The Greedy Husbandስስታሙ ባል
Gambelaጋምቤላ · 1 min readደቂቃ ንባብ
Narrated by Akuchchwach Chibi
Once there had been a drought and there was a famine. There was a wicked man and his wife living together with their children and they set out to find something to eat in the forest. Then accidentally the wife saw a dead wild animal from far away.
She said, "I've seen a dead animal. I am lucky. God gave me and my children something to eat."
But her husband saw that it was a good animal and he said, "No, it was I who found it."
So they went up to the animal, and he said, "All this is for me. I will not give you any to eat."
The woman went to find some sour small fruits for her children to eat, and she looked for water, but she didn't find any. At last she found a well.
She came back and told her husband, who was still skinning and cutting up the joints of meat.
She wanted to return to the pool with a gourd to fetch water, but he refused to let her go and said, "I will go and bring water. While I have gone to get water, don't dare to eat any of the meat or I will punish you."
He counted the pieces of meat – one, two, three, four.
"If one is missing, I will punish you."
He said this because he wanted to eat first.
So he walked backwards towards the well so that he could watch her all the time, but he fell into it. They threw earth on him and buried him. And the woman and children ate the meat.
ስስታሙ ባል
በአኩችችዋች ቺቢ የተተረከ
በአንድ ወቅት ድርቅ ስለገባ ረሃብ ነበረ፡፡ አንድ የተረገመ ሰው ከሚስቱና ከልጆቹ ጋር አብሮ ይኖር ነበር፡፡ በረሃቡም ጊዜ ወደ ጫካ ሄደው የሚበላ ነገር ፍለጋ ወጡ፡፡ በድንገት ሚስትየው የሞተ እንስሳ ከሩቅ አየች፡፡
በመቀጠልም “የሞተ እንስሳ አየሁ፡፡ እድለኛም ነኝ፡፡ እግዚአብሔር ለእኔና ለልጆቼ የሚበላ ነገር ሰጠን፡፡” አለች፡፡
ነገር ግን ባሏ የሞተው እንስሳ ጥሩ መሆኑን ሲያይ “እኔ ነኝ ቀድሜ ያየሁት፡፡” አለ፡፡
ወደ እንስሳውም በደረሱ ጊዜ ባልየው “ይህ ሁሉ የእኔ ነው፡፡ ምንም የምትበሉት ነገር አልሰጣችሁም፡፡” አላቸው፡፡
ሴትየዋም ልጆቿ የሚበሉት መራራ ፍሬ ይዛ መጥታ ውሃ ፍለጋ ሄደች፡፡
ሆኖም ውሃ አጥታ ስትማስን ቆይታ አንድ የውሃ ጉድጓድ አገኘች፡፡ ተመልሳ መጥታም አሁንም ሥጋውን እየገፈፈና እየቆራረጠ ለነበረው ባሏ ነገረችው፡፡
ወደ ጉድጓዱም የውሃ ቅል ይዛ ለመመለስ ብትፈልግም ባሏ እንዳትሄድ በመከልከል “እኔ ውሃውን ይዤ እመጣለሁ፡፡ ታዲያ እኔ ስሄድ ሥጋውን ለመብላት ትሞክሩና እቀጣችኋለሁ፡፡” አለ፡፡
የሥጋውንም ቁራጮች አንድ፣ ሁለት፣ ሶስት፣ አራት እያለ ቆጠራቸው
“አንድ እንኳን ቢጎድል እቀጣችኋለሁ፡፡” አለ፡፡
ይህንን ያለው እሱ ቀድሞ መብላት ስለፈለገ ነው፡፡ ስለዚህ ሲሄድ ሚስቱን ማየት እንዲችል ወደኋላው መሄድ ጀመረ፡፡ ነገር ግን ጉድጓዱ ጋ ሲደርስ ስላላየው ከውስጡ ወድቆ ሲገባ አፈር ጨምረውበት ከቀበሩት በኋላ ሴትየዋ ከነልጆቿ ሥጋውን በሉት፡፡
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Check your understandingግንዛቤዎን ይፈትሹ
Why did the family go into the forest?
What did the wife see from far away?
What did the husband say when they reached the animal?
What did the wife find for her children to eat?
Why did the husband count the pieces of meat?
Why did the husband walk backwards toward the well?
For discussionለውይይት
- The husband was very greedy and wanted all the meat for himself. What do you think the story is trying to teach us about greed?
- The wife thanked God and wanted to share the food with her children, but the husband wanted everything for himself. How are the wife and the husband different?
- The greedy husband fell into the well because he was watching his wife instead of where he was going. Do you think this was a fair ending for him? Why or why not?
- If you found food when your family was hungry, what would you do, and how would that be different from what the husband did?