Ethiopian Folktales

Narrated by Kebede Galsha

There was once a man who had children. He told one of his sons to build a house for them to live in. On the way, the son met a rat.

The rat said, “Let’s play together, tell stories, chat.”

“But my father ordered me to build a house.”

“Never mind. You can go when we’ve told jokes.”

The rat told him good stories, which he enjoyed. The rat was full of humour, telling stories after stories, and he kept on listening. The day passed without any work and then he went home.

“Did you start work on our house?” asked the father.

“No, I met a rat on the way who was telling me stories and then it got dark and I came home. I’ll start tomorrow.”

The next day he met the rat again and, as usual, the day passed in conversation and jokes.

When he came home and told the father that again he had not started, the father was angry and told him to do it on the third day. Again, he didn’t start. On the fourth day the same thing happened. The father called his other children.

He said, “Your brother is a bad example for you. He’s lazy. Don’t be lazy like him.”

The lazy son ran away and lived with the rat because he was afraid of his father.

“Your brother was always talking and playing. Now he has run away with the rat. Don’t go to them since they will teach you to be lazy.”