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Anaanis fi ogummaa Anansi and Wisdom

Written by Ghanaian folktale

Illustrated by Wiehan de Jager

Translated by Demoze Degefa

Language Oromo

Level Level 3

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Yeroo durii namoonni homaa hinbekan ture. Namoonni kuni akkaitti wayya dhahan, akkaa midhaan facaasan, fi akkaiti sibilaa tuman hinbekaan ture. Ayyanni Nyamee jedhamu garuu ogummaa bayee qaba ture. Ogummaa kana okkotee keesaa ka’ee.

Long long ago people didn’t know anything. They didn’t know how to plant crops, or how to weave cloth, or how to make iron tools. The god Nyame up in the sky had all the wisdom of the world. He kept it safe in a clay pot.


Gaftokko, Nyameen okkotee kan Anaanisif kennuf murtesee. Anaanis yeroo okkotee kan ilalee hundaa waan bayee bartee. Bayee dinqii ture.

One day, Nyame decided that he would give the pot of wisdom to Anansi. Every time Anansi looked in the clay pot, he learned something new. It was so exciting!


Sassatuun Anaanis akkan yaade. “Okkotee tana muka gubban ka’a. Sana booda ana qofatu ittifayyadam!” Funyoo dheera fidee okkoteeti maree garaa isaa irratti hidhatee. Sana booda mukicha kore. Garu halaa saanan mukicha koru hindandenyee.

Greedy Anansi thought, “I’ll keep the pot safe at the top of a tall tree. Then I can have it all to myself!” He spun a long thread, wound it round the clay pot, and tied it to his stomach. He began to climb the tree. But it was hard climbing the tree with the pot bumping him in the knees all the time.


Yeroo hundaa mucaan Anaanis muka jala dhabbate ilaal ture. Akkan jedhe, “Okkotee sana oto dugdaa keetiratti hidhatee wayya ta’a lata?” Anaanis akkuma mucaan isaa jedhee sanatti dugdatti hindhatee shaakallin salphaa ta’ef.

All the time Anansi’s young son had been standing at the bottom of the tree watching. He said, “Wouldn’t it be easier to climb if you tied the pot to your back instead?” Anansi tried tying the clay pot full of wisdom to his back, and it really was a lot easier.


Yerooduma san qacee mukaa irra gahee. Sana booda yadee, “Ani namaa silaa ogumma hundaa qabaachu qabu garuu mucaan koo akkamitti nacaalee!” Anaanis haala kannatti aaree okkotee mukarraa gadidarbee.

In no time he reached the top of the tree. But then he stopped and thought, “I’m supposed to be the one with all the wisdom, and here my son was cleverer than me!” Anansi was so angry about this that he threw the clay pot down out of the tree.


Okkoteen nicacabdee. Ogummaaan suni nama hundaafu bilsaa ta’e. Namoonni haala kanaan akkamiti akka qotan, akkamiti akka uffata dhahan, fi akkamiti akka sibiilaaf wantoota biraa hojatan baran.

It smashed into pieces on the ground. The wisdom was free for everyone to share. And that is how people learned to farm, to weave cloth, to make iron tools, and all the other things that people know how to do.


Written by: Ghanaian folktale
Illustrated by: Wiehan de Jager
Translated by: Demoze Degefa
Language: Oromo
Level: Level 3
Source: Anansi and Wisdom from African Storybook
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 International License.
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