Ethiopian Folktales

Narrated by Kassa Alamrew

Once there was a farmer who used to go to his land carrying his lunch with him. He usually ate his lunch at twelve. While he is eating his lunch he never undoes the yoke of his oxen. He used to divide his lunch in two and put some in one place and some in another. He took one swallow, continued ploughing his land, took another bite from the other end of the furrow and so ate without resting.

While he was doing this a bird of prey came and took one of his dishes, and started eating the lunch, while squawking.

The farmer cursed the bird and said, “You might think you have upset me, but you haven’t. I know it’s a great feast for you to have such a delicious lunch while your friends are suffering in the desert.”

Therefore, from this time on, he was called Godehegn – that is, you have hurt me.

The same farmer, after having done a huge ploughing during rainy season, went back to his house. His wife was waiting for him, having prepared a very delicious supper and a fire to sit beside.

So he started eating the supper, sitting beside the fire.

There was a noise from outside, and some of his neighbours came into his house and said, “Your oxen have come into my fields!”

So he said he would go out to collect the oxen.

But his wife said, “Leave it to me. I’ll do it.”

Everyone followed his wife.

He took off his shorts and started enjoying the fire.

From a distance a cat saw his penis and the cat thought his penis was a rat. She jumped over and bit it. As he screamed the cat started to drag him away. He screamed and screamed.

In the meantime his wife arrived and saw the situation. At once she took a big stick and she beat the cat in the middle of her back, the cat was killed and the man released.