Ethiopian Folktales

Celebrating the Revolutionየአብዮት በዓል

Amharaአማራ · 1 min readደቂቃ ንባብ

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Narrated by Shimelash Bequele

There was a man called Kumche Ambau who was a government official in Buwi during the Dergue{footnote}The Dergue, or Derg was a communist military junta that overthrew the government of Haile Selassie in 1974. It effectively remained in power till 1991.{/footnote} period. He is famous for celebrating the fourth anniversary of the revolution by lighting forty candles. Later on he was transferred from Buwi to Machakel as a government official. In Machakel one elementary school teacher wanted to take annual leave and asked Kumche Ambau (the government official) to give him leave. Kumche Ambau asked the teacher to answer the following question as a criterion to have the permission and forgetting that it is his right to take leave.

“Who celebrated the fourth anniversary of the revolution by lighting forty candles?”

The teacher answered, “That’s simple. It is the great Comrade Kumche Ambau.”

And Kumche Ambau allowed him six months leave without any legal basis.

የአብዮት በዓል

በሽመላሽ በቀለ የተተረከ

በደርግ{footnote}ደርግ የኃይለ ሥላሴን መንግስት ገልብጦ እስከ 1983 ዓ.ም በስልጣን ላይ የቆየ የኮሚኒስት አመራር ነው፡፡ {/footnote} ጊዜ የቡዊ ወረዳ አስተዳዳሪ የነበረ አንድ ቆምጨ አምባው የተባለ ሰው ነበር፡፡ አራተኛውን የአብዮት በዓል 40 ሻማ አብርቶ በማክበር ይታወቃል፡፡ በኋላም ከቡዊ ወደ መተከል ተዛውሮ በመሥራት ላይ ሣለ አንድ የአንደኛ ደረጃ ትምህርት ቤት መምህር ቆምጨ አምባውን የዓመት ፈቃድ እንዲሰጠው ይጠይቀዋል፡፡

ቆምጨ አምባውም የዓመት እረፍት መውሰድ የመምህሩ መብት መሆኑን ዘንግቶ ፈቃዱን ለማግኘት አንድ ጥያቄ መመለስ እንዳለበት ይነግረዋል፡፡

”አራተኛውን የአብዮት በዓል 40 ሻማ አብርቶ ያከበረው ማነው?” ብሎ ሲጠይቀው መምህሩም “ይህማ ቀላል ነው:: ያ ሰው ታላቁ ጓድ ቆምጨ አምባው ነው፡፡” ብሎ ሲመልስለት ቆምጨ አምባውም ያለምንም ህጋዊ ማስረጃ የስድስት ወር ፈቃድ ሰጠው፡፡

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Check your understandingግንዛቤዎን ይፈትሹ

  1. What was Kumche Ambau's job?

  2. How did Kumche Ambau become famous?

  3. Kumche Ambau was transferred from Buwi to which place?

  4. Why did the teacher come to see Kumche Ambau?

  5. What question did Kumche Ambau ask the teacher?

  6. How much leave did Kumche Ambau give the teacher?

For discussionለውይይት

  • The teacher praised Kumche Ambau by calling him 'the great Comrade.' Why do you think the teacher answered this way?
  • Taking annual leave was actually the teacher's right. What do you think about Kumche Ambau treating it like a favor he could give or refuse?
  • Kumche Ambau gave six months of leave 'without any legal basis.' What does this tell us about how he used his power?
  • What lesson or message do you think this story is trying to share with the reader?