Ethiopian Folktales

Berio Delala, a True Storyበሪዎ ደላላ፣ እውነተኛ ታሪክ

Amharaአማራ · 1 min readደቂቃ ንባብ

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Narrated by Shimelash Bequele

In our country there is one monk called by a woman’s name – Abba Azenech.

There was one famous rebel and that warrior used to say, “Nay to the sky, nay to the earth.” (That is, I am not going to be subject to either heavenly powers – the Lord – or earthly powers.)

And there was also one small market in Sekalla Damot, the source area of the Blue Nile, which is called Arb Gebiya (market on Friday).

And they saw in that market the dead body of somebody hanged from a tree, and the governor of that small area asked Abba Azenech beside him, “Who is that man, hanging from the tree?” and he answered, “It is Berio Delela.”

The governor was called Lul (prince) Hailu Tekla Haimanot. It is he who sentenced him to death and the governor said, “Berio Delala! While saying ‘Nay to the sky, nay to the earth,’ you are left on the tree between heaven and earth.”

በሪዎ ደላላ፣ እውነተኛ ታሪክ

በሽመላሽ በቀለ የተተረከ

በአገራችን አንድ አባ አዘነች እየተባሉ በሴት ስም የሚጠሩ መነኩሴ ነበሩ፡፡ አንድ ደግሞ ከሰማይ ከምድር የተጣለ አማፂ ጦረኛ ነበር፡፡

የአባይ ምንጭ በሆነው ሰቀላ ዳሞት ውስጥ የምትገኝ አረብ ገቤ የምትባል ሥፍራ ነበረች፡፡

እናም አንድ ቀን በገበያው መሃል በአንድ ዛፍ ላይ የተሰቀለ ሰው አይቶ የዚያች ወረዳ ገዢ አባ አዘነችን “ያ ዛፍ ላይ የተሰቀለው ሰው ማነው?” ብሎ ጠየቃቸው፡፡

አባ አዘነችም “ባሪዎ ደላላ ነው፡፡” ብለው መለሱለት፡፡

ገዢውም ልዑል ኃይሉ ተክለሃይማኖት የሚባል ሲሆን ሰውየውን የሞት ፍርድ የፈረደበት ራሱ ነበርና እንዲህ አለ “አይ ባሪዎ ደላላ! ከሰማይም ከምድርም ተጣልተህ በገነትና በምድር መሃከል በዛፍ ላይ ትቀር!”

In the original voice — hear tales from Amharaአማራ, told in Amharic. Listen ›

Check your understandingግንዛቤዎን ይፈትሹ

  1. What is the name of the monk in the story?

  2. What did the famous rebel like to say?

  3. Where was the small market located?

  4. What does the market name Arb Gebiya mean?

  5. What did the people see in the market?

  6. Who sentenced Berio Delala to death?

For discussionለውይይት

  • The rebel said he would not obey heaven (the Lord) or the earth (rulers). What do you think about a person who refuses to follow any power at all?
  • The governor said Berio Delala was now left hanging 'between heaven and earth.' Why do you think the governor said these words? What did he mean?
  • Do you think it was strange that a monk was called by a woman's name? What might this small detail add to the story?
  • The story is called 'a True Story.' How does knowing it really happened change the way you feel about it?