The Donkey’s Earየአህያዋ ጆሮ
Omo Zoneኦሞ ዞን · 1 min readደቂቃ ንባብ
Narrated by Zarke Goite
The donkey lived with the cattle once upon a time. They ate and slept together. The donkey envied the cattle’s horns.
“I could fight hyenas if I had horns,” she thought. “I’ll go to the country or to other villages to look for a means of getting horns.”
She went on a long journey and she met a merchant who was carrying a big bundle on his back.
“Oh, God is very thoughtful to send me this donkey, because this load is so heavy,” he thought.
He put the load on the donkey’s back and it was very heavy for her. They went a long distance. She wanted to rest. She walked very slowly. The man beat her with the stick he was carrying, again and again. Still the burden was very heavy for her. She couldn’t carry on. At last she fell on her knees and wouldn’t move. He beat her, but still she wouldn’t stand up and walk. So he cut one of her ears. Still she was so tired she didn’t move. So he took the load off her and went on his way leaving her on the ground. The donkey, after being relieved of the load, went back to the cattle, to her old place. They asked her why she hadn’t got the horns she had looked for.
“Oh, you are talking about getting horns? The worst thing is, I have lost my ear. And I have learned my lesson.”
From that day on, ambitious people were told, “Know your place. Don’t be like the donkey who wanted horns and lost her ear.”
የአህያዋ ጆሮ
በዛርኬ ጎይቴ የተተረከ
በአንድ ወቅት ከከብቶች ጋር የምትኖር አህያ ነበረች፡፡ ከከብቶቹም ጋር ትበላና ትተኛ ስለነበረ ቀንዶቻቸውን ስታይ ትቀናባቸው ጀመር፡፡
“ቀንዶች ቢኖሩኝ ጅቦችን እከላከልባቸው ነበር፡፡” ብላም አሰበች፡፡ “እናም ወደ ገጠር ወይም ወደ ሌሎች መንደሮች ሄጄ ቀንዶች የማገኝበትን መንገድ መፈለግ አለብኝ፡፡” ብላ በማሰብ ረጅም ጉዞ ላይ እንዳለች ጀርባው ላይ ትልቅ ሸክም ተሸክሞ ይጓዝ የነበረ ነጋዴ አገኘች፡፡
ነጋዴውም “አሃ! አምላክ በጣም ስላሰበልኝ ይህንን ከባድ ሸክም ሊያቀልልኝ ይህችን አህያ ላከልኝ፡፡” ብሎ በማሰብ ሸክሙን አህያዋ ላይ ጫነው፡፡ ሸክሙም ለአህያዋ ከባድ ቢሆንም አብረው ብዙ መንገድ ከተጓዙ በኋላ አህያዋ ማረፍ ስለፈለገች ቀስ ብላ መራመድ ጀመረች፡፡ በዚህ ጊዜ ሰውየው በያዘው ዱላ ደጋግሞ ይመታት ጀመር፡፡ ሸክሙ አሁንም እንደከበዳት ነበርና በዚህ ሁኔታ መቀጠል ስላልቻለች በመጨረሻ በጉልበቷ ተንበርክካ አልሄደም አለች፡፡ ነጋዴው ቢደበድባትም ተነስታ መራመድ አልቻለችም፡፡ በዚህ ጊዜ ነጋዴው አንደኛውን ጆሮዋን ቆረጠው፡፡ አሁንም በጣም ስለደከማት መንቀሳቀስ አቃታት፡፡
ከዚያም ነጋዴው ሸክሙን አውርዶላት አህያዋን እዚያው የተኛችበት ትቷት መንገዱን ቀጠለ፡፡ አህያዋም ሸክሙ ከወረደላት በኋላ ወደቀድሞው ቦታዋ ወደከብቶቹ ተመልሳ ስትሄድ የምትፈልገውን ቀንድ ለምን እንዳላገኘች ጠየቋት፡፡
“አይይ! እናንተ ቀንድ ስለማግኘቴ ነው የምታወሩት? እንኳን ቀንድ ላገኝ የነበረኝንም ጆሮ አጥቼ መጣሁ፡፡ ዋጋዬንም አግኝቻለሁ፡፡” አለቻቸው፡፡
ከዚያን እለት በኋላ አጉል ምኞት ያላቸው ሰዎች “ቦታችሁን እወቁ፡፡ ካለበለዚያ ቀንድ እፈልግ ብላ ጆሮዋን እንዳጣችው አህያ እንዳትሆኑ፡፡” እየተባባሉ ይመከሩ ጀመር፡፡
In the original voice — hear tales from Omo Zoneኦሞ ዞን, told in an Omo Valley language. Listen ›
Check your understandingግንዛቤዎን ይፈትሹ
Who did the donkey live with at the start of the story?
Why did the donkey want horns?
Who did the donkey meet on her long journey?
What did the man do when the donkey walked slowly?
What body part did the donkey lose?
Did the donkey get the horns she went looking for?
For discussionለውይይት
- The donkey was not happy with herself and wanted horns like the cattle. Do you think it is good or bad to want to be like someone else? Why?
- The donkey said, 'I have learned my lesson.' What lesson do you think she learned?
- How do you think the donkey felt when the merchant beat her and cut her ear? What would you have done in her place?
- The story is told to ambitious people. What do you think the story is trying to teach about wanting too much?