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ከቀየዬ ወጥቼ ከተማ ስገባ The day I left home for the city

Lesley Koyi, Ursula Nafula

Brian Wambi

Dawit Girma

Abenezer Chane

Amharic

Level 3

The audio for this story is currently not available.

በመንደራችን ያለው መናሓሪያ በሰዎች እና በታጨቁ አውቶብሶች ተጨናንቆ ነበር። መሬት ላይ ሊጫኑ የተዘጋጁ በርካታ ቁሳቁስ ነበሩ። ረዳቶች አውቶብቸው የሚሄድበትን ቦታ በጩኅት ይጣሩ ነበር።

The small bus stop in my village was busy with people and overloaded buses. On the ground were even more things to load. Touts were shouting the names where their buses were going.

‹‹ከተማ! ከተማ! ልንወጣ ነው፤ የሞላ!›› እያለ ወያላው ሲጮህ ሰማሁ። አዎ ልሳፈርበት የምፈልገው አውቶብስ ይሄ ነበር።

“City! City! Going west!” I heard a tout shouting. That was the bus I needed to catch.

የከተማ አውቶብሱ እየሞላ ነው፤ ነገር ግን አሁንም ሌሎች ሰዎች ለመግባት ይጋፋሉ። የተወሰኑት እቃቸውን አውቶብሱ ኪስ ውስጥ ይጭናሉ። ሌሎቹ ደግሞ በአውቶብሱ ውስጥ።

The city bus was almost full, but more people were still pushing to get on. Some packed their luggage under the bus. Others put theirs on the racks inside.

አዲስ ገቢ መንገደኞች ትኬታቸውን ቶሎ ቶሎ አየት እያደረጉ አውቶብሱ ውስጥ መቀመጫ ቦታ መኖሩን ያያሉ። ህጻኖቻቸውን ያቀፉ ሴቶች ለረጅሙ መንገድ ተመቻችተው ተቀምጠዋል።

New passengers clutched their tickets as they looked for somewhere to sit in the crowded bus. Women with young children made them comfortable for the long journey.

በመስኮቱ አጠገብ ጥብቆ ገብቼ ተቀመጥኩ። ከኔ አጠገብ የተቀመጠው ሰው አረንጓዴ የላስቲክ ሻንጣ ይዟል። አሮጌ ነጠላ ጫማ ተጫምቷል፤ ልባሽ ኮት ለብሷል፤ የተበሳጨም ይመስላል።

I squeezed in next to a window. The person sitting next to me was holding tightly to a green plastic bag. He wore old sandals, a worn out coat, and he looked nervous.

በመስኮቱ አሻግሬ እየተመለከትኩ ወዲያው ያደኩበትን መንደሬን እየለቀኩ መሆኑን አስተዋልኩ። ወደ ግዙፍ ከተማ እየተጓዝኩ ነበር።

I looked outside the bus and realised that I was leaving my village, the place where I had grown up. I was going to the big city.

መኪናው ሞልቷል፤ ሁሉም መንገደኞች ቦታ ቦታቸውን ይዘዋል። ሻጮች አሁንም እየተጋፉ ሸቀጦቻቸውን ለመንገደኞች ለመሸጥ ወደ አውቶብሱ ይገባሉ። ሁሉም ሰው የሚገዛው ነገር ፍለጋ ይሄን ስጠኝ ያን ስጠኝ እያለ ይጯጯህ ጀመር። የሚያደርጉት ነገር ሁሉ ግን እኔን ያዝናናኝ ይዟል።

The loading was completed and all passengers were seated. Hawkers still pushed their way into the bus to sell their goods to the passengers. Everyone was shouting the names of what was available for sale. The words sounded funny to me.

ጥቂቶቹ ተጓዦች የሚጠጣ ነገር ገዙ፣ ሌሎቹ ደግሞ የሚበላ ነገር ገዝተው ይበሉ ጀመር። እንደኔ ምንም ገንዘብ የሌለን ደግሞ ዝም ብለን እንመለከታለን።

A few passengers bought drinks, others bought small snacks and began to chew. Those who did not have any money, like me, just watched.

ይህ ሁሉ ድርጊት አውቶብሱ የመነሳት ጩኸት ሲያሰማ ረገብ ይላል፤ ሻጮችም ለመውጣት እየተጣደፉ እግረ መንገዳቸውን ፈጠን ፈጠን እያሉ እየተጯጯሁ ይሸጣሉ።

These activities were interrupted by the hooting of the bus, a sign that we were ready to leave. The tout yelled at the hawkers to get out.

ሻጮቹ ለመውጣት እርስበራሳቸው ይጋፋሉ። አንዳንዶቹ መንገደኞቹን ‹‹አንዴ ልለፍ›› እያሉ ሲወጡ ሌሎቹ ደግሞ ለመሸጥ የመጨረሻ ሙከራ ያደርጋሉ።

Hawkers pushed each other to make their way out of the bus. Some gave back change to the travellers. Others made last minute attempts to sell more items.

አውቶብሱ ሲነሳ እኔ በመስኮት በኩል ወደ አፈጠጥኩ። እንደው ወደቀየዬ ዳግም እመለስ ይሆን እያልኩ ተደነቅሁ።

As the bus left the bus stop, I stared out of the window. I wondered if I would ever go back to my village again.

መንገድ ላይ እየተጓዝን የአውቶብሱ ውስጥ በጣም ይሞቃል። ለመተኛት አስቤ አይኔን ጨፈንኩ።

As the journey progressed, the inside of the bus got very hot. I closed my eyes hoping to sleep.

ሃሳቤ ሁሉ ግን ወደቤቴ ነበር። እንደው እናቴ ደህና ትሆን ይሆን? እንደው ጥንቸሎቼስ ገንዘብ ያወጡ ይሆን? ወንድሜስ አስታውሶ ችግኞቼን ውሃ ያጠጣ ይሆን?

But my mind drifted back home. Will my mother be safe? Will my rabbits fetch any money? Will my brother remember to water my tree seedlings?

በመንገዴም አጎቴ በዛ ትልቅ ከተማ የሚኖርበትን ቦታ ስም አስታወስኩ። ሳንቀላፋ ሁሉ ይሄን ስም አነበንባለሁ።

On the way, I memorised the name of the place where my uncle lived in the big city. I was still mumbling it when I fell asleep.

ከዘጠኝ ሰዓታት በኋላ ወያላ ወደመጣሁበት መንደር ተመላሽ የሚጓዝ ሰው እየጮኸ ሲጣራ ነቃሁ። ትንሽ ቦርሳዬን ይዤ ከአውቶብስ ወረድኩ።

Nine hours later, I woke up with loud banging and calling for passengers going back to my village. I grabbed my small bag and jumped out of the bus.

ተመላሹ አውቶብስ በፍጥነት እየሞላ ነው። ወዲያው ፊቱን ወደምስራቅ አዙሮ መመለስ ጀመረ። አሁን ለኔ እጅግ አስፈላጊው ነገር አጎቴ የሚኖርበትን ሰፈር ማፈላለግ መጀመር ነው።

The return bus was filling up quickly. Soon it would make its way back east. The most important thing for me now, was to start looking for my uncle’s house.

Written by: Lesley Koyi, Ursula Nafula

Illustrated by: Brian Wambi

Translated by: Dawit Girma

Read by: Abenezer Chane

Language: Amharic

Level: Level 3

Source: The day I left home for the city from African Storybook

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ትንሽ ዘር፣ የዋንጋሪ ማታይ ታሪክ ኖዚቤሌና ሦስቱ ጸጉሮች ዶሮና ሃምሳ እግር አህያ ሆኖ የተወለደው ልጅ የሳኪማ መዝሙር አናንሲና ጥበብ ዶሮና ንስር

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