Ethiopian Folktales

Abba Hanna or The Greedy Manስስታሙ አባ ሃና

Amharaአማራ · 1 min readደቂቃ ንባብ

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Narrated by Worku Mersha

Now Etege Mennen, the wife of Emperor Haile Selassie, is believed to be living in paradise, and Abba Hanna{footnote}Abba Hanna is a historical figure. A monk, he was personal confessor to Haile Selassie.{/footnote}, who was in charge of all the financial affairs of the Emperor, and at the same time, who is believed to be a greedy person, is living in purgatory.

One day Abba Hanna claimed to visit Etege, going to paradise from purgatory, and he was permitted to do so. As he went into paradise and saw Etege Mennen, he jumped on to her and embraced her. After he stayed for a while in paradise he was called to go back to purgatory. When he was called he refused to go.

Finally, the case was reported to the head of paradise and he said, “Don’t worry, I know that he’s a greedy man.”

St. Peter went to the gate of paradise and started shouting, “Whose money is this?”

Abba Hanna ran out at once, saying, “It’s mine.”

So he lost paradise for a few cents.

ስስታሙ አባ ሃና

በወርቁ መርሻ የተተረከ

የአፄ ኃይለሥላሴ ባለቤት የነበሩት እቴጌ መነን በገነት ውስጥ ሲኖሩ የንጉሡ ግምጃ ቤት ኃላፊ የነበሩት አባ ሃና{footnote}አባ ሃና የኃይለሥላሴ ንስሃ አባት የነበረ ታሪካዊ ባህታዊ ሰው ነበሩ፡፡{/footnote} የተባሉ ስስታም ሰው በሲኦል ይኖሩ ነበር ተብሎ ይታመናል፡፡

ታዲያ አንድ ቀን አባ ሃና ወደ ገነት ሄደው እቴጌ መነንን ለመጎብኘት ጠይቀው ይፈቀድላቸዋል፡፡ ከገነትም እንደደረሱ እቴጌ መነንን ሲያይዋቸው በደስታ ዘለው ይጠመጠሙባቸዋል፡፡ በገነትም ትንሽ እንደቆዩ ወደ ሲኦል እንዲመለሱ ቢጠሩ አሻፈረኝ ይላሉ፡፡

ታዲያ በመጨረሻ ጉዳዩ ለገነት አስተዳዳሪ ሲነገረው “እሱም ችግር የለም:: ይህ ሰው ስስታም ሰው እንደሆነ አውቃለሁ፡፡” አላቸው፡፡

ከዚያም ቅዱስ ጴጥሮስ ወደ ገነት መግቢያ ሄዶ “ይህ ገንዘብ የማነው?” ብሎ ጮኸ፡፡

አባ ሃናም በፍጥነት “የእኔ ነው፡፡” ብሎ ሮጦ ወጣ፡፡ በዚህም ሁኔታ ጥቂት ሣንቲሞች ለማግኘት ሲል ገነትን አጣ ይባላል፡፡

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Check your understandingግንዛቤዎን ይፈትሹ

  1. Where is Etege Mennen believed to be living?

  2. Who was Abba Hanna?

  3. Where was Abba Hanna living?

  4. What did Abba Hanna do when he saw Etege Mennen in paradise?

  5. What did Abba Hanna do when he was called to go back to purgatory?

  6. What did St. Peter shout at the gate of paradise?

For discussionለውይይት

  • Abba Hanna is described as a greedy man. What does this story show us about greed?
  • Why do you think Abba Hanna ran out of paradise so quickly when he heard about the money?
  • The head of paradise said, 'Don't worry, I know that he's a greedy man.' What does this tell us about how well he understood Abba Hanna?
  • What lesson do you think this story is trying to teach the reader?