Ethiopian Folktales

The Bush Rat and the Ladyየዱር አይጥና አንዲት ሴት

Gambelaጋምቤላ · 1 min readደቂቃ ንባብ

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Narrated by Sambo Likasa Haya

Once there was a bush rat who looked at this very beautiful woman and he was very fond of her but he didn’t know how to approach her. So one day, on a very rainy day, he sat outside her house.

But he became cold and wet and he was shivering and he said, “Please, kind lady, it’s so cold out here. Can I just come inside your door? Under the eaves?”

So she said, “Yes, do come in.”

So he went and sat just inside the door.

He kept shivering and shivering and then he said, “Please, dear lady, could I move and sit close to your fire? It will be much warmer there.”

So she said, “Yes, please do. Come closer to the fire.”

So he went closer to the fire.

Then after some time he dried out, but he still pretended to be cold and he said, “Please, dear lady, I’m still cold. Do you mind if I come and sleep near your mat?”

So he slept near the cowhide.

Then he said, “I’m still very cold. Do you mind if I sleep on the cowhide?”

And she said, “All right. You can sleep on the cowhide.”

So he rolled on to the cowhide, and after a few minutes he said, “Oh, I’m feeling so sleepy, do you mind if I sleep in your arms?”

“All right. You can.”

Then the two of them got married and lived happily ever after.

And the moral of this story is, “If there’s the will there’s the way.”

የዱር አይጥና አንዲት ሴት

በሳምቦ ሊካሳ ሃያ የተተረከ

በአንድ ወቅት አንድ የዱር አይጥ አንዲት እጅግ በጣም ቆንጆ ሴት አይቶ ይወዳትና እንዴት እንደሚቀርባት ግራ ገባው፡፡ እናም አንድ ቀን በጣም ዝናባማ ቀን ከደጇ ተቀመጠ፡፡

ሆኖም በጣም ስለበረደውና ዝናቡ ስላረጠበው እየተንቀጠቀጠ “እባክሽ አንቺ ደግ ሴት እዚህ በጣም ብርድ ስለሆነ በጣሪያው ክፈፍ ስር አድርጌ ወደ ውስጥ ልግባ?” ብሎ ጠየቃት፡፡

እሷም “አዎ ግባ” አለችው፡፡

እናም ወደ ውስጥ ገብቶ ከበሩ አጠገብ ተቀመጠ፡፡ በብርዱ መንቀጥቀጡን ቀጥሎ እንዲህ አላት “እባክሽ አንቺ ሴት ሆይ ወደ እሳቱ ተጠግቼ ብቀመጥ ይሞቀኛል፡፡”

እሷም “አዎ እባክህ ናና ወደ እሳቱ ተጠግተህ ቁጭ በል” አለችው፡፡

ስለዚህ ወደ እሳቱ ተጠጋ፡፡

ከቆይታ በኋላ እርጥበቱ ቢደርቅለትም አሁንም የበረደው በመምሰል “እባክሽ ውዷ ሴት አሁንም እየበረደኝ ነው፡፡ ከምንጣፍሽ አጠገብ መጥቼ ልተኛ?” አላት፡፡

እናም ከቁርበቱ አጠገብ ተኛ፡፡

ከዚያም “አሁንም በርዶኛል ቁርበቱ ላይ ልተኛ?” አላት፡፡

እሷም “እሺ ቁርበቱ ላይ መተኛት ትችላለህ፡፡” አለችው፡፡ ቁርበቱም ላይ ወጥቶ ከተኛ በኋላ ትንሽ ቆይቶ “እንቅልፌ እየመጣብኝ ነው፡፡ ክንዶችሽ ላይ ብተኛ ቅር ይልሻል?” አላት፡፡

“አዎ ትችላለህ፡፡” አለችው፡፡

ከዚያም ሁለቱ ተጋብተው በደስታ አብረው መኖር ጀመሩ፡፡

የዚህ ታሪክ መልዕክትም ፍላጎቱ ካለ ዘዴ አይጠፋም የሚል ነው፡፡

In the original voice — hear tales from Gambelaጋምቤላ, told in Anuak. Listen ›

Check your understandingግንዛቤዎን ይፈትሹ

  1. What kind of animal was fond of the beautiful woman?

  2. What was the weather like on the day the bush rat sat outside her house?

  3. What did the bush rat first ask to do?

  4. After he dried out by the fire, what did the bush rat keep pretending?

  5. What did the lady let the bush rat sleep on after the mat?

  6. What happened at the end of the story?

For discussionለውይይት

  • The bush rat asked for one small thing at a time. What do you think of the way he got what he wanted? Was it clever, or was it not fair to the lady?
  • The moral of the story is 'If there's the will there's the way.' What do you think this means? Can you give an example from your own life?
  • The bush rat pretended to still be cold even after he was warm and dry. How do you feel about him pretending? Why do you think he did it?
  • If you were the lady, would you have let the bush rat keep coming closer step by step? Why or why not?