ “ጠላታችን ግን መጥረቢያ አይመስለኝም፡፡” አለ፡፡

በዚህን ጊዜ ሁሉም ዛፎች ወደርሱ ዞረው እንዴ! ምን ማለትህ ነው? እሱ ካልሆነ ታዲያ ማን ሊሆን ይችላል?” ብለው ጮኹበት፡፡

ባህር ዛፉም ንግግሩን እንዲህ ሲል ቀጠለ “አያችሁ እኔ ከልቤ ነው የምላችሁ ጠላታችን መጥረቢያ አይደለም እኛው ራሳችን ነን፡፡ ሁላችንም መጣመም ትተን ቀጥ ብለን ብናድግ ኖሮ መጥረቢያ አጀታ አይኖረውም፤ እኛም ከመቆረጥ²እንድን ነበር፡፡

ስለዚህ ከዚህ በኋላ ሁላችንም ሳንጣመም ቀጥ ብለን በማደግ መጥረቢያውን እጀታ መሳሳት አለብን፡፡”

በዚህም ጊዜ ሁሉም ዛፎች አጨበጨቡለት

In the original voice — hear tales from Amharaአማራ, told in Amharic. Listen ›

Check your understandingግንዛቤዎን ይፈትሹ

What did the trees say was their biggest problem?
Which enemy did most of the trees want to get rid of?
According to the trees, what does the axe do to them?
Which kind of tree raised its hand to disagree?
Who did the eucalyptus tree say was the real enemy of the trees?
What did the eucalyptus tree say would happen if the trees grew straight without bending?

For discussionለውይይት

The eucalyptus tree said the real enemy was the trees themselves, not the axe. Do you agree with the eucalyptus tree? Why or why not?
Why do you think the other trees were surprised and shouted when the eucalyptus tree disagreed with them?
What lesson or message do you think this story is trying to teach us?
If you were one of the trees in the meeting, what would you say or suggest to solve the problem?