Ethiopian Folktales

The Bird’s Adviceየወፏ ምክር

Kafa Zoneከፋ ዞን · 1 min readደቂቃ ንባብ

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Narrated by Worku Woldemariam

A man caught a very beautiful bird in the palm of his hand. He was squeezing her so as to kill her. But she requested to be allowed to say a word or two.

“Please don’t kill me. I’ll give you three important pieces of advice. My first is: don’t let go of what you have in your hands. The second is: don’t regret anything that has happened.”

Then she kept quiet.

He asked her to give him the third one.

“The third one is very useful to your children and grandchildren and I will not tell you unless you release me.”

The man was anxious to hear that important advice so he let her go and she flew up into a tree.

“What did I say to you? Do you remember?” she said to him.

“You said, ‘Don’t let go of what you have in your hands.’”

“And the second?”

“Don’t regret any mistakes you have made.”

“Yes. You did not accept what I told you. If you hadn’t let me go, you would have found gold in my body that would have been a great asset to your children and grandchildren. So that’s all.”

“What about the third one?” he asks.

“The third one was a repetition of the second. Don’t regret what you have lost. That’s all. Goodbye. So, because you haven’t taken my advice you will live in poverty.”

የወፏ ምክር

በወርቁ ወልደማርያም

አንድ ሰው አንዲት በጣም ቆንጆ ወፍ በመዳፉ ውስጥ ይዞ ጨምቆ ሊገድላት ሲል ከመሞቷ በፊት አንድ ወይም ሁለት ቃላት ትናገር ዘንድ እንዲፈቅድላት ጠየቀችው፡፡

እንዲህም አለች “እባክህ አትግደለኝ፡፡ ሶስት ጠቃሚ ምክሮችን እሰጥሃለሁ፡፡ የመጀመሪያው ምክር፤ በእጅህ ያለውን ነገር አትልቀቅ፡፡ ሁለተኛው ምክር፤ ስለሆነው ነገር ሁሉ አትቆጭ፡፡” ካለችው በኋላ ዝም አለች፡፡

ሶስተኛውንም ምክር ትነግረው ዘንድ ሲጠይቃት “ሶስተኛው ምክር ለልጆችህና ለልጅ ልጆችህ በጣም ጠቃሚ ስለሆነ ካለቀከኝ አልነግርህም፡፡” አለችው፡፡

በዚህ ጊዜ ሰውየው ሶስተኛውን ምክር ለመስማት በጣም ጓጉቶ ስለነበረ ወፏን ሲለቃት ከአንድ ዛፍ ላይ በርራ ወጥታ “ምንድን ነበር ያልኩህ? ታስታውሳለህ?” ብላ ጠየቀችው፡፡ እርሱም “በእጅህ ያለውን ነገር አትልቀቅ ነው ያልሺኝ፡፡” አላት፡፡

“ሁለተኛውስ?”

“ስላለፈው ነገር ሁሉ አትቆጭ፡፡”

“አዎ፡፡ ነገር ግን የነገርኩህን ነገር አልተቀበልክም፡፡ ባትለቀኝ ኖሮ ከሆዴ ውስጥ ለልጅ ልጆችህ የሚሆን ወርቅ ታገኝ ነበር፡፡ ይኸው ነው፡፡” አለችው፡፡

ሰውየው “ሶስተኛውስ ታዲያ?” አላት፡፡

እሷም “ሶስተኛው የሁለተኛው ምክር ድጋሚ ነው፡፡ ስላጣኸው ነገር አትቆጭ፡፡ ይኸው ነው፡፡ ደህና ሁን፡፡ ምክሬንም ባለመቀበልህ በድህነት ትኖራለህ፡፡” አለችው፡፡

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Check your understandingግንዛቤዎን ይፈትሹ

  1. How did the man first catch the bird?

  2. What did the man want to do to the bird at first?

  3. What was the bird's first piece of advice?

  4. Why did the man finally let the bird go?

  5. What did the bird say was hidden inside her body?

  6. What did the bird say the third piece of advice really was?

For discussionለውይይት

  • The bird told the man not to regret his mistakes, but he had just made a big one. Why do you think this advice was both true and a little unfair to him?
  • Do you think the bird was clever or unkind for tricking the man? Explain what you feel and why.
  • The man did not follow the advice he was given. What lesson do you think this story is trying to teach us?
  • If you had caught the bird, what would you have done differently, and why?