Ethiopian Folktales

Narrated by Yusuf Adem Mandre

One day the fox and the hyena were hunting together, and after a while they found something to eat.

Then the hyena said to the fox, “Take this food and put it somewhere safe so we can continue our hunt.”

But the fox never came back. So the hyena knew he had been cheated, and he began to search for the fox. So when the fox saw the hyena from afar he lay down and pretended to be dead.

So when the hyena saw the fox he charged up and said, “So you are relaxing after eating all the food we found together, so I’m going to eat you now.”

And he charged at him.

But the fox said, “Beware. The food that killed me, if you eat me, it will kill you immediately.”

So the hyena, without even noticing that the fox wasn’t dead, drew back and ran away.