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ኖዚበለን እተን ሰለስተ ጸጕርታትን Nozibele and the three hairs

Written by Tessa Welch

Illustrated by Wiehan de Jager

Translated by Daniel Berhane Habte

Language Tigrinya

Level Level 3

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ቅድሚ ነዊሕ ዘመን፡ ሰለስተ ኣዋልድ ዕንጸይቲ ክኣርያ ንበረኻ ወፈራ።

A long time ago, three girls went out to collect wood.


ሙቐት ዘለዎ መዓልቲ እዩ ኔሩ እሞ ንኽሕምብሳ ናብቲ ውሕጅ ወረዳ። ኣብቲ ማይ ክጻወታ፡ ክጋጫጨባን ክሕምብሳን ወዓላ።

It was a hot day so they went down to the river to swim. They played and splashed and swam in the water.


ብሃንደበት፡ ከምዝመሰየ ተገንዘባ። እናቐልጠፋ ናብ ዓደን ተመልሳ።

Suddenly, they realised that it was late. They hurried back to the village.


ጥቓ ቤተን ምስበጽሓ፡ ኖዚበለ ኢዳ ናብ ክሳዳ ሰደደት። ስልማት ክሳዳ ረሲዓታ! “በጃኽን ንዓናይ ምሳይ ተመለሳ” ክትብል ንመሓዙታ ለመነተን። መሓዙታ ግን ኣዝዩ መስዩ እዩ በላኣ።

When they were nearly home, Nozibele put her hand to her neck. She had forgotten her necklace! “Please come back with me!” she begged her friends. But her friends said it was too late.


ስለዚ ኖዚበለ ናብቲ ውሕጅ ንበይና ተመልሰት። ስልማት ክሳዳ ረኺባታ ናብ ቤታ ክትከይድ ተጻደፈት። ግና ኣብቲ ጸልማት መንገዲ ጠፊእዋ።

So Nozibele went back to the river alone. She found her necklace and hurried home. But she got lost in the dark.


ኣብ ርሑቕ ካብ ሓንቲ ኣጕዶ ዝወጽእ ብርሃን ርኣየት። ብተብተብ ናቡኡ ገጻ ብምቅራብ ኣብቲ ማዕጾ ኳሕኵሐት።

In the distance she saw light coming from a hut. She hurried towards it and knocked at the door.


ዘይተጸበየቶ፡ ሓደ ከልቢ ከፊትዋ “እንታይ ደሊኺ?” ክብል ድማ ሓቲትዋ። “ጠፊአ’የ መሕደሪ ቦታ ድማ እደልይ ኣለኹ፡” በለት ኖዚበለ። “ንዒ እተዊ፡ እንተ ዘየሎ ክነኽሰኪ እየ!” በላ እቲ ከልቢ። ኖዚበለ ድማ ንውሽጢ ኣተወት።

To her surprise, a dog opened the door and said, “What do you want?” “I’m lost and I need a place to sleep,” said Nozibele. “Come in, or I’ll bite you!” said the dog. So Nozibele went in.


ሽዑ እቲ ከልቢ “መግቢ ከሽንለይ” ይብላ። “ኣነ ግና ቅድሚ ሕጂ ንኸልቢ ከሺነ ኣይፈልጥን እየ፡” ኢላ መለሰትሉ። “ከሽኒ ሓደው ክነኽሰኪ እየ!” ይብላ እቲ ከልቢ። ስለዚ ኖዚበለ ነቲ ከልቢ መግቢ ከሸነትሉ።

Then the dog said, “Cook for me!” “But I’ve never cooked for a dog before,” she answered. “Cook, or I’ll bite you!” said the dog. So Nozibele cooked some food for the dog.


ሽዑ እቲ ከልቢ፡ “ዓራተይ ኣንጽፍለይ!” በላ። ኖዚበለ ድማ “ኣነ ግና ቅድሚ ሕጂ ዓራት ናይ ከልቢ ኣንጺፈ ኣይፈልጥን እየ።” ኢላ መለሰትሉ። “ኣንጽፍለይ እንተዘይኮይኑ ክበጅለኪ’የ!” ይብላ። ስለዚ ኖዚበለ ዓራቱ ኣንጸፈትሉ።

Then the dog said, “Make the bed for me!” Nozibele answered, “I’ve never made a bed for a dog.” “Make the bed, or I’ll bite you!” the dog said. So Nozibele made the bed.


ኵሉ መዓልቲ ነቲ ከልቢ ክትክሽነሉ፡ ክትኵስትረሉን ክትሓጽበሉን ኔርዋ። ሽዑ ሓደ መዓልቲ እቲ ከልቢ፡ “ኖዚበለ ሎሚ ናብ ኣዕሩኽተይ ክበጽሕ ክኸይድ እየ። ቅድሚ ምምላሰይ ምድርቤት ኰስትርዮ፡ መግበይ ከሽንለይ ኣቝሑተይ ድማ ሓጻጽብለይ።” በላ።

Every day she had to cook and sweep and wash for the dog. Then one day the dog said, “Nozibele, today I have to visit some friends. Sweep the house, cook the food and wash my things before I come back.”


እቲ ከልቢ ምስከደ፡ ኖዚበለ ብቕጽበት ሰለስተ ጸጕርታት ካብ ርእሳ በንቈሰት። ሓንቲ ጸጕሪ ኣብ ትሕቲ ዓራት ኣቐመጠት፡ ሓንቲ ብድሕሪ ማዕጾ፡ ሓንቲ ድማ ኣብቲ ዛሬባ። ብድሕሪኡ ብምሉእ ዓቕማ ናብ ቤታ ገጻ ሃደመት።

As soon as the dog had gone, Nozibele took three hairs from her head. She put one hair under the bed, one behind the door, and one in the kraal. Then she ran home as fast as she could.


እቲ ከልቢ ምስተመልሰ ንኖዚበለ ከናድያ ጀመረ። “ኖዚበለ፡ ኣበይ ኣለኺ?” እናበለ ጨደረ። “ኣብዚ እኔኹ፡ ኣብ ትሕቲ ዓራት፡” በለት እታ ቀዳመይቲ ጸጕሪ። “ኣብዚ ኣለኹ ድሕሪ እዚ ማዕጾ፡” በለት እታ ካልኣይቲ ጸጕሪ። “ኣብዚ እነሃልኹ፡ ኣብ ዛሬባ፡” በለት እታ ሳልሰይቲ ጸጕሪ።

When the dog came back, he looked for Nozibele. “Nozibele, where are you?” he shouted. “I’m here, under the bed,” said the first hair. “I’m here, behind the door,” said the second hair. “I’m here, in the kraal,” said the third hair.


ሻቡ እቲ ከልቢ ኖዚበለ ከምዘታለለቶ ተረድአ። ስለዚ ብፍጥነት ናብቲ ዓዲ እናጐየየ እናጐየየ ከደ። ኣሕዋት ኖዚበለ ግና ገዘፍቲ ኣባትር ሒዞም ክጽበይዎ ጸንሑ። እቲ ከልቢ ተመሊሱ ሃደመ ካብታ ግዜ ንደሓር’ውን እንደገና ኣይተርኣየን።

Then the dog knew that Nozibele had tricked him. So he ran and ran all the way to the village. But Nozibele’s brothers were waiting there with big sticks. The dog turned and ran away and has never been seen since.


Written by: Tessa Welch
Illustrated by: Wiehan de Jager
Translated by: Daniel Berhane Habte
Language: Tigrinya
Level: Level 3
Source: Nozibele and the three hairs from African Storybook
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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 International License.
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