Ethiopian Folktales

The Dog and the Donkeyውሻና አህያ

Amharaአማራ · 1 min readደቂቃ ንባብ

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Narrated by Worku Mersha

Once upon a time there were two friends; these friends were one donkey and one dog, and they were the property of one owner.

One day the dog told the donkey that, “I am fed up of barking in the night and guarding the property of my master.” And the donkey also complained, “I am also fed up with carrying a heavy load whenever my master wants to go to the market. And what shall we do?”

Finally they agreed to run away and they went.

As they went, they arrived at a very large field, like a green pasture with water. The donkey got something to eat and drink and had enough, but the dog had nothing.

Therefore the donkey after having taken enough, said, “Now I must bray.”

And the dog advised her not to bray and he said, “If you bray, the first braying will be for waking the hyena, the second for telling him your direction and the third one for you to be eaten.”

The donkey couldn’t accept the advice and she brayed. And the hyena heard her, and the hyena came and started feasting on the donkey.

While the hyena is feasting on the donkey, the dog was giving the meat of the donkey piece by piece to the hyena, and the hyena ordered the dog to bring the heart of the donkey and the dog replied, “It has no heart. How can you ask for her heart, because if she had a heart, she wouldn’t have brayed.”

ውሻና አህያ

በወርቁ መርሻ የተተረከ

በአንድ ወቅት የአንድ ሰው ንብረት የነበሩ አንድ ውሻና አንዲት አህያ ጓደኛሞች ነበሩ፡፡ ከዕለታት አንድ ቀን ታዲያ ውሻው አህያዋን እንዲህ አላት፡፡

“ሌሊት ሌሊት እየጮህኩ የጌታዬን ንብረት መጠበቅ ሰልችቶኛል፡፡”

አህያውም እንዲህ ብላ አማረረች “እኔም ጌታዬ ወደ ገበያ በሄደ ቁጥር ከባድ ጭነት መሸከም ሰልችቶኛል፡፡ ታዲያ ምን ብናደርግ ይሻላል?”

በመጨረሻም ቤታቸውን ጥለው ለመጥፋት ተስማምተው ተሰደዱ፡፡ እየተጓዙም ሣለ በጣም ለምለምና ውሃ ያለው ሜዳ አጠገብ ደረሱ፡፡ አህያዋ የምትበላውና የምትጠጣው ነገር አግኝታ ስትጠግብ ውሻው ምንም አላገኘም፡፡

እናም አህያዋ ከጠገበች በኋላ “አሁን ማናፋት አለብኝ::” አለች፡፡ ውሻውም አህያዋ እንዳታናፋ እንዲህ ብሎ መከራት “ካናፋሽ የመጀመሪያው ድምፅ ጅቡን ይቀሰቅሰዋል፣ ሁለተኛውም ድምጽ ያለንበትን ቦታ ይጠቁመዋል፣ በሶስተኛውም አንቺን ይበላሻል፡፡”

አህያዋም ምክሩን ችላ ብላ አናፋች፡፡ ጅቡም ድምጿን ሰምቶ በመምጣት አህያዋን መብላት ጀመረ፡፡

ጅቡም አህያዋን እየበላ ሳለ ውሻው ሥጋውን እየቆረጠ ያቀርብለት ነበር፡፡ ታዲያ ጅቡ ውሻውን “የአህያዋን ልብ ስጠኝ::” ቢለው ውሻው “አህያዋ ልብ የላትም፡፡ ልብ ቢኖራትማ ኖሮ ባላናፋች ነበር፡፡” አለው ይባላል፡፡

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

Check your understandingግንዛቤዎን ይፈትሹ

  1. What animals were the two friends in the story?

  2. Why was the dog fed up?

  3. What did the donkey complain about?

  4. What did the two friends decide to do?

  5. What did they find when they arrived at the large field?

  6. What did the dog warn the donkey would happen if she brayed three times?

For discussionለውይይት

  • The dog gave the donkey good advice, but she did not listen. What do you think this story teaches us about listening to advice from friends?
  • Both the dog and the donkey were unhappy with their work for their master. Do you think running away was a wise choice? Why or why not?
  • When the donkey wanted to bray, why do you think she could not stay quiet even though it was dangerous? What does this tell us about her character?
  • At the end, the dog helps the hyena and says the donkey had no heart. What do you think the dog's actions show about him as a friend?