Ethiopian Folktales

Narrated by Yirga Ejigu

Once the rats met to discuss their problem.

One said, “What shall we do? Cats are killing our generation.”

The others said, “The only chance we have to save the rats from being eaten is to make an alliance with them by marriage.”

They selected some old rats and sent them to the cats as intermediaries.

The elders of the rats said, “Please let’s not be enemies. Let’s stop fighting and marry each other.”

One of the cats said, “How can that be?”

“OK. We’ll give you one of our female rats to be a wife of one of your male cats.”

They agreed, and fixed the wedding date. The elders went back to the rats and reported everything, so the rats were happy.

On the wedding day the cats were coming to the home of the rats and singing songs. While they were singing, their tails were sticking straight up into the air. The rats watched them carefully from a distance.

The cats were singing,

“Her home is up there!

Her neck is like a beautiful young tree.”

While they are singing, one of the rats becomes afraid.

“Please let’s get into our house and watch from there.”

The others said, “Why? It’s a wedding day.”

But some agreed and went into the house and some stayed waiting for the bride. When the cats arrived singing, they jumped on the rats and caught them. The rats in the house were saved.

“We knew this would happen. That’s why we escaped.”