Ethiopian Folktales

Stories were collected from Addis Ababa, Assassa in Goba, and Gebre Geracha in Shoa in September 1997. The collection was facilitated by Merga Debelo of the Oromia Education Bureau and the stories were translated from Oromiffaa by Merga Debelo and Beker Hadji. Michael Ambatchew of the British Council translated them from Amharic into English.

Merga Debelo and Bonsamo Miesso at Assassa in Goba

There are universal themes in this rich collection of stories, such as the wicked stepmother, the difficult mother-in-law, the wisdom of the aged father and so on. Some stories (eg The Jackal and the Rabbit) are versions of universal tales of great antiquity. It is striking how many centre round the resolution of conflict and the administering of justice through the gentle wisdom of elders in ways that reflect traditional Oromo practices.

Contents:

	Story	Narrator
Stories Collected In Addis Ababa
1	The Wicked Stepmother	Merga Debelo
2	The Rat King’s Son	Merga Debelo
3	Man and the Animals	Mariam Mohammed
4	Two Jealous Wives	Konjit Tefera
5	The Father’s Inheritance	Lemu Wachile
6	Tell the Truth and Die	Dulech Liben
7	The Mother-in-law	Abiyot Legesse
8	The Traveller	Doyo Huka
9	Parricide is Self-Defeating	Utura Boru
10	The Squirrel and the Leopard	Abdulkadir Guracha
11	The Brother and the Sister	Tesfaye Chibsa
12	The Cats and the Mice	Merga Debelo
13	The Smart Brother	Merga Debelo
14	Fire, Water, Truth and Lies	Merga Debelo
Stories Collected In Assassa
15	The Dogfight	Mohammed Kuyu
16	The Mouse and the Frog	Bonsamo Miesso
17	The Hyena and the Donkey	Hussein Tusi
18	The Father's Advice	Mohammed Kuyu
19	The Jackal and the Rabbit	Mohammed Kuyu
20	Abba Bollo and the Necklace	Bonsamo Miesso
21	The Baboon Chief	Bonsamo Miesso
Stories Collected In Gebre Guracha
22	The Rooster	Worku Debele
23	The Man who Grew Feathers	Worku Debele
24	The Twin Brothers	Moti Wayeesa
25	The Father's Advice	Moti Wayeesa
26	The Soothsayer and the Fox	Zeritu Kebede
27	The Poor Man and the Rich Man	Zeritu Kebede

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