The Elephant and the Roosterዝሆንና አውራ ዶሮ

Gambelaጋምቤላ · 1 min readደቂቃ ንባብ

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Narrated by Niall Gatch

There was once an elephant and a rooster. The elephant always used to boast because he was so big and so strong, and he pretended to be important. Now, even though the rooster was small, he was very intelligent.

So one day he said to the elephant, “Though you’re so big, it doesn’t mean anything. It’s brains that count, not size.”

So the elephant said, “No! You’re a stupid, small animal. You’re no comparison to me, no match.”

So the rooster said, “Alright, let’s have a competition. Let’s see who can drink more water.”

So they went down to the big river, maybe the Baro or the Akobo, and they asked all the other animals to judge. So when they started, the rooster put his beak inside the water and the elephant put his trunk in the water and started drinking.

But the rooster didn’t actually drink. He was just putting his beak in the water and opening and closing it, whereas the elephant drank and became bigger. And drank and became bigger. And drank and became bigger.

And he finally exploded, which goes to show that it’s not size that matters, but intelligence.

ዝሆንና አውራ ዶሮ

በኒያል ጋትች የተተረከ

አንድ ዝሆንና አንድ አውራ ዶሮ ነበሩ፡፡ ዝሆኑም ሁልጊዜ በትልቅነቱና በጥንካሬው በመኩራራት ተወዳጅ ለመሆን ይሞክር ነበር፡፡ ሆኖም ምንም እንኳን አውራ ዶሮው በመጠን ትንሽ ቢሆንም በጣም ብልጥ ነበር፡፡

ታዲያ አንድ ቀን ዝሆኑን “አንተ ትልቅ ብትሆንም ምንም ማለት አይደለም፡፡ አንጎል አንጂ መጠን ምንም አያደርግም፡፡” አለው፡፡

ዝሆኑ ግን “አይደለም አንተ ደደብና ትንሽ እንስሳ ነህ፡፡ ከእኔ ጋር ልትወዳደርም ሆነ ልትስተካከል አትችልም፡፡” አለው፡፡

ዶሮውም “እንግዲያው እንወዳደርና ብዙ ውሃ ማን መጠጣት እንደሚችል እንመልከት፡፡” አለው፡፡
ስለዚህ ወደ አንድ ትልቅ ወንዝ ምናልባትም ወደ ባሮ ወይም አኮቦ በመሄድ ሌሎች እንስሳት ሁሉ አንዲፈርዱ ጠየቋቸው፡፡

ውድድሩም ሲጀመር ዶሮው ምንቃሩን ዝሆኑም ኩምቢውን ውሃው ውስጥ ከተው መጠጣት ጀመሩ፡፡

ሆኖም ዶሮው ግን እየጠጣ አልነበረም፡፡ ምንቃሩን ብቻ ውሃው ውስጥ አድርጎ እየከፈተ ይዘጋው ነበር፡፡ ዝሆኑ ግን ውሃውን ጠጥቶ ጠጥቶ ሆዱ አበጠ፡፡

በመጨረሻም በጠጣው ውሃ ብዛት ፈንድቶ ሞተ፡፡

ይህ የሚያሳየው መጠን ሳይሆን ብልጠት መሻሉን ነው፡፡

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

Check your understandingግንዛቤዎን ይፈትሹ

Why did the elephant always boast?
What did the rooster say really matters?
What competition did the rooster suggest?
Who did they ask to judge the competition?
What did the rooster really do with his beak in the water?
What happened to the elephant at the end?

For discussionለውይይት

The rooster was small but clever, while the elephant was big but foolish. Which do you think is more useful, being strong or being clever? Why?
The elephant tricked himself by drinking too much water. Do you think the rooster was being fair, or was he being too tricky? Explain your thinking.
The story says 'it's not size that matters, but intelligence.' Can you think of a time when being clever helped someone more than being big or strong?
If you were one of the animals judging the contest, what would you have thought as you watched the elephant keep drinking? What might you have said to him?