Ethiopian Folktales

Bullets, Let Alone Ballsእንኳን ከኳስ ከጥፋትም

Amharaአማራ · 1 min readደቂቃ ንባብ

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Narrated by Daniel Legesse

Once upon a time, Emperor Haile Selassie and President Jomo Kenyatta of Kenya were watching the football match between their national teams. The game was over without scoring goals by either team. Finally the referee decided that the two emperors would act as goalkeeper.

First Jomo Kenyatta acted as goalkeeper and the Ethiopian Emperor as the person who kicked a penalty. And the Ethiopian Emperor scored a goal. Now it was the Kenyan Emperor’s turn and the Ethiopian Emperor to be goalkeeper.

The Kenyan Emperor started running from the other goal all the way down the field to build up his speed and the Ethiopian Emperor was afraid and ran away and the Kenyan Emperor scored.

Haile Selassie was asked, “Why did you run away?”

“We Ethiopians save ourselves from bullets, let alone balls.”

እንኳን ከኳስ ከጥፋትም

በዳንኤል ገሠሠ የተተረከ

ከዕለታት አንድ ቀን አፄ ኃይለሥላሴና የኬንያው ፕሬዝደንት ጆሞ ኬንያታ የአገሮቻቸው ብሔራዊ ቡድኖች የእግር ኳስ ግጥሚያ ሲያደርጉ ይመለከቱ ነበር፡፡ ታዲያ ሁለቱም ቡድኖች ግብ ሳያስቆጥሩ ጨዋታው ይጠናቀቃል፡፡ በመጨረሻም የጨዋታው ዳኛ ሁለቱ መሪዎች እንደ ግብ ጠባቂ ሆነው ጨዋታው ይዳኛል ብለው ወሰኑ፡፡

በዚህም መሠረት በመጀመሪያ ጆሞ ኬንያታ ግብ ጠባቂ ሆነው የኢትዮጵያው ንጉስ ፍፁም ቅጣት ምት በመምታት ጎል አስቆጠሩ፡፡

ቀጥሎ ፍፁም ቅጣት ምት መምታቱ የኬንያው ፕሬዝደንት ተራ ስለነበር የኢትዮጵያው ንጉሥ ጎል ጠባቂ ሆኑ፡፡

እናም የኬንያው መሪ ኳሱን ለመምታት ከሌላኛው የግብ ክልል ተነስተው ሜዳውን ሙሉ ሲንደረደሩ ባዩ ጊዜ የኢትዮጵያው ንጉሥ ግቡን ትተው ስለሸሹ የኬንያው መሪ ግብ ያስቆጥራሉ፡፡

ኃይለሥላሴም “ለምንድነው የሸሹት?” ተብለው ሲጠየቁ “እኛ ኢትዮጵያውያን እንኳን ከኳስ ከጥይትም እናመልጣለን፡፡” ብለው መለሱ ይባላል፡፡

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

Check your understandingግንዛቤዎን ይፈትሹ

  1. Who was watching the football match with President Jomo Kenyatta?

  2. How did the football match between the two national teams end?

  3. What did the referee decide the two emperors should do?

  4. What happened when the Ethiopian Emperor took his penalty kick?

  5. What did the Kenyan Emperor do before he kicked his penalty?

  6. Why did the Ethiopian Emperor say he ran away?

For discussionለውይይት

  • Do you think the Ethiopian Emperor's answer about saving himself from bullets was a real reason or a clever joke? Explain what you think.
  • What does this story tell us about being brave or being careful? Share your own opinion.
  • How do you think the Kenyan Emperor felt when the Ethiopian Emperor ran away and he scored? Why?
  • If you were the goalkeeper and someone ran very fast toward you to kick the ball, what would you do, and why?