Kalqa Namicha Gamnaa:  Oduu Durii Baratoota Afaan Ingliffaaf

(A Wise Man's Discovery:  A Fable for English Learners)

¹ Yeroo durii namtichi gamni tokko biyya gaaraa dhabeessa tokko keessa jirata ture. Innii fi olootni isaa mana haaraa ijaaratani, jireenya haaraa jalqabani.

¹ A long time ago, there was a wise man living in the Low Country. He and his neighbors had built new homes and started a new life.

² Yeroo duraaf bonni isaan biyya kana keessatti dabarsan ulfaataa ture.Kunis baayeen isaanii mana isaanii fi midhaan isaanii bona kana dura waan fixanneef. Yeroo Arfaasaan dhufu, midhaan facaasuu qofaa osoo hin ta'iin kuusaa midhaaniis hojetachuu akka qaban baran.

² Their first winter in the Low Country was difficult because many had not finished their houses or harvested their corps before winter. When spring finally came, they knew that they must not only plant their crops, but they must also build a granary to store the coming harvest.

³ Waa'ee kuusaa midhaanii kanaa baayee irratti dubbatani. Yeroo lafa gaara qabeessa ykn ol ka'aa keessa jiraachaa turan kuusaan midhaani isaanii akka ra'e hin galchine godhaa turani. Garuu biyya gaara dhabeessa kana keessatti, bineensota akka Biir, Diirii fi Elk hubannoo keessa galchuu akka qaban beekan. Sababni isaas bineensi biir jedhamu cimaa waan ta'eef kuusaa isaan hojjetan cimaa ta'uu qaba.

³ They talked much about the granary. When they lived in the High Country, they only needed to build it strong enough to keep Goat out. In the Low Country, they knew they also needed to consider Bear, Deer, and Elk. Because Bear was powerful, the granary must be very strong.

⁴ Karaan stiilii irraa hojetame tokko kara mandara isaanii darba. Maashinoonni gudguddaan kara kana takka fayyadaman lamuu hin barbaadan. Kara stiilii kana irraa akka sa'atti walakaa mandara isaanii irraa deemanii saanduqni ireenii gomma irra taa'ee jira. Hundi isaanii, saanduqni kun osoo gara mandara isaaniitti hiiqee kuusaa gaarii akka ta'uu danda'u walii galani. Biiriidhimti illee balbaloota jajaboo ireenii irraa hojetaman kana cabsuu hin danda'u.

⁴ There was an old steel road that passed by their village. The large steam-breathing machines that once used this road no longer needed it. There was a huge iron box on wheels about a half hour's walk up the steel road from the village. All agreed that if the box could be pushed to the village, it could serve as a safe granary. Even Bear could not open the strong iron doors.

⁵ Kanaafuu, warri dhiiraa saanduqa ireenii kana gara mandara isaanitti dhiibuu jalqaban. Garuu, waan ulfaataa ta'eef baayee butuu hin dandeenye. Hunduu cimee itti fufe. Tattaffii baayeen booda, saanduqicha taakuu tokko qofaa dhiibani, osoo boqonnaa hin yaadiin dura. Guyyaa lamaaf edda dhiibanii booda, boqatani. Ni dhiibu, ni boqatu. Isaa boodas takka dhiibanii ammas boqatan. Hunduu dadhaban. "Osoo kuusaa kana ijareerra ta'e" jedhani, "yeroo dhiibnu kana gad nutti fixa ture."

⁵ So the men tried to push the iron box to the village. But it was so heavy that they could barely make it move. All the men worked very hard. After much effort, they had pushed the box only as far as the length of a man's hand before they needed to rest. For two days they pushed and rested. Pushed and rested. Then they pushed and rested some more. They were all exhausted. "It would take less work, " they said, "to build a granary in the village than to move the iron box."

⁶ Kuusaa haaran ijaarame. Bona lamaaf nyaata itti naqatani. Isaa booda gognsi dhufe. Oyiruun isaanii midhaan xiqoo baase. Bineensi Biir jedhamu waan baayee mataa isaaf waan fixeef, bosona keessa waan tokko illee hin jiru. Diirii fi Elkiin immoo kaneen hafan fixaniiru. Ammas garuu, namootni kun bayee waan of eeganii fi hojetaniif, kuusaan kun nyaata isaani bonicha akka bahan godheera.

⁶ A new granary was built in the village. It held food during two winters. And then the drought came. The fields produced little grain. In the fall, few berries were found in the forest because Bear was taking almost everything for himself. Deer and Elk were eating all that was left. Still, because the people had been careful and worked hard, the granary held enough food to last them for the winter.

⁷ Halkan tokko, osoo Biiriin osoo hin rafiin dura balbala kuusaa kana caccabse. Nyaata baayee nyaate. Edda Biir deemee, Diirii fi Elkiinis gara isaanii guutatani.

⁷ Then one night, just before Bear was ready to go to sleep for the winter, he smashed the granary door. He ate much of the food. After Bear left, Deer and Elk also filled their bellies.

⁸ Yeroo baayee qoraa, bona hamaa, yeroo hunduu beela'aa, namtichi gamni kun wa'ee saanduqa ireenii karaa stiilii kanarraa yaade. Dirqama saanduqni kun akka mandara isaanii galuu qabu murteesse. Rakkinni isaanii waan yeroo mara xiqqo dhiibanii boqataniif ta'a?

⁸ During the cold, hard winter, when everyone was hungry, the wise man thought again about the iron box on the steel road. Certainly, he decided, there must be a way to move it to the village. Was it possible that the problem had been that they had stopped to rest each time after moving the iron box only a short distance?

⁹ Jalqaba Arfaasa isaa itti aanuu irratti, namtichi gamni kun waa kaayefate. Dargagoota afur fudhatee gara saaduqa kanaa deeme. Hunduu harree isaanii qabatanii dhaqani.

⁹ Early the next spring, the wise man had a plan. He took four young men with him to the iron box on wheels. Each man led his donkey.

¹⁰ Namootni kun duraan dursanii finyoo fuuldura saanduqa kanaatti hidhani. Isaa booda muka dheeraa kutanii ol dhaabani. Finyoo kana fiixee muka dhaabbatee kanaa irratti darbatan. Dhumarratti, fiixee finyoo kana irratti dhagaa hidhan. Namtichi gamni kun finyoon kun saanduqa kana akka harkissu danda'u ni beeka amma socho'uu baate ille. Itti aansuun, namtich gamni kun haroota itti fee'ee akka isaan gototanitti. Dhumaratti, namtichi gamni kuni fi dargagootni afran kun hanga danda'anitti dhiiban. Saanduqni kun suuta suutaan sochuu jalqabe.

¹⁰ The men first tied a long rope to the front of the iron box. Then they cut a tall tree for a pole and stood it upright. They threw the rope over the top of the pole. Finally, they fastened heavy rocks to the end of the rope. The wise man knew that the rope was pulling on the iron box even though it was not yet moving. Next, the wise man harnessed the donkeys to the iron box so that they could also pull. Finally, the wise man and the four young men pushed as hard as they could. The iron box slowly began to move.

¹¹ Garu kaayyoon namticha gamna kanaa kaayyoo namoota mandara kanaa irraa adda ture. Innii fi dargagootni kun boqachuu hin dhiisne. Eduma dhagaan caafii finyoo kanatti hindhame lafa gaheerre, namootni kun saanduqa kana dhiibuu hin dhiisne.

¹¹ But the wise man's plan was different from the villagers' plan before. He and the young men did not stop to rest. Instead, even after the heavy rocks had reached the ground, the men kept pushing the iron box.

¹² Saanduqni gomma irraa kun akkama namtichi gamnaa kun yaade ta'e. Yoo baay'ee dhiibaan, saanduqichis baayee deema. Takka konkolachisuu qabnaan humna baayee isaan hin barbaadu.

¹² The iron box on wheels did just what the wise man thought it would. The longer they pushed, the faster the iron box moved. They did not need to work as hard to keep it rolling once it began to move.

¹³ Namtichi gamni kun namootni mandarichaa hundi osoo waliin hojetanii, saanduqa kana akka fudhachuu danda'an ni beeka. Akka hojjii guddaa isaan gaafatus ni beeka. Takkaa deemuu qabnaan, kaneen boqachuu, kaneen immoo dhiibuu danda'u. Yoo dhabachuu baatan, suuta suuta gara mana isaanitti sochoosachuu danda'u.

¹³ The wise man knew that if all of the village men would work together, they could move the iron box to the village. He knew that they would all need to work very hard to get the iron box to start moving. Then once it was moving some could rest and others could push. If they did not stop, they could slowly move the iron box to their village.

¹⁴ Wagaa dhufu nyaatni isaanii Biir irraa bilisa ta'a.

¹⁴ The next year, their food would be safe from Bear.

¹⁵ Yoo Inliffaa Spoken English Learned Quickly dhaan yeroo jalqabaaf barachuu barbaade ta'e, afaan kamiyyu yeroo jalqabaaf ulfaataa akka ta'e ni beekta. Ji'a lamaaf ykn sadiif cimatee yoo hojjette, waan tokko ille akka hin ulfaanne ni argita. Garu, Afaan Ingliffaa barachuun akka konkolaataa guddaa baaburatti fee'uu ti. Yeroo jalqabaaf humna guddaa barbaada. Garuu, yoo cimattee hojette, guyyaa dhaa guyyatti fuuya'aa deemta.

¹⁵ If you are beginning to study English with Spoken English Learned Quickly, you know that learning any language is difficult. You may work hard for two or three weeks and it will seem like nothing is happening. However, learning to speak English is much like pushing a heavy car on a railroad track. It will take much effort at first. But if you keep working, you will see more and more progress.