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ዓመታዊ ዕረፍቲ ምስ ኣደ-ዓባይ Holidays with grandmother

Written by Violet Otieno

Illustrated by Catherine Groenewald

Translated by Daniel Berhane Habte

Language Tigrinya

Level Level 4

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ኦዶንጎን ኣፒዮን ምስ ኣቦኦም ኣብ ከተማ ይነብሩ ነበሩ። ዓመታዊ ዕረፍቶም ብሃንቀውታ ይጽበዩ ነበሩ። ትምህርቲ ስለዝዕጾ ጥራይ ዘይኮነስ፡ ናብ ዓባዮም ክበጽሑ ክኸዱ ስለዝኾኑ እምበር። ዓባዮም ኣብ ጥቓ ሓደ ዓቢ ቀላይ ዝርከብ ዓዲ ገፈፍቲ ዓሳ እያ ትቕመጥ ዝነበረት።

Odongo and Apiyo lived in the city with their father. They looked forward to the holidays. Not just because school was closed, but because they went to visit their grandmother. She lived in a fishing village near a large lake.


ዳግም ንዓባዮም ዝበጽሑሉ ግዜ ስለዝኣኸለ ኦዶንጎን ኣፒዮን ኣዝዮም ተሃወኹ። ድሮ’ታ ዕለት ዘነበረት ምሸት፡ ሳንጣኦም ጠርኒፎም ናብቲ ዓዲ ነዊሕ ንኽጓዓዙ ተዳለዉ። ክድቅሱ ኣይክኣሉን ምሉእ ምሸት ድማ ብዛዕባ እቲ ዓመታዊ ዕረፍቲ ክዛረቡ ኣምሰዩ።

Odongo and Apiyo were excited because it was time to visit their grandmother again. The night before, they packed their bags and got ready for the long journey to her village. They could not sleep and talked the whole night about the holiday.


ንጽባሒቱ ጋሕጋሕ ንግሆ፡ ኣብ ናይ ኣቦኦም ማኪና ተሳፊሮም ናብቲ ዓዲ ተበገሱ። ጎቦታት፡ እንስሳታት ዘገዳምን ሕርሻታት ቆጽሊ ሻሂን ሓሊፎም ተሓንበቡ። ማካይን ቈጸሩ ደርፍታት ድማ ደረፉ።

Early the next morning, they left for the village in their father’s car. They drove past mountains, wild animals and tea plantations. They counted cars and sang songs.


ድሕሪ ሓጺር ግዜ፡ እቶም ቆልዑ ደኸሙ ድቃስ እውን ወሰዶም።

After a while, the children were tired and fell asleep.


ኣብቲ ዓዲ ምስበጽሑ ኣቦኦም ንኦዶንጎን ኣፒዮን ኣተንሶኦም። ንዓባዮም ንያር ካንያዳ ኣብ ትሕቲ ገረብ ኣብ መንጸፍ ኣዕሪፋ ረኸብዋ። ንያር ካንያዳ ብቋንቋ ሉዎ ‘ጓል ህዝቢ ካንያዳ’ ማለት እዩ። ንሳ ንፍዕትን ጽብቕትን ሰበይቲ እያ ዝነበረት።

Father woke up Odongo and Apiyo as they arrived in the village. They found Nyar-Kanyada, their grandmother, resting on a mat under a tree. Nyar-Kanyada in Luo, means ‘daughter of the people of Kanyada’. She was a strong and beautiful woman.


ንያር ካንያዳ ናብቲ ቤት ብሓጐስ ተቐበለቶም ኣብ ዙርያ ናይቲ ክፍሊ ድማ ብደስታ እናደረፈት ሳዕስዐት። ደቂ ደቃ ካብ ከተማ ዘምጽእዎ ህያባት ክህብዋ ተሃወኹ። “መጀመርታ ናተይ ህያብ ክፈትያ፡” በለ ኦዶንጎ። “ኣይፋል፡ ናተይ ቅድም!” በለት ኣፒዮ።

Nyar-Kanyada welcomed them into the house and danced around the room singing with joy. Her grandchildren were excited to give her the presents they brought from the city. “First open my gift,” said Odongo. “No, my gift first!” said Apiyo.


ነቲ ህያባት ምስከፈተቶ፡ ንያር ካንያዳ ንደቂ ደቃ ብባህላዊ ልምዲ መረቐቶም።

After she opened the presents, Nyar-Kanyada blessed her grandchildren in a traditional way.


ሻቡ ኦዶንጎን ኣፒዮን ናብ ግዳም ወጹ። ደድሕሪ ጽንብላሊዕን ኣዕዋፍን ተጓየዩ።

Then Odongo and Apiyo went outside. They chased butterflies and birds.


ኣግራብ ደየቡ ኣብቲ ቀላይ ድማ ተገጫጨቡ።

They climbed trees and splashed in the water of the lake.


ምስመሰየ ንኽድረሩ ናብቲ ገዛ ተመልሱ። ቅድሚ ድራሮም በሊዖም ምውዳኦም፡ ድቃስ ሰዓሮም!

When it was dark they returned to the house for dinner. Before they could finish eating, they were falling asleep!


ንጽባሒቱ፡ ኣቦ’ዞም ቈልዑ ንዓኣቶም ምስ ንያር ካንያዳ ገዲፉዎም ናብቲ ከተማ ተመልሰ።

The next day, the children’s father drove back to the city leaving them with Nyar-Kanyada.


ኦዶንጎን ኣፒዮን ንዓባዮም ኣብ ስራሕ ገዛ ሓገዝዋ። ማይን ዕንጸይቲ ንሓውን ኣምጽኡላ። ካብተን ደርሁ እንቋቍሖታት ኣከቡ ካብቲ ስፍራ ኣታኽልቲ ድማ ኣሕምልቲ ቀንጢቦም ኣምጽኡ።

Odongo and Apiyo helped their grandmother with household chores. They fetched water and firewood. They collected eggs from the chickens and picked greens from the garden.


ንያር ካንያዳ ንደቂ ደቃ ልስሉስ ጋዓት ከመይ ኣሽሊቝካ ከምዝስራሕ መሃረቶም። ሩዝ ኮኮናት ምስ ቅልዋ ዓሳ ከመይ ጌርካ ከምዝስራሕ ኣርኣየቶም።

Nyar-Kanyada taught her grandchildren to make soft ugali to eat with stew. She showed them how to make coconut rice to eat with roast fish.


ሓደ ንግሆ፡ ኦዶንጎ ናይ ዓባዩ ከብቲ ሳዕሪ ክበልዓ ሒዝወን ከደ። እተን ከብቲ ናብ ናይ ጐረቤት ሕርሻ ጥሒሰን ኣተዋ። እቲ ሓረስታይ ንኦዶንጎ ኰረየሉ። ዘራእቱ ስለዝበልዓሉ ነተን ከብቲ ክዘርዐን ምዃኑ ፈከረሉ። ድሕሪ’ታ መዓልቲ፡ ኦዶንጎ ዳግማይ ናብ ሽግር ከየእትወኦ ብምፍራሕ ነተን ከብቲ ተጠንቂቑ ክሕልወን ጀመረ።

One morning, Odongo took his grandmother’s cows to graze. They ran onto a neighbour’s farm. The farmer was angry with Odongo. He threatened to keep the cows for eating his crops. After that day, the boy made sure that the cows did not get into trouble again.


ካልእ መዓልቲ እዞም ቈልዑ ምስ ንያር ካንያዳ ናብ ዕዳጋ ከዱ። ዓባዮም ኣሕምልቲ፡ ሽኮርን ሳሙናን እትሸጠላ ንእሽቶ ድኳን ነበረታ። ኣፒዮ ዋጋ ናይቲ ነገራት ንዓማዊል ምንጋር ትፈቱ ነበረት። ኦዶንጎ ድማ ነቲ ዓማዊል ዝገዝእዎ ነገራት ይዕሽግ ነበረ።

On another day, the children went to the marketplace with Nyar-Kanyada. She had a stall selling vegetables, sugar and soap. Apiyo liked to tell customers the price of items. Odongo would pack the items that customers bought.


ኣማስይኡ ብሓባር ሻሂ ሰተዩ። ነቲ ዘእተወቶ ገንዘብ ኣብ ምፍቃድ ንዓባዮም ሓገዝዋ።

At the end of the day they drank chai tea together. They helped grandmother to count the money she earned.


ግዜ ከይተፈለጦም ዓመታዊ ዕረፍቶም ስለዝተወደአ እቶም ቆልዑ ናብ ከተማ ክምለሱ ኔርዎም። ንያር ካንያዳ ንኦዶንጎ ቆብዕ ንኣፒዮ ድማ ጐልፎ ሃበቶም። ንመንገዶም ዝኸውን መግቢ ድማ ቈጸረትሎም።

But too soon the holidays were over and the children had to go back to the city. Nyar-Kanyada gave Odongo a cap and Apiyo a sweater. She packed food for their journey.


ኣቦኦም ክወስዶም ምስመጸ ክሰናበቱ ኣይደለዩን። እቶም ቈልዑ ንንያር ካንያዳ ምስኦም ናብ ከተማ ክትከይድ ለመንዋ። ፍሽኽ ብምባል፡ “ኣነ ኣዝየ ኣሪገ እየ፡ ናብራ ከተማ ኣይክእሎን እየ። እንደገና ናብዚ ክትመጹ ክጽበየኩም እየ።” በለቶም።

When their father came to fetch them, they did not want to leave. The children begged Nyar-Kanyada to go with them to the city. She smiled and said, “I am too old for the city. I will be waiting for you to come to my village again.”


ኦዶንጎን ኣፒዮን ጥምጥም ኣቢሎም ሓቘፍዋ ደሓን ኩኒ ድማ በልዋ።

Odongo and Apiyo both hugged her tightly and said goodbye.


ኦዶንጎን ኣፒዮን ናብ ቤት ትምህርቶም ምስተመልሱ ንኣዕሩኽቶም ብዛዕባ ናይ ገጠር ሂወት ኣዕለልዎም። ገለ ተማሃሮ ሂወት ከተማ ዝጽብቕ መሰሎም። ካልኦት ገጠር ዝሓይሽ ኮይኑ ተሰምዖም። ካብ ኵሉ ግን፡ ንኦዶንጎን ኣፒዮን ብልጽቲ ኣደ-ዓባይ ከምዘላቶም ኵሎም ተሰማምዑ!

When Odongo and Apiyo went back to school they told their friends about life in the village. Some children felt that life in the city was good. Others felt that the village was better. But most of all, everyone agreed that Odongo and Apiyo had a wonderful grandmother!


Written by: Violet Otieno
Illustrated by: Catherine Groenewald
Translated by: Daniel Berhane Habte
Language: Tigrinya
Level: Level 4
Source: Holidays with grandmother from African Storybook
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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
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