The Lazy Husband and the Clever Wifeሰነፉ ባልና ጎበዟ ሚስት
Gurage Zoneጉራጌ ዞን · 1 min readደቂቃ ንባብ
Narrated by Shirguma Soraga
There was once a lazy man who couldn’t farm his land. He went to neighbours and relatives and begged for cereals which he brought home to his family. He was too lazy to work himself. He was always running around and didn’t have time to stay a night at home.
The wife made a big effort one night to get him to stay at home. During the night she went out to the field and put pieces of ensete{footnote}Ensete or enset, also known as “false banana”, is an important root crop in southern Ethiopia.{/footnote} into the ground.
In the morning she said, “Come, husband and children, I will show you a miracle.”
She dug the ensete out of the ground and showed him.
She told the husband, “Dig at lunchtime and you’ll get ensete.”
And he got it.
“What about for your supper?”
And she buried the ensete and he dug it up. So they ate it for supper.
In the morning he says, “Do I get more?”
And he digs and digs and digs all day till he found ensete. He rests and digs and the children dig, and they get it and he doesn’t beg for food.
Eventually all the ground was dug and it became a farm, ready for sowing, and the simplest thing was to sow.
And so doing the man dug, the children dug and she encouraged them and made them love work.
ሰነፉ ባልና ጎበዟ ሚስት
በሺርጉማ ሶራጋ የተተረከ
አንድ የእርሻ መሬቱን ማልማት ያልቻለ ገበሬ ነበር፡፡ ወደ ጎረቤቶቹና ወደ ዘመዶቹ በመሄድ ጥራጥሬ እየለመነ ለቤተሰቡ ወደቤት ይዞ ይመጣ ነበር፡፡ በጣም ሰነፍ ስለነበረ ራሱ መስራት አይወድም ነበርና ሁልጊዜ ሲዞር ስለሚውል አንድም ቀን ቤቱ ለማደር ጊዜ ኖሮት አያውቅም፡፡
አንድ ቀን ታዲያ እቤት ያድር ዘንድ ሚስቱ ትልቅ ጥረት በማድረግ ሌሊት ወደ እርሻ ቦታው ሄዳ የእንሰት{footnote}እንሰት በደቡብ ኢትዮጲያ ተፈላጊ የስር ሰብል ነው፡፡{/footnote} ቁራጮችን አራርቃ ቀብራ ተመለሰች፡፡
በማግስቱ ጠዋት “ኑ! ባሌና ልጆቼ፣ አንድ ተዓምር ላሳያችሁ፡፡” አለቻቸው፡፡
ከዚያም እንሰቱን ከመሬቱ ውስጥ ቆፍራ አውጥታ አሳየቻቸው፡፡ ባሏንም “በምሳ ሰዓትም ቆፍርና እንሰት ታገኛለህ፡፡” አለችው፡፡ እርሱም ይህንን በማድረግ ለምሳ የሚሆን እንሰት አገኘ፡፡ ከዚያም “ለእራትስ?” ብሎ ጠየቀ፡፡
ሚስቱም እንሰቱን ቀብራ አርሱ አውጥቶ አብረው እራት በሉ፡፡
በማግስቱም “ሌላ ማግኘት እችላለሁ?” አለ፡፡
ሙሉ ቀንም ቆፍሮ፣ ቆፍሮ፣ ቆፍሮ እንሰት እስኪያገኝ ድረስ እየሰራና ሲደክመው እያረፈ ልጆቹም አብረውት ሲቆፍሩና እንሰት ሲያገኙ ምግብ መለመኑን አቆመ፡፡ በመጨረሻም ማሳው በሙሉ ተቆፍሮ ስላለቀ የእርሻ መሬት በመሆን ለዘር ዝግጁ በመሆኑ ቀላሉ ነገር ዘር መዝራት ብቻ ሆነ፡፡
በዚህ አይነት ሰውየው እየቆፈረ፣ ልጆቹም አብረውት እንዲቆፍሩ በማበረታታት ስራ እንዲወዱ አደረገቻቸው፡፡
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Check your understandingግንዛቤዎን ይፈትሹ
Why did the husband go to neighbours and relatives?
What did the wife put into the ground during the night?
What did the wife say she would show her family in the morning?
What happened to the ground after all of it was dug?
Who helped the husband dig the ground?
Why was the husband unable to farm his land at the start of the story?
For discussionለውይይት
- The wife tricked her husband by burying the ensete so he would dig and find it. Do you think her trick was a good idea? Why or why not?
- What does this story teach us about hard work? Explain your answer using the story.
- How do you think the husband felt when the ground finally became a farm ready for sowing? Why?
- The wife 'made them love work.' How can someone learn to enjoy working? Share your thoughts.