The Woman and the Lionሴቷና አንበሣው
Benishangul-Gumuzቤንሻንጉል-ጉሙዝ · 2 min readደቂቃ ንባብ
Narrated by Fatima Ali
There was a woman who was mistreated by her husband. He always beats her. She does everything he wants. She brings his injera{footnote}Injera is a flat, round bread usually made from tef, a grain cultivated in the highlands of Ethiopia.{/footnote} and wat{footnote}A thick stew, served on injera.{/footnote} but he always beats her. This woman was very much in a problem.
“I always do what he wants, but still he beats me. What shall I do?”
From time to time she went on asking advice from neighbours, relatives etc, and she was very much disturbed.
They tell her, "Go there, go here. Somebody might give you are remedy. There is a medicine there. There is a medicine here."
She went to a wise man.
“What’s the matter?”
She told him, “I do everything my husband says, I give him what he wants, but he beats me. He mistreats me. I couldn’t get any remedy for this.”
“There is no remedy here,” he says. “I can’t give you any medicine. If you can get the eyebrows of the lion, bring them to me. I will do something for you.”
She was at first very much afraid.
“How can I get the eyebrows of a lion?”
She killed a goat.
“Maybe doing this I can get the eyebrows of the lion.”
She sits on a tree where the lion cannot get her.
The first day, she killed the goat and threw a big piece to the lion. She did this seven days continuously. After doing this repeatedly, the lion ate the flesh and drank water at the foot of the tree. After the seventh day, she threw a bit of a stick at him while he was dozing to check on him if he would wake up. He didn’t wake.
“Now, that is my time to get the eyebrows.”
She climbed down the tree and took the eyebrows and went. Then she went to the wise man.
“How did you bring it?”
“Well, for seven days I took the flesh of the goat and threw it to the lion and while he was asleep that’s how I got it from him.”
The wise man answered, “Therefore it is just like this that you can win your husband, otherwise there is no remedy. Be as tactful as he wants you to be."
ሴቷና አንበሣው
በፋጡማ አሊ የተተረከ
አንድ ባሏ የሚበድላት ሴት ነበረች፡፡ ሁልጊዜም ይደበድባት ነበር፡፡ የሚፈልገውን ሁሉ ብታደርግለትም እንጀራና{footnote}እንጀራ ብዙውን ጊዜ ከጤፍ የሚሰራ ከብና ጠፍጣፋ ምግብ ነው፡፡{/footnote} ወጥ{footnote}ወጥ ከእንጀራ ጋር የሚቀርብ ማባያ ነው፡፡{/footnote} ብታቀርብለትም ሁልጊዜ ስለሚደበድባት በጣም ትቸገር ነበር፡፡
“ሁልጊዜ የሚፈልገውን ነገር ሁሉ አደርግለታለሁ፡፡ እርሱ ግን ሁልጊዜ ይደበድነኛል፡፡ ምን ባደርግ ይሻለኝ ይሆን?” ብላ ታማርር ነበር፡፡
በየጊዜው ከጎረቤቶቿ፣ ከዘመዶቿ፣ ወዘተ ምክርን ብትጠይቅም በጣም ትረበሽ ነበር፡፡
እነርሱም እዚህ ሂጂ፣ እዚያ ሂጂ፣ መፍትሔ ታገኛለሽ እዚያ መድኃኒት አለ፣ እዚህ መድኃኒት አለ፡፡ እያሉ ይነግሯት ነበር፡፡
አንድ ብልህ ሰው ዘንድም ሄደች
እርሱም “ችግርሽ ምንድነው?” ብሎ ጠየቃት፡፡
እሷም እንዲህ አለችው “የሚፈልገውን ሁሉ ባደርግለትም የሚፈልገውን ነገር ሁሉ ብሰጠውም ባሌ ሁልጊዜ ይደበድበኛል፡፡ ለዚህ ምንም መፍትሔ ማግኘት አልቻልኩም፡፡”
እሱም “እዚህ ምንም መፍትሔ የለም፡፡ ምንም አይነት መድኃኒት ልሰጥሽ አልችልም፡፡ ከቻልሽ ግን የአንበሣ ቅንድቦች ብታመጪልኝ አንድ ነገር አደርግልሻለሁ፡፡” አላት፡፡
ይህንን ስትሰማ መጀመሪያ በጣም ፈራች፡፡
“የአንበሣ ቅንድቦች እንዴት ላገኝ እችላለሁ?” ብላ አሰበች፡፡ ከዚያም አንዲት ፍየል ከገደለች በኋላ በዚህ ዓይነት የአንበሣ ቅንድብ ማግኘት እችል ይሆናል፡፡ ብላ አሰበች፡፡
አንበሣ ሊያገኛት ከማይችልበት ዛፍ ላይ ወጥታ ተቀመጠች፡፡ በመጀመሪያውም ቀን ፍየሏን ገድላ ትልቅ ሥጋ ለአንበሣው ወረወረችለት፡፡ ይህንንም በተከታታይ በሰባት ቀናት አደረገች፡፡ አንበሳውም በተደጋጋሚ የሚወረወርለትን ሥጋ እየበላና ከዛፉ ስር ያለውን ውሃ እየጠጣ ቆየ፡፡ በሰባተኛውም ቀን አንበሣው ከእንቅልፉ ይነቃ እንደሆነ ለማየት አንዲት ቁራጭ እንጨት ብትወረውርበትም አንበሳው አልነቃም፡፡
“እንግዲህ ቅንድቦቹን የማገኝበት ጊዜው አሁን ነው፡፡” ብላ ከዛፉ በመውረድ ቅንድቦቹን ወስዳ ሄደች፡፡ ወደ ብልሁ ሰው ዘንድም አመራች፡፡
“እንዴት ልታመጪ ቻልሽ?” ብሎም ጠየቃት፡፡
“ለሰባት ቀናት ያህል የፍየል ሥጋ ስወረውርለት ቆይቼ በመጨረሻም ቀን እንቅልፍ ሲጥለው ቅንድቦቹን ወሰድኩ፡፡” አለችው፡፡
ብልሁም ሰው “ታዲያ ባልሽንም የምታሸንፊው ልክ እንደዚህ ነው፡፡ ሌላ መፍትሔ የለውም፡፡ እሱ እንደሚፈልገው በመሆን በዘዴ ያዢው፡፡” አላት ይባላል፡፡
In the original voice — hear tales from Benishangul-Gumuzቤንሻንጉል-ጉሙዝ, told in Berta, Shinasha, Gumuz. Listen ›
Check your understandingግንዛቤዎን ይፈትሹ
Who narrated this story?
How did the husband treat the woman?
What food did the woman bring her husband?
Who did the woman go to for help with her problem?
What did the wise man ask the woman to bring him?
What animal did the woman kill to try to get near the lion?
For discussionለውይይት
- Why do you think the woman kept doing everything her husband wanted, even though he still beat her?
- The wise man asked the woman to bring him the eyebrows of a lion. Why do you think he asked her to do something so hard and frightening?
- How do you think the woman felt when she had to sit in a tree near a dangerous lion? What would you have done?
- What lesson do you think this story is trying to teach about being patient and brave?