The Bull’s Calfየበሬው ጥጃ
Omo Zoneኦሞ ዞን · 2 min readደቂቃ ንባብ
Narrated by Metekia Libri
The lion and the leopard were living together. The lion bought a bull and the leopard bought a cow. The cow of the leopard gave birth to a calf. But the lion said it was his bull’s calf. The leopard argued that it was his cow’s calf and even said that it was impossible for a bull to give birth.
And the lion, being confident of his strength, said, “It is my bull’s calf. Anyone will agree that. A bull can give birth to a calf.”
“I would like to hear these witnesses myself,” the leopard said, “and if they witness that a bull can give birth then you may take the calf.”
So the wild animals all met together. The rabbit was not present because she had been busy with getting a very hard, sharpened stake, sharp like a sword, which had a hollow bottom, in which the rabbit could hide. She had it made by a friend, so she couldn’t come till it was ready.
“Where have you been all these hours?” the lion asked, enraged. “Why are you late?” he roared.
“I was very busy putting out the fire in the swamp of my father.”
“May you shit blood!” said the lion (this is a saying meaning, ‘Why do you cheat me?’) "Your father has no land, and even if he did, swampy land cannot catch fire. You are lying.”
“How can a bull give birth to a calf? You are a cheat yourself and you only depend on your strength,” the rabbit said.
The lion was very angry. While he was trying to beat the rabbit with the palm of his hand she jumped into the hollow at the bottom of the stake and hid. Down came the lion’s paw. As we know the power of the lion is in his huge paw. He thought he’d got her but his paw was impaled on the stake and blood flowed everywhere. He licked the blood from his paws. The wild animals knew right then that it was God’s judgement on the lion, which fell on the palm of the lion, which is the symbol of his strength, and they agreed that the calf must belong to the leopard.
They said, “We have been here all day frightened by the power of the lion to be false witnesses because of his strength and power. But the rabbit has done a good thing for us. She told the truth and now we are free to go. So from today on, it is not the lion but the rabbit that is the king of the wild animals.”
And in our culture it is the rabbit who is the king of the animals.
የበሬው ጥጃ
በመተኪያ ሊብሪ የተተረከ
አንበሳና ነበር አብረው ይኖሩ ነበር፡፡ ታዲያ አንበሳው በሬ ሲገዛ ነብሩ ላም ይገዛና ከጊዜ በኋላ የነብሩ ላም ጥጃ ወለደች፡፡ ሆኖም አንበሳው ጥጃው የእኔ በሬ ጥጃ ነው በማለት ሲከራከር ነብሩ ጥጃው የእርሱ ላም የወለደችው መሆኑንና በሬ ጥጃ መውለድ እንደማይችል ሊያስረዳው ቢሞክርም አሻፈረኝ አለ፡፡
በመቀጠልም አንበሳው በጉልበቱ ተማምኖ “ጥጃው የእኔ በሬ ጥጃ ነው፡፡ ይህንን ማንም የሚስማማበት ነው፡፡ በሬ ጥጃ ሊወልድ ይችላል፡፡” በማለት መከራከር ያዘ፡፡
ነብሩም “እንግዲያው እነዚህ ምስክር የሚሆኑትን ሰዎች ልሰማቸው እፈልጋለሁና እነርሱም በሬ ጥጃ ይወልዳል ብለው ከመሰከሩ ጥጃውን ልትወስደው ትችላለህ፡፡” አለው፡፡
እናም የዱር እንስሳቱ ሁሉ ተሰበሰቡ፡፡ ጥንቸል ግን በጣም ጠንካራ፣ ሹልና እንደጦር የሰላ ሆኖ ከስሩ ጥንቸል ሊደብቅ እንዲችል ተደርጎ የተቦረቦረ ችካል ስታዘጋጅ ስለነበረ ከስፍራው አልገተኘችም ነበር፡፡ ይህንን የሚያዘጋጅላት ጓደኛዋ ስለነበረ ይህ ተዘጋጀቶ እስኪያልቅ መጠበቅ ነበረባት፡፡
በመጨረሻም ከስብሰባው ቦታ ስትደርስ “ይህን ሁሉ ጊዜ የት ነበርሽ?” ብሎ አንበሳው አፈጠጠባት፡፡ “ለምንድነው ያረፈድሽው?” ብሎም ጮኸባት፡፡
ጥንቸሏም “የአባቴ ረግረግ ቦታ ላይ የተነሳውን እሳት ሳጠፋ ቆይቼ ነው፡፡” ብላ መለሰች፡፡
በዚህ ጊዜ አንበሳው “ደም ያስቀምጥሽና! አባትሽ ምንም መሬት የለውም፤ ቢኖረውም እንኳ ረግረጋማ ቦታ ላይ እሳት ሊነሳ አይችልም፡፡ ለምንድነው የምትዋሺው?” አላት፡፡
እርሷም “እንግዲያውማ በሬ እንዴት ጥጃ ይወልዳል? አንተ ራስህ አጭበርባሪ ነህ፣ በጉልበትህ ብቻ የምትመካ!” አለችው፡፡
በዚህ ጊዜ አንበሳው በጣም ተበሳጭቶ በመዳፉ ጥንቸሏን ሊመታት ሲሞከር ጥንቸሏ ከችካሉ ስር ወዳለው ጉድጓድ ዘላ ገብታ ተደበቀች፡፡ የአንበሳው መዳፍ ከጉድጓዱ ውስጥ ሲገባ እንደሚታወቀው የአንበሳ ጉልበት ያለው ከመዳፉ ላይ ነውና ጥንቸሏን ያገኛት መስሎት መዳፉ ችካሉ ላይ ስለተቀረቀረ ደሙ በየቦታው መፍሰስ ጀመረ፡፡
ደሙንም ከመዳፉ ላይ ይልስ ጀመር፡፡ በዚህ ጊዜ የዱር እንስሳቱ በሙሉ አምላክ በአንበሳው ላይ እንደፈረደበት አወቁ፡፡ ፍርዱም የአንበሳ የጥንካሬ ተምሳሌት የሆነው መዳፉ ላይ ስላረፈ ጥጃው የነብሩ እንደሆነ ተስማሙ፡፡
እንስሳቱም “ሙሉ ቀን በአንበሳው ጥንካሬና ኃይል ፍራቻ ምክንያት በሃሰት ለመመስከር እዚህ ዋልን፡፡ ነገር ግን ጥንቸሏ መልካም ነገርን አደረገች፡፡ እውነቱንም ነገረችን፡፡ አሁን በነፃነት ወደየመጣንበት መመለስ የምንችል ሲሆን ከዛሬ ጀምሮ አንበሳው ሳይሆን የእንስሳት ሁሉ ንግስት ጥንቸሏ ናት፡፡” ብለው ተስማሙ፡፡
በባህላችንም የእንስሳት ንጉስ ጥንቸል ነው፡፡
In the original voice — hear tales from Omo Zoneኦሞ ዞን, told in an Omo Valley language. Listen ›
Check your understandingግንዛቤዎን ይፈትሹ
What animals were living together at the start of the story?
What did the lion buy?
Who gave birth to the calf?
Why was the rabbit late to the meeting?
What did the rabbit say she had been doing?
What did the leopard say was impossible?
For discussionለውይይት
- The rabbit used a clever trick to show that the lion was wrong. Why do you think she talked about a fire in a swamp instead of arguing with the lion directly?
- The lion was very confident because he was strong. Do you think being strong always means being right? Explain your thinking.
- What lesson do you think this story is trying to teach us about telling the truth and being fair?
- How do you think the leopard felt when the lion claimed the calf belonged to his bull? What would you have done in the leopard's place?