Ethiopian Folktales

Narrated by Belay Makura

In olden times, on the road to Sudan, certain people met an elephant.

You can kill the elephant with a certain kind of Italian rifle. But when the elephant drinks too much water the bullets can’t enter him.

They killed the elephant and brought all the meat to their house.

After piling up the meat, they put the skull on the wall. When they laughed, the skull also laughed. They were merrily eating, happily, and the skull also laughed.

“Are you laughing?” the elephant’s skull says.

And one elderly man was puzzled about this.

“What kind of animal did you kill today? It is an animal that speaks after it is dead. It’s incredible.”

And while eating the dried meat (sliced and hung on a rope), the skull does the same thing

“What kind of miracle is this?” the elderly man says again. “Hang it in another place.”

And he chants in verse:
“You are happy and mocking me
But I am still alive
And I, too, will eat your flesh.
So are you the killers,
Are you the killers?
Who is the dead?
Who is the dead?”

And the skull says:
“You are eating my flesh
But I will eat your flesh also.
And I will not die,
I will live with my bones,
My flesh gone from me,
But I am still alive.”