Ethiopian Folktales

Benishangul-Gumuzቤንሻንጉል-ጉሙዝ

15 storiesተረቶች ↓

Stories were collected in the Benishangul-Gumuz region in September 1999. The project worked with Shinasha and Berta storytellers in Assosa, and with Gumuz storytellers in Chagni. Dires Gebremeskel of the Benishangul-Gumuz Education and Culture Bureau facilitated the visit, organised the necessary travel and assembled the storytellers. Stories were translated into Amharic from Shinasha by Habasha Feyisa, from Berta by Captain Hamis Balla and from Gumuz by Belay Makonnen. They were translated from Amharic into English by Mesfin Habtemariam.

The stories collected in this region differed widely. Some (eg The Monkey's Justice and The Woman and the Lion) were encountered in different forms in many parts of Ethiopia. The Fishing Story contains an interesting echo of the Biblical account of the parting of the Red Sea. Other stories are markedly original, reflecting traditional beliefs and customs (eg The Hunter and the Elephant, The Honey Hunters and The Origin of Man). However, in this remote region, spread over such a large area, it was not easy to find story-tellers, or to encourage them to tell stories, and more time would have been needed to make a comprehensive collection.

ከቤንሻንጉል ጉሙዝ ክልል የተገኙ ተረቶች የተሰበሰቡት በመስከረም ወር 1992ዓ.ም. ነው፡፡ ፕርጀክቱ በአሶሳ ውስጥ ከሺናሻና በርታ ተራኪዎች ጋር የሰራ ሲሆን በቻግኒ ውስጥ ደግሞ ከጉሙዝ ተራኪዎች ጋር ሰርቷል፡፡ የቤንሻንጉል ጉሙዝ የትምህርትና ባህል ቢሮ ባልደረብ የሆኑት አቶ ድረስ ገ/መስቀል ወደ ክልሉ የተደረገውን ጉብኝት እንዲሁም ጉዞንና ተራኪዎቹን በማሰባሰብ ትብብር አድርገዋል፡፡ ተረቶቹ ከሽናሻ ወደ አማርኛ የተመለሱት በሃበሻ ፈይሳ ሲሆን ከበርታ ወደ አማርኛ የተተረጎሙት ደግሞ በካፒቴን ሃሚስ ባላህ እንዲሁም ከጉሙዝ ወደ አማርኛ የተመለሱት በበላይ መኮንን ነው፡፡ ከአማርኛም ወደ እንግሊዝኛ የተተረጎሙት በመስፍን ሃብተማሪያም ነው፡፡

ከዚህ ክልል የተሰበሰቡት ተረቶች በጣም የተለያዩ ናቸው፡፡ አንዳንዶቹ (ለምሳሌ የዝንጀዋ ፍርድ እና ሴቷና አንበሳው) በተለያየ መልኩ በሌሎች የኢትዮጵያ ክፍሎችም ያጋጠሙ ናቸው፡፡ የአሳ ማስገሩ ታሪክ በመፅሀፍ ቅዱስ ውስጥ ከተጠቀሰው የቀይ ባህር ለሁለት መከፈል ታሪክ ጋር የሚያያዝ አንድምታ አለው፡፡ ሌሎቹ ታሪኮች በግልፅ ቱባ ተረቶች ሲሆኑ ባህላዊ እምነቶችንና ስርአቶችን የሚያንፀባርቁ ናቸው (ለምሳሌ፤ አዳኙና ዝሆኑ፣ ማር አዳኞቹና እና የሰው ልጅ አመጣጥ)፡፡ ነገር ግን በዚህ ለመድረስ አስቸጋሪ በሆነውና ሰፊ ቦታን ባካለለው ክልል ውስጥ ተራኪዎችን ማግኘትም ሆነ ተረት እንዲተርኩ ማበረታታት አስቸጋሪ በመሆኑ የተሟላ ስብስብ ለማግኘት ተጨማሪ ጊዜን መጠየቁ አልቀረም፡፡

Egassi Reta, Gumuz storyteller
Egassi Reta, Gumuz storytellerኤጋሲ ረታ፣ የጉሙዝ ተረት ተራኪ
Listen — told in the original voice (Berta, Shinasha, Gumuz)
In Berta
In Shinasha
In Gumuz

Part of Voices of Ethiopia. Language attributions are being confirmed with the collectors.

  1. Fishing Storyየዓሣ ማጥመድ ታሪክNarrated by Egassi Reta
  2. JahitiጃሂቲNarrated by Demelew Beyene
  3. The Baboon and the Monkeyዝንጀሮና ጦጣNarrated by Belay Makura
  4. The FarmerገበሬውNarrated by Fatima Ali
  5. The Honey Hunters – the Lost Soulማር አዳኞቹ - የጠፋው ነፍስNarrated by Belay Makonnen
  6. The Hunter and the Elephantአዳኙና ዝሆኑNarrated by Belay Makura
  7. The Hyena, the Lion and the Foxጅብ፣ አንበሳና ቀበሮNarrated by Abdu Rahim Ibrahim
  8. The Man and the Snakeሰውየውና እባቡNarrated by Abdu Rahim Balla
  9. The Monkey and the Honeyዝንጀሮና ማርNarrated by Yirpa Kebede
  10. The Monkey’s Justiceየዝንጀሮዋ ፍርድNarrated by Yirpa Kebede
  11. The Origin of Man: the First Man and the Baboon Childየሰው ልጅ አመጣጥ - የመጀመሪያው ሰውና የዝንጀሮ ግልገልNarrated by Belay Makonnen
  12. The Rich Brother and the Poor Brotherሀብታምና ደሃ ወንድማማቾችNarrated by Fatima Ali
  13. The Story of Adibergaየአዲበርጋ ታሪክNarrated by Demelew Beyene
  14. The Tortoise and the Rabbitኤሊና ጥንቸልNarrated by Kiwi Jared
  15. The Woman and the Lionሴቷና አንበሳውNarrated by Fatima Ali