Ethiopian Folktales

Narrated by Alo Yayo Burale

Did you know that long, long ago, the hyena used to live in the sky and the donkey used to live on earth?

And the hyena used to go howling around and he loved his voice.

And the donkey prayed and prayed and said, “Please bring this animal with the beautiful voice down to earth.”

So the hyena came down to earth.

And the hyena looked at the donkey and saw his big ears and he thought they were horns, so he was afraid to attack the donkey even though he wanted to eat him up, and the donkey was dying to make friends with this person with the beautiful voice. So the hyena wanted to eat him and the donkey wanted to be his friend.

So one day the hyena said to the donkey, “Why don’t we meet together and play football?”

And the donkey said, “That’s a good idea.”

And they met on the football field.

And the hyena said to the donkey, “Look, we’re not allowed to play with sharp weapons on us, therefore put down your weapons and come and play.”

The donkey said, “What weapons are you talking about?”

The hyena said, “Those horns on your head.”

The donkey said, “These aren’t horns. Look how soft they are. They’re just my ears.”

And the hyena bit off both his ears and his tail.

The donkey said, “What are you doing? That’s very unfriendly.”

The hyena said, “If you think we’re going to be friends, you’re very stupid.”

Then the next day the donkey and the hyena were drinking at the river. The donkey was drinking downstream and the hyena was drinking upstream.

The hyena looked at the donkey and said, “You dirty fellow, you’re dirtying the water.”

The donkey said, “That’s impossible. I’m drinking from downstream.”

The hyena said, “But you are.”

The donkey said, “Look, if you want to attack me, stop looking for excuses.”

The moral of the story is – if you let your enemy know your weak points, he will attack you.