Ethiopian Folktales

Narrated by Abdul Rahman Abdulahi

In the old days there was a holy man who devoted himself completely to the word of God. One day he wanted to pray alone so he went to a solitary place and on the way he reached a place where there was irrigation and he saw a guava floating on the water. So he picked it up and ate it. Then he started to prepare himself for prayer.

At this time a spirit revealed himself to him and said, “You claim to be devoted to God, but why did you steal other people’s fruit?”

Immediately the holy man regretted his action and decided to go to the farm and apologise for his action. So he started following the water channel, and he came to a big guava farm.

He went to the owner and said, “I have eaten a guava which fell off a guava tree and was brought to me by the water. Please forgive me.”

The owner of the farm refused to forgive him. So the holy man was very sad.

The owner said, “If you want me to forgive you, you have to do what I tell you to do.”

So the holy man agreed.

The farmer said, “I will not forgive you unless you marry my daughter, but my daughter has no eyes and no legs.”

The holy man said, “It’s all right. If you forgive me, I will marry her.”

So they went to the owner’s house and the holy man asked him where his daughter was.

The owner said, “Before I show you my daughter you must go through the marriage formalities.”

So the holy man did as he was asked.

Then the girl came out from where she was hiding. She had both eyes and both legs. Moreover she was very beautiful.

So the holy man asked the owner, “Didn’t you say she had no eyes and no legs?”

The owner said, “What I meant was that my daughter had never seen bad things in her life and she has never taken the wrong path morally.”