Aleka Gebre Hanna and the Donkey Driverአለቃ ገብረሃና እና አህያ ነጂው
Amharaአማራ · 1 min readደቂቃ ንባብ
Narrated by Yalemgeta Mamo
Once upon a time, there was a witty and wise man called Aleka Gebre Hanna. This person was famous in witty responses and insulting people.
One day, one donkey driver was passing by the gate of Aleke Gebre Hanna and as he passed he greeted Aleka by just nodding.
And Aleka replied, “How are you?” (in the plural form{footnote}Normally, this is the polite form of address.{/footnote})
As this donkey driver arrived somewhere, he was asked if he had met Aleka Gebre Hanna or not.
He said, “I have met him.”
They asked him, “How did he greet you? Didn’t he insult you?”
He said, “No, he didn’t. He only greeted me.”
“How did he greet you?”
“How are you?” (plural form)
“So he insulted you, because he considered you as a pompous ass.”
He was upset and he went back to Aleke Gebre Hanna and kicked him and left him on the street.
Some other person passing by said, “What happened to you?”
Aleka replied, “A donkey broke my leg and went away.”
አለቃ ገብረሃና እና አህያ ነጂው
በያለምጌታ ማሞ የተተረከ
አንድ አለቃ ገብረሃና የተባሉ ብልህና አዋቂ ሰው ነበሩ፡፡ እኝህ ሰው በብልህ መልሶቻቸውና ሰውን በመሳደብ ይታወቁ ነበር፡፡
ታዲያ አንድ ቀን አንድ አህያ ይነዳ የነበረ ሰው በአለቃ ገብረሃና ደጅ ሲያልፍ ያያቸውና በጭንቅላቱ ብቻ ሠላምታ ሰጥቷቸው ያልፋል፡፡
አለቃም “እንደምንድናችሁ?”{footnote}በተለምዶ ይህ አባባል አንድን ሰው በማክበር የሚባል ነው፡፡{/footnote}) ብለው ይመልሳሉ፡፡
የአህያውም ነጂ በአንድ ሥፍራ ሲደርስ አለቃ ገብረሃናን አይቶ እንደነበር ሲጠየቅ “አዎ፤ አይቻቸዋለሁ፡፡” አለ፡፡
“ታዲያ ሠላምታ እንዴት ሰጡህ? አልሰደቡህም?” ብለው ቢጠይቁት
እሱም “እረ አልሰደቡኝም! ሠላምታም ሰጥተውኛል፡፡” አለ፡፡
“ምን ብለው?” ሲሉትም “’እንደምንድናችሁ?’ ብለው፡፡” ብሎ ይመልሳል፡፡
“ታዲያማ ሰድበውህ የለ እንዴ!? አንተንም እንደኩራተኛ አህያ ቆጥረውሃል እኮ!” አሉት፡፡
እሱም በዚህ ተበሳጭቶ ወደ አለቃ ገብረሃና በመሄድ ደብድቦ በመንገድ ዳር ጥሏቸው ይሄዳል፡፡
በዚያ ያልፍ የነበረ አንድ ሰው “ምን ሆኑ?” ብሎ ቢጠይቃቸው አለቃም “አንድ አህያ እግሬን ሰብሮኝ ሄደ፡፡” ብለው መለሱ ይባላል፡፡
In the original voice — hear tales from Amharaአማራ, told in Amharic. Listen ›
Check your understandingግንዛቤዎን ይፈትሹ
What was Aleka Gebre Hanna famous for?
How did the donkey driver greet Aleka as he passed the gate?
How did Aleka reply to the donkey driver's greeting?
Why did the other people say Aleka had insulted the donkey driver?
What did the donkey driver do when he went back to Aleka?
When another person asked what had happened, what did Aleka say?
For discussionለውይይት
- The donkey driver was not angry until other people explained the greeting to him. What does this tell us about how words can be understood in different ways?
- Aleka used a polite-sounding greeting to insult someone in a clever way. Do you think this was wise or unkind? Explain your thinking.
- At the end, Aleka called the man who kicked him 'a donkey.' Why do you think he chose those words even after being hurt?
- What lesson or message do you think this folktale is trying to teach the reader?