Ethiopian Folktales

The Washerwoman or The Curious Man Will Lose his Own Propertyአጣቢዋ ሴት ወይም የሌላ የሚፈልግ የራሱን ያጣል

Hararሐረር · 1 min readደቂቃ ንባብ

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The Washerwoman
or
The Curious Man Will Lose his Own Property

Narrated by Zaineba Abibeker Deremo

A long time ago there was an old woman who made her living by washing clothes. There was a young man who was her assistant. They would go to the river together and wash clothes all day long and the income they got they would spend on food and the old woman saved the rest.

When the old woman wanted to save the money she would say to the young man, “I’m going to the toilet.”

When she reached a hidden place she would put the money there.

But the boy was always surprised why she was so secretive about going to the bathroom, so one day he thought, “I must see what she is really doing,” and he followed her without her knowing.

Then he discovered that she was saving money in a hidden place. Then he took the money.

The next day the old woman early in the morning went to the hiding place to put some money and found it was gone. So she began to think how to get her money back, and while washing the clothes she said, (song)

“He who takes care to think first

Will get more in the end.”

So the boy understood her song and thought, “I’d better put the money back and wait till there’s more and then I’ll take it all.”

So he put the money back. Then the old woman went to the place and found her money again. So she went to the river and began to wash clothes and sing,

“The one who wants other people’s property will lose what he has.”

The boy understood that he was outsmarted, so he remained empty handed.

አጣቢዋ ሴት ወይም የሌላ የሚፈልግ የራሱን ያጣል

አጣቢዋ ሴት ወይም የሌላ የሚፈልግ የራሱን ያጣል

በዘይነባ አቢበከር ደረሞ የተተረከ

ከብዙ ዘመናት በፊት ኑሮዋን ልብስ በማጠብ ላይ የመሰረተች አንዲት አዛውንት ሴት ነበረች፡፡ ሴትየዋም አንድ ወጣት ልጅ ረዳት ነበራት፡፡ ወደ ወንዝ አብረው በመሄድ ሙሉ ቀን ልብስ ሲያጥቡ ውለው ያገኙትን ገንዘብ ለምግባቸው ካዋሉት በኋላ ቀሪውን አዛውንቷ ሴት ታስቀምጣለች፡፡ አዛውንቷ ሴት ገንዘቡን ማስቀመጥ ስትፈልግ ወጣቱን ልጅ “ወደ ሽንት ቤት ልሄድ ነው፡፡” ትለዋለች፡፡

ሰዋራ ቦታም ስትደርስ ገንዘቡን እዚያ ትደብቀዋለች፡፡ ልጁ ግን ሴትየዋ ወደ ሽንት ቤት ለምን ሁልጊዜ ተደብቃ መሄድ እንደምትፈልግ ስላልገባው አንድ ቀን ታዲያ “ምን እየሰራች እንደሆነ ማየት አለብኝ፡፡” ብሎ በማሰብ ተደብቆ ተከትሏት ሄደ፡፡

ከዚያም ሴትየዋ ገንዘቧን በድብቅ ቦታ እንደምታስቀምጥ አይቶ ገንዘቡን ወሰደው፡፡

በሚቀጥለው ቀን አዛውንቷ ሴት ተጨማሪ ገንዘብ ለማስቀመጥ ወደ ቦታው ስትሄድ ገንዘቡን አጣችው፡፡ ገንዘቧንም የምታስመልስበትን ዘዴ በመፈለግ ልብሶች እያጠበች ሳለ እንዲህ ብላ ዘፈነች፤

“ለማሰብ ቅድሚያ የሚሰጥ

በመጨረሻ ተጨማሪ ያገኛል፡፡”

በዚህ ጊዜ ልጁ ዘፈኗ ስለገባው “ገንዘቡን ልመልስና ተጨማሪ ገንዘብ ስታስቀምጥ በኋላ ሁሉንም ወስደዋለሁ፡፡” ብሎ አሰበ፡፡ ገንዘቡንም መለሰ፡፡ አዛውንቷም ሴት ገንዘቧን መልሳ አገኘችው፡፡ ከዚያም ወደ ወንዙ ሄዳ ልብስ እያጠበች “የሌሎችን ንብረት የሚፈልግ የራሱን ያጣል፡፡” እያለች መዝፈን ጀመረች፡፡

በዚህ ጊዜ ልጁ እንደተበለጠ ስለገባው ያለምንም ገንዘብ ባዶ እጁን ቀረ፡፡

In the original voice — hear tales from Hararሐረር, told in Harari. Listen ›

Check your understandingግንዛቤዎን ይፈትሹ

  1. How did the old woman make her living?

  2. Who helped the old woman with her work?

  3. What did the old woman say when she wanted to hide her money?

  4. How did the boy find out where the old woman hid the money?

  5. What did the old woman do when she found her money was gone?

  6. After hearing the song, what did the boy decide to do?

For discussionለውይይት

  • Do you think the old woman was clever in the way she got her money back? Why or why not?
  • Why do you think the boy was so curious about what the old woman was doing?
  • What lesson do you think this story is trying to teach us?
  • The song says, 'He who takes care to think first will get more in the end.' What do you think these words mean?