Ethiopian Folktales

Narrated by Sintayehu Melese

Once upon a time there was a man called Aleke Gebre Hanna. One day, as he was going home from church he met a woman carrying a pot on her back.

“How are you?” he said.

She said, “Praise the Lord, I’m OK. How are you?”

She went on, “Dear father, I have a serious problem I want to discuss with you.”

“Oh, daughter, what is your problem?”

“My neighbours are always insulting me saying, ‘You potters and weavers!^{In traditional Amhara culture weavers and potters had low status.} ’”

“Look,” he said, “I don’t think your neighbours insult you like that – it’s the pot that you are making that insults you,” pointing at the pot on her back.