Ethiopian Folktales

Narrated by Ibrahim Sharif

Once upon a time, two men were going together on a journey.

One of them said to the other, “I have nothing to eat, so would you give me something if you have it?”

The good man was very generous, so he agreed to share his food, and they went on together. In the middle of the journey the food ran out. But the bad man had his food hidden with him. After the good man’s food was finished he took out his food and began to eat alone.

The good man saw this and begged him to give him some food to eat. The wicked man was so selfish he refused to give him some food and ate alone. So the good man became very hungry and began to beg desperately for food before he died.

But the wicked man said, “If you want some food I’ll have to take out one of your eyes, otherwise you must starve.”

So the good man had no choice and agreed and let the wicked man take one of his eyes.

After a while the good man was hungry again. So he asked the wicked man for some food, but the wicked man refused.

The good man begged desperately again, and the wicked man said, “I’ll have to take out the other eye.”

Since the good man was so hungry he let the wicked man take out his remaining eye. So the wicked man took out the eye and gave him some food.

They went on, and when they reached a city, the wicked man put the good man under a tree and left him and went away. The good man sat alone under the tree till darkness fell. But this tree during the night was used by jinns as a meeting place. So when it got very dark the jinns came to meet and began to discuss and talk among themselves.

When they found the blind man, one of the jinns said, “This tree’s leaves can restore the sight of a person who has lost it.”

The second jinn said, “The daughter of the king has been paralysed and no remedy or cure has yet been found. But if the king slaughters a black dog and washes his daughter in its blood, she will be cured.”

The third jinn said, “The citizens of this city spend the whole day looking for water, but they could find water if they cut down the big tree which is found in the middle of the city.”

So the good man heard all this, sitting quietly, and when daylight came and the jinns went away, he began to grope about and picked a leaf from the tree and rubbed it on his eyes. So his sight was immediately restored.

After that he went into the city and told the people to take him to the king. When he came into the king’s presence he addressed him and told him that he can cure his daughter.

But the king’s counsellors told him that they have tried every means possible to cure her, and every attempt has failed. So it’s useless to try.

But the good man insisted and the king agreed.

So he brought a black dog and killed it and washed the princess with the blood. The princess was cured. So the king was very happy and gave him a reward.

After some days, he saw the citizens searching for the whole day long for water.

He said to the king, “If you assign a few workers to me, I’ll find water for the city.”

So he was given the workers, and he went to the big tree standing in the middle of the city and cut it down with the workers’ help. Then the water came out.

The king was very happy with him and married him to his daughter and gave him a lot of money.

One day the good man met the wicked man. He told him what had happened.

The wicked man was surprised and said, “How could you be so fortunate?”

So the good man told him about the jinns.

So the wicked man thought, “I should go to that tree and spend the night and hear what the jinns say.”

As usual, the jinns came and began their meeting.

One of them stood up and said, “The problems we discussed concerning the city and the king have all been solved. The princess is cured and the water is flowing now. How did this happen? There must be someone here hiding, who is listening to us. Let’s hunt for him.”

So they began to search, and they found the wicked man and killed him.