Ethiopian Folktales

Narrated by Sambo Likasa Haya

Once there was a bush rat who looked at this very beautiful woman and he was very fond of her but he didn’t know how to approach her. So one day, on a very rainy day, he sat outside her house.

But he became cold and wet and he was shivering and he said, “Please, kind lady, it’s so cold out here. Can I just come inside your door? Under the eaves?”

So she said, “Yes, do come in.”

So he went and sat just inside the door.

He kept shivering and shivering and then he said, “Please, dear lady, could I move and sit close to your fire? It will be much warmer there.”

So she said, “Yes, please do. Come closer to the fire.”

So he went closer to the fire.

Then after some time he dried out, but he still pretended to be cold and he said, “Please, dear lady, I’m still cold. Do you mind if I come and sleep near your mat?”

So he slept near the cowhide.

Then he said, “I’m still very cold. Do you mind if I sleep on the cowhide?”

And she said, “All right. You can sleep on the cowhide.”

So he rolled on to the cowhide, and after a few minutes he said, “Oh, I’m feeling so sleepy, do you mind if I sleep in your arms?”

“All right. You can.”

Then the two of them got married and lived happily ever after.

And the moral of this story is, “If there’s the will there’s the way.”