Ethiopian Folktales

Somaliaሶማሌ

24 storiesተረቶች ↓

These stories were collected in Jijiga in October 1998 with the collaboration of Moge Abdi Omer of the Somalia Education Bureau, who facilitated the visit and translated the stories from Somali, assisted by Osman Abdulahi Ahmed. Translations from Amharic into English were done by Mikhail Negussie of the British Council.

The stories reflect the pastoralist, nomadic rhythms of traditional Somali life. Some (eg The Head), are similar to many tales told in Arab lands on the far side of the Red Sea, while others (eg The Black Crow), refer to beliefs of a pre-Islamic period. Unusually in Jijiga, it was possible to work with women storytellers. (The narrator of Degder was a young girl of around 12.)

እነዚህ ተረቶች የተሰበሰቡት በጥቅምት 1991 ዓ.ም. በኦስማን አብዱላሂ አህመድ በመታገዝ ታሪኮቹን ከሶማሊገኛ ወደ አማርኛ በተረጎመውና ጉብኝቱን ባስተባበረው የሶማሌ ትምህርት ቢሮ ባልደረባው በሞጌ አብዲ ኦማር ድጋፍ ነው፡፡ ተረቶቹን ከአማርኛ ወደ እንግሊዝኛየመለሰው የብሪቲሽ ካውንስሉ ሚካኤል ንጉሴ ነው፡፡

ተረቶቹ የአርቢውንና የዘላኑን ሶማሌ ባህላዊ የኑሮ ዘይቤ የሚያንጸብርቁ ናቸው፡፡ አንዳንዶቹ (ለምሳሌ፡- ጭንቅላቱ) በቀይ ባህር ሩቅ ዳርቻዎች ከሚነገሩት ታሪኮች ጋር ተመሳሳይነት ያላቸው ሲሆን ሌሎቹ (ለምሳሌ፡- ጥቁሩ አሞራ) ከእስላማዊ እምነት መምጣት በፊት የነበሩትን እምነቶች የሚያንጸባርቁ ናቸው፡፡ በጂጂጋ ውስጥ ባልተለመደ ሁኔታ ከሴት ተረት ተናጋሪዎች ጋር መስራት ተችሎ ነበር፡፡ (የደግዴር ተራኪ 12 ዓመት ገደማ የነበረች ሴት ልጅ ናት፡፡)

Midwives narrate stories in Jijiga
Midwives narrate stories in Jijigaአዋላጆች በጂጂጋ ተረት ሲተርቱ
Listen — told in the original voice (Somali)
In Somali
In Somali

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

  1. Abba Bukkushአባ ቡኩሽNarrated by Yusuf Adem Mandre
  2. Another Fox Storyሌላ የቀበሮ ታሪክNarrated by Aisha Awadem
  3. DegderዴግደርNarrated by Ikran Ahmed Omer
  4. Deya Ali, the Cheating Foxዴያ ዓሊ፣ አጭበርባሪዋ ቀበሮNarrated by Aisha Awadem
  5. Don’t Be Too Shyአይን አፋር አትሁንNarrated by Hukun Hussein Fura
  6. Egal Sheedaኤጋል ሺዳ
  7. Hirsi and Kabaalafሂርሲና ካባላፍNarrated by Osman Abdulahi Ahmed
  8. How the Cat Became the Woman’s Friendድመት እንዴት የሴት ጓደኛ እንደሆነችNarrated by Abdul Hakim Abdulahi Jibril
  9. How the Dog Became Man’s Friendውሻ እንዴት የሰው ጓደኛ እንደሆነNarrated by Abdul Hakim Abdulahi Jibril
  10. How the Dog Became Man’s Friend (2)ውሻ እንዴት የሰው ጓደኛ እንደሆነ (2)Narrated by Abdul Hakim Abdulahi Jibril
  11. The Black Crowጥቁሩ ቁራNarrated by Professor Ahmed Mohammed Ali
  12. The Boy Lion of Fafenየፋፈን አንበሳ ልጅNarrated by Abdul Hakim Abdulahi Jibril
  13. The Bride’s Testየሙሽራዋ ፈተናNarrated by Osman Abdulahi Ahmed
  14. The Cannibal Womanሰው በላዋ ሴትNarrated by Degen Ali Adem
  15. The Clever Woman and the Sheikh Who Makes Mistakesብልኋ ሴትና ስህተት የማያጣው ሼክNarrated by Abdul Hakim Abdulahi Jibril
  16. The Cracked Land of Droughtበድርቅ የተሰነጣጠቀው መሬትNarrated by Moge Abdi Omer
  17. The Dog, the Goat and the Donkeyውሻ፣ ፍየልና አህያNarrated by Abdul Amin Ahmed
  18. The Fox and the Scalesቀበሮውና ሚዛኑNarrated by Yusuf Adem Mandre
  19. The Girl and the Lionልጃገረዷና አንበሳውNarrated by Degen Ali Adem
  20. The Handsome Boy’s Dreamየቆንጆው ልጅ ሕልምNarrated by Abdul Hakim Abdulahi Jibril
  21. The HeadጭንቅላቱNarrated by Professor Ahmed Mohammed Ali
  22. The Hyena, the Fox and the Monkeyጅብ፣ ቀበሮና ጦጣNarrated by Yusuf Adem Mandre
  23. The Lion, King of the Animalsአንበሳ፣ የእንስሳት ንጉሥNarrated by Osman Abdulahi Ahmed
  24. The Mother of Sonsየወንድ ልጆች እናትNarrated by Shamis Habib Farah