Ethiopian Folktales

The Dog, the Goat and the Donkeyውሻ፣ ፍየልና አህያ

Somaliaሶማሌ · 1 min readደቂቃ ንባብ

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Narrated by Abdul Amin Ahmed

Once there was a dog, a goat and a donkey who wanted to travel to another country. So they got on the bus. The dog had ten birr (the main unit of currency in Ethiopia). The donkey had five birr, but the goat had no money.

The bus ticket cost five birr. But when the dog gave ten birr to the conductor, he didn’t get any change. Because the goat had no money, she tried to hide herself in the bus. But the donkey paid his five birr. When the bus arrived at its destination they all got off.

The dog always runs after the bus shouting, “Give me my five birr! My five birr!” The goat runs away from the bus, saying, “The conductor will ask me for my money.” But the donkey doesn’t move. He’s already paid his five birr and he feels quite safe and happy.

ውሻ፣ ፍየልና አህያ

በአብዱል አሚን አህመድ የተተረከ

በአንድ ወቅት ውሻ፣ ፍየልና አህያ ወደ ሌላ አገር አብረው ለመሰደድ ይነሳሉ፡፡ አውቶብስ ላይም ተሳፈሩ፡፡ ውሻው አስር ብር ሲኖረው አህያዋ አምስት ብር ነበራት፡፡ ፍየሏ ግን ምንም ገንዘብ አልነበራትም፡፡

የአውቶብሱ ቲኬት ዋጋ አምስት ብር ስለነበረ ውሻው ለቲኬት ቆራጯ አስር ብር ሲሰጣት መልስ አልሰጠችውም፡፡ ፍየሏ ምንም ገንዘብ ስላልነበራት አውቶብሱ ውስጥ ተደብቃ ገባች፡፡ አህያውም የራሱን ሂሳብ አምስት ብር ከፍሎ አውቶብሱ የመጨረሻው ፌርማታ ሲደርስ ሁሉም ወረዱ፡፡

ከዚያ ጊዜ ጀምሮ ውሻ ሀልጊዜ አውቶብስ እየተከተለ “አምስት ብሬን አምጣ! አምስት ብሬን!” እያለ ሲሮጥ ፍየል ግን “ቲኬት ቆራጯ ገንዘብ አምጪ ትለኛለች፡፡” በማለት ከአውቶብሱ ትሸሻለች፡፡ አህያዋ ታዲያ የራሷን አምስት ብር ስለከፈለች ሁልጊዜ በመረጋጋትና በደስታ ስሜት ከአውቶብስ አትሸሽም፡፡

In the original voice — hear tales from Somaliaሶማሌ, told in Somali. Listen ›

Check your understandingግንዛቤዎን ይፈትሹ

  1. Which three animals wanted to travel to another country?

  2. How much money did the dog have?

  3. Which animal had no money?

  4. How much did the bus ticket cost?

  5. Why did the dog not get any change from the conductor?

  6. Why does the donkey feel safe and happy at the end?

For discussionለውይይት

  • The story says the dog runs after the bus shouting for his five birr. Why do you think real dogs might seem to chase cars or buses? What does the story try to explain?
  • The goat runs away because she is afraid the conductor will ask for her money. Do you think it was right for the goat to try to hide instead of paying? Why or why not?
  • The donkey does not run or hide because he paid his fare. What lesson do you think this story teaches about doing the right thing?
  • This is a folktale that explains why animals behave the way they do. Can you think of another animal and make up a fun reason for how it acts, like this story does?