Ethiopian Folktales

Omo Zoneኦሞ ዞን

21 storiesተረቶች ↓

Of the many different ethnic and language groups in the Omo region, it was possible only to collect stories from the Male, Ari, Bena and Tsemay people during a single visit in January 2001 to Jinka, Benetta and Key Afar. The project's work in Jinka was made possible with the help of Mamo Malla of the Regional Cultural Bureau, and was facilitated both in Jinka and Key Afar by Mitachew Belay. Male stories were translated by Itegasu Mitaku. Ari stories were translated by Wuchemayo Desmi. The Bena and Tsemay stories were narrated in Amharic. They were translated into English from Amharic by Mesfin Habtemariam.

These stories explore themes of morality and wisdom common to all the regions of Ethiopia. Some are repeated elsewhere (eg The Dog's Tail and The Bull's Calf) but others have great originality. The Baboon and the Monkey echoes the Biblical story of the Tower of Babel. Two stories narrate the founding of particular ethnic groups (The Origin of the Bena, and Origins of Tsemay). Some feature unusual characters (eg Lightning and Thunder), while in others there are magical beings and spirits which reflect age-old beliefs.

በጥር 1993 ዓ.ም. ወደ ጂንካ፣ ቤኔታና ቀይ አፈር በተደረገው ብቸኛ ጉዞ በኦሞ ዞን ካሉት የተለያዩ የጎሳና የቋንቋ ማሕበረሰቦች መካከል ተረቶች ሊሰበሰቡ የቻሉት ከማሊ፣ከአሪ፣ከቤና እና ከጸማይ ህዝቦች ብቻ ነበር፡፡ ጂንካ ውስጥ የተሰራው የፕሮጀክቱ ሥራ እውን ሊሆን የቻለው በክልሉ የባህል ቢሮ ባልደረባ በአቶ ማሞ ማላ እገዛ ሲሆን ሥራውንም በጂንካና በቀይ ዘፈር ያስተባበሩት አቶ ምታቸው በላይ ነበሩ፡፡ የማሊ ተረቶች የተተረጎሙት በይታገሱ ምትኩ ሲሆን የአሪ ተረቶች ደግሞ የተተረጎሙት ዉቸማዮ ዴስሚ ነበር፡፡ የቤናና የጸማይ ተረቶች ግን የተተረኩት በአማርኛ ነበር፡፡ ከአማርኛም ወደ እንግሊዝኛ የተመለሱት በመስፍን ሃብተማሪያም ነው፡፡

እንደ ሁሉም የኢትዮጵያ ክልሎች ተረቶች ሁሉ እነዚህም ታሪኮች ይዘታቸው የሚያጠነጥነው በግብረገብነትና በብልህነት ዙሪያ ነው፡፡ አንዳንዶቹ (እንደ የውሻው ጅራት እና የበሬው ጥጃ) የመሰሉት ታሪኮች በሌሎች ክልሎችም ያሉ ሲሆን ሌሎች ተረቶች ግን ግሩም ወጥነት ያላቸው ናቸው፡፡ዝንጀሮና ጦጣዋ የመጽሐፍ ቅዱስን የባቢሎን ግንብ ታሪክ ያስታውሰናል፡፡ ሁለት ተረቶች ደግሞ የተወሰኑ ጎሳዎችን አመጣጥ ይተርካሉ፡፡ (የቤና አመጣት እና የጸማይ አመጣጥ)፡፡ አንዳንዶቹ ተረቶች ያልተለመዱ ገጸ ባህርያትን (ለምሳሌ፡- ብልጭታና መብረቅ) የያዙ ሲሆን ሌሎች ደግሞ የጥንት እምነቶችን የሚያንጸባርቁ ምትሃታዊ ፍጡራንንና መንፍሶችን የያዙ ታሪኮችም አሉ፡፡

Bena storyteller in Jinka
Bena storyteller in Jinkaየቤና ተረት ተራኪ በጂንካ
Listen — told in the original voice (an Omo Valley language)
In an Omo Valley language
In an Omo Valley language

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

  1. Lightning and Thunderብልጭታና መብረቅNarrated by Oesha Tushklo
  2. Origin of Bena Peopleየቤና ሕዝብ አመጣጥNarrated by Iyasu Origo
  3. Origins of Tsemay Tribeየፀማይ ጎሳ አመጣጥNarrated by Oyta Arro
  4. The Baboon and the Monkeyዝንጀሮና ጦጣዋNarrated by Zarke Goite
  5. The Bear and the Womanድቡና ሴትየዋNarrated by Abdisa Labe
  6. The Bull’s Calfየበሬው ጥጃNarrated by Metekia Libri
  7. The Clever Mongooseብልጧ ፍልፈልNarrated by Metekia Libri
  8. The Crocodile and the Monkey’s Heartአዞውና የጦጣዋ ልብNarrated by Iyasu Origo
  9. The Demon Womanክፉ መንፈስ ያለባት ሴትNarrated by Aykabadane Basha
  10. The Dog’s Tailየውሻው ጅራትNarrated by Oesha Tushklo
  11. The Donkey’s Earየአህያዋ ጆሮNarrated by Zarke Goite
  12. The Foolish Boyሞኙ ልጅNarrated by Aykabadane Basha
  13. The Greedy Dogስስታሙ ውሻNarrated by Zarke Goite
  14. The Hyena and the Lionጅብና አንበሳNarrated by Iyasu Origo
  15. The Hyena’s Crueltyየጅብ ጭካኔNarrated by Metekia Libri
  16. The Lazy Sonሰነፉ ልጅNarrated by Kebede Galsha
  17. The Leopard’s Childየነብሯ ልጅNarrated by Metekia Libri
  18. The Lion and the Baboonአንበሳውና ዝንጀሮውNarrated by Oyta Arro
  19. The Monkey and the Leopardጦጣና ነብርNarrated by Metekia Libri
  20. The Tricky Mongooseብልጣብልጧ ፍልፈልNarrated by Oesha Tushklo
  21. The Wizard and the Womanጠንቋይዋና አንዲት ሴትNarrated by Iyasu Origo